Wow! I can’t believe that I’ve been in the Philippines for 2.5 weeks already. Life flies by so fast on the race, you blink and before you know it, a month has already passed.
Before I dig into what I’ve been up to here in the town of Bulacan, I wanted to take a second to say THANK YOU! My deadline for being fully funded was at the end of this month and because of all your generous hearts, I became fully funded on my birthday! I do have to say, best present ever!
From the bottom of my heart, thank you! Your support, prayers, and encouragement mean more to me than you know.
So, what have I been up to these past few weeks? That’s a great question.
This month my team and another team are working with Go! Ministries here in the Philippines. We were tasked with running two different VBS programs. One week in a poorer village near by and one week at the church right next to our home for the month.
Not only are we planning and putting on VBS but one of our other main objectives is to train the youth so that in the future, they can do the same without us here. It’s been a lot of fun working with them and seeing them come alive in the roles we’ve asked them to lead in.
You guys, these youth are on fire for Christ and it’s the most amazing thing to see.
For a lot of them, they are one of the only or one of the few in their families that come to church, or have a relationship with the Father. They are diligent and eager to learn about Him. It’s been incredible to see their hearts and willingness to serve those around them.
So, last week we ran the first VBS ever, out in the village of Libis (pronounced lee-bis). We had about 30 kids show up everyday ranging in age from 3 to 14.
Our three days broke down into this:
God loves Creation
Genesis 1:31a
God loves the World
Romans 5:8
God loves me and I should love others
1 John 4:11
On the second day, we walked them through the story of the gospel and four of the girls in the older group gave their lives to Christ! Not only we were blessed with being a part of that but we also had to honor of watching the four of them be baptized by Pastor Oscar that evening.
Equipping is a word that has been coming to me multiple times over the past few weeks. As we discussed VBS theme for a few days in the beginning, sending the kids off equipped to love others and share what they had learned was important to us. Equipping the youth to run these VBS has also been in the forefront of our minds.
We are only here for three-ish weeks. What good does it do if we come in, plan and run a VBS (which hasn’t been done here) and then leave? We may see some kids come to Christ (which is incredible! Don’t get me wrong) but in the end we will just be people passing through. On the other-side, if we come willing to share our knowledge of VBS and kids ministry, train the youth to do so as we step back and watch/help them run it. In the end we have planted seeds and the opportunity for more and more kids to come to know Christ through the willing hearts and hands of the youth here. They are then more than capable to run more VBS or other programs long after we leave.
It’s been a lot of fun these past few weeks and I am excited to see what comes for our last full week here! The Holy Spirit is definitely moving here in the Philippines. People (especially the youth) are coming to know their Savior and living their lives sold-out to him. They are on board and will be the ones to change their nation.
Will you pray for us as we head into our second week of VBS tomorrow?
