How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news, who proclaim peace, who bring good tidings, who proclaim salvation, who say to Zion, "Your God reigns!" - Isaiah 52:7
As I serve far apart from my wife who is my inspiration, I am reminded that I serve with Jesus who is my utmost inspiration. I am encouraged as God's Living Grace Ministries continues to provide opportunities to share with others the joy of experiencing God by serving Him in remote villages where His Word, the Good News of Salvation and living life to the full has not been or is least heard.
I also praise God as three of our medical assistants gave their lives to Jesus just a few weeks back! They are Totie, Cora or Corrie and Lorelei Joice. Everyday, our staff is becoming a team of true Filipino missionaries and not merely medical staff doing good works. Our lives are changed and being changed by Jesus, our one true friend who died for our sins.
Last Sunday Cora and Joice trekked with me into the jungle of northern Mindoro. Joining us in our hike was our staff supervisor-in-training Carl Jestoni and missionary-in-the-making Irene. Also with us during the hike were Medical Ambassadors Philippines (MAP) volunteers Precious and James.
As I serve far apart from my wife who is my inspiration, I am reminded that I serve with Jesus who is my utmost inspiration. I am encouraged as God's Living Grace Ministries continues to provide opportunities to share with others the joy of experiencing God by serving Him in remote villages where His Word, the Good News of Salvation and living life to the full has not been or is least heard.
I also praise God as three of our medical assistants gave their lives to Jesus just a few weeks back! They are Totie, Cora or Corrie and Lorelei Joice. Everyday, our staff is becoming a team of true Filipino missionaries and not merely medical staff doing good works. Our lives are changed and being changed by Jesus, our one true friend who died for our sins.
Last Sunday Cora and Joice trekked with me into the jungle of northern Mindoro. Joining us in our hike was our staff supervisor-in-training Carl Jestoni and missionary-in-the-making Irene. Also with us during the hike were Medical Ambassadors Philippines (MAP) volunteers Precious and James.
Apart from the threat of jumping leeches, the trek to Sipit-Saburan was made difficult by the recent rains that caused the trail to become really muddy. Those of us without trekking shoes had to take off our flip-flops to keep them from getting stuck in the mud. Wet mud makes flip-flops slippery thus difficult to walk in. Maybe that was why they are known locally as “slippers”.
Meeting us in Sipit-Saburan were MAP volunteers Paul, Julius, JM and Nikki. We had an awesome time with Jesus as we shared His love with the tribe. The team played with the children, taught them songs and dances, gave them clothes, fed them and helped treat their illnesses.
It is encouraging to see new followers of Jesus “go” and choose to bless others. Though only a few days in the village, when we came back to the clinics, the girls were excited to share their experience with the other staff.
Joice was amazed at how she survived the trek. She never had any experience hiking and had history of frequent leg cramps and dizziness. As a medical doctor I may not have given her a medical clearance to hike several hours up and down mountain trails but Jesus made me excited for her to join our team. Instead of feeling tired when we arrived in the village, she felt refreshed. She enjoyed helping weigh children and distribute clothes but was deeply touched by the simple joys of playing with the Mangyan children. She went ot the village to reach out but she felt she was the one being reached out to. As the MAP team showed the Jesus film, her eyes welled-up in tears as they were opened more to the truth of the value of one life revealed on the scene where Jesus cast out a legion of demons from a demon-possesed man into a herd of pigs. She felt a white light fall upon her and felt washed and refreshed.
Irene found new wave of contentment and excitement for the life God has blessed her with as she helped serve in the feeding and assisting me in attending to the sick. She also served the team by cooking an exotic root-crop she gathered from around the village with the help of the village children. The young Saints in our team were also blessed and encouraged as she shared how God has changed her life for the best.
As for Corrie, herself a Mangyan of the sub-tribe Hanunuo from the southeast of the island, she was blessed to serve fellow Mangyans who are less fortunate than her, so much that she felt a tug in her heart to help teach them. She now found value and purpose for the education course she took in college.
Our three girls truly had a blessed time as they bonded together and bonded with the village girls. They realized how blessed they were so much that when they left Sipit-Saburan they gave away their extra set of clothes to the village girls.
Carl played frisbee with the children and basketball with the older boys and men, and led us in worship on the guitar, singing praise and worship songs. His friendship evangelism paid off as new-found friends stayed with him to watch the Jesus film.
We were blessed as we feasted on local food, like the Pako, an edible fern species, cooked in various ways. We were served fresh coconut water, and freshly picked marang, rambutan and lanzones.
A particular blessing for me was to be able to finally bring Bibles for the local churches and encourage the two pastors in the village, Birong and Mener, whose stories I will share in the next blog.
We will be back in a few weeks to continue what has been started. And so, we went to reach out to the Mangyans of Sipit but we all left more blessed than before.
We will be back in a few weeks to continue what has been started. And so, we went to reach out to the Mangyans of Sipit but we all left more blessed than before.