Sunday Service in Manila
On Sunday morning, Matt, Erin, Ethan, Miriam and I had the opportunity to play alongside the Sampaloc Bible Christian Community worship team in Manila. We played for both of their morning services. It was so amazing that we could partner in worship together singing praises to the Lord.
Farm & Village Visit in Baco
On Wednesday, we had an exciting day ahead of us. We spent the day at a farm owned by one of Pastor Cesar’s friends. We knew it was going to be pretty rainy and muddy so we stopped by a market and bought some knock-off crocs to wear around the farm.
House Fellowship & Outreach
Our team split into two groups this evening. One group stayed in a home where the UEC church leaders host a House Fellowship with dinner & Biblical discussion, and the other group went out to other homes in the area for evangelism.
Fellowship & Conversations with Believers
Monday 8/26: Seattle airport after we landed, and we headed to our terminal for our flight to ICN Seoul, Korea. I was singing Praise by Brandon Lake and this guy named Zander who was walking next to us asked if we were Christians and what we were doing.
Mangyan Mission
It's powerful to see the power of God's Word to transform lives and a blessing to be involved in this work through serving those in need in the name of Jesus. On Monday, our team together with believers from UEC in Mindoro and Sagip Medical Clinic in Manila drove about 30 minutes outside Calapan City to partner with a local congregation to put on an outreach event to the Mangyan people.
Marriage Seminar
Today, Pastor Mike Arzie had the opportunity to teach a marriage seminar for the couples of the church here in Mindoro. The room was setup nicely with tables, flowers and snacks with the seating arranged for couples to sit together and have discussion throughout the seminar.
Singleness Seminar
The Singleness Seminar was held in a small room with a couch with as many chairs as would fit in a circle around the room. All such seats were quickly filled and the floor became densely populated as young adults came and settled in. There were an abundance of snacks and treats which were passed around as friendly conversation was had as the singles seminar talk was anticipated.
Kids Ministry
This trip has been an amazing experience for me in many ways. Immersing myself in another culture has opened my eyes to the fact that even though we are so different, we are quite similar. People all over the world have kids and kids are kids in any part of the world! Helping with children's ministry here reminded me why the Bible says, “Truly I say to you, unless you are converted and become like children, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 18:3 NASB1995)
Sunday Church Service
Today, Pastor Mike preached in a Barong (a traditional Filipino shirt) on Luke 7:36-50, focusing on God’s offer of forgiveness to all people with a sermon titled, “Deep in Debt”. We had the privilege of leading worship alongside Lek, one of the church elders, who played bass guitar. It was a blessing to join the UEC community in Calapan, giving many of their faithful musicians, who serve every week, some much-needed rest.
Saturday Youth Service
On Saturday, we had the privilege of attending a Youth event at UEC, which turned out to be a truly special time for me and the team. The afternoon was spent playing Bean Boozled, doing a rock-paper-scissors tournament, handing out SWYOUTH shirts, Patrick and I sharing our testimonies, and watching an Alpha video. It was so fun to be able to be in the groups having fun playing games and trying disgusting flavors of Jelly Beans. I think the things that left the most impact on me were the testimonies and the conversations I got to have with the young women.
Naujan District Jail Visit
Months before our arrival, we had talked through the itinerary and a visit to the local prison was scheduled. Pastor Cesar wanted us to see the ministry that they had with the PDLs in their country (People Deprived of Liberty). I wasn’t personally excited about it having done some prison ministry in the US. In the US, there are a lot of hoops to jump through and a lot of separations between the prisoners and the visitors. I thought it might be good for the students on the trip to see the lesion to add to the cultural engagement aspect. It is safe to say my attitude was at best apathetic.
Discipleship Seminar
On our second night in Calapan, Mindoro, Pastor Mike Arzie began teaching his Practical Discipleship Seminars. He taught about how disciple making is “deliberately doing spiritual good to someone so that he or she will become more like Christ,” and walked us through 9 principles to keep in mind when making disciples.