Month 9 of 11: Dagupan, Philippines
Ministry: Ebenezer Mission Church
Overview:
To describe this month in one word: incredible.
This month we truly lived ministry 24/7. Our host Pastor Ferdinand (or as we call him Pastor Ferdie) and his wife Hannah/mama/Mama Han welcomed my team and I in with open arms. We lived with them in their home, and we were blessed with the opportunity to share every meal with them as well. This month we were brought into their family and welcomed lovingly not only by them, but by the youth and community as well.
Pastor Ferdie and Mama Han have an incredible ministry in Dagupan that focuses on discipleship and leading the youth. They have an open door policy with the youth, and at all times of the day you might find a few hanging around the home. They are also there for meals, and you'll find anywhere between 2-6 of them staying overnight.
The community there is real. They take such a part in their church and in their leadership of the music and Sunday school. It was great to watch them organize, practice, and prepare for their events. Over the month we really connected with the people of the community. I looked forward to seeing their faces and getting to love on them and speak into their lives.
A lot of our work this month including teaching at Luzon Bible Baptist School, evangelism workshops with two churches and their youth, evangelizing in the community, sharing our testimonies many times, and a week long expedition to a village in the north east called Lasam. While there we were able to make house visits in the community, take part in church activities, teach at the elementary school, and baptize 18 people!
We had a few typhoons come through during September. When the first one hit we passed the time by having a lip synch competition with the youth while Pastor Ferdie and Mama Han judged. It was so much fun, and easily one of my favorite moments from the month! The typhoons and heavy rain caused a lot of flooding in the community, and to get to the main road we had to be transported by standing on a bamboo raft! Floating past the homes and waving to the people on their roofs while standing on a bamboo raft is a memory I will take with me the rest of my life.
Saying goodbye at the end of the month was hard. We built lasting memories and friendships, and I truly hope that one day, God willing, I'll be able to make a return!
Sights
- Tricycles
- Lots of beautiful beaches!
- Friendly smiles all around!
- Flooded villages
- Beautiful lush mountains
- Water, water everywhere
- Bamboo rafts
- Coconuts!
- Lots of traffic
Sounds
- Horns
- Goats (they sell them on the side of the roads to cook!)
- Ocean waves
- Laughing kids
Smells
- Mama Han's incredible cooking!!
- Salty oceans water
Highlights from the Philippines
- New Team! Introducing: Team Changes
- Our squad leader David joined us for the month
- Ebenezer Mission Church
- Pastor Ferdinand, Mama Han, and their family
- The youth and community we spent the month with
- Luzon Baptist Bible School- teaching classes and being a part of their chapel
- Going house to house in the community and sharing my testimony
- The cute lil girls on the street! "Cute Aco!"
- Mama Han's cooking
- Evangelism classes with the youth and practicing by going out in the community
- Bolivao beach: overnight stay in a cottage on the beach with our house
- Breakfast on the beach
- Snorkeling, swimming, and exploring the waters
- Licking a sea cucumber
- David throwing a sea cucumber at Taylor not once, twice, but three times
- Helping to finish the room upstairs in their home
- Playing what are the odds
- 6 am workouts
- 2 typhoons
- Lip synching competition!! (Yours truly won 2nd place)
- Riding the bamboo raft
- Meeting Pastor Ferdie's sister and her husband, and they so graciously hosted us!
- Lasam: Our week in the village
- Candlelit welcoming and song greeting
- Spending the week with people who have never seen white people
- Building relations in their community
- Teaching at the elementary school
- Workouts with a tire axle
- Video karaoke with the family
- Santa Ana day at the beach with the church
- 18 baptisms!!!
- Dancing after church with the ladies
- Coming back from Lasam to Dagupan and spending our last days with the youth..we missed them!
- Hundred Islands with Mama Han and Pastor Ferdinand
- Rented a boat for the day and went island to island!
- Went snorkeling and saw coral and fish!
- Jumped off a cliff in a cave and swam out to the cove
- Picnic on the boat
- Going away celebration before we left!
- Emotional and tearful goodbyes
- Leadership Development Weekend with my squad in Manila
What I'm Learning
This past month I had to rely heavily on trusting God. I have a tendency to worry and I make myself anxious with those worries…but I'm trying more and more to let go and give it all to God. It's an uphill battle every day, but I am taking each day at a time and pressing on.
Praises/Prayer Requests
My aunt was admitted to the hospital last month for heart failure, and The Lord has heard the prayers of ninjas all over the world! Lisa went home a couple days ago and will be on meds for a couple months. The doctors will monitor how she does with the meds and might delay a heart transplant. I thank you for everyone that has kept her in your thoughts and prayers!
I am getting pretty anxious and nervous about returning home the end of November. If you could keep me in your thoughts and prayers about God preparing my heart and mind for my return I would greatly appreciate it!
