This month in the Philippines my team and I are stationed in Bulacan working for Go! Ministry. We are partnering with Moriah Baptist Bible Church, which is lead by Pastor Oscar. We are the second World Race team to be placed here, which means these people have seen very few Americans pass through. It’s not exactly a vacation destination. We have been charged with the tasks of writing this book, organizing two separate Vacation Bible Schools, leading a youth program that closely resembles Young Life, participate in a youth basket ball tournament, and equip the youth of Moriah Baptist Bible Church with the information and skills to run their own Vacation Bible School in the future. Suffice it to say we are very busy this month. So far we have completed the VBS at Libis, the poorest community in our immediate vicinity. Libis is a neighborhood built on the side of a dirty drainage pond. Some fishing takes place in water near by but people are literally living in bamboo shacks built up on stilts and full of holes. If not in bamboo shacks, then they are living in small cement huts. The kids in these communities are ecstatic for the VBS and crave the attention.
The youth in the church are amazing. They are quick learners and are in charge of running the VBS for the suburb children this week. They work late into the night making and setting up decorations. They have been teaching Bible stories on creation, organizing crafts and games, and still attending our youth program in the evenings. I have no doubts that when we leave they will be able to host VBS on their own. They even made fliers and walked around their community several times handing them out.
My favorite part of this month has been pouring in to them. In the evenings we get to set aside a few ours to play games with them, share our testimonies, and speak truth and encouragement into their lives. We always open with a funny skit such as Arms/Legs. We had two girls put their hair products, make-up, tooth brushes, cups of water, etc. on a table and pretend to be getting ready for prom. Two other people crouched behind them and pretended to be the other person’s arms to apply the beauty products. The scene was riotous and the teens loved it. After this we play a large game that includes everyone such as Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament and then we sit the teens down and call a few from the crowd to join us up front. We play a smaller game with those few while the rest watch. One night we had them race to eat a doughnut off a string while their blind folded partner tried to find their face. After games worship begins, we sing a few songs and get settled. One of us then proceeds to tell our testimony and then another one of us will stand up and give a fifteen-minute message. After this we divide into smaller groups and prompt them with discussion question that are related to the talk.
These sessions have been well received by the youth and help us build great relationships with them, which makes working side by side at the morning Vacation Bible Schools much smoother and more enjoyable. The youth here are hungry for the word and soak up everything we have to offer them. It is evident that God has great plans for these young people and the impact they will have on their community is going to be amazing.
I am thrilled to get to be apart of this kingdom work and am truly inspired by this ministry as well as our host, Pastor Dave and his amazing wife, Melanie. They work tirelessly to love people into the kingdom of God and bring hope to those around then. Their ministry works to empower and enable the local people in the community to become disciples in their own home. This ministry makes disciples that make disciples. We have already witnessed ten baptisms since arriving here three weeks ago.
Matthew 28: 18-20 The Great Commission:
And Jesus came and said to them, “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
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This month in the Philippines my team and I are stationed in Bulacan working for Go! Ministry. We are partnering with Moriah Baptist Bible Church, which is lead by Pastor Oscar. We are the second World Race team to be placed here, which means these people have seen very few Americans pass through. It’s not exactly a vacation destination. We have been charged with the tasks of writing this book, organizing two separate Vacation Bible Schools, leading a youth program that closely resembles Young Life, participate in a youth basket ball tournament, and equip the youth of Moriah Baptist Bible Church with the information and skills to run their own Vacation Bible School in the future. Suffice it to say we are very busy this month. So far we have completed the VBS at Libis, the poorest community in our immediate vicinity. Libis is a neighborhood built on the side of a dirty drainage pond. Some fishing takes place in water near by but people are literally living in bamboo shacks built up on stilts and full of holes. If not in bamboo shacks, then they are living in small cement huts. The kids in these communities are ecstatic for the VBS and crave the attention.
The youth in the church are amazing. They are quick learners and are in charge of running the VBS for the suburb children this week. They work late into the night making and setting up decorations. They have been teaching Bible stories on creation, organizing crafts and games, and still attending our youth program in the evenings. I have no doubts that when we leave they will be able to host VBS on their own. They even made fliers and walked around their community several times handing them out.
My favorite part of this month has been pouring in to them. In the evenings we get to set aside a few ours to play games with them, share our testimonies, and speak truth and encouragement into their lives. We always open with a funny skit such as Arms/Legs. We had two girls put their hair products, make-up, tooth brushes, cups of water, etc. on a table and pretend to be getting ready for prom. Two other people crouched behind them and pretended to be the other person’s arms to apply the beauty products. The scene was riotous and the teens loved it. After this we play a large game that includes everyone such as Rock, Paper, Scissors tournament and then we sit the teens down and call a few from the crowd to join us up front. We play a smaller game with those few while the rest watch. One night we had them race to eat a doughnut off a string while their blind folded partner tried to find their face. After games worship begins, we sing a few songs and get settled. One of us then proceeds to tell our testimony and then another one of us will stand up and give a fifteen-minute message. After this we divide into smaller groups and prompt them with discussion question that are related to the talk.
These sessions have been well received by the youth and help us build great relationships with them, which makes working side by side at the morning Vacation Bible Schools much smoother and more enjoyable. The youth here are hungry for the word and soak up everything we have to offer them. It is evident that God has great plans for these young people and the impact they will have on their community is going to be amazing.
I am thrilled to get to be apart of this kingdom work and am truly inspired by this ministry as well as our host, Pastor Dave and his amazing wife, Melanie. They work tirelessly to love people into the kingdom of God and bring hope to those around then. Their ministry works to empower and enable the local people in the community to become disciples in their own home. This ministry makes disciples that make disciples. We have already witnessed ten baptisms since arriving here three weeks ago.
Matthew 28: 18-20 The Great Commission
And Jesus came and said to them, “all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
