Author: Rick

Just when you think it can’t get any better, it does!! Rick and I have just returned from our trip to a very remote place called “Dalaguete”, on the southern part of the island of Cebu, Philippines. The two hour bus ride was great. It was air conditioned, and as we watched the view of city buildings turn to palm trees and water buffalo, we started to get excited! The city has been wonderful and the friendships that we have developed are priceless. Carrying the Cross in the crowds has been great, but we had been longing to walk the dirt roads of Cebu to meet the mountain folk and experience their simple ways of life. We knew this was our chance!

We were excited to have Joel, a brother in the Lord along with us. He came to the Lord through the Christian camp of Shakinah ministries. Joel, now in his early thirty’s, was reservedly excited in anticipation of sharing his faith in a new way! He has been such a blessing to us from the first week of our arrival here on Cebu island! Since he is unemployed right now, he has taken us under his wing and helped us through many cultural adjustments, transportation and such, making sure that we are not taken advantage of, as is the custom of most taxi/bus/tricycle/jeepney drivers with American visitors.

We arrived Tuesday, March 13th around 6:30p.m. and got off the bus right in front of the home where we would be staying. Alma and Lisa where outside waiting to greet us with welcoming arms! Charissa was a bit concerned about how I would handle staying in her grandmothers old style, Filipino home with no windows, shower or hot water. I knew it was going to be very different for me too, but I was ready!

It had been 4 years since Joel and the girls had seen each other so conversation stirred immediately about the days of growing together in the Lord at the camp and filling in the blanks! Alma and Lisa showed us to our room, the only one with an air conditioner (or air-con, as they call it). Charissa had asked them to give us that room but we could tell that sacrifice was no stranger to these girls! We felt honored and blessed to share their home!

Morning came quickly, as breakfast was served at 6:30. Alma and Lisa dismissed themselves promptly at 8:00 to begin their day teaching the children. Both have earned degrees in teaching, and though they could go abroad and earn a good living, they decided to stay in the Philippines to serve the Lord among their own people.

With our new Filipino language tracts in hand, Joel, Laarney, Rick and I had prayer and then headed out with the cross! The hot humid air clung to us like a wet blanket as we started up the mountain and we watched palm trees all around us swaying in the breeze. As we came upon this large group of men sitting around under a bus shed on the side of the road, we passed out our new tracks written in their language, preached, answered questions, and continued on. As we climbed the mountain, we enjoyed the tropical beauty, deep ravines and coconut trees, it was just beautiful! Our hearts beat with excitement about what God about to do! It was uphill all day but such a blessing to be so remote!

We had carried the cross up the mountain only about a kilometer when we hit the first grouping of huts. Laarney went to the right and Joel jumped the ditch on the left, past the goat and went under a home built on stilts where an elderly woman was sitting. He sat right down next to her and started sharing the gospel with her as he went through the track. He took his time to make sure that she understood clearly. Rick and I found a little hand made bridge of split logs (with flip flops nailed to them to hold it together) and crossed over with the cross to join Joel.

Rick leaned the cross up against the stilts of the neighboring hut and gave stickers to all the children looking at amazement at this white man carrying this huge cross! After Joel finished sharing with the women, he joined us and shared with all the children in their native Cebuano language. We crossed back over the little bridge to the other side of the road where we found families gathering to see what we were doing.

Laarney had already begun sharing the gospel, distributing tracks and telling them why we were there. After Rick shared with them while Laarney translated, we continued on up the mountain looking back to see many of the people intently reading the tracts! And so it went all day, one hut after another, never missing one. We found people going about their various chores as we climbed the mountain. One man was shaving a banana tree trunk with a very sharp machete, making fodder to feed his cow, another man was chopping up coconuts and laying pieces in the sun to dry, to then make cooking oil out of them. (That is very common here as it is a way to make an income). One man that stands out distinctly in our memories, after taking the tract, seemed to devour every word even as he walked back to his home never lifting his eyes from it. As we walked away we saw that he had sat down still looking intently at this tract that explained his need for a savior! His expression will forever be etched in our minds for we knew that something was happening in his heart. I just had to take a picture!

As our day ended we made our way back down the mountain along this narrow trail. Our feet ached from the heat and the steady climb all day, but our hearts soared when we thought of each time we looked back over our shoulder to see those people eagerly reading their gospel tracts. As we got to the bottom of the mountain, Laarney’s sister had coconuts and coconut pie waiting for us as refreshment. What a treat!

Please join us in prayer as we pray for this region and those beautiful people of the mountain and we also would like to ask you to please prayerfully consider helping them financially. You cant even imagine how just $10 can help! We could, upon request, share an address where you can write to them to introduce yourself and your desire to help or whatever you’d like to share! They truly are wonderful, dedicated, God loving, Self sacrificing servants of the Lord! These saints are barely existing for the sake of the gospel! Each of us giving so very little will enable them to do so much more!

Though the girls never asked for any thing, when Rick and I found out that they literally were scavenging the beach for shells and seaweed to eat, we decided to take them on a shopping spree, not just for rice and food but also for products like shampoo, soap and toilet paper which is really a luxury to them!! Just the look of humble appreciation on their faces blessed us immensely and knowing the hearts of our supporters, we knew that you all would have wanted us to help them!

Thank you all so much and remember, you give so that others may live eternally!

 Kereoke beach revisited….
  As we had promised, we went back to Kereoke beach, here in the Philippines, before leaving the northern part of the island. We knew we needed to be faithful to walk through the doors the Lord had opened for us to share the gospel with a few people we had met.
  After squeezing into the three wheel motorcycle sidecar which was quite snug with Doreen and I, never mind the 3 others, we jumped on a jeepney (a small open backed bus with no windows that squeezes 10-15 people wherever they can fit) eager to test our knew language skills!! When you approach the place where you want to jump off, you just knock on the roof and yell “Para!” Upon arriving at Kereoke beach, we bailed out and stopped at the end of the palm tree lined driveway for prayer. We asked the Lord to bring to us, the two men that had begun to open up to us the day we arrived. As we walked in, we greeted the girls in the parking lot and the lady security guard that we had enjoyed visiting with during our stay there. Then immediately out of the office, came the owner.  He seemed so moved that we had come back like we had promised! We picked up where we had left off several days before, about the need for a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and not going to God through Mary or the church. He graciously received our witness this time, quite different from our first encounter. Just then, our Jewish friend showed up right on time! It all could not have been timed any better! 
  After the owner gave us two free bottles of coke, our Jewish friend, Tom (we’ll call him) asked Doreen and I to join him by the waters edge as we sat down on two skinny board benches. The first day that we had met Tom, he shook my hand, looked me in the eye and said, “You are a missionary? I want to talk to you!”  He opened up about some challenges in his life and we talked about Jesus, who He was, and what He came to do. Tom said, “This is great! As a Jewish boy, we did not get this at temple!” This was a beautiful time together. As we sat there and shared for quite some time about the Lord, it began to get dark. Then the full moon came rising up out of the ocean! It was amazing!! It was the most beautiful witnessing situation ever! The only thing that would have made it “perfect” was if Tom had given his life to Jesus! He didn’t, but we planted many seeds that I believe, by God’s grace, will grow. Doreen and I planted them with all the love and care Jesus could put into our hearts.
  We caught a Jeepney back to Uwe’s, to what turned out to be the concert night. After a beautiful dinner that Uwe had made just for Doreen (a German spaghetti), they got her to do a mini concert and Uwe even video taped it, which Doreen took full advantage of by sharing her testimony and song, “Because I love you”, along with several others. We found out the next morning that Uwe and Tommy had sat up until almost 3:00 in the morning listening to Doreen and Dianne’s CD and the video taped testimony over and over again! See (www.hisongs.com)
  We will never forget our friends in Liloan and Uwe’s hospitality and kindness!! We count him as our friend!!
  

The power of the Cross to impact peoples lives has always amazed me! You can’t encounter the Cross and it’s message of love and remain the same. I believe that the memory it etches in your mind, will remain with you for a life time. Today, we saw so many touched by the Cross. We saw children’s smiles as they got stickers, they got to touch the cross, follow the Cross and were excited to hear about the God that loves them. Also families that rejoiced because the Cross came to their house.

Today as we made our way to the crossroads in the center of the village, children were getting out of school and were everywhere! As soon as we started handing out stickers, children came running! Only few understood as I shared about God’s love but the smiles on their faces revealed the heart connection!

They followed us everywhere as we walked the streets of their village, up and down hills, along a dusty road to a big lighthouse on a hill, and back again. We all just smiled and laughed together as we tried to speak each others language. One time we stopped to talk and share with this huge family, only to find that more kids were following us afterward. It was a hoot! The father/grandfather of the family was so excited that the Cross had come by that he had all his children/grandchildren/nieces and nephews that lived there, come out to see the cross. We shared with them what we were doing and where the cross had been, which he interpreted and shared with his family. It was obvious that he had a great love for the Lord. After we had prayer with them, he said, “let’s make the picture” as he pointed to us and his family.

What a sweet time of fellowship. We then shouldered the cross and headed to the light house that was at the end of this long dirt road with our new found entourage of the Lord’s disciples! When we got to the lighthouse, we stood the Cross straight up and shot a picture of the children, the Cross and the lighthouse.

The next day, we decided to go the opposite way. We enjoyed stopping by each little market stand, mechanic shop and house, distributing the stickers and tracks that everyone so gratefully received. As we stopped in the shade of a banana tree, to get a break from the 100+/35+c degree heat, we noticed a family across the road waving us over. It was the start of a huge blessing! We carried the cross down their driveway to their little home. The man that greeted us introduced himself as Pastor Jesse and then introduced his wife and sister in law to us. Their smiles were so huge and infectious, you could just see Jesus all over them! As we sat there on a palm tree log, we shared coke, crackers and Christ!

The love and joy we shared in The Lord was so deep and real, this was one of those life meetings we will never forget! Their richness in Christ far overshadowed the poverty in which they lived as a struggling pastoral family in a very small village. Their church building was under a thatched roof behind their home, open air with no walls. I believe the Love is what held it up! Before we left, one of the most touching things that has “ever” happened to me was that this man of God, from his poverty, pushed into my hand a one thousand peso note (about $22,US) and said, “I want to sow into your ministry”! Well, the tears started to flow as Doreen and I struggled with receiving this generous gift from such a generous heart. It reminded us both of the widows mite. He would not take no for an answer as he assured us that the Lord would surely provide as they gave with faith from their poverty! No words can describe the love and faithfulness that we had witnessed in that moment! This passage immediately came to mind…(II Corin 8:2-4). “How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality. For to their power, I bear witness, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves, begging us with much entreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.”

We are asking everyone who reads this to please pray for Pastor Jesse and his family and their health and work, in their little corner of God’s vineyard!