Shining Lights…

So…I think you have all probably finished reading the blog by now…since the trip is now “over”…but I just wanted to write my wrap up blog as well.  Basically, this trip was AMAZING.  And, I say it’s “over” because for me it’s really just the beginning, and I have a feeling some of my teammates would agree with me.  This trip was hard for me in many ways, I was challenged and stretched in ways I wasn’t really expecting.  And, I learned a lot; about myself and my teammates, but mostly about God.  Everywhere we went on this trip, I saw God.  It was like everywhere this team went, through their actions and their words, and through their love, God was revealed.  Thanks to this team I understand Matthew 5:16 to a whole new level.  “Let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in Heaven.”  Shining light reveals things that were hidden by darkness, it doesn’t create new things, simply exposes what was already there.  The light doesn’t really do much, it just shines.  That’s what I saw in this team, walking lights, people that just shined through everything they said and they did, pouring out love on everyone around them.  And, everywhere they went the Almighty God revealed Himself, and was glorified.  I know others saw it too, I know lives were touched, and I know lives were changed.  My life is changed!  I have come back home with a lot more love than I left, and a greater understanding of how Awesome and Almighty God is.  I’m excited, excited for tomorrow and the next day and then the next.  I’m excited to see what happens when the light keeps shining through this group of people.  I’m excited because God is AWESOME!  Make sure you talk to the team when you get a chance, listen to their stories, be amazed at God, and let it get you excited too.

p.s. i miss you guys

DADADADUM!!! (that was supposed to sound like a trumpet)

Oh man you guys, I don’t even know where to start. God is so amazing in all His glory and never disappoints. We all came here not knowing what to expect but having expectant hearts. We laughed, we cried. We came together and became one to the point where we knew what everyone was feeling. If i could pick one thing i would walk away with its that God is everywhere. Coming home, I want to make everywhere I go my mission. I want to love on everyone I come into contact with. It easy to love on the lost and the broken, its easy to extend your arms to people you don’t know. But the true challenge is finding it in yourself (finding the Christ in yourself) to love without condition the people you’ve known forever, the people who know your dark and twisty side. I know my God is real over every other god out there for many reasons, but for one reason its because God is out of the norm. God teaches us things that are so outlandish and so not self-fulfilling which goes against the world. The world tells us “love yourself” and “satisfy yourself” when Jesus says “love your neighbor as yourself” and “love your enemy” because the wicked even loves those who love them back, but we as Christ followers are to love those who it’s hard to love. Those people who we have to reach deep down within ourselves and find the Christ in us to love the people who every inch of our flesh wants to lash out and despise.
The song we’ve kind of made our unofficial theme song for this trip is “True Love” by Phil Wickham. How poetic. True Love is Jesus. And we are to follow His Divine example and to love EVERYONE. So watch out… I’m bringing this mission back to the states. SHABAMM
So many emotions are raging through me right now, sad to be leaving, but exciting to be going home. But I do feel the Lord telling us that we ran well.
Thank you all so much for all your support. I know I wouldn’t have been able to survive without all your prayers.
lalalalove,
Jocelynn

Just to prepare for what He has.

I’ve come to realize that this is just the start.

Many times prior to leaving to the Philippines, I tried to prepair. Now I find that this trip was/is just preperation for more of the Lords work that will be done in my and my family’s life with obedience.
Now…
I can’t tell you what that (future work) looks like but what I can say is that I am in awe of our Father and the work he has done here. I’ve had an opportunity to see the body of Christ clear across the world and I’ve found our Father’s Love in the greatest to simplest things, people, and situations.
We serve an awesome God!!
Please keep the people of the Philippines and their salvation in your prayers.
As well,
I also would like to thank my wife and girls for supporting and encouraging me to do what the Lord called me to do. I Love you So much.

God Bless,
Tim

PS- Praying for you and your family Cy!!
Love you Bro!!

Closing this chapter but anxious to start a new one

So as the final hours here in Antipolo come to an end, I am really excited to start planing for next year. Even though I might be able to comeback next year, I would definitely like to be a part of planning next years trip. We will see what the Lord has plan for me. I have definitely learned to rely on the Lord by praying for my needs, stepping out of my comfort zone. There are many things God has put in my heart. Now I just need to pray and let Him lead me to what he desires. Even though I learned new things about my self, I am still reminded about past experiences and how to keep myself humble, forgiving, and flexible.  I would like to thank God for stretching me to my limits. I would like to personally  thank my wife for all her support, without her I would have given up this opportunity back in December, and never learned her what she taught me.  To my kids who will someday understand why I was gone for two weeks helping others to seek believers. I would like to thank all who have supported this team, and there families. God is good.

Mondo

this is the end….or is it….?

As our time here in the Philippines comes to an end, we say our dreaded good byes to the wonderful people we have come to know, love and serve with.  We have created some wonderful bonds, and life long friendships.  While it is difficult to say our good byes to these people, it is also difficult to say good bye to this city, and those that we have visited while we have been here.  Remembering the faces of the children as we sang and danced with them…how beautiful the moment was when I, and many of us came to realize that no matter how much distance may be between us, we all have an immediate and constant bond through the Lord Jesus Christ.  It has been incredible to come to this foreign land and serve God at our best, it shows me how truly faithful our Father is.  Though this trip may be ending, our mission and our ministry will continue forth.  God bless you all, can’t wait to be home but I’m not ready for this to be just a memory yet….Brandi

And curtains closing…

Well, it’s the final hours here in Antipolo. We tied up loose ends tonight as we repacked our luggage and cemented new relationships with brothers and sisters from far away. We toasted to our friendship with some partially incubated chicks straight from the egg. Tasty, sorta. If there is one thing harder to do than step out on faith to go to the Philippines, it’s definitely the process of taking files out of the “present” folder and putting them into the “memories” folder. Now we pray as hard as we can that the Lord will continue to move here in the Philippines, planting Trees of Righteousness for His glory.

So proud of this team!!!!

WE DID IT!!!
Two weeks have come and gone… and now we have lives and stories to share with all of you… The Lord has greatly worked in each one of our lives… We’ve made new friendships, strengthened existing ones, and found God’s faithfulness to be true!

The Lord will do crazy things with obedient hearts!!!

I also would like to announce… and i think we now have bragging rights… THAT WE ARE THE FIRST TEAM TO HAVE THE WHOLE TEAM EAT BALUT (delicacy here in the Philippines)!!!
So very proud of this team… for stepping out in faith, and stepping up to serve.

Excited for what’s up ahead…
Ian

R&R

Hey what’s up this is Mondo. We apologize for not keeping the blog updated, but it is really hard to find a place to update. Yesterday morning we had a small concert and shared testimonies at a Calvary Chapel in a village named Roosevelt. Brandi, Katie and myself shared testimonies. We encouraged them to keep faith in the Lord and to seek him. We then went to lunch with the pastor of Calvary Chapel Olongapo and those who help set up for the morning concert. After lunch we set off for Zambales for a little R&R. We drove for almost 2 hours and settled in Iba. There we enjoyed some beach time as well as rest. The water was warm and very clear. Later on that evening we had dinner and enjoyed a magnificent sunset. We also did a devotion and had some worship time. Some just relaxed while others tried to be Navy Seals at night.

This morning I walked with Ian’s brothers Dave along the shore looking for Seashells. After everyone was up and had breakfast we went snorkeling for about two hours. Today was mostly a day of travel and rest. Our devotion today was a debriefing of what was on our hearts, what will be a memory that will always be with us, and how will we be able to share our experiences with others.

As the final days come to an end, we ponder on what we have accomplished. For many of us this mission trip was our first, for others it was there first on a different continent. We all believed we were chosen for this trip for a reason. We prayed, worshiped, and praised God for all that was given to us. Every single one of us was pushed to our limits. Then when we thought we were pushed out of our limits, we were pushed even more. We didn’t just run with endurance, we carried it with us. We took a leap of faith, not knowing where we were going to land. This team had passion, purpose and perspective.

Many of us will keep the memory of the men and women’s prison, the fellowship time with kids. Or the memory of washing the sores on little children, seeing children in need, or just seeing your average Filipino hearing music worshiping God. I know we will never forget what lessons we have learned, or the sacrifices we have made as we have served the Filipino comunnity. We have planted many seeds along the way, now is the time too look forward to see what is to come.

Quick Blog!

Hey guys! Jocelyn Here again… sorry these blogs haven’t been too extensive, but be encouraged because we just haven’t had the time to sit down and blog, doing the Lord’s work is pretty time consuming. haha. So we’re in Olongapo right now (in a McDonalds with free wifi by the way) and i only have 9 minutes to write about the day because my laptop is about to die… so I’m going to succinct it! We just got done with hosting a concert near the Calvary where we’re staying, The Calvary here is right smack dab in the middle of the red light district. All of us can feel such a deep spiritual heaviness in this area, but we feel the Lord moving here so we can see the light here. The stars are still shining here in such a vastly dark and empty place.
Earlier today we went Zambales, a small village where most of the native Filipinos live, and held a small concert including testimonies and a small skit Jake and I performed called the heart skit (hilarious!) Then we came back to the church to be a part of the children’s ministry, and we danced and sang with the youth who were mostly homeless, and fed them a massive meal. It was such a blessing because they all clang to us like a lifeline, but we had no idea what the other one was saying. The boys enjoyed a game of basketball with the little boys while us girls played hand games and ring around the rosie. The concert tonight was Ian and the gang, a skit, and testimonies.. and the Calvary Olongapo has a band of teenagers who ended the show with a bang.
So keep us in prayer, and I hope all of you are encouraged by what we’re doing out here. God is amazing and so present here, and all we want to do is show people that.
Sorry this was so bam! Sweet and short.
God Bless

Greetings from Olongapo!!!

Hellooooooooo…

I just wanted to update you quickly… We had a very eventful and fruitful first week of ministry, and on monday headed out to Pampaga, Olongapo, and Zambales Philippines… we will be here for the next three days doing ministry in the provincial areas. We wont have many opportunities to blog while out here, but we will try as much as we can =)

Blessings to you all… and you will hear from us soon!

In His service,
Ian