Dear Shift family,
Our team has returned from our mission trip to the Philippines at Cebu and Siargao Island where we did outreach to the churches and ministries. We had a full schedule on our plate with ministry to believers, pastors, and local people from the village. I’d like to take you on a quick tour of what happened and the highlights we experienced.
We met pastor Bobie in Cebu during our first week who feeds the children at the garbage dump every week and has built a school for them. Anyone who knows pastor Bobie has favour with other people in the city because they know that pastor Bobie helps the kids. This was very inspiring for me personally and I could see firsthand how God takes care of the poor.
Not only does he help the children but he also organized a meeting at his church where all kinds of pastors came together for a time of ministry and refreshing. We spoke about the Father heart of God and shared scriptures and personal testimonies with them and had a time of worshiping God together. It was a beautiful evening. I witnessed the power of God as he empowered me to speak in front of the people and share my personal journey of being found by our Heavenly Father.
To wrap up our first week, we were invited to pastor Han’s church to speak during the evening service and meet the people. Pastor Han had returned from Israel where she had met the Lord and dedicated her life entirely to serving God. A knack for attracting resources, she has built the church that houses a growing internet radio station, her own house, as well as the church building. Next door is a large open field being prayed over. Pastor Han and the church are believing God will release it to them to build a theatre for a worship orchestra.
We were fed a sumptuous BBQ rib dinner with the tastiest potato salad. And our team ministered to the church gathering and released prophetic encouragement and prayer ministry. It was a glorious time bathing in the presence of God.
And off we went on our next adventure to Siargao Island. After a crash landing on the small airplane strip we visited the organic farm from Hope of the Island ministries where we freshened up with freshly picked sweet coconuts!
This was our busiest week, full of ministry and outreach. Our main focus was the school of ministry with the staff at Hope for the Island and a small team from Dumaguette that had travelled in for the school. The school went from Monday to Friday, with about 4 sessions each day as well as small groups and outreach in the town of Burgos occasionally. We learned about the Father and Mother heart of God, forgiveness and bondage breaking, intimacy with God, and how to minister to others prophetically.
People were so touched by the presence of God as they worked through more levels of forgiveness and infilling of truth. We experienced the beautiful, loving, and powerful presence of God together, some shouting, crying, laughing, or resting. By the time Thursday came around people’s faces looked brighter, happier, and lighter!
I personally experienced God’s grace in leading my own small group as a facilitator, which is something I had never done! Our small groups worked through the teaching material we had learned during the sessions. This was a safe environment to let our hearts process what we had learned. My group had amazing young women who connected immediately and had a desire to love God and other people. I had to listen and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit because there were spiritual and emotional hindrances in our group that had to be worked through. And we saw fresh breakthrough and healing! Thank you Father!! He is so good.
On our last weekend on the island, we split up into a few big groups with all the staff and teams and went into nearby villages for outreach. Some went to help out families who were rebuilding their homes after the typhoon hit the islands, and I helped out with the kids outreach program along with two other men from our team. We were so blessed by the kids! I told the story of Jesus and Nicodemus, we sang action songs, ate a snack, and played games. By the time we were picked up at dusk we were all worn out but had had the best time ever! I was blessed to be a blessing and connect with the kids. There is nothing like loving and embracing them into your heart.
After having to say goodbye, we landed in Bangkok for a three day debrief. On our way back to Canada I ended up chatting with a Buddhist monk who was sitting nearby. I felt that God wanted me to go over to her and tell her about Jesus. She barely knew any English. She showed me pictures of her teachers and gods and I nodded and smiled. Then I used my arms to demonstrate the love of God that sent Jesus for us to die so we wouldn’t have to die. It was a blessed time to connect with this special woman and I believe God has started his work in her!
We know our work is going to bear a lot of fruit and we were blessed as much as we were a blessing. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for partnering with me to bring the Good News into the nations! I am so grateful! May the Lord bless you!