A Day of Rest and Reflection

A day of reflection came on our Monday. We were all given the opportunity to rest, but Andreas still chose to share his incredible testimony at 5:30am on radio. What a powerful testimony it was! 

I personally was going with Pastor Roszel to go have my hair done, because it's super cheap here, but also to bound with the wonderful woman of God that she is. Unfortunately at that point it didn't work out to do my hair, but I was blessed with the opportunity to be able to spend time with Pastor Roszel, and later Dani Mae too. As a child of ministry we were able to connect on many things, even so early in our relationship we are able to understand each other without even audibly communicating at points. The coffee and food was delicious, but I enjoyed the fellowship far more.

After us three quickly popped over to the market to pick up more fruit for me, and then joined up with the others to have some bonding with the Regalas.

The sightseeing afternoon ended with the tastiest meal at their home, and the day off was well needed and enjoyed. The whole KLF team rested well that night.

Yesterday was also a day of reflection for me. This last month before coming to the Philippines personally has been really difficult for me, and I've felt really exhausted and tested. I prayed that God would refresh my perspective on what I'm doing with my life, to show me the purpose of what I do in my everyday life, and then to show what should be removed when it is taking away from that. 

God has been faithful, and He reminds of His truths each day. He again reminded me of how Pastor Richard Maybery and I were going to travel to India together in the November after I turned 16, and how we had prepared for it for years. I was reminded by how broken I was that I would never have the experience with him after he passed away. God told me then that He would be faithful. 

I smile now at 18, being led to the Philippines by another Pastor Richard M., knowing that God has kept His promises. That all that laid (and lays) heavily on my heart will be released by my Father who cares for me.

Apostolic Ministry

Yesterday the day began very early indeed! I was invited to speak from 6am - 7am at a local radio station that reaches the entire Philippines. I spoke about the reality of the Kingdom of God and shared the Good News with the people of the Philippines. It was a challenge to basically speak for 60 minutes with only a few breaks but it was an amazing opportunity to proclaim the truth to the nations!

After a short breakfast we made our way to KLB's Sunday meeting. The room was filled with people and there was a real buzz. The worship team had clearly taken hold of the principles we taught them the day before and very soon we were entering the presence of God. It was wonderful to witness how these young worshippers have taken hold of the essence and are now running with it. Frances shared a powerful message on the call of God and how noone is disqualified. It was a joy to be part of this dynamic new church family and we are excited to see how God will continue to bless and work through KLB to transform Butuan. One visiting lady said it was wonderful to experience the presence of God like that again after so many years.

We then had a scrumptious lunch together (with avocado shake, calamari, kinilaw, stir-fried beef, aubergine) and then made our way to pastor Berwyn's church in Cabadbaran - Mabini Christian Fellowship, where I shared on Proverbs 16:15 about the favour of God. It was very special to see the many children again and to see how they have grown and matured. After the service we made our way back to Butuan and stopped for some fresh Durian on the way. Durian is very smelly but tastes amazing. In the evening we had our "Abschluss" dinner with Berwyn, Julius, Roszel and Jasfer (an amazingly talented young drummer). It was a long day and after rolling home from Robinson's (the new shopping mall) to Dotties hotel, because of all the food we had, we hit the sack and were out for the count.

This morning we had to pack and check out of our hotel and enjoyed our last coffee with Julius, Roszel, Jasfer, Yrah Lee and Jonkris. Berwyn and Liberty and the kids then joined us and we made our way to the airport where they saw us off.

We have arrived safely in Manila and enjoyed checking out the Mall of Asia. Tomorrow we will spend time with our good friend, Mark who was part of KLF for a  year when he was in Frankfurt. Mark does sign language for the deaf and tomorrow we will visit his school where I will be ministering to some deaf students. We will probably be visiting Mark's family in the evening. Our return flight via Hong Kong is on Wednesday evening.

It has been an amazing 10 days here in the Philippines. I praise God for the wonderful things we were privileged to witness as He touched the lives of so many people. We really feel that we were able to fulfill the apostolic ministry of teaching, imparting, equipping, training and helping KLB to create Kingdom culture as they remain uncompromising in essence but flexible in form. We give God all the glory for the wonderful things He is doing and will do! We are looking forward to visiting next year again, hopefully with a small team.