Every since we got to the Philippines we’ve been working with an organization called Mission Ministeries Philippines. (MMP) What these folks do is share the Gospel with the poorest of the poor. They do it by planting churches, starting pre-schools, getting people hooked up in Bible studies, and starting up drug store cooperatives. The drug store idea is a great way to meet immediate needs. You got to understand there are tons of old, sick and diseased people living in these areas. So providing these folks medication is an awesome way to show them the love of Christ. So our job this week has been to come along side MMP and help them in anyway we can. Normally we’d stay with a ministry for the whole month. But our main job this month is set-up. So we’re really just scouting out MMP and MMP is scouting out us to find out if our organizations can work together in the future. It’s been a great match so far.
So as my weekend comes to an end I just wanted to write and share some of my experiences with ya’ll. First off, the Philippine people love them some basketball, BUT i spent Saturday afternoon teaching them the art of throwing a great spiral:)
After showing off my awesome throwing skills we headed out to a Bible study. When we got there I was told only one member of the household was Christian, but the others were interested in hearing what we had to say. I got a chance to share a little of my story along with some Bible verses. I’ve found in that type of situation it’s just best to be blunt honest and speak your heart. I talked about how for many years it was really hard for me to understand knowing Jesus or having a relationship with Him seeing how I’ve never seen Jesus. However Jesus became very real to me the day He delivered me from alcoholism. By the end of our time at the house, four people said they wanted to accept Christ into their lives. It was the first time I had ever prayed the sinners prayer with anyone. It was really cool. Praise be to God – His glory, not mine!
When we left we were so filled with the joy of the Lord we went straight to another house and sang KAROAKE for two hours straight. Let me tell ya folks, Filipinos are ALL ABOUT SOME KAROAKE. Here’s Lynette and Leah signing away!
But little did we know we WOULD NOT be getting any sleep tonight. Turned out the community was having it’s annual blowout dance party that just so happened to be right outside my house. This is the view from our roof. They kicked it til 4 AM!!!!
Alright so after about two or three hours of sleep I was up at 7:30 to do play-by-play for a basketball game. YEAH, ain’t that crazy! Here I am in the Philippines and I’m back doing sports. Remember how I said Filipinos love hoops. Starting at 8 this morning they had the senior league championship game. It was great!
Then I wrapped up my morning by sharing a message on what it means to have the power of Jesus in our lives. I couldn’t have asked for a better weekend. I still find it hard to believe that this is my life. I love it! This is what Jesus promised, John 10:10b, “I come that they might have life and that they might have it abundantly.”
