Mobile Crossroads DTS Coming August 2008

I just finished this video for the school coming up this August.

I will be working in Butuan for the first part of the year, and then going up to Baguio City to staff this school. Hopefully this video will give you a better understanding of what the school will be about. If you are interested in being a student, please email me or you can send an email to the address at the end of the video....

Enjoy..

One Child**

I'd like to introduce my new friend, E...I met her a few weeks ago in the Plaza (town square). She was outside of a bank looking through the window and the guard came out to shoo her away, so she wouldn't disturb the customers by begging as they came out the door.

I happened to have a bag of sweet breads in my hands, so I called to her and got her attention. She crossed the street to where I was waiting and thankfully took the pieces of bread I offered. As she ate, I asked her about her life, with the help of my friend Dahlia, who translated.

E is 12 years old and was abandoned on the streets of Butuan, along with her siblings, by her mother when she was only six. Her father had all ready died. After some time, she was "adopted" by an American and his Filipina wife. Apparently she was well taken care of in that home and was happy. However, after the American died, she was thrown out of the house by the wife's mother, because of money issues. So she went back to life on the streets.

On the day I met her she asked me if she could come home with me. I can't explain what went through my mind at that point...but I knew I couldn't say yes. Praise the LORD, I all ready knew what hope I could give her. I told her about Project Destiny Drop-In Center. I told her about what kinds of things we'd do there...that we would feed her there...that she'd be safe there.

Before I left, with the help of Dahlia, I told her that I would look for her when I was in the city, and that she should look for me...that I would love to talk to her more.

The next day Teresa and I were doing errands in that part of the city, and we ate our lunch at Red Apple. (If you ever come to visit, I'll take you there...it's an interesting experience.:)) We had leftovers we were leaving the restaurant with, and Teresa was so excited about what I had told her about E. So we decided to look for her in the Plaza. She wasn't there, unfortunately, but we met some of her other friends...so we gave the chicken and rice (and brownie) to them and asked them to please tell E that Ate Susan would be back tomorrow around lunchtime to see her.

So I bought one loaf of bread, two cans of tuna, some sandwich spread and a can of juice. The next day, I made baggies of diluted juice (they probably don't drink enough water) and a bag of tuna sandwiches.

I looked at the small little pile of food on the table and wondered if it would be enough for the kids that might be there after it got around that an American was coming for lunch. But I just decided to trust that God knew who would be there and how much was needed, and that I was just going to be faithful with my "loaves and fish."

So off I went, alone. (We were having about 12 lunch guests in our house, so Teresa was needed there to serve them.) When I got to the Plaza, I was relieved to see that there weren't 50 kids waiting for me. The number was closer to 15... E was happy to see me, and a little bit shy, while she watched me the food away. I was amazed to see that there were more than enough sandwiches (one kid got 3!) and at the end, there was enough juice for every child there (plus the 2 adults), with one bag leftover.

I didn't preach, I didn't mention church or the Bible. I just simply passed out smiles, kind words and a bit of food. I remembered Jesus words about giving someone a drink of water...that it is like giving Him water. So I thanked Him that I was able to love these kids in His name. I told them about the center...and I hope to see them there one day. Relationship has been established.

I haven't seen E since that day. But I do look for her. I wonder if she's ok. I wonder if she ate today. I wonder if someone is hurting her. (It's well known in Butuan City that if you want sex with a child, you go to the Plaza.)

Please pray for E and her friends. She is one of more than 2,000 street kids in this city alone. Please pray for Butuan City. Please pray for the street kids all over the world today.

**edited to change her name, for her protection.

Fried Chicken with Friends

My friends, who also happen to be Project Destiny volunteers, Joice and Inday, were just here for dinner. We had fried chicken and rice...with a bit of chocolate for dessert, since it IS Valentine's Day... Joice was telling me that she would love to learn how to make a video on the computer, so I offered to show her how I've made the other PD videos. She thought that was a lovely idea, so we sat down together and made this video about the Christmas party we had last month.

Even though it was a month late, we were still in the Christmas season here in the Philippines, which lasts until February first. We invited the street kids who hang out in the bus terminal to come to the center on a Saturday afternoon. About 40 kids came and filled up the downstairs of our building. It was the first time we'd had kids in the center....what an amazing sight to see. We played games, sang songs, the New Caledonians performed some dances, and we ate.

At the end we were able to give each child a Christmas present in the form of a Ziploc bag full of amazing stuff. Each bag had: one washcloth, one pair of socks, one hairbrush (with hair ties for the girls), one toothbrush and toothpaste, a bar of soap and one toy. What treasures!!! The video shows the looks of glee and amazement on the faces of the kids...beautiful. Special thanks to Calvary Chapel Fremont for making the gift giving possible.:)

Hope you enjoy the video...
God bless you!:)

We've Hosted Our First Overseas Team!!

So have you ever hung out with a group of people who speak a completely different language, yet somehow through you common love for Jesus, relationship is formed in a beautiful, only-God-could-have-done-it way?

I live in a place where all around me everyday is a language I don't understand...yet. But somehow it's become a familiar unknown. Last month we hosted a team from New Caledonia, which is a French territory.

For two weeks I kept thinking, "WHY didn't I take FRENCH in high school?!?" The team was made up of 4 YWAM Discipleship Training School students who came to the Philippines for their outreach, and their staff leader, Aza, the translator.

We are so thankful they came. They were able to complete the painting in the drop-in center, help build a parsonage for a local church, participate in an evangelical crusade for children (which resulted in a children's Bible study group being formed), help us with our Christmas party (a month late) and prayer walk through parts of our city.

In the short time they were here, God formed a beautiful relationship between us. They prayed over us and over our volunteers, and as they prayed, they wept. God delivered a message to them about what He's doing here that didn't need to be translated. Through His revelation they understood how to pray, and how to encourage, and how to be a blessing in this place. It's my prayer that they were blessed beyond measure through spending time here in the Philippines, and that one day they will be able to return and see the fruits of their labors here.

Andy and I on the way home from church, in the jeepney.

Valery painting the face of some kids during the crusade.

Aza, their leader and amazing translator.

All of us. originally this was the nice group photo, but with a click of the button, I deleted the nice one. So here's the goofy one. Who ever said missionaries are SERIOUS?!!??!

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!!!