PICTURES/VIDEO from the PHILIPPINES album link

Copy and paste link below to view pictures/video from the mission trip (more will be posted as the days progress)

http://photobucket.com/north-hills-philippines

Day 6: Pastor seminars & Medical Clinic

Already at 6:30am the sun was at full throttle, bright and sunny, saying “Maganda Umaga(Good Morning)! I’m here.” This was the hottest day!! We were sweating soOo much, even when we were just sitting down!
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We eat Tahu every morning from the Tahu man ;)

[report at 1:15 Philippine time.]

Today, Wayne starts off the 2-day pastors seminar with his topic on parenting. Jennifer also spoke for her mom, Wynne, about how it is to be a pastor's wife. Next, Lu followed up with her presentation to the wives after lunch. While the pastor's seminar continues with Danny's presentation on finances and Pastor's taped videos, the rest of the team will be off to Binangonan to do the Medical clinic.

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The young ones first morning RnR since starting Mission work this week.


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My favorite part of the trip so far had been the medical clinic we did today. It felt so good to not only witness to the locales and gain people for Christ, but we also took care of some basic health needs.

At first I was weary of going in the beginning because of the weather (it was extremely hot and I was sweating profusely all the time) but by God's grace He sent a round cloud to cover the factory which gave us the needed shade to make it cooler to work. It was an awesome sight to see because the cloud was really round and just hitting our area, amazing!


We had a game plan in place for the medical clinic…
Garrett, Tim, Ben, Jing, Brit, Micah, Lu, and Trini will meet all of the locales first to talk to them about Jesus. The goal for them was to witness and have people accept Jesus into their lives. Out of the 60 plus that attended, 47 people accepted Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior! (Praise be to God!)

Next, they would receive a blue card and line-up at the different sections we setup. We gave away old glasses, vitamins for kids, vitamins for adults, Tylenol, toothbrush, toothpaste, mouthwash, and band-aids. I wish we had more to give (i.e. Tylenol for kids, cough syrup, etc.) but we gave what we could and the people were grateful for what they received.

I am so thankful that we had a pair of dentist that volunteered their services and supplies to treat the many Filipinos in Bingangonan who needed it. Without them we wouldn’t have been very much of a medical clinic (the 1 doctor who we thought was coming, couldn’t make it anymore. I am so grateful that we still had dentist) Doctor Joy and her nurse worked nonstop from 3-8pm without rest, diligently pulling out roughly 50 bad teethes from various people. From grandparents to little 5 year olds (many w/o parents), teeth were pulled with pliers and a shot of anesthetic sitting in an old chair in a small air-conditioned factory make-sift room! (We are so lucky in the states)

Day 5: Crusade

GOD WILL DO IT FOR YOU BUT YOU'LL HAVE TO STAY IN THE GAME

We went to International Charismatic Service (ICS) in the city for our Church service. It is a beautiful church with a wonderful praise band, friendly members, and lead by an inspiring pastor! It was also nice that the service was in English and air conditioned ;) It was a well needed refueling
-Trina

Today in Navotas we were a part of helping in a crusade there. we went around the area and passed tracks and invited people to come be apart of the celebration. We sang, pastor spoke, several people gave personal testimonies (i.e. Garrett, Trina, and locales), 20 people accepted the invitation (Amen!), and we passed out goodies to the kids.

I think today was the most touching part of the trip so far for me. We went to- Navotas, a poor section of the city, and it was really cool how the kids just flocked to us. It was cool that i got to interact with the kids in my broken Tagalog and somehow they still understood what i said. The kids there are just so happy even though they don't have very much and they are grateful for the clothes and the toys we gave them. It makes us think about all the things we have for granted back home and how privileged we are.

-Tim

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REACH Update

Hi, this is Garrett.
Martin, Wayne, Tim, Ben, and I went to a community or Barangay called Santa Rosa to hold a basketball clinic. The Barangay leader has been talking to Pastor Norman and is embracing it as a way to keep kids from taking drugs. He supported us a lot for this reason. He just wanted a way to keep kids off the street and so God used that to give us a way to reach out to the community. While there, it was amazing how much fun the kids had doing simple basketball drills. Normally they just play, so doing those drills seemed silly and new to them and they had a lot of fun. The Barangay we were working in was the smallest Barangay on the island, and the surrounding leaders were wondering why we were supporting the smallest Barangay, but brother Wayne reminded us that Bethlehem was the smallest town, and from it came the savior of the world. I think God is starting something big in Santa Rosa, with a willing and open leader, I think they'll be able to set an example for the surrounding area of what God can do.

Day 4: Children's Festival/Basketball clinic

Whew, thank you Lord! The Children's Festival was a hit with around 200 kids registering. Great news fom Jing and Lu's class: 38 accepted Christ and we are waiting on Pastor Norman for the final count :) Also, parents, had their own seminar and 20 of them accepted Christ as well. Praise the Lord!

Now for basketball, 15 accepted Christ from over the 50 plus who attended. It was blessed beginning for the new basketball ministry called REACH. It stands for Recreation Evangelistic Abundant Community Harvest. This is their equivalent to our Upward. It's a chance for teenagers to get into something positive and constructive rather than being on the streets. It was a joy to be apart of its beginning!

It was another long, hot and sweaty, but successful day here in the Philippians :)
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Through Micah's eyes:

Today was the Children’s Festival! Most of the guys had already gone to the Basketball Clinic which is also called REACH. The rest of us went to CBS.

When we arrived, there were a lot of kids all waiting to get in. They were really excited. The leaders took their students to a room and did Bible study with the kids. Many accepted Christ and were saved.

Next we focused on finishing up the give away gifts.

Then the activities started. There was finger painting, face painting, and arts and crafts.

After, we gave out the give away gifts.

Uncle Danny and other leaders ministered to the parents. They taught them how to make soap and other essential products. Some of the adults have come to know Him as well.

The “men” came back from REACH all sweaty and stinky…again. :D

We attended their Saturday evening service. The worship was great. It had that “for real” feeling. I can’t say much for the sermon because I can’t really understand Tagalog. Haha. We were blessed with a young man that spoke both English and Tagalog. His name is Moses. He translated for us and helped us with what ever needed to be done.

There was a wedding at our house today until eight o’clock so we went to Celebrity, a resort in the city. We ate there and hung out. When we got home we were greeted with some bad news: that we couldn’t swim! I know tragic right? Today contained a lot of excitement and fun.

Quotes for the day:
“No trading!” –Pastor Norman
“Manok” –Jenny and Garrett

Day 3: The sun has finally showed up

Sometimes we have to sacrifice because I am not my own (1 Corinthians 6:19)
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For the past two days, it has been overcast and the threat of rainy falling at anytime, which has kept the weather cool and enjoyable. TODAY we got to experience the full influence of the sun as the clouds have now gone away…for the mean time anyway.

Today we ironed out the plans for the Children's Festival and did our 1st Basketball clinic. It was another long day and we were all extremely tired after.

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Micah and Brits day by Micah and Brit
Today we went Binangonan, Rizal. Earlier at lunch, while we were at the restaurant, Pastor Bernie got us some Filipino Green Mangos to eat. Green Mangos are unlike normal Mangos. While they’re green, they’re the complete opposite of yellow mangos. They’re hard and sour. We helped at the church and played with the kids. We saw how fortunate we are to have the simple things in life like a bathroom, or a diaper. They were only able to buy one diaper at a time, because they couldn’t afford it. They all took their children to work, and the kids didn’t go to school if they had no food to eat. Instead, they would dig through the trash can for water bottles, and sell those, so that they could buy one bowl of rice to eat. Brittany gave the kids pencils and they were already so happy. They called Jennifer Ate(older sister) and played with her skin. The kids here are content to play with just a stick to sword fight, metal bars to climb and have fun on and paper to use as a pretend phone. The guys left to go to the Basketball Clinic and came back all sweaty. When we got back to our house people were having a debut. It lasted until 12:23 A.M.

DAY: 2 Our first day of work

(what God has put on Jenny's heart) Ephesians 6:19-20
Pray also for me. Pray that when I open my mouth, the right words will be given to me. Then I can be bold as I tell the mystery of the Good News. Because of the Good News, I am being held by chains as the Lord’s messenger. So pray that I will be bold as I preach the good news. That’s what I should do


Morning Devotion
Danny paraphrased = Put forth full commitment when you go on mission. No in and out, but everything you’ve got for the Lord.

Remember that it’s not about you. And so the discomforts of traveling, being in a new country, the feelings of homesickness, and other human emotions is nothing compared to what we are meant to do here - to do God’s work and spread His Good News to others who don’t know him personally.
-Trina

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pictures and videos as soon as I possibly can

Hello everyone. Today we sorted out the different clothes, toys, and other materials we will be giving away on Saturday(Friday for the ones in the USA) for the Children Bible School/Children’s Festival. Pastor Norman was a little worried because we had over 20 boxes BUT with team work and God on our side it was sorted out in one morning.

The most amazing/shocking/joyous activity we did today is passing out tracks. I’ve known that we are blessed with material possessions in the United States, but to actually see and understand how much we have back home in the States compared to others around the world, like here in Binangonan, is shocking.
[pictures/video coming]

It was amazing though to see all the people in their homes and interacting in the neighborhoods. Everyone’s doing their daily routines- kids laughing and playing, adults working, teenagers playing basketball, and more. It's just in a very different setting then what I am use to that I looked around silently in amazement. The people have little, but they are making it and their happy.

-Trina

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QUICK COMMENTS
“I was surprise about how in the wee hours of the morning and late at night -like 5am way early in the morning, way too early for me and past 10pm at night– people are up and about. Come to find out that it’s because it gets really hot in the afternoon that they all congregant early in the morning and late at night to escape from the heat.” -Jenny

FYI = Jenny did great at passing out tracks to the locals! Ben taught here some tagalog phrases and she did very well. oh, and the kids loved her camera :)


Also, Garrett was a 'superstar' with elders asking him to take pictures with him which he obliged willingly :) AND Pastor Norman gave him a heads up that the kids will probably want his autograph when the basketball clinic starts ;p

FYI = Garrett shared with us that he had some apprehension about meeting the people Philippines and sticking out in the crowd, but he found out that people are the same here then in any part of the world. They are happy and very friendly.

DAY: 1

As Jenny put it, “We’ve been chasing the moon” since the States to the Philippines -14 hours on the plane, we went from night to night.

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It’s been a looong day but thank the Lord we have made it safely to the Philippines ☺ As I stepped unto Philippine soil, my nervousness was replaced with joy and relief. Looking to everyone’s tried faces at 5am P.I. time, I was filled with the excitement of being here in this country and the task at hand.

JUST ARRIVED[pics/video coming as soon as actually possible ;p ]
We ate breakfast…
-Jenny’s first Filipino cuisine and she had Chicken Alfredo (very authentic)
-Lynne, Garrett is alive and well and he loved his omelet and pancakes ;p

Then we finally reached our home in the PI for a much needed rest and relaxation.

At 8pm we had our first briefing with Pastor Norman. We went over the agenda for the week and discussed some of the details for the week. And I am sure we will have more discussion on finalizing these plans as the days progress. ‘Be flexible be flexible be flexible’’ as Brooke so puts it ;)

More soon…we love you all and we are all doing well! God Bless

Almost time!!

Hello everyone :)

Thank you for checking in with us.
We have less than a week left and then we are off to the Philippines to do God's work.

Please continue to pray for this Children's Bible School/Medical Session/Seminars/etc. for this mission trip and for each of the team members.

I will be posting more very soon, so please stay in touch.

God Bless,
Trina Miniano