April/May

Well, I can’t believe how quickly time has flown. The past 6 weeks has been an absolute whirlwind! Where to start…

My beautiful place in the Prayer Mountain, complete with goats!

Firstly, I am very proud of our 4^th year students, who have now graduated and are ready to begin the next exciting part of their journey in serving the Lord. On March 27 we held a Baccalaureate Service, where the graduating students “passed on the baton” to the next batch. April 12 was the graduation ceremony. I was very honoured to be the emcee at both events. The graduation of these students is such a wonderful achievement, a real testimony to God’s faithfulness and a wonderful inspiration to the rest of the students, who find study difficult due to financial, family or other circumstances. As someone who grew up with a wonderfully loving family, never having to worry about my next meal or where I will sleep at night, I am truly inspired by the perseverance that these students demonstrate and their dedication to complete what they know God has called them to do. They have to trust God for their next meal, their fare to travel to school each week, to provide for them in every way. Our God is good and faithful, and He is with them every step of the way. I believe that God uses these challenges to mould them into His servants who put their hope in Him, rather than in people or circumstances, and He is training them to listen to and follow His voice. I continue to learn so much from these beautiful people. I will miss them very much, but I know I will be able to keep in contact with them and hear about their wonderful adventures in serving our great and loving God.

I have been keeping in close contact with some of the students from “Batch Genesis”, who graduated last year, and I have seen the amazing, life-changing work God is doing through their ministries. For example, Pastor Garlan graduated from the Bible School last year and has established a church in a very poor and difficult area. I have met and heard testimonies (in Tagalog, I needed someone to help me understand) from his youth who were formally involved in gangs. Jesus has transformed their lives and given them new hope. Just last week, they told me that one of the boys ran into a former enemy who held a gun to his head and pulled the trigger 5 times. Praise God, the gun malfunctioned every time, and this young man lives to tell of God’s goodness in taking him away from that destructive lifestyle. That is just one example of the way that God is truly changing lives and bringing about hope and restoration in the lives of many people in this country. I am so excited to see what God will do through the ministries of “Batch Exodus” as well.

On April 16 I had the privilege of going on a Mission Trip to Pangapasan Island with the graduating class for a Mission Trip. This tiny island was absolutely beautiful and the people, though very poor, were wonderful and welcoming. We thoroughly enjoyed getting to know and working with the local church there. We held a special service on the Tuesday night. We are excited about the connections we have made with the local Christians on the island and ways we can continue to support their ministry. We met some very special children on this island and we have the desire to support their education by bringing them to the Prayer Mountain, where they will receive educational opportunities that they do not have on the island. We are praying for sponsorship for these two precious children.

Pangapasan Island

At the end of April, I had the wonderful privilege to go on a youth camp in a place called Zambales with Pastor Jhun, from Batch Exodus, and his two ministries in Montalban and Caloocan. He brought more than 100 young people to the camp, the majority of which were unbelievers. This camp is absolutely incredible. It is financed by an American Pastor. The facility is absolutely huge. They have two or three thousand campers at a time. It’s a two day camp… as one batch leaves, the next batch is arriving. Hundreds of thousands of youth must have gone through it already this year, as we were batch 68. The camp sends buses to collect the young people… it was a 6 hour trip! It is very much an evangelistic event. I felt like a teenager again, and I loved it! The music is LOUD, the emcee is very funny, there were dances and dramas and I think the speakers were great… but I couldn’t understand them because it was all in Tagalog. When the young people were given the opportunity to respond to Jesus, it was just amazing. From our 2 buses, more than 70 gave their lives to Jesus and around 30 were baptised. What I love about this event is that because it is organised through churches, where people are invited by the youth from the churches, there is follow-up and discipleship of these new believers. What an incredible event! I am looking forward to hearing how our young people are growing in their faith. Please pray for them!

Another few wonderful highlights were having Aussie visitors! I had a wonderful few days with my dear friends Alex and Suz, at the beginning of April. We visited the mountain, met with friends and visited churches. It was so wonderful to spend time with them. Also, Kirk, who has been one of the sponsors of the Bible School students, came for their graduation. It was great for him to get to know some of the students and see what life is like for them. I have a dear friend, Cathy, who is staying here for a few months after spending a year in India.  I am so blessed to spend time with wonderful people from home J

Alex, Suz and I with some of the members of Pastor Garlan's church

 

Apart from those events, I have been busy. I had this crazy notion that during vacation, I would have a lovely, peaceful time where I could study Tagalog, practise guitar and prepare for the upcoming semester. Instead, I have gone from one place to another, often on the spur of the moment. I have learnt to pack my bag and just go down the mountain, not knowing exactly where I will stay that night, but knowing that a great adventure awaits me. In this country, people are so hospitable and I love spending time with different people in different places. At one stage I slept in 10 different places in the space of 13 days. I believe that God is using this time during vacation to teach me many things. I am learning to be flexible. I am learning to let go of control (how can I have control when I don’t even understand what anyone is saying). I am learning to ask for help. I am learning to be humble. I am learning to turn to God when I feel lonely.

Cos if you can't fit everyone in the car, just have them hanging onto the back!

I have a church now and I am very excited because I will be joining their worship team this Sunday. Our church will also hold a concert at the end of the month. My church members are lovely, friendly and kind. Communication is not always easy, because some of them have limited English, and of course, I can only speak Tagalog if the conversation goes something like this “This cat here is eating. That dog there is running. I am hungry. I would like a cup of coffee. Why is the child angry? Are you teasing me?” Unfortunately, my limited Tagalog doesn’t lend itself to deep and meaningful conversations. I pray that communication will become easier so I can feel more connected with these beautiful people.

I am very excited about the coming school year. I will take the 1^st year girls for “Growth Enhancement” and I plan to use this time to really encourage and disciple them. Many of the 1^st year students are new Christians. I want to support them in their Christian walk, to talk about real issues and allow them to be honest about their struggles, rather than feel pressure to be a perfect Christian because they are Bible School students. I will also be taking the 1^st and 2^nd Year students for English Communication. Again, I am excited about the opportunities I will have in this role. This is the reason I came to this country, to support these men and women who have been called by God and have a desire to serve Him. God has a great plan and I know that He will transform many lives through the future ministries of these people. How exciting to be part of that!!

That was a long blog, because so much has happened and I have barely been home to write about it. So thanks for bearing with me. Please continue to pray for me and these beautiful people in this wonderful country.

God bless J