Author: Rick

The last several days have been amazing! I’m  getting a cramp in my head trying to think of how to condense it so I’m going to give you the readers digest version.

We set out Sunday with our friends, Ronald and Charissa, to check out the north coast of Cebu island. LILO-an is a bit more rural than where we’ve been but we felt a spiritual darkness there immediately. The first hotel that we came to was on the beach but the rooms were very small and not very clean and we didn’t want to have Ronald and Charissa driving us around all day so we just decided to move there the next morning.  I was proud of Doreen for even being open to it! The worst part about it was, it was Kereoke beach, with five machines all within 100 feet of each other, and much of the time it was dueling Kereoke!! The interesting thing was that on Sunday when we went to check it out, a Jewish man, when he heard we were missionaries, came right to me and said, “I want to talk with you!” Then the hotel owner came over and began asking us many questions about what we believed, so “I WAS EXCITED”, I knew the fish were biting!!

After our first night of “dueling Kereoke”, come 8:00 the next morning, the dueling grueling Kereoke began again! I told Doreen that I would not put her ears through that, so we decided to head out looking for another hotel that morning. Though even if we found a place, we knew that we would go back there to find the Jewish man and perhaps the owner, to walk through the doors God had clearly opened for us to share the gospel of Jesus with them.

After our, not so quiet time and coffee, we walked out the tree lined drive way and turned right. We walked maybe 100 yards up the road, when Doreen spotted some people sitting inside, what looked like a roadside bar/hut/cantina and said lets go ask them if they know of a place. The owners were suggesting all the resorts further north, when the one man sitting there at the bar, named Uwe (a German), said, “I know a place you can get a nice room, clean, air-con, wi-fi,  and quiet for only 800 pesos. That was less than what we were paying for Kereoke beach. So, after we visited a bit, Uwe asked if we would like him to bring us there to see it. I said yes that would be fine, since I had a peace about it, so I tossed Doreen in the back of the little two seater truck and off we went zig zagging thru traffic and down some dusty potholed roads. I was relieved to see that she was still in one piece when we got there. What a trooper! She’s a real missionary!

Well, when we got there, turned out it was brand new and Uwe owned it. He was a carpenter so he decided to build a hotel there with a little store front and have his in-laws run it while he lives most of the year in Germany with his Filipino wife. It was still in construction stage though the rooms were finished and very nice. What an incredible blessing it had turned out to be! We knew God had led us right to where he wanted us!

So for the next several days, that became our base of operation. We were able to blitz this entire little village with the gospel tracks and stickers as we carried the cross! Some of the real special things turned out to be the way they fed and took care of us. Though he had no idea when he brought us there that we were missionaries and that I carried a 12 foot cross, Uwe just seemed to roll with it. One of the other special things was that when Uwe saw the guitar, I told him that Doreen was a gospel singer but she had also been a country singer for some years! When he heard, “country music” his eyes lit up, then I mentioned that she had opened for the Belamy brothers and he was even more excited because he had enjoyed them when they toured in Germany. After that, the die was cast, Doreen had to do a concert, he would not take no for an answer. So one night, Doreen literally sang for our supper! So much more could be said but it is already beyond the readers digest version! I’ll just say that we all had tears in our eyes when we left and our hearts were knit together! I believe it was the first time he had ever heard the clear gospel message. Doreen shared her testimony, as Uwe videoed it and she sang her song, “Because I Love You”.(Hisongs.com).

Many seeds were planted during our stay and we look forward to seeing each other again, here, there or in the air, as they say! Please keep Uwe in your prayers!  Before we left, he gave us his number in Germany and invited us to come visit them.

Carrying the Cross has always been my joy. The encounters with people are one of the things that feed me. Meeting them and hearing their stories, some brings joy and some brings hurt.  Some events are sooo exciting, as the Lord surprises me, the way He shows up and what He does! Some are just plain fun!
Like One of the days when I was walking down the road, I passed a fruit and vegetable stand around 100 meters long. As I made my way past the stands, I handed out stickers and tracks to the women that were selling there. They so gratefully received them. As I got to the last booth, the lady there thanked me and asked me what I was doing, so I stopped and began to share with her my story and why Jesus died on the Cross. I looked back and saw that all these other women had followed me with their tracks and stickers in hand, so as they gathered I just preached! I shared with all of them, the message of God’s love, while every so often, the lady that could understand English, would stop me and translate to the others. Those are the little encounters that are so exciting for me,you never know when they will happen. Those you can’t plan! It’s just Jesus!
The same day, to show you the ups and downs of emotions that I experience with the Cross, I was walking by a hut with a pool table in it, and I handed a track to, what turned out to be another Christian brother, I stopped and had fellowship with him about the things of Christ. While talking, a man came out from the “pool hall”, that we had given a track to the other day, and he wanted to talk. I went through the message of the gospel with him, trying to help him understand the love God has for him but he just wanted to argue which I do not do. Every time I have an encounter like this, my heart just breaks, because we, as Christians, know the fullness of life that Jesus gives and in reality, that is what everyone is looking for, meaning in life. But some, just refuse to see and like the old adage “there is none so blind as he who will not see”. So you love them and just move on.
The same day, less than an hour later. A news paper photographer spotted me with the Cross giving out gospel tracts to everything passing me. He stop his car in the middle of this crazy traffic, jumped out, followed me taking pictures, leaving his car where it was. Since it was rush hour, the cars, jeepneies, and motor bikes of various descriptions were passing me slowly. Which was great, because it allowed me to give them the tracts I hand out. Well he thought this was great. So he followed me for quite a while shooting pictures and trying to get “the story”! We had a great time, me with the Cross and him chasing me with this huge camera. He is a believer and turns out Christians here know him. Also getting the clear gospel message in the paper from an interview is always good!!

 Wed.,Feb. 29…
   Once again, the sights, sounds and smells have  confronted me all day as I carry the Cross. To think, many of these people and children have never taken a breath of clean air, walked a clean road or just enjoyed a pleasant view! The hustle and bustle of the Philippines, life in the city, creates these dirty streets, garbage and dying animals, it just blows my mind to see it all!! I meet so many and as I look into their eyes and listen to them speak, I know that they have never felt the joy of real love. It’s only use or be used! Oh, the emptiness in the eyes of many of those I encounter each day! There are so many children here in the philippines that are abandoned in the streets and left to, as best they can, raise themselves! One thing though, that is a stark difference, is when you meet a real believer and you see the light of Christ in their eyes. It is brought home to you again, the difference “Jesus” DOES make in a persons life and that is the hope you have for ALL people! That is also the motivation that keeps driving Doreen and I on! If they could just have ears to hear what the Lord is saying and His love calling out to them! Then there are those you meet who are so lost in the false security of “just religion” and Oh how dark is that darkness!! Jesus himself said, “be sure that the light that is in you is not darkness, but is the true light!” We meet so many here that just have religion, when the Lord wants us to have a relationship with Him. That’s why He died on the Cross, to pay our sin debt, to clean us out, to make a place where He could live, that through the resurrection and the gift of His spirit, He could come and dwell in our hearts and have the relationship that He so much desires!!