Celebrations

"And he arose and came to his father. But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and felt compassion, and ran and embraced him and kissed him. And the son said to him, ‘Father, I have sinned against heaven and before you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son.’ But the father said to his servants, ‘Bring quickly the best robe, and put it on him, and put a ring on his hand, and shoes on his feet. And bring the fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this my son was dead, and is alive again; he was lost, and is found.’ And they began to celebrate.” Luke 15:20-24, from the Parable of the Prodigal Son

Stories have always meant a lot to me. Good stories make the truth easier to see. We have used this story, just one of Jesus’ many stories, in the Bible studies for the last two weeks. One of the questions we use to start discussion is, “How might the son have felt? What about the father?” The son might have felt afraid his father would be too angry with him to accept him back, because of what he had done. He came humbly, knowing he did not deserve to be called his father’s son. He knew he needed forgiveness. But what does the father feel towards his lost son? Love is the answer—seeing his son coming home from a long way off, the father RUNS to his son and embraces and kisses him. One lady in one of the Bible studies pointed out that the father recognizes his son, even from far away, just as our Father knows us. And then the father celebrates, not to honor what his son had done, but because of his joy that his son was lost and is found, and was dead and is alive.

 Pray that God’s word keeps speaking to his people here. A couple of the groups that are ready have been practicing leading themselves. In some of the groups, new people have come to listen. Some of them just listen from outside and they don’t stay the whole time, but they are still hearing. God can work through even the smallest seeds that are planted, and so he reminds me to rely on him by praying for the people who hear. It’s not through my efforts that people will know the truth. That is his work alone. “For God, who said, ‘let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” 2 Corinthians 4:6 It is also God who will burden the believers’ hearts to share with others!

Schools let out for summer in the barangays this week. On Tuesday, I walked down to the square to watch the school awards ceremony. Everyone was watching from outside the square, in the shade of the trees. At the end of the ceremony, the kids performed dances. It was a different experience watching the kids in the nicest clothes dancing Gangnam style! The family that we stay with in that barangay celebrated their daughter’s 6^th grade graduation with crabs and “bakinto”—a delicacy of sticky rice and coconut, cooked in leaves.

Sometimes here, people become very concerned about me when they see me standing in the sun, like I was at the awards ceremony. “Your skin will get dark!” they say. I was wearing sunscreen, because actually, the sun will burn my skin, not darken it! “Come in the shade!” they said. But if I moved into the shade, I wouldn’t be able to see, because of the crowd of people. So I stayed in the sun. Then, a lady brought me an umbrella. Another time, I was on a boat, and a man got on the boat just to tell me to put my umbrella up.

On Friday, we swam in the river with the kids. It was hot, and the water felt so wonderful. The kids paddled me about in their little canoe, and we all took turns jumping off.

In the barangays, we have been teaching the children praise songs and Bible stories, and they love it. I know one full children’s praise song in Waray—I need to learn more! This week, we taught the story of David and Goliath, and last week, we taught them the story of Jesus feeding the 5,000. 

“Therefore, be imitators of God, as beloved children. And walk in love, as Christ loved us and gave himself up for us, a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.” Ephesians 5:1-2

“…the battle is the LORD’s.” 1 Samuel 17:47

  

Back Again

Yesterday, we woke up at 3:30 to catch the boat and arrived safely back in Oras around 7 am. Moving from barangay to barangay is challenging, but God is faithful, and I believe it will get easier.We travel on the riverboats between each one. It is about a two hour ride to the furthest barangay. The river is beautiful, especially in the morning. 

Now, we can put faces with each barangay. I'm praying God will let us fall in love with these people more and more. They live on little and are still so kind and generous to us.

This week as we go back for another round, please pray that we will be able to determine what to study with each group. For privacy’s sake, I won’t refer to the barangays by their actual names, but will call the barangay we visit on Mondays “barangay #1”, the one we visit on Tuesdays “barangay #2,” and so on.

In barangay #1, we are actually going to have two Bible studies. As Amanda and I were walking around it, we met a family who told us they could not attend our Monday night time, but would like to have a Bible study with us in the afternoon. Some of the attendees of our Monday night Bible study agreed to join us for the afternoon Bible study. We hope that they will be able to gain some experience leading with us there, so that they might have the confidence to lead this group themselves when we are gone. When they see that they can do it, we hope they will even start other groups.

Pray for each group, that they will know God wants to use them to reach their families and friends. Many of the people we have met are already sharing with others, and they are eager to learn. Pray God will raise up leaders for them who will continue the meetings when we leave and start new ones among new believers.

When we got back to our apartment yesterday, I ate a bowl of cereal and when to sleep. When I woke up, Amanda and I went grocery shopping and then rode a motor trike to Dolores to eat lunch. On our way home, I sat next to a lady who did not know English well, but between her little English and my little Waray, we were able to exchange a few words. She was holding some flowers she had made. It looked as if she had wrapped thin scraps of paper in colored plastic wrap, and then woven them together into flowers. Each one must have taken hours to make. They were beautiful, and I told her so. Then, to my surprise, she gave me one. I wished I had something with me to give to her in return. Her kindness made my day.

"For thus said the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, 'In returning and rest you shall be saved; in quietness and in trust shall be your strength." Isaiah 30:15

Going Upriver

This was meant to be posted last week, so you could pray, but internet wasn't working well in our apartment. Read anyways. :)

This will be our first week on the Oras River, so we need lots of prayer. We will spend one day in each of the five barangays. On Wednesday, we briefly visited each one to meet the people and learn where we’d be staying and where the Bible studies had been meeting. I was encouraged when some of the people warmly welcomed us and said they were so happy that we had come back to continue the Bible studies. We found out that at least three of the groups have been meeting together regularly on their own, praise the Lord! This week, we will mainly be getting to know the people and figuring out what we should study with them. Pray for our wisdom in this. We had a practice Bible study with our translator, Jael, this week. It went well, but it was difficult communicating through a translator. Pray for Jael, as she has a hard job. Pray that we will trust God to speak through us what he wants his people to hear, even as we stumble and struggle because of the language barrier. No matter what, God’s Word will speak to his people. Sometimes, this task seems overwhelming, but I have been reminded over and over that God didn’t bring me here because I’d be good at it, but because he would be my strength.

We have been settling into our apartment this week and getting to know the town of Oras. Last week, we stayed with Pastor Silas and his wife, Lori, on the Dolores River to learn about life on the river. We were able to be a part of their church services and Bible studies with people in their barangay. We were inspired by the people’s joy and hunger for God’s word and their complete trust in him to provide everything for them.

 Here in Oras, God has opened up some opportunities for us to make friends and share our testimonies and the Gospel. Our friend, J*, works in a restaurant and knows just about everyone in this town. She is open to listening, and has heard the Gospel before from others. Even though she is open and even convicted, she has not yet taken the step of obedience and submitted herself to Christ. She wants to have a Bible study with us every week when we are in Oras. We met another friend, N*, on a fishing boat. She knew a missionary in Manila who shared with her, and when I told her I was a missionary, she immediately said she wanted me to share what I was reading in the Bible with her. We have met with her a few times since then. She says she is hungry for God’s word and she believes God led us to her, as we do.  Pray God will speak to her heart and weed out any misunderstandings.

If you ask many here, they will say they believe the Bible is God’s word, but many trust in everything and anything but Jesus. They fear evil spirits and trust in witch doctors. They pray to saints and to Mary. There is a huge statue of Mary here on top of a hill that is lit up at night. She is called the “guardian” of the town. (I always wonder what Mary would think when I see things like that.) It is more important to them to say their Hail Mary’s than to read God’s Word. Please pray that they might see!

“But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere.” 2 Corinthians 2:12