Philippines Journal 2007 #4

‘Twas a good Sabbath! Most of the team members went to their sites. Dr Motzev spoke at his church, but his wife did not at hers. She did visit the church and another nearby, however. The same for the Sandviks: They weren’t quite prepared for Brittney at her church, so she went with David to his and they sang together and he preached. Elliot’s church also seemed not to be ready for him; so he went with Dave Parks and Jane, and he gave the Mission story. They had an interesting encounter with a Seventh-day Baptist there that is Caucasian, but hates America! Emmanuel had a great time at his church. They made him try all kinds of foods for lunch. Keith preached here at the Mission Church; and even though it seemed short to some people, he did preach for 30 minutes. I switched with Zdravko. He preached at the main site and I preached at the Central church. He said that there was a large crowd there.

At the Central Church, the church was almost full when Sabbath School began at 9:00am. By the time for Divine Service it was packed and overflowing. In the program they had Vie scheduled to give a Summary of the Sabbath School lesson. But those of you, who know my wife, know that she is not comfortable with that type of public speaking. So since I have the “gift of the gab” I did it. I also spoke for church. I didn’t know that it was a special Sabbath - “Investment Sabbath.” The Investment Bingo was fascinating. Basically Bible questions; and a prize given to the Class that got them all correct. At the end of the Worship Service they gave me a Certificate of Appreciation, and a barong shirt and undershirt to match. The lunch that was provided for the whole church was awesome. The WWC VBS team came with me, and they loved it. What a spread! It was great to see so many members who brought their lunch to church and just hung around. The joy in the faces of old and young was also infectious. Incidentally, Sabbath School ended early at my church, so service ended at 11:30am. At most of the other sites, Sabbath School went long and ended at 11:30; and Worship service went till 12:30.

This afternoon most of the team had time to catch up on their sleep. They need it. Last night we had a huge thunderstorm that kept some of them awake. For others of us (or was that only me?), it was soothing and gave a great tropical sleep! Then tonight there was a special concert at the Central put on by the Media Ministries. Great lay talent!