Philippines Journal 2007 #21 – The Final

We are home! We praise God for his journeying mercies and for his protection and care throughout these 3 weeks. This has been one of the most delightful and non-stressful trips, because every member of the team was with the program and did not put their personal desires above that of the community. Our Filipino hosts were most gracious and took the best care of us. Our collective response to the experience is that we would do it again. Most significant for me was the comment by the Ministerial Director of the Mission that had we not been there the number of those baptized would be far less. For one, the “curiosity factor” brought many persons out to the meetings that would not normally attend had the speaker been local. He suggested that the baptismal total would be closer to 100. Instead the total for this first baptism was 922, and more to come (as a result of this effort) in the next week or two.

I was also very pleased with a number of other outcomes. Let me highlight a few: One of our own team mentioned that she has been an Adventist all her life, but had questions about our Faith and the way some of our beliefs were presented by some. As she listened from night to night her faith was strengthened and she is stronger in her belief system. Second, not only was the Field School a great success in the upgrading of the ministry, but many of leaders told us that they learned so much from the nightly meeting – they found new ways to connect with people and initiate them into Christ. The Ministerial Director indicated that he has already planned a training session for all the workers in the Mission later this year, utilizing the material that they received from us. Third, the children ministry by our team was exceptional! They were naturals. I didn’t have to tell them what to do. They not only were the best in the formal VBS, and “children’s time” of the evening meeting, but throughout the day they were constantly seeking opportunities to love, care for, play with, and minister to which ever kid they came in contact with. The one disappointment was that we were not able to do any Community Service because of the security situation. But the interaction with people where ever we met them brought blessings to them and us.

This was an amazing trip in terms of the smoothness of flights and eventualities. All flights that I was on left on time and arrived early. All baggage arrived with the flights. The last time we came in 1998, the first flight was 15 hours delayed; a man died on the flight; we slept on the floor of a poorly kept terminal over night. Nothing like this on this trip! God was good, all the time!

And finally, if there are any Filipinos reading this, I want to thank you and all the Filipinos that we came in contact with for your most wonderful hospitality and the joy you brought to our lives during the three weeks we spent in you lovely islands. May God bless the Philippines!