Happy New Year

Happy new year! Holidays in the Philippines are amazing. Carolers roam the streets singing everything from maayo pasco to I'm dreaming of a white Christmas. Dinner is served at midnight and afterwords everyone sets off fireworks until three in the morning. Most public areas are decorated with colorful lights and tree's everywhere are lit up with glowing stars. The celebrating lasts all of December and into January but the biggest firework display is saved for welcoming the new year. At midnight every household fires off it's own arsenal, colorful explosions fill the sky in all directions. The sound of bombs, rockets, and artillery is all that can be heard for hours causing some people to hide inside covering there ears. But the holidays aside our time in Cagayan was definitely blessed. Although the church is small the members are all close, aside from the Sunday service the regulars show up to two midweek studies, a night of prayer and devotions, and any other reason we can find to get together; sometimes just to worship, sometimes to crowd in one house and share a meal together. The trip was especially a blessing to me personally. The church and the family I stayed with welcomed me with open arms. By involving me in all there activities my new friends have made me feel at home in a place I have never been or even heard of before. I was also invited to be a part of the work God is starting there. We visited two pieces of land that are planing to be used for a church plant and farming plots to support the church. It is encouraging to see the hand of God at work in every town I come to, even if I don't know where I am God has already been there and has started a work to bring Himself glory. Willing servants have more than enough opportunities to get involved and serve God with the gifts He has given them.

Christmas in Cagayan

Myself and three students from CCTC have relocated to Cagayan de Oro for Christmas break. Knowing that ministry takes no breaks we are planning to participate in Calvary Chapel Cagayan's outreaches and activities. The four of us are actually living in the church and being taken care of by Kirt's (one of the three students) family. It's nice being in a new town and meeting new people. Please pray that God will use us to glorify Himself in Cagayan.

Pictures!

At last some long awaited pictures:

The chikens here produce an impresive amount of eggs
everyday. What you see on the table was just brought in.

This church is in scandii village which is right next
store. Bible college students lead youth services here.

This is downtown Dumagetie's beach front
known as the boulevard. The boulevard is a
popular hang out spot which also makes it a
great place for ministry.

Ballute! The street vendors at the boulevard
sell the legendary ballute. It's actually good.

Pedicabs come in all sorts of makes and
colors. Almost every town has there own
version of the pedicab. This one is more of a
tourist attraction though.

Some friends taught me how to weave palm
branches. This one is a prop for a cultural show
being put on by the Bible college.

A part of the cultural show depicted the life of a
Filipino family. Fish are a huge part of the
everyday diet here.

The Filipino flag and the Filipino national anthem.

The culture show also displayed many
traditional Filipino folk dances.

These pictues are of the "Founders Day" parade.
The different universities put on parades of their
founders. Sometimes it seems like there is always
a parade downtown.

This is the potter's field kids building in Amlan
that was rebuilt after hurricane damage.

This game the kids play is like

jump rope X games style.

The potter's field kids are fed both spiritually and physically.

Potter's Field Kids!

A missions team from Pastor Tripp's church in
Florida visited the Philippines. These pictures
were taken at scandii where they brought arts
and crafts supplies for the kids.

Halo Halo! Literally means mix and mix. This is
an amazing Filipino dessert that is made up of
all kinds of different desserts. This one had flan,
jello, bulba, tapioca, ice cream, and cereal.

The core. Wednesday night college group.

Fiesta day parade.

This was a play put on by the kids of CCD for
their anniversary celebration.

These are our farm plots. Students here learn
organic farming as a practical part of ministry.
This enables them to feed themselves a be a
of self supporting ministries.

Working or playing in the mud?

Ang Ginoo maayo kaayo kanako!

God is so good to me! The Core, the CCD college group, has invited me to be a part of their Bible studies and as I attend there I have been able to get involved in some of their ministries as well. Back at the CCTC I finished my class with the first year students last week. We studied what the scripture says about the Holy Spirit with Pastor Eric, a CCTC alumnus. And on the farm I have learned a little about the needs of the animals here as the students teach me how to take care of the chickens and pigs. While the pigs may be unclean I have been assured that the chickens here are all born again because they grew up listening to Chuck Smith and praise music. It turns out that if the chicks aren't raised to be used to noise then they won't produce well later on in life because the noise around them will stress them out. The animals raised here all have a purpose chickens are for laying eggs which we sell and cook with and the pigs are for lechon. But the most useful thing about having all the animals around is all their droppings which is the main ingredient to our home made manure; which is also made up of bad fruit, and vyrmie. Vyrmie is leaf and biodegradable trash compost prepared by the hard work of hundreds of earthworms. Good soil and daily watering and sure enough some of the plants I have helped to plant are already growing but we will have to wait and see if they actually produce anything.

First Post

Hey everybody! Thank you for waiting paitently for an update. I have been settling into a new place but the Lord has made it easy by providing the open arms of my new Christian family. I have been staying at the Calvary Chapel Training Center in Dumaguete, Philippines. My first week I worked with CCTC's 2x2 short term missions group who began to introduce me to the culture. They taught me a little cebuano, showed me around town, and involved me in several of CC Dumaguetes outreaches. I have been able to visit Rainbow Orphanage and Potter's Field Kids in Amlan. Since then I have been more involved with the daily activity at the CCTC. I have been invited to sit in on classes with the first year students this week and some of the students have been teaching me how they do their organic farming. Thank you for keeping me in prayer and please pray for the work of CCD and the training center, it has been a blesing to be able to take part in the ministry they have. Hopefully I will be able to post some pictures soon.