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!!