After a lot of fund raising, I've moved. I'm officially back in the Philippines! The more I prayed about it, the faster i wanted to get back. My life was pointing me here and i had to get back ASAP! I believe when God calls you to something, you drop what you're doing and you follow Him. Matthew 4: 18 comes to my mind concerning following Jesus . Peter and his brother where fishing as jesus was walking along-side the sea. Jesus saw the brothers and said "Come follow Me." they immediately got up and followed him. I believe God calls us to do this today. If you look at Luke 9:3, you see basically the same attitude towards following Jesus. Jesus said, "Take nothing for the journey- no staff, no bag, no bread, no money, no extra shirt." Now you could take this literally but I brought a couple of shirts with me. (But I didn't bring a staff) As far as the money aspect, we'll get to that in a little bit! :) Being back here has been exciting and challenging. The challenging part has been the jet-lag. I've been back for a week and a half now and i still can't hold my head up past 9pm! Even if the roosters didn't crow, what seems like right by my ear, I would still be up before the sun! Apparently I have the worst case of jet-lag anyone has ever seen over here. It's getting better though! Maybe I'm just week sauce.....(one that is generally unmanly) It hasn't taken long to do what I've come here to do. Let me tell you a small, but significant, story. When I flew here I had to land in Manila. That's the hub for the Philippines. When we got here we stayed in the ministry center about two hours from the airport, still in Manila. (FYI if you ever come to Manila, I hope you like sitting in humid taxi's for a long time. :) Jk... Kinda.. Manila's great!) One of the nights we were there, I was randomly asked to lead for a children's ministry a little bit further into the city. I realized it was only going to be me with a guitar singing and leading. Out of habit, and after a conversation with my friend marc, I thought, "Lord, it would be awesome to have a box drum." So I prayed for a box drum. To me, when you're playing an acoustic session, drums add a great dynamic. It gives it a little more energy. When we got there, I kid you not, a kid came up to where we were and asked if he could play the box drum he was holding in his hand!... selah... Yeah, I had to sit back for a couple of seconds and breath before I cried. (Once again, could have been the jet-lag) This reminded me how powerful prayer is when we pray in the spirit and pray with God's glory being the for front of our motives. Here are some pics of that night. It was simple but it's always cool seeing kids sing to Jesus. When we left Manila, we flew here, to CDO. (Cagayan de Oro) (This map came from google) this city is a little Manila. The population here is just North of 600,000 people. I'm sure there are more just outside the city limits. The streets are crowded with people from all classes and walks of life and it can take a long time to get a little-ways. I love it, though. Immediately when I was back I plugged back in to the church i was involved with and will lead worship for the first time the first week in September! I look forward to the opportunities that will present themselves through that! There isn't a very big market for christian music over here. There are some Christian radio stations but as far as artists being and living over here, it virtually doesn't exist from what I understand. So because of that, I'm in talks with some people from here and hopefully from Manila about how we can change that ;)! Stay tuned for that! And lastly, but absolutely not least, I got to see the kids at Streetlight! When I first saw them, it was like I never left. I'm excited to see how God uses this ministry in giving them hope and a future through jesus' work on the cross, not just for eternity but in the here and now. Some of them stole my phone yesterday so here is what they did with it. (tried to put a video but I don't have the pro edition yet) And they tried to get fancy and take an action shot. Didn't work out as he planned.
Being back has surely been a blessing and a ride already. I've met new people, made exciting plans, gotten to play with the kids and get to adjust in every way with the fact I'm over here now. (Mentally, physically, spiritually and emotionally) You now know that I'm back over here but what you may not know is...... (drumroll)........ I'm still not funded enough to have the funds released to me. I'm sure there are mixed opinions about coming before you're fully funded but i know if God says go and you go, He'll make a way. Am I nervous? Naturally. I'm living off of my own dime I've saved up until I raise enough upfront money and monthly money. Currently I'm sitting at $4,100 for the upfront portion and $1,000 in monthly donations. The upfront has to be $7,000 and the monthly has to be 80% of my goal and that is $1,380. That means I lack $2,900 for the upfront and $380 a month for the monthly goal to be met and all my funds to be released to me. I'm trusting God is going to provide everything I need maybe not in my time but in His. If you feel lead to give, all you have to do is click on the contact/support me tab or anywhere it says "Partner With Me." From there, it's easy! Regardless, going forward, especially now that I'm here, I'm going to need your prayers. thanks for taking the time to see what's going on :)! Shalom
1 Comment
Lisa Herrington
8/26/2014 04:51:59 am
Great post! So proud of you! It takes a special person to leave everything behind and go around the world to do God's work.
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AuthorForgiven.. Trying to live out my purpose the best I know how, and playing music along the way! EP coming soon! Archives
January 2017
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