Table Of Contents:
- My first missions trip
- How God called me to serve in missions
- Start of my first missions trip to Northern Thailand
- Lessons learnt on my first missions trip
- After my first missions trip…
- Getting to know the Filipinos
- My second missions trip
- The turning point
- A strange request; a special gift
- Writing for God’s glory
- Planning my first trip to the Philippines
- Hindrances removed
- First time in Manila
- First time in the Philippines
As a newbie on my first mission trip to the Philippines, you might imagine that I had a pretty bad time, especially after my earlier description of how we took more than 3 hours driving from the airport to the church through heavy rains and floods!
It’s true that I was pretty confused – I had no idea where we were most of the time – which island we were on, whether we were in the north or the south, where we were to sleep in, who we visited, what food we were going to eat, what sort of transport we had to travel on… no idea at all! I simply followed the leader of our little team wherever he went. My chief concern at that time was not to cause problems for the group, since I was the “last minute” addition. Just hang in there, be invisible as much as possible, don’t talk, don’t complain, don’t touch, don’t do anything, don’t get into trouble!!
We went to at least four different islands, in the central parts of the Philippines. We did not stay at any hotel except for the final two nights of the entire three-week trip – we slept at churches, bible schools and brethren’s homes instead. There was even a family who vacated their home for a few days and moved in with their relatives so as to let us move into their house, to live and use everything as if we own the place!
The mission statement of a church we visited in the Philippines
I met many, many brethren for the first time – many of them serving full time as missionaries, bible teachers, pastors and their families, bible women, and even young bible students in bible seminaries who were preparing to be missionaries or for full time ministries as pastors.
We were constantly on the move, island-hopping or town-hopping all over the Philippines islands. Sometimes we visited up to four churches in one morning. At every church or house we called on, our friendly, hospitable hosts would have a spread of delicious snacks and drinks ready for us. Imagine eating four times before lunch!!
These pastors and missionaries, although having so much less than us, provided for our stomachs, and our comfort. What wonderful hospitality and love they showed us!
Our workers and missionaries serving in the campuses of Central Philippines have been busy week after week, visiting schools, proclaiming the Good News to masses of students as well as in room to room preaching and personal witnessing.
Here are the latest updates from our faithful workers on the island of Bohol:
Last week, our team went to the northwest and interior part of Bohol, and approximately 1932 professed… Read More....
Positioning to live within a community – Tim is a tentmaker. For prudent reasons, we cannot divulge his real name or citizenship. He did not go to another country but had to make a cross cultural leap within his own country.
Tim has had a growing burden for the majority people group in his country. In this country, it is against the law for this mainstream people group to… Read More....
A few weeks ago, a co-worker of mine who is married to a Korean Christian worker told me something interesting. She said “Korean missionaries unite around the Gospel but we bring our differences to the mission field and fight over them!”
Koreans are basically a strong militant race. They do not shun a fight. The Korean Christian population is also clearly divided into conservative Presbyterians and exuberant Charismatics. In… Read More.... | 1 Comment
Latest Comments