Mission Trip

I am excited to share with you an opportunity the Lord opened up just this past week. Since I have been in the Philippines, several people have told me about the island of Palawan. It is an area to the southwest of the island on which Manila is located, and is apparently mountainous and resembles Papua New Guinea in many ways. I am told there are number of tribes living there that have not yet been reached with the gospel.

I have a Filipino doctor friend (a pediatric cardiologist) who has been burdened with the needs of this area for some time. She is friends with a national family that have a solid church ministry on that island. Last week, we were talking with a member of this family, Jethro Malacao. He is leaving for the States at the end of August to work on his doctorate at BJU, but he invited my doctor friend and I to come to Palawan early in August to do a medical mission trip.

So our plan is to leave to fly there on Friday, August 12th, do medical ministry in 1-2 locations on Saturday, participate in the church mission conference on Sunday (including assisting as needed with the medical needs of the attendees), and return to Manila on Monday. There is also some talk of assisting some national nurses in the church with the training and guidelines needed to set up a regular clinic ministry.

I am thrilled to have the opportunity to be involved in medical ministry again and to see this area that I have heard so much about. One concern I had when I heard about the opportunity was where the money would come from to buy medicines (as most of my money has been going toward setting up housekeeping here). But the very night that I heard about the opportunity, I received my monthly GFA financial report and discovered that one of my supporting churches had given an additional large gift that will more than cover the cost of any medicines we will purchase. Praise the Lord for His provision!

Please pray for us now as we prepare, drawing up treatment protocols and procuring medicines. Also please pray for a number of pressing projects at New Song Ministries that I need to complete before leaving.

Church

This week I just wanted to praise the Lord for the church He has led me to attend. (The picture is me with some of my church mates.) I really enjoy the people there and feel like they have welcomed me as part of the group, despite my different appearance and the language barriers.

I continue to assist in the music ministry, accompanying the congregational singing on either flute or piano, accompanying for choir and special music, and playing offertories. I also have enjoyed attending the ladies Bible study each Sunday afternoon and getting to know the ladies and their needs better.

I will be leading the Bible study next Sunday afternoon, so I would appreciate your prayers for that. Also please pray that the Lord will give direction as to other ministries in which He would have me be involved.

Since it takes about two hours to commute to this church, I do not go there on Wednesday nights. However, the Lord has given me the opportunity to work with the children in the church close to where I live. Please do pray for these children as well. Although most, if not all, of them are from Christian homes and/or attend Christian school, the majority are either unsure of their salvation or have never even made a profession. They know the truth, but have not applied it personally. Please pray that the Lord will give us wisdom as we lead the program and that the Holy Spirit will be at work to illumine their minds to the truth of the gospel.

Speaking and Music

The Lord continues to open doors for ministry, often unexpected ones. On Friday, I had the opportunity to speak to about 25 BJMBC female students in Ladies Forum. They had submitted a list of topics that they wanted to cover during the year and a frequent request concerned knowing the will of God -- how do I know if God is calling me into ministry, how do I know if I'm called to be a pastor's wife, etc. I was asked to address this topic with them. I enjoyed giving them biblical principles to guide their decision making and several requested me to email them my speaking notes.

Then on Saturday, the church I attended when I was here previously hosted a ladies meeting with a health focus. They had a number of speakers on different aspects of health but asked me to give the devotional (because of my nursing background). I enjoyed sharing about "The Disease of the Soul," and pray that the Lord will continue to use the truth of His Word in the hearts of those who heard.

Today (Sunday) gave opportunities for musical ministry at church as I played my flute for congregational singing, accompanied the church choir in the morning service, and sang in a trio for the evening service.

Next week, we are looking forward to having two young ladies from the U.S. visiting with us. They are here to work with National Hoops (a basketball tournament outreach for young people), but came early to get a chance to see ministry in the Philippines. One of them will be staying in my apartment, so I have been busily trying to finish getting it furnished. I finally have a table and chairs, and got a bed for the second bedroom and hung the curtains.

Thank you so much for your continued prayers for the ministry here. May God be glorified in everything we do -- from the public ministries to the private ones.

Opportunities

The Lord provided several ministry opportunities this week. First, when I was at the grocery on Monday, I had a good opportunity to talk to the young man who was helping me with my bags. He wanted to know why I was so happy and why I would leave America to come to the Philippines when so many Filipinos want to get to the U.S. His English wasn't good enough for a deep conversation, but I was able to explain briefly and give him a tract in Tagalog. Then the girl working the elevator wanted to see the tract and took it out of his hand to look at it, so I gave her one too:-) Pray for this young man. I forget his name, but the Lord will know who you mean.

Then Monday evening, we had a party for about 20 BJMBC girl students who are living near the school rather than commuting in each day. We had a good time of fun and food, but I also enjoyed getting to share the devotional -- thoughts that the Lord has taught me on Psalm 73. Please do pray for these girls. Many of them are a long way from home for the first time, and they are at varying levels of spiritual maturity. They range in age from 16 to early 30s. It is a blessing to have them and we pray that the Lord will do a real work in their lives during their time here.