: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.