As I sit here with tears in my eyes, I have decided that good-byes are so hard! I feel like my life is full of good-byes! We are officially done with ministry! I have gotten a little sicker so we have decided to go to a big city earlier to be closer to the doctors. God finished strong! Throughout the whole summer we have had 117 salvations and done over 150 house Bible studies! However, numbers are not the important thing! The important thing is the glory that God has received from this summer! Saying good-bye has been so bittersweet! Oh how I long for a few more months of ministry to these beautiful people here! I will write another wrap up blog when I have a little more energy. For now, let me give you a few highlights from this past week!
One day we were walking down the road and we saw 2 very familiar faces. It was Divennia and Igene from our last burungie! They had walked for 2 hours just to see us! They spent the afternoon with us doing house Bible studies. They spoke of how those 2 women get together daily to study scripture together! That was such a huge encouragement to us to see that our prayers have been answered! We prayed that when we departed from Kimba that the people would continue to dig into the word!
Also, one of my teammates and I were able to sit down with the burungie caption and talk for an hour or so. He spoke of how after this term he wanted to become a pastor! That would be like one of our governors telling us they wanted to be a pastor. He has been so thoughtful towards us. Nightly, he would gather the whole burungie together for our Bible studies. We have had up to 60 people at some of them! He truly is a leader here in the Philippines who is seeking the guidance of our Lord! I praise God for him!
There are so many other stories to share but they will have to wait! Thank you so much for all your prayers! Continue to pray for our team as we travel and as we go through debrief! God moved in such huge ways this summer! Praise God! I will be sharing about what God has done on Sunday, August 5th at FBC Fairview at 6pm. It would be such a blessing if you could come! My cousin, Ace, just accepted Christ this past week and he will be baptized that night as well!
Acts 20:24
I consider my life worth nothing to me, if only I may finish the race and complete the task the Lord Jesus has given me—the task of testifying to the gospel of God’s grace.
Monday, July 20, 2009
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
WOW!!!
So we arrived at our new burungie this week. We have spent one week ministering and, Praise God, we have had over 50 salvations! It has been a very tiring week but God is getting lots of glory! This burungie is so different from our last. First of all, it has a lot more hills! Lets just put it this way….the pastor we work with came and visited us yesterday and he said, “Megan, you are diminishing.” Hahaha Also, it is a poorer burungie, therefore, less people speak English and it is harder to communicate. Also, we are staying in the burungie captions’ house and there are always a ton of people and noise. Sleep does not come very often for me because of the noise and God has really been dealing with me about my future. One night in particular, I felt like Samuel. Please pray that I can hear God’s voice clearly and not let my desires get in the way of His desires for my life!
Here are a few of the absolutely amazing things God has done this week. We are able to go into each classroom at the schools and we have experienced 16 salvations from the older kids. Also, we are having an adult Bible study every night at the basketball courts. Our very first night we had 15 salvations. One thing that we have experienced in this burungie is people being absolutely broken by the Word of God. After sharing with people about the hope they have in God, many of them have broken down. The Spirit is piercing hearts in a huge way! Just yesterday I was able to sit on the porch with 4 women and share how they can have assurance of their salvation. They all admitted that they do not have personal relationships with the Lord and God used me to share with them how they can. After the Bible study, we just sat on the porch and talked and laughed…..the translator had to help a lot! I felt like we were all close friends and just enjoying the day! When I left they said, “We may not see you in America but we will see you again in Heaven someday!” Wow! If that does not put a desire in your heart to see ALL nations come to know Christ, I do not know what will!! God is so good all the time!
We only have one more week of ministry and then the rest of the time will be travel and debrief. I will arrive back in Birmingham on July 30th! Pray that God will give us strength to give Him our 110% this last week! Pray for even more souls to come to know Him! Pray for my whole team, some of them are missing home a lot right now! Pray for God’s will! I am forever grateful for all your prayers and love! Thank you so much and God Bless!
**The people from Kimba, our last burungie, really love us! Four of the boys have came and visited us this week!
Here are a few of the absolutely amazing things God has done this week. We are able to go into each classroom at the schools and we have experienced 16 salvations from the older kids. Also, we are having an adult Bible study every night at the basketball courts. Our very first night we had 15 salvations. One thing that we have experienced in this burungie is people being absolutely broken by the Word of God. After sharing with people about the hope they have in God, many of them have broken down. The Spirit is piercing hearts in a huge way! Just yesterday I was able to sit on the porch with 4 women and share how they can have assurance of their salvation. They all admitted that they do not have personal relationships with the Lord and God used me to share with them how they can. After the Bible study, we just sat on the porch and talked and laughed…..the translator had to help a lot! I felt like we were all close friends and just enjoying the day! When I left they said, “We may not see you in America but we will see you again in Heaven someday!” Wow! If that does not put a desire in your heart to see ALL nations come to know Christ, I do not know what will!! God is so good all the time!
We only have one more week of ministry and then the rest of the time will be travel and debrief. I will arrive back in Birmingham on July 30th! Pray that God will give us strength to give Him our 110% this last week! Pray for even more souls to come to know Him! Pray for my whole team, some of them are missing home a lot right now! Pray for God’s will! I am forever grateful for all your prayers and love! Thank you so much and God Bless!
**The people from Kimba, our last burungie, really love us! Four of the boys have came and visited us this week!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Finishing Strong!
God finished strong in our Burungie. Monday is our off days so ministry started on Tuesday of this week. One of the ladies we have been ministering to wanted us to hike with her to an unreached part of the Burungie. So Tuesday morning we set out with our backpacks packed and ready to stay for the whole day, considering it was a long hike to that part of the Burungie. We arrived and her family had prepared a snack for us. Then we decided to go door to door evangelizing. Turns out we found this huge group of people. It ended up being the whole Burungie in one spot. Thank you Jesus! We asked to do a Bible study and they greatly accepted. Before my team member got up to lead the Bible study she looked at me and said, “I might need help with the salvation part of the message. I do not really know how to do it with a big group.” I gave her an eyebrow raise, which means yes in the Philippines. I immediately began praying. I always feel so inadequate when it comes to presenting the salvation message. Also, I began to tell God that I knew He was teaching me things this summer but I could not put my hand on what is was. When it came time to lead into asking questions to the people I jumped to the front of the crowd. In fact, I don’t even remember getting up. I began to go through the Romans Road and other scripture with them. Honestly, I am not really sure what all I said! God took over my whole body! When it came time for decisions, there were 12 people who accepted Christ as their personal Lord and Savior! We have not seen this mass amount of people come to know Him at one time yet! It was such and encouragement to our weary bodies! Immediately after we left the place, God began to put together all He was teaching me, so far. These lessons are way too much to write but I will def share when I get back! It was such an amazing day that I will never forget!
Side note and funny fact: If you remember I broke my foot in Nov. well I feel down the mountain when we were hiking because of the rain. THEN one of my team members broke on of my toes (on the opposite foot). Hahaha It always happens to me!
Leaving Kimba, I can now say the name of the Burungie, was extremely hard for me! I know this probably does not surprise you but…I cried! I have made so many friends there and have seen God move in such a real way! He drastically moved among the people and in my heart as well! I had both cried and laughed a lot there! Upon our departure from Kimba, we were showered with thank yous and tears! God moved and I am so blessed to have been a part!
Seeing as though we are over half way done with our summer mission here in the Philippines, I can say that I am mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally exhausted! We just spent a few days at a resort as time to rest and be ready for part 2 of the summer! It was so peaceful and much needed! I have to admit….I got a pedicure. On the bright side, it was the equivalent of 6 American dollars! We had time to talk to our team and just allow God to feel us back up. Currently I am on an island outside of Siqijor because I came here today to get checked out by a doctor because I have not been feeling too swell! No worries, I am fine just a few minor things going on and I have gotten some prescriptions and I am heading back on the island with my team tomorrow! I am so excited about what God is going to do in our new Burungie!
Pray for the unity of our team….it is getting harder as the summer goes on! Pray that God will prepare the hearts of the people in the new Burunige! Pray for our health and strength! Pray for a house church in this new Burungie! Pray for God to move in ways I have never experienced! Pray for my family at home! Pray for God’s will to be done and for Him alone to receive all the glory!
Side note and funny fact: If you remember I broke my foot in Nov. well I feel down the mountain when we were hiking because of the rain. THEN one of my team members broke on of my toes (on the opposite foot). Hahaha It always happens to me!
Leaving Kimba, I can now say the name of the Burungie, was extremely hard for me! I know this probably does not surprise you but…I cried! I have made so many friends there and have seen God move in such a real way! He drastically moved among the people and in my heart as well! I had both cried and laughed a lot there! Upon our departure from Kimba, we were showered with thank yous and tears! God moved and I am so blessed to have been a part!
Seeing as though we are over half way done with our summer mission here in the Philippines, I can say that I am mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally exhausted! We just spent a few days at a resort as time to rest and be ready for part 2 of the summer! It was so peaceful and much needed! I have to admit….I got a pedicure. On the bright side, it was the equivalent of 6 American dollars! We had time to talk to our team and just allow God to feel us back up. Currently I am on an island outside of Siqijor because I came here today to get checked out by a doctor because I have not been feeling too swell! No worries, I am fine just a few minor things going on and I have gotten some prescriptions and I am heading back on the island with my team tomorrow! I am so excited about what God is going to do in our new Burungie!
Pray for the unity of our team….it is getting harder as the summer goes on! Pray that God will prepare the hearts of the people in the new Burunige! Pray for our health and strength! Pray for a house church in this new Burungie! Pray for God to move in ways I have never experienced! Pray for my family at home! Pray for God’s will to be done and for Him alone to receive all the glory!
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Love Letters, House Churches, and A Lot More!
“When I look into your beautiful blue eyes my heart melts.” Those words can be found in the love letter I receive from an 18 yr old boy in our village. He wrote me a very interesting love letter. Also, there is this other boy who climbed a coconut tree and brought me 6 coconuts and flowers! I may just stay here because I can get lots of boys here but not so many in America J Everyone said I would meet my husband in the Philippines…who knows lol! Don’t worry I have found a boy for Sam too! He is this tiny 13 yr old who speaks English and is very intelligent. I showed him a picture of her and he thinks she is very qwapa (beautiful) and wants to keep the picture. I know she will love me for it JWe had many other funny things happen to us this week but I will save those for when I get home!
I feel like God has showed us some of the fruits of our labor this week! It has been such an encouraging week! We have seen so much feedback from the people we go to their house daily. They have really wanted to be in the Word and have been asking questions. Also, they have opened up almost to tears about their prayer requests. Of the people we visit daily, we have seen a woman recover almost fully from a stroke and a marriage put back together! We found another part of the burungie that we had not been to. We nicknamed it the suicide hill because when you hike to this part of the burungie it is killing your body! Lets just say if you do not lean forward when walking up the hill you will probably fall backwards! We have been there a few times! God has saved 5 more souls this week! Just like cried out in Matthew 14, they have called out “Lord, save me!” It has been so awesome to not just lead them to Christ but to be able to disciple them as well. Sunday we had our second house church service and we had 20 people in our little burungie hall. One of our believers in the village brought the Word. It was so amazing to see these people gather together and have corporate worship when they may have never experienced it before!
We only have one more week in this burungie. We leave Sat for a few days of vacation and regroup and refocus time. Honestly, I am very sad! I have made so many friends here and God has really revealed amazing things to me while staying there. I know and trust that God has a plan for us to move on!
It ends up that I have some kind of intestinal bacteria and I got some medicine. It is slowly making me feel better! Thank you for the prayers! Keep praying! Pray that God will do BIG things this last week in this burungie. Pray that the people who have entered in to a relationship with Christ these past few weeks will stay in the Word with us gone. Pray for wherever we are to go next. Pray for strength and energy for the team! Pray for God’s will!
I feel like God has showed us some of the fruits of our labor this week! It has been such an encouraging week! We have seen so much feedback from the people we go to their house daily. They have really wanted to be in the Word and have been asking questions. Also, they have opened up almost to tears about their prayer requests. Of the people we visit daily, we have seen a woman recover almost fully from a stroke and a marriage put back together! We found another part of the burungie that we had not been to. We nicknamed it the suicide hill because when you hike to this part of the burungie it is killing your body! Lets just say if you do not lean forward when walking up the hill you will probably fall backwards! We have been there a few times! God has saved 5 more souls this week! Just like cried out in Matthew 14, they have called out “Lord, save me!” It has been so awesome to not just lead them to Christ but to be able to disciple them as well. Sunday we had our second house church service and we had 20 people in our little burungie hall. One of our believers in the village brought the Word. It was so amazing to see these people gather together and have corporate worship when they may have never experienced it before!
We only have one more week in this burungie. We leave Sat for a few days of vacation and regroup and refocus time. Honestly, I am very sad! I have made so many friends here and God has really revealed amazing things to me while staying there. I know and trust that God has a plan for us to move on!
It ends up that I have some kind of intestinal bacteria and I got some medicine. It is slowly making me feel better! Thank you for the prayers! Keep praying! Pray that God will do BIG things this last week in this burungie. Pray that the people who have entered in to a relationship with Christ these past few weeks will stay in the Word with us gone. Pray for wherever we are to go next. Pray for strength and energy for the team! Pray for God’s will!
Sunday, June 21, 2009
What an Interesting Week!
This week has been the most interesting week of my life. Spiritual things first and then I have lots of funny stories for this week. Ministry is going good. We have experienced some demonic activity this week. I will fill you in when I get home. Also, we have had 3 more people saved. Praise God! We have done numerous Bible studies…I can’t even count how many. We have found a potential person to help start a house church. Her name is Divenna. She is very knowledgeable about the scriptures. She even helped a missionary from England translate Psalm to Rev. in her native tribal language. We have been able to encourage her and she has actually led a Bible study for us and some people in the village. She said she needs a companion to help her lead when we leave, so pray for that! The people are very open to us coming in their house but not very open to committing to going to a Bible study at someone else’s house. Pray that we can start a community Bible study soon. We only have 2 weeks left in this burungie. Also this week, we have started a teen Bible study every night. WE do it our Burungie hall. WE have had around 11 teenagers each time. They want a relationship with God but they still have a lot of questions to be answered before they make that commitment. Pray for wisdom and understanding for them. I am really excited about ministering to them!
Now onto funny stories…..so I have this boy in the village who is in love with me, Ray. He can not speak English so he always makes all the little kids tell me I am beautiful and that he likes me for him. Whenever it is my turn to cook, he always starts my fire for me J Also, we were invited to the local witch doctors golden anniversary party. What an experience. There were probably 300 people there. Of course, they all stared at us all the time. We got escorted to the inner room, with all the important people. At this point, we had gotten separated from our translators. Therefore, we had not clue what they were saying to us. They proceeded to unwrap a WHOLE pig. I am talking skin and all. So we, along with their help, filled our plates with pork, rice, ect. And just smiled and swallowed. Then they put chairs for us right in front of a stage where the band was playing. I sat by some government official who kept telling me he was single. What do you say to that….good for you?! Everyone wanted us to dance but of course we couldn’t we are southern Baptist missionaries J There were so many other funny things that happened this week. I can’t wait to get home and share them with you.
God is moving and I am so excited! I can see Him everywhere! We have 2 more weeks in this burungie. Keep praying for salvation and a house church. Pray for me, I have been pretty sick. Pray for our team! Pray for my family! Thank you so much! I love you all!
Now onto funny stories…..so I have this boy in the village who is in love with me, Ray. He can not speak English so he always makes all the little kids tell me I am beautiful and that he likes me for him. Whenever it is my turn to cook, he always starts my fire for me J Also, we were invited to the local witch doctors golden anniversary party. What an experience. There were probably 300 people there. Of course, they all stared at us all the time. We got escorted to the inner room, with all the important people. At this point, we had gotten separated from our translators. Therefore, we had not clue what they were saying to us. They proceeded to unwrap a WHOLE pig. I am talking skin and all. So we, along with their help, filled our plates with pork, rice, ect. And just smiled and swallowed. Then they put chairs for us right in front of a stage where the band was playing. I sat by some government official who kept telling me he was single. What do you say to that….good for you?! Everyone wanted us to dance but of course we couldn’t we are southern Baptist missionaries J There were so many other funny things that happened this week. I can’t wait to get home and share them with you.
God is moving and I am so excited! I can see Him everywhere! We have 2 more weeks in this burungie. Keep praying for salvation and a house church. Pray for me, I have been pretty sick. Pray for our team! Pray for my family! Thank you so much! I love you all!
Saturday, June 13, 2009
He IS Moving
What do a chicken, a dog, a cat, and kids have in common?...I know this is a hard one. Theses are all things that will run through the house while you are leading a Bible study in the Philippines. In addition to those things, I have also experienced being peed on by a baby and a mother nursing her child while I am holding a Bible right in front of them. Hahaha oh the life of a missionary.
This was our first week in this burungie. It has been nothing short of AMAZING! The total number of salvations is 11 and we have had over 20 house Bible studies. I will share a few of so many stories and thoughts with you. First let me tell you about the burungie and the culture here. The people are all so very nice. They will invite you inside in a heart beat. Our first day there we decided to do laundry since we had not done it yet. All 4 of us americans grab our buckets and begin the task of washing our cloths. It was actually kind of fun. We sat outside the burungie and sang and washed cloths...for 2 hours!! It took a long time. At one point we had about 20 Philippinos around us watching us and laughing. Apparently we were not very good at washing our cloths. The children love us. In fact they look in our windows at all times..when we are sleeping, eating, or whatever. I have received many little gifts from them. Also, we have started a vbs every day at 5pm for children 11 and under and for older kids at 6pm, 12 and up. There is not a place to but meat in the burungie so we have been eating rice and noodles a lot. The burngie caption has a nice set up for us. We stay in what is called a burungie hall. It is a small room that is some what closed in. We have a tent inside there to keep mosquitoes out. Also, they have been so nice to bring us 3 electric fans and a water cooler. We bath out of buckets or...I just act like the water hose is a shower lol. I am actually enjoying it.
On to our ministry stories, God has really shown up this week. One day we shared with an older man named Poper. He ended up accepting Chirst. When we were about to leave he informed us that he has never heard the Word of God before. No one had every hiked up to his house to tell him. Let me just tell you it was the most intense hike of my life but it was well worth it for one soul! In fact, we hike there daily to help disciple him. Another day, we decided to go through this rice field to see if there were any houses. We ended up hiking about 3 miles to a village with 4 or so houses. The people ended up all being family. The grandma was still alive and she was 100 + years old. We were able to share with them as well. As i was making that first hike to their house with sweat pouring and my legs burning, i thought. "It is worth it. Even if only one person can hear about Christ." One of the goals of Nehemiah Teams is to reach the unreached and hard to reach. That we are doing my friend. God is giving me a huge burden for these people. One more story, one day we were doing Bible study with this 59 year old woman. I shared with her the story of Jesus walking on water. I explained that all of us sink in sin at some point but all we have to do is call out to the Lord to save us and he will. She began to cry and told us of how she is the only born again Christian that lives around her. She shared her struggle of wanting them to know the good news but it being hard for her to stand up. We prayed with her and have been coming back to encourage her daily. My heart was broken after that first visit with her. I take having a group of Chiristians around my for granted. We want to start a community Bible study in her house. We will see where God will lead.
One more thing, we worshiped today with a local pastor and last night I was goofing off and doing the sprinkler dance, etc. Well...this morning he made me get up in front of the church and do it for the whole congregation! It was an interesting experience lol.
Anyways, continue to pray! Pray for unity. Pray for more open doors. Pray for our vbs. Pray that we will be able to start a big house Bible study. Pray that we will be able to show a film to the whole burungie. Pray for slavation of these people. Pray for encouragement for the current believers in the burungie. Pray for strength, we are tired already. Pray for patience. Pray for God's will! I love you all!
Go and tell of what God is doing in your life!!
This was our first week in this burungie. It has been nothing short of AMAZING! The total number of salvations is 11 and we have had over 20 house Bible studies. I will share a few of so many stories and thoughts with you. First let me tell you about the burungie and the culture here. The people are all so very nice. They will invite you inside in a heart beat. Our first day there we decided to do laundry since we had not done it yet. All 4 of us americans grab our buckets and begin the task of washing our cloths. It was actually kind of fun. We sat outside the burungie and sang and washed cloths...for 2 hours!! It took a long time. At one point we had about 20 Philippinos around us watching us and laughing. Apparently we were not very good at washing our cloths. The children love us. In fact they look in our windows at all times..when we are sleeping, eating, or whatever. I have received many little gifts from them. Also, we have started a vbs every day at 5pm for children 11 and under and for older kids at 6pm, 12 and up. There is not a place to but meat in the burungie so we have been eating rice and noodles a lot. The burngie caption has a nice set up for us. We stay in what is called a burungie hall. It is a small room that is some what closed in. We have a tent inside there to keep mosquitoes out. Also, they have been so nice to bring us 3 electric fans and a water cooler. We bath out of buckets or...I just act like the water hose is a shower lol. I am actually enjoying it.
On to our ministry stories, God has really shown up this week. One day we shared with an older man named Poper. He ended up accepting Chirst. When we were about to leave he informed us that he has never heard the Word of God before. No one had every hiked up to his house to tell him. Let me just tell you it was the most intense hike of my life but it was well worth it for one soul! In fact, we hike there daily to help disciple him. Another day, we decided to go through this rice field to see if there were any houses. We ended up hiking about 3 miles to a village with 4 or so houses. The people ended up all being family. The grandma was still alive and she was 100 + years old. We were able to share with them as well. As i was making that first hike to their house with sweat pouring and my legs burning, i thought. "It is worth it. Even if only one person can hear about Christ." One of the goals of Nehemiah Teams is to reach the unreached and hard to reach. That we are doing my friend. God is giving me a huge burden for these people. One more story, one day we were doing Bible study with this 59 year old woman. I shared with her the story of Jesus walking on water. I explained that all of us sink in sin at some point but all we have to do is call out to the Lord to save us and he will. She began to cry and told us of how she is the only born again Christian that lives around her. She shared her struggle of wanting them to know the good news but it being hard for her to stand up. We prayed with her and have been coming back to encourage her daily. My heart was broken after that first visit with her. I take having a group of Chiristians around my for granted. We want to start a community Bible study in her house. We will see where God will lead.
One more thing, we worshiped today with a local pastor and last night I was goofing off and doing the sprinkler dance, etc. Well...this morning he made me get up in front of the church and do it for the whole congregation! It was an interesting experience lol.
Anyways, continue to pray! Pray for unity. Pray for more open doors. Pray for our vbs. Pray that we will be able to start a big house Bible study. Pray that we will be able to show a film to the whole burungie. Pray for slavation of these people. Pray for encouragement for the current believers in the burungie. Pray for strength, we are tired already. Pray for patience. Pray for God's will! I love you all!
Go and tell of what God is doing in your life!!
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Our God is an Amazing God
I just so happen to have internet tonight but I won't have it again untill Sunday night, your time. Really quickly, we have had such a blessed day! We arrived on Siquijor today and we were told to find this certain pastor and see if he had the supplies they had shipped ahead. After that, we were told we were to find a certain burungie and ask if we could stay there for 3 weeks.
This is how it turned out....we got to the church and found the pastor. He took us in right away. They took us to the market and helped us get food for the week. Tonight they took us to the burungie and asked the caption if we could stay there. He greatly accepted. We will be staying in a burungie hall, no clue what that is. He asked if we were going to start Bible studies and we felt like shouting "Absolutly!" He told us the place is very very safe and that he is actually the head burungie caption out of about 15 of them. The people were so sweet and welcoming. We were told to be back tomorrow around noon to settle. I am amazed at how we arrived this morning with no plans and now we are going to a village tomorrow to settle for 3 weeks. Keep praying! I really appreciate it! God is moving! Talk to you Sunday :)
This is how it turned out....we got to the church and found the pastor. He took us in right away. They took us to the market and helped us get food for the week. Tonight they took us to the burungie and asked the caption if we could stay there. He greatly accepted. We will be staying in a burungie hall, no clue what that is. He asked if we were going to start Bible studies and we felt like shouting "Absolutly!" He told us the place is very very safe and that he is actually the head burungie caption out of about 15 of them. The people were so sweet and welcoming. We were told to be back tomorrow around noon to settle. I am amazed at how we arrived this morning with no plans and now we are going to a village tomorrow to settle for 3 weeks. Keep praying! I really appreciate it! God is moving! Talk to you Sunday :)
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