Project Destiny Drop-in Center

We're working on getting our new building ready for the opening of the Drop-in Center. This video shows the progress we've made so far....and leaves room for you in the end...:)

Blessings on your heads today.

Yep, I was in Thailand TOO!!!

From Hong Kong, where our other trip began and ended, I flew to Bangkok for the Cutting Edge conference on "Invisible Children". It was my first time in Thailand, and I spent the majority of my time at the conference location. One evening we were able to take a trip into the city to spend a few hours at a night market...super fun!!

The conference was excellent. It's quite a sensation to be in a room with 300 other people who have a heart for Children at Risk...The conference was for leaders of Christian ministries to children in Asia. It's put on by the VIVA network. www.viva.org Since I am fairly new to working in this type of ministry, this conference was a valuable experience for me. I was exposed to all kinds of things that were new to me. It was also quite overwhelming, and I just did my best to SOAK up all that God had for me, and remember that I couldn't learn it all at once. It was definitely another one of those moments in life where I wish I could implant the chip in my brain and then be on the same page as everyone else...wouldn't that be a marvelous invention??

There are so many children in such tragic circumstances around the world.The theme of the conference this year was "Invisible Children," meaning the children in our world who are unseen...who slip through the cracks and don't end up being noticed. I learned about "grooming" children for web porn. There are thousands of internet cafes in Mindanao (the island I live on) alone, and there are people who will get street kids and have them chatting with foreigners in exchange for a meal and then doing things that the child may not even understand. Sometimes the child even ends up in a slavery situation, where they are unable to break free from the perpetrator. The foreigners have to pay money to view the child, so the easiest way to spot a cafe where this is happening is to look if there is a Western Union next door. It's so heartbreaking to know that children are caught in such a filthy trade...

Please pray for the children who are on the streets right now. They need hope.

Our God is a GREAT BIG GOD!!!

I realize that it's been quite some time since I have posted. I've been off on an adventure around Asia. I just got back about 2 weeks ago, and as usual it has been pretty busy around Butuan and, as usual, my brain needed some time to process what happened before I could write about it coherently.

During the first 3 weeks I was gone, I was leading a short term adventure in C (for security reasons let's refer to it here as C). Our group of 9 was comprised of church members from churches in California, Wisconsin and Washington. We traveled by ferry, train, bus, tricycle (motorcycle with box on the back for passengers) and airplane during our time together. We were able to encourage and bless the people we met along the way. We prayer walked through cities. We met many people in English corners in places. We laughed and cried and laughed again.

This was my favorite trip to C so far. Father was so faithful to each one of us in our time together. He spoke clearly to each of us in personal ways. One of the team members even saw a picture of an old man- quite specific detail was given in the picture about what he looked like and what he would be wearing. She really felt like God was saying that she needed to watch for that man. About 2 days later she met him on the street. She didn't know exactly what to do, but she ended up praying for him right there on the street. We may never know the outcome of this encounter in the life of that man, but I know that Kari was so encouraged, knowing that God spoke to her and she heard Him so clearly...

In my case, I had a very specific dream about a baby with a throat problem (cleft throat...unheard of, but so clear in my dream), who was in front of a building with a green railing. I shared the dream in our morning meeting, unsure of what significance it had, but knowing that God was saying SOMEthing. There was a suggestion that maybe it wasn't a literal dream, but that the baby had something wrong in that area....maybe no voice. That day we got on a bus and rode into the countryside. When we got off the bus, I saw the building from my dream. As we walked in the area, we met a baby who was very sick. She had a throat problem...the translation from the parents was that she couldn't get the phlegm out and that she had a sore throat. So we prayed for her and blessed her to know the Father, and to grow into a mighty woman of God. Again, I may never know the outcome of what happens with that little girl, but I do know that I was in awe of my SuperFatherGod who spoke clearly to me that day. By the way, later I went to the building from my dream....it was a nursery school....so we talked with the kids...and of course we prayed for them too...(the top two photos are of the kids, with the green railing from the dream at the bottom of the photo, AND the baby...:))

Of course there were alot of things that went on in that trip, but if I share that all here, what will I tell you when I come home and see you all?!?!?!?

GO GOD!!!