Happy (belated) triple dozen! 12-12-12! 😀
And sincerest apologies for the lag in blogging lately!
Since the last time I’ve put up a blog, lots of things have happened…
In Nicaragua, we finished up with all sorts of ministry- it has definitely been our most varied month so far in terms of types of ministry. We dug and moved dirt to level out a parking lot; cleaned up outside a clinic; prayed/evangelized door-to-door; flyered for a crusade; worked with special needs children; shared hope with local high schoolers. And the culmination was probably in the big three-day crusade at the end of the month, which involved preachers and awesome worship, calls to faith, and powerful testimonies.
At our month 3 debrief, L Squad had our very first team changes, so our team received a new member- an awesome woman named Cathy Carty! She has since been such a wonderful addition to our team, and I’m excited for us to continue growing in unity.
We finally left Central America after three beautiful months of ministry and flew to the Philippines! It only took 52 hours and 17 minutes to get to our first sheltered location in the Philippines, but we made it. After layovers in Miami, LA, and Hong Kong, we arrived in Manila, and L Squad parted ways with respective teams. Our team and one of the all-female teams (Team Hephzibah) came to an island called Mindanao. Typhoon Pablo was about to hit, but luckily we flew in to Mindanao a day before. Our contact is a missionary couple, both former Racers, who moved here to the Philippines several months ago. So they took both of our teams to shelter at camp bunks by a children’s home, and we waited for the typhoon to pass. A few days later, we parted ways and our team came to our ministry location in Barangay Can-Ayan, Malaybalay (barangay = village/school zone). We’re living in a nutrition center building that isn’t being used, at least for the month, and we’ve been partnering with an amazing pastor we call Pastor JoJo!
Until a few nights ago on Ed’s birthday (Happy 24, Ed!), we didn’t have power or running water here, mainly due to the typhoon. So we grew accustomed to having dinner and team time in candle light, and we walked down the street to get water from a spout that was turned on only twice a day for rationing. Fortunately, we’ve been blessed with a water purifier, so we haven’t yet had to use the manual hand crank purifier that each World Race team receives. And of course we don’t have much internet access, so thanks for understanding!
Our ministry is both quite consistent and fairly varied. I guess that’s the cool thing about house visits! Basically, Pastor JoJo is like our eighth team member, and we’re going around with him to do the ministry he regularly does. He has been building relationships with the locals- here in Can-Ayan, in a neighboring area called Transmitter, and in different parts of the city of Malaybalay. We walk around to the homes of families with whom he has established relationships, and we do various things. With kids, we sing songs, read/act out Bible stories, and pray. With adults and families, we speak into their lives in ways that Pastor JoJo sees fit at the time, whether that be giving our testimonies to strengthen their faith and hope or giving a mini Bible lesson. But specific prayers are always involved, as are lots of handshakes and ‘salamat’ (thank you in Visaya/Cebuano). A few days ago we prayed with one man to accept Christ! Some of the people we minister to are strong followers of Christ and members of Pastor JoJo’s church, and others are not yet following the Lord. But it has been amazing to witness and be even a small part of God’s specific work in each place!
