Welcome
to the Philippines!
delay but I am in the Philippines safe and sound! We landed on Saturday, drove a few hours to
our contact outside of Manilla and have been enjoying debrief ever since.
Every two months we as a squad have what is called a “debrief.” Basically, the whole squad gets together and gets to be refreshed through fellowship,
down time, and some awesome worship sessions.
We also get to meet with our INCREDIBLE coaches Roger and Rosie
McCormick. They are such a blessing in
all of our lives. Their wisdom is
invaluable and their love for us could only be matched by our own parents. Anyway, I’ll definitely be blogging about
what God taught me at debrief, but that will be a little longer and will be
coming in a few days.
However, I have to postpone all other blogs because of this story I heard
tonight! If you don’t remember, when we
flew from New Zealand to Australia we hung out in Brisbane for two days. God provided us a place to stay well
above and beyond anything we could ask or think through two people, Jamie and
Fran. They were an amazing couple who
showered us with love and hospitality.
The blessings we received blew us away.
Because of the great love they showed us we wanted to bless them any
way possible.
During conversation they mentioned they had been trying to have a
baby for a few years now with no success.
Obviously, that can be a pretty difficult thing to handle. Our last night we had an impromptu worship
service where we asked Jamie and Fran if we
could pray over them and their desire to have a baby. In unision we cried out to our Father and
interceded for them. Here were two of
God’s children, serving and loving like Christ, opening up their homes and
providing food for those in need just like the disciples of old. So we petitioned our Heavenly Father for our
new friends, asking Him if He might grant the desire of their heart to have a
baby. I specifically remember praying 2
Corinthians 1:11,
“You also joining in helping us
through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf
for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.”
Here we were, complete strangers two days prior, and now enjoying the
fellowship of Christ Jesus. So as the 30
some people raised their voices up to God, I said Father, “Glorify yourself in
this. So many of your children are
crying out right now so that you would be exalted and praised. Grant your favor upon Jamie and Fran so that
we can rejoice together in your goodness…”
Fast forward to today, seconds before our third session of debrief is
about to start. Jesse (remember our logistics
girl who got us the sweet set up with Jamie and Fran?) ran up to the front to
tell us before we began singing. It went
a little something like this…
“So as you know six of our teams spent two days together in Brisbane
with Jamie and Fran. I’m not sure if you
remember the last night, but we prayed for them that God would give them a
child…Well, I just got an email from Fran.
And she is pregnant! She told me
they conceived a week after we had left!
Our prayer was answered! Here
was a couple that have tried to have a baby for YEARS, with no avail. But one night God’s children cried out to
Him, He heard our petitions, and He answered our prayers. What an incredible story of God’s working
power. I can’t help but get excited
about it right now!
my life. Talk about a faith boost! God does hear us. God does still work that powerfully. He is just alive and working just as much as
He was during the times of Paul. Man I
love our God
Before I update you on everything in the Philippines here are a few pictures to wet your appetite.
