Just for fun

If you know my love for Mt Dew you understand my excitement for these pictures a friend sent me :o) It's GrEAT!

Overcome!

Recently in my study time God has really been speaking to me about being an overcomer. I want to be one of those people who doesn't let anything stand in my way! Pushing through any trial with full confidence in God. He is always faithful. Not only does overcoming make life more fulfilling but God has so many great promises for overcomers.

Revelation 2:17 "He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches. To him who overcomes, I will give some of the hidden manna. I will also give him a white stone with a new name written on it, known only to him who receives it." (I wonder what my new name would be?)

Revelation 3:11-12 "I am coming soon. Hold on to what you have, so that no one will take your crown. Him who overcomes I will make a pillar in the temple of my God. Never again will he leave it. I will write on him the name of my God and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which is coming down out of heaven from my God; and I will also write on him my new name."

Revelation 3:21 "To him who overcomes, I will give the right to sit with me on my throne, just as I overcame and sat down with my Father on his throne."

Another one of my favorite verses is Romans 8:35-39

"Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written:
"For your sake we face death all day long;
we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered."  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."

Lifes troubles don't separate us from Christ (although some may choose to separate themselves) trials can make you closer to God. Don't let yourself be shaken. In my all of my life experiences God has been so faithful, and sometimes when outside circumstances don't look like God is there, the peace inside of me is more than I can describe. I don't want to be a victim of life... I want to be more than a conqueror!

Bossy?

I will still finish the Philippines trip info, just waiting to upload more pics and wanted to blog about Isaac before I forgot about it. 

The other night while Isaac was praying before bed he said "...and God help Mom and Dad to not be bossy." So when he finished his prayer I talked to him about how it is Mom and Dad's job to "be bossy" because we care about him and we are helping him to grow into the man God created him to be.  The next night he started to pray "... and God help Dad and Mom to not... to not...." then he looked up at me and said, "Mom when you boss me I grow?" Yes, He kept praying, "and God help Allie (his sister) to not be bossy..." 

Isaac is learning about the importance of discipline in his life that is required for growth and sacrifice (sometimes we have to give up things we want for more important things.)

 I am reminded that our walk with God is the same. Growth comes with discipline and determination.  I was reading a quote of a friends blog today that reminded me of the scripture in Matthew where it talks about the Kingdom of God forcefully advancing and violent people attack it! or take it by force! That's what I want, sheer determination not just accepting the discipline but desperately seeking growth and God's will for my life and those around me.

Home again Home again...

So unfortunately the internet at our hotel stopped working the last couple days of our stay so there is much more to blog about but I wanted everyone to know that we made it home safely after 30 or so hours of travel. All of our time has been spent with our kiddos since we've been home so hopefully tomorrow I'll start to get back into the swing of things around here. I can't tell you how blessed I feel to have been able to go on the trip. It was very humbling and encouraging in the Lord. It is amazing to me how many times my heart can attach itself to people and places and yet still have room for more. God is truly an awesome God and my prayer is that I will be used for His glory all of my life. I will try to finish writing about the trip soon. Thanks to everyone who prayed and supported us financially. We couldn't have done it without you. 

Pictures from Friday

Thursday & Friday

Thursday we all planned to have time to go down the street to call home but once again plans changed a little and we left an hour early so we didn't have a chance. We all miss everyone horribly but God is continuing to do awesome things in us and through us here. In the afternoon we rode a jeepnee up the mountian (we're talking crazy 4x4ing it) for a couple hours and stopped at another remote village that is has just purchased the land for their church and are currently meeting in a house that was probably 10x10 with about 20 adults. Very tight quarters. We had a outreach in the middle of the village with tons of kids and some parents. Kent shared the gospel message for the kids and Chris for the adults. We fed everyone. It was raining on and off but the kids surrounded us it was so much fun. We had a powerful time of prayer there praying for healing and strength and growth. Many committed their life to Christ, now we are praying that God continues to grow the church so that these people can be discipled. It was dark by the time we left but the night was still young we rode back down the mountain for an hour and a half and headed straight to the police academy where we ministered. It was so awesome to hear the police cadets praising and worshiping God. They were so orderly they would all say amen at the same time it was a very uplifting time, at the end of the evening they even sang a song that said Philippines for Christ, and PNP (Philippine National Police) is for Christ. How powerful is that!
Today (Friday) we left at 8 and drove up to another mountain church to dedicate it. This was the church that our church sponsored. The church is growing and being very fruitful. They are still trusting God for a floor and enclosing the walls. We had yet another awesome service and time of prayer. (I got to hold a little baby who we prayed for and are trusting God healed of lung issues) We celebrated thanksgiving there then drove to another little church an hour down the road and had another service and prayer time and snack, then drove another hour and a half to a Pastors house where we met with all of the pastors under Pastor Dan and had an awesome meeting. We prayed together and encouraged each other in the faith as the body of Christ. It was amazing to hear some of their hearts and testimonies. It has been a long day and is very late now so I should go :o)
PS. Pictures are from Thursday, one is our view standing on the church property looking down at the house the church is currently meeting in. I will hopefully upload pics from today(friday) tomorrow.

Allie's Dress

Yesterday was a very special moment for me to look up and see a little girl wearing one of Allie's dresses. What a beautiful little girl. What a blessing it is to give where there is need. 

pics

Monday, Tuesday, & Wednesday

So much happens daily so I thought I would just post a bunch of pics and try and explain quickly. Forgive me if it doesn't flow :o)

Monday afternoon we drove 5 hours to a bible school (where we arrived in the middle of service) and were ushered in to minister. (Bible school students pictured) Then we stayed in a hostel and headed out early the next morning. First by boat (pictured) to a remote village and were able to tell students (and some parents) about the gift of Christ. Kent (pictured) used an awesome illustration about how sin separates us from God but Jesus made it so we can be connected with God again. The students there were totally engaged. After the lesson we gave them balloon hats, toothbrushes and toothpaste, then fed them. We didn't have enough of each thing for each student so we had everyone who didn't get a hat line up for toothbrushes first. I saw one girl trying to give away her hat so she could get a toothbrush, I wish we had so much more but they never complain, they are just deeply grateful for what they did receive. We left there and ate at a home of a pastor who uses his home for church. The hospitality is very humbling. Then we went to another very small village and spoke at a church there, handed out flip flops (pictured) and food in freshly harvested bamboo (pictured) By our last stop , another church in the mountains, we were getting pretty tired and when we arrived we found out it was their Thanksgiving celebration. There was a banner that said “Thanksgiving Service, Guest Speaker: Pastor Kevin Wilson”(pictured) Which we all thought was great :o) It was a great message followed by a powerful time of prayer and then more food! What an awesome time. I cannot even describe how beautiful it is out of the city. Just beautiful! Palm and coconut trees everywhere.

Today we had a shorter day. We left the hotel at 9am and drove for 2 hours to another remote village. The pastor has been in this remote village for four years and is still working on the church building. Right now it is just a stick structure with no roof. We walked into the house and heard a proclaimer going. (a proclaimer is a devise that has the bible on tape in their language that doesn't need batteries) Our church purchased a bunch of them last year for the Philippines and now we are seeing them being used for the Kingdom of God! What a blessing. There were people sitting in the living room of the house just to listen. There we ate again and then split into two groups. One went up to pray for the church building and the other half stayed with the children and fed them, gave out necklaces, tooth supplies and flip flops. (and told them about Jesus) When the whole group was back together we had a quick dedication service right in the Pastors front yard, dedicating the pastor's son and about 7 other kids ranging from newborn to probably 6 or 7 years old. We had to hurry while we were there because if it starts raining in the mountains we would not be able to drive out until the next day due to the mud so we left and made it home safely. I will try and upload pics of this later. :o)

Tonight I think we are going to walk to the nearby McD's for some comfort food ;o) and then tomorrow morning we get to rest a little until the afternoon so we will be attempting to call home since we will finally have a chance when it isn't the middle of the night for you guys. We will see if it works out. There is great need for being flexible around here :o) At times things change with very short notice :o) We love you all and miss you very much. (the pictures go from bottom to to chronologically oops and I will add a few more, it only lets me do 5 at a time)

Sunday

(Sorry this post was delayed :o)
So yesterday was a full Sunday! We started out of the hotel at 7 am and got to listened to Naynay Carol (Naynay is a term of respect) preach first service. She had phenomenal message and it was refreshing to get to sit through a service and be encouraged through the word. Then we all split to teach Sunday school classes. Kent and Tori taught teens, Grace taught the women's class, Kevin taught the men's class, and Chris and I taught young married. Then during second service Kent taught children's church we were all introduced and got a picture that will be in “The Evangel” over here... or something like that :o) I did the “Why” human video and Kevin preached a powerful message about being a doer of the word. The alter calls while we are here are so full. So many are hungry and desperate for God to touch their lives.

After church I think we all could have passed out but of course now is not the time. We were treated to a buffet lunch where I'm pretty sure some of us ate goat, squid, and fish soup. There is always wonderful rice and great fellowship. Then we all rode a Jeepnee to a couple towns over then hopped onto a tricycle to get to Pastor Dan's church where we were blessed to be a part of their local Youth Jam where some surrounding youth groups joined together to celebrate their awesome God and play loud fun music. Kevin shared a message about being a generation that can make a difference! And the alter call was phenomenal. Of course being with youth here is where my heart is since I love this age group so much. The language might be different but they worship the same God, it felt like home.

When that was all said and done around 7:00pm (when some of us were getting delusional... Kevin :o) we pressed on and went to another feast and farewell party for Naynay Carol @ Pastor Dan and Merdi's (spelling?) house. We had an amazing time of fellowship and a sad goodbye to Aunt Carol. We left around 9:30 pm but it felt like 2 am to us. I think Kent was pretty much a zombie by then :o) By the time we got home we were all dragging. Grace and Tori pretty much went in the door and straight to bed. I was going to stay up and blog last night but decided for once I should go to bed. (and do a little laundry in the sink) Today we have a long day first the pineapple plantation then a long trip to The mountains where we will stay the night and be back tomorrow.

:o)

I have a whole blog wrote and saved on Chris' comp from yesterday but our schedule is so sparatic I didn't get a chance to post it. So I thought I would shoot you a quick line and let you know we are packing right now to stay the night in a small church tonight. We will travel 4 hours tonight and share with the bible students and then more ministry tomorrow before we return home. Hopefully we will be able to post again soon! Tori says "hi mom!" and Grace says "Jim, I miss you and want you to see this place!" Grace just went to the market and bought 50 pairs of shoes to bring with us to the small churches where they don't have shoes. Now she is frantically trying to pack for tonight. It is officially painful for Chris and I not seeing our kids. We miss them so much!! Love you all!

So much :o)

Right now I'm pretty tired so I don't know how much sense I will make but I wanted to blog about what we did this evening before time went on and I forget details. So at 4pm Chris, Tori, and Kevin went to visit some of the churches that our church sponsored and Kent, Grace, and I went with Jane and Jung to the mall via Jeepnee (I'll try to get pics of those later) and passed out tracks. It was interesting to walk from outside where poverty was obvious to inside where it looked nicer then Valley River Center... the people in the mall were mostly receptive but it sounded to me from Grace and Tori's experience last night passing tracks at the “Night Cafe” (street market) when you are out on the street they are almost taking them out of your hands before you offer them. After the mall we rode a motorella (I'll have to get a pic of one of those too... It's a motorcycle with a cage like thing over top that has bench seats for about 6 people) back to the hotel and then to the church to watch worship practice. It was really neat to be able to hang out more and experience travel by local transportation. At worship service we just planned to worship and pray but we ended up sharing a word of encouragement. It is amazing to me how they take every opportunity to encourage and uplift each other. Worship was amazing of course, there is nothing better then being in the presence of God. The benefits are countless! Then we rode the motorella home and decided to skip our plan to go to the “Night Cafe” again tonight to pass out tracks due to the fact that our bodies are still getting used to the time and it feels so much later to us. Tomorrow we will be going all day. And tomorrow night may be the end of blogging because Monday morning we will be moving to a different hotel and we are unsure about the availability of the Internet. We will do our best to continue to communicate but we are just going with the flow most days trying to fit in outside contact.

So good

Helloooo everyone! So much happens everyday that each day feels like 3 days. Chris shared in his blog last night about the Youth Rally so you might read more about it there I'll summarize my experience if possible.
When we left the hotel we were already feeling exhausted but excited. I could literally hear Chris praying aloud in the front seat for strength and God's presence. When we walked into the church you the service was started and I could feel the presence of God. The worship service made was so powerful in their desperation for God to know how thankful they are. Chris preached a sermon on 1 Timothy 1:12-14 about being called to His service and get over the idea of not needing to be perfect for God to use us. He also spoke about not letting anyone look down on you because you are young but set an example in life, love, faith, purity, and speech. I did a short human video and Chris spoke some more. The heart of the leaders that were there were phenomenal! The students responded and we prayed and prayed and worshiped some more. What an amazing experience. I feel so blessed.

This morning we went to the dedication of a business which was just amazing. It reminded us how important it is to included God in everything we do. Grace spoke about the blessings of God when we put the Lord first and Kevin also shared a short word of encouragement. Then we ate together and had an awesome time of fellowship. (and more roasted Pig :o)

This afternoon and evening the tentative plan is to go to the market place and hand out tracks and then possibly go visit one of the churches that our church sponsored.

God is doing such an awesome work in each one of us. We are learning how to be ready to share our hearts and words of encouragements at moments notice which I desire to take home with me and always have the word of God at the tip of my tongue.

Pictured: Chris preaching @ youth rally, students @ youth rally, Me being spoiled with a mango smoothie, Grace speaking @ Business dedication, some housing across from business dedication

7 Project Philippines Style!

This morning we went to the local high school and had an assembly! Can you say 7 project Philippine's style? Well it wasn't the same as ours but maybe in the future! The difference here is that we can tell about what Jesus has done for us and even pray with the students! For me this was exhilarating! What and awesome experience!!! We are looking forward to dreaming big and doing something in all the campus' here in Cagayan de Oro in the future!!

Roasted Pig anyone?

Tonight the group was split to go to two small groups and share. Chris and I went together and Chris shared about the body of Christ and spiritual gifts and I gave part of my testimony how I was empty and depressed but found life in Christ and became new and found meaning in my life. The small group made us feel right at home, with amazing worship and testimonies of the awesome God we serve. This week was their Thanksgiving month celebration so they had a special treat... and yes.... even I ate a little. (thank you Lord for strength! Sorry if the picture disturbs you :o) Tomorrow is a High School Assembly where we will share the truth of Christ and even have a opportunity for them to accept the Lord (in the school!) We will then pick up Pastor Kevin at the airport, come back to the hotel and do some street ministry before going to a youth rally and memorial service tomorrow night. It is now after midnight here so Friday morning and for you it is 9am Thurday... I think :o)

We're here!

Wow!! What an amazing trip we have had already and it really hasn't even started. First of all, we all really enjoyed a little tour around San Francisco with Uncle Gary. We got to stop on Treasure Island and get a great view of the city, walked around Fisherman's wharf and have the most phenomenal lunch/dinner at “Bubba Gump's” I seriously ate the best cheeseburger I've ever had in my life! (I know... cheeseburger at a seafood restaurant? :o) We checked into the airport at 6pm and said farewell to Uncle Gary. Our flight left at 9:05 pm and we were in the air (minus a fueling stop in Guam :o) for 15 hours and landed in Manilla at 4am Wednesday morning Philippine time which was noon Tuesday US. Time. We had an 8 hour layover in Manila where we discovered the lovely hot dog stand, got some studying done, goofed around and napped a little. Then we had a two hour flight to Cagayan de Oro. Can I just say that being so far above the earth and seeing the amazing view just reminds me how awesome God is! The view as we landed in Cagayan was much different than Manila. There were banana trees mountains and cocoa nut trees and a small little airport with people everywhere. We were met by Pastor Elpie who must have some sort of favor at the airport because we walked thru like royalty and didn't even go through customs... we're still a little thrown off by that. We were immediately thrown into the culture. There were small children following us asking us to “bye peanuts for plane trip” It was heart breaking. As we drove through the city of Cagayan de Oro we seen little thrown together houses with boards and dirt and cloths as walls. Just around the corner was a gated community where wealthy families live. It is challenging to understand how there is either much wealth or complete poverty without much middle ground. We were dropped off at our hotel and had two hours to shower and get ready for an evening service at Pastor Elpie's church. By the time we got to the church at 6:30pm here in Cagayan our bodies thought it was 2:30 am so we were feeling a little bit like zombies but had an amazing time worshiping our God in one accord with our Filipino brothers and sisters. We were each given a moment to share an encouraging word and Grace and Chris both gave a short sermon. Afterward they fed us some pizza, Mc Donald's burgers and some fresh mango! We got back to our hotel around 8:30 pm and most of us hit the hay shortly after since it felt like 4:30am to us. I slept for about 12 hours Praise the Lord!! Today we have had some time to study and pray and at the moment we are sorting the things we brought to give out. Oh how we wish there was so much more but are grateful for what we have to give and are excited about the years to come as we learn how to be more effective in our partnership here. Tonight we will be split into two groups and will minister to some cell groups. After that we will meet with the Pastor's we are working with here to dream, share vision and our heart. I can't tell you how humbled and blessed I am to be here. I am being stretched, broken and encouraged all at the same time. God is so good!

We're off!

We are now in San Francisco after a 9 hour drive last night. We stayed at our Aunt and Uncle's who of course treat us like royalty and are minutes from leaving to go see some sights in San Francisco. We fly out at 9:05 tonight!! I am so excited...
The other day I was walking with Allie and she had to stop every 3 steps to pick up a different fallen leaf. The next leaf was always better then the last. At first I was getting frustrated, I was thinking, the leaf you have is just fine, but she was looking for the next good thing. That what I want to do with God. I'm not discontent but I always want to be watching for the next thing that God has for me. He is so good!
Well hopefully you'll be hearing from me from the Philippines soon! Thank you all for you prayers and support. We are truly blessed with amazing friends and family.