Last but definitely not least was the celebration of our graduates and saying good bye to Gay-Ann. We had 6 graduates from the sponsorship ministry. One from college, Johnry who has been studying midwifery and plans to open his own clinic. Two students from High School, Anthony and Robert who are both very intelligent and hard working. One student moving into high school, Rusty he is very likable and two kinder graduates, JenJen and Jalyn. I was honored to be able to present the graduates with a small gift for their accomplishments and pray over them for their future.
The festivities then moved on to saying good bye to Gay Ann who has been here from the start on 12th street. Many spoke and shared their gratefulness to her for sharing God's love with them and showing them they were Gods children too
and that they should feel no shame and are worthy of the Fathers love! Many tears were shed as individuals shared their stories and thanked her personally.
It would not be a celebration without food! So next we had panceta and lumpia(my favorite again!)and lots of sweet tea. The youth offered to clean up and close the center so that Leslie and I could join Sonny. His family had just arrived to visit for a few days and were eager to meet Leslie. Well this brings us up to date here and I will continue to post my experiences here in the Philippines. In closing "May you be covered by the dust of our rabbi"

Then on Friday afternoon we went to Castillejos, Zambales for the opening of the Zambales Speech Center for Children with Clefts. What an extraordinary experience that was! There are many differences in our cultures and this was definitely one of them. The Mayor of the area and the Baranguy Captain were both in attendance as well as Irene, representing the Lotus Foundation and Henrich Treutner, a German sponsor with Lotus Foundation.
We enjoyed the presentation and also toured the small facility. It was a good day all in all and the children closed with a song " I am but a small voice".

CELEBRATIONS!!

We started our celebrations off with a birthday
dinner for Irene's daughter Emma on Wednsday.
Irene runs the Lotus Foundation and is from Holland, married to a Filipino. Our dinner was part European part Filipino, and very good. A great green salad, pasta carbonera and another fresh vegetable sauce, fried chicken, rice (of course) and then there was a beautiful chocolate cake! Lucky for me they also had watermelon and pineapple which was excellent since I do not care for chocolate, I know crazy uh? We sang and clapped Happy Birthday and enjoyed wonderful fellowship late into the night. (it is so much easier to do things in the evenings when it is cooler) I think the greatest part was we represented 5 nations at one dinner party. (USA, Dutch, German, Korean & Philippines)

Busy Bee!

So I have been a busy bee in the office for the last couple weeks. I have been organizing the main office as well as the Sponsorship Ministry. Leslie left for Perth, Australia to teach for a week at the YWAM base for Birth Attendants School. So I spent most of my time that week in the office. The school year ends this month and we are getting all the report cards together and letters to sponsors out in the mail!
I also had a chance to go visit families in their homes, I have attached a couple of videos (for some reason I lost the audio in transfer so..)


I was so blessed by the hospitality shown to me. I visited 10 families on Saturday the 13th and then 11 more on Saturday the 20th. I was able to pray with them and learn more about their lives. They are a very warm people and very kind. My main purpose in visiting was to build relationships with the families. I also was the bearer of bad news since the school year ends so does their sponsorship, so we prayed that sponsors would be available for the next school year. They also asked for us to pray for their families health, the sewers in this area and most areas here, are open trenches under the sidewalks. The people are malnourished and do not have strong immune systems therefore open wounds are infected easily and bacterial infections as well as lice and scabies are dominant in the area.
I was accompanied by Tina, she is one of the first converts of 12th street and now in a leadership position. We had one scary moment when we were chased by dogs at one of the homes(even scarrier due to the fact that Tina is crippled on one side of her body and cannot move very fast) we prevailed Praise God, someone called the dogs off! Since we were all so busy this week I was on my own travel wise and learned the Jeepney and trike routes very well. I have a short video of one of my trike rides for you to see.


Well, my time is drawing to an end here and I will be going to Kona to begin my Crossroads DTS. I am still not fully funded and trusting God for His provision. I am sure that He has called me to go to Kona so I will go and do the possible and leave the impossible (for me) to Him.
In closing I leave you with this quote again
"May you be covered by the dust of your Rabbi."

Some are sent and some send.....

Last night we had a great party! Many preparations were made. We bought this beautiful material from Baugio, which they are famous for weaving and made table runners for all the tables. Candles were placed at the centers, sound and power point set up, and cooking for hours by Melinda and Mercy(oh did it smell wonderful).
The guests(pastors,businessmen,friends and family) began to arrive and we visited for awhile. Time to eat! the food was ready..oh my goodness everything was so good! We had lumpia (a version of spring rolls) my favorite so good! jasmine rice (which is quite the staple here, don't think we have had a meal without it yet)vegetable stir fry, bbq chicken and beef stew. I just kept eating...it doesn't help that I adore food, so now I am quite stuffed. But no here comes the banana cake and fruit salad....I am sure I can find room somewhere!
With full stomachs and quieted appetites we all stand and worship the Lord who has brought us together for the evening, what an incredible time of praise and His presence. Leslie then begins her power point and educates the guests about missions and where in the world they are going. I am surprised to find that most missionaries and most funding as well go to places that have heard of our Savior and less than .01 percent go to places the Savior is not known! I am also surprised by what a large area there is still that has no knowledge of the Lord. I believe she said they number a little over 6000 different people types that have not heard the gospel.
Pastor Jesses' turn, the reason for this gathering....there are those who are sent and then there are those who send. We are here to send Gaye Anne to Frontiers Missions in China.
She will be going for 3 months of teaching and training and then a 2 year outreach underground in China! Can you even imagine, I know I am having trouble wrapping my head around that one. Underground? She will miss worship as we have just had the most, she could be imprisoned for such a thing! But still she is going...and we are sending her (the pastors,businessmen, friends and family)
In closing this blog I would like each of you to pray and ask God Are you being sent? Are you being a sender?or Nothing right now my child and then in obedience to Him do what He asks of you. The blessings will overflow in your life from your obedience to our Creator.
In His hands always