Here's what I know so far. The Waray-Waray people of Samar are among the least reached with the Gospel in the Philippines. Amanda and I will mainly be discipling new believers. Our goal is to build them up in the Word of God and teach them to teach others also! Each week, we will travel down the Oras river by boat to the same few villages (barangays). We will meet with believers to have Bible studies and live among the people of the barangays. The name "Waray-Waray" actually means "having less than nothing--" they are a people who have very little, but God greatly loves and cares for "the least of these." I'm grateful for this chance to love them and point them to Christ, the One who loves them most!
I have several prayer requests before I start this journey. First, please pray for those in Samar who are already believers. Pray that they will continue to grow in truth and not be lead astray. Pray God will give them boldness and a desire to share about Jesus with others. Pray for those who have not yet heard, that their hearts might be prepared and that they might believe. Pray also for their physical needs. Pray for Amanda and me, that we would be unified and support each other! I'm so grateful for God's provision of a partner. Pray God would give us strength and wisdom for this task and we would draw closer to him and depend on him. Pray also that God will give us strength to guard against Satan's attacks, as we will be vulnerable in a completely new culture and place, far from the comforts of our lives here. Pray that when we're tired and stressed, God will give us peace in him and strength to overcome! And pray most of all that we fix our eyes on Jesus, because everything we do there must come from our knowing and loving him.
Thank you for the prayers and support you have given me already. I cannot ask you enough to keep praying because we cannot go without your prayers!
You might wonder why I decided to go to this place of all places and this people of all peoples. I didn't; God chose this place for me, and so I know it is exactly where I need to be. God closed some doors and opened this one. He is the one who opened this door for me to serve, and I know He will see me through, providing for me in every way and equipping me for the task he's set before me. He is a great God who is ever faithful to me and his understanding is so much higher than mine. So I will love and serve him in all I do.
"Have you not known? Have you not heard?
The LORD is the everlasting God,
the Creator of the ends of the earth.
He does not faint or grow weary;
his understanding is unsearchable.
He gives power to the faint,
and to him who has no might he increases strength.
Even youths shall faint and be weary,
and young men shall fall exhausted;
but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;
they shall mount up with wings like eagles;
they shall run and not be weary;
they shall walk and not faint."
Isaiah 40:28-31
