Building Kingdom Culture

On Tuesday evening we spent time with KLB's core group, teaching them the essence of what it means to live the kingdom life. It was wonderful to see how the truth was setting them free as they received spiritual revelation of their identity in Christ. Having come from a more traditional background that still teaches progressive sanctification and essentially salvation by works, we showed them that we are sanctified the moment we are joined to Christ because we are joined to the Holy One who is our Righteousness. It was an amazing time as we literally witnessed veils being lifted off their eyes. Hallelujah!

Yesterday we spent the morning and afternoon with the core group and continued to teach them the essential values of Kingdom Life that form Kingdom culture, which are:

Belong - Faith - Alignment
Relationship - Love - Purpose
Identity - In Christ - Union
Devotion - Worship - Service
Expectation - Hope - Kingdom

In the afternoon, after treating everyone to a Bo's coffee, we taught the group how to minister in the Spirit, showing them how to pray for people in such a way as to make room for the Spirit to do His work and colabouring with Him. It was a powerful time as God ministered to each of them as we demonstrated how to pray for others.

We then had a couple hours break before we went to visit pastor Jonathan's church in the evening. As part of their weekly prayer meeting, we were invited to minister to them. During the worship I received a prophetic word for the people and shared
a message about how God sees us and that we must learn to live for the audience of One. The Lord's presence was tangible and many were deeply ministered to during the sermon. It was a very special evening and I praise God for speaking right to the core of the needs of the people. God truly sees us and knows what we need.

The Kingdom is near

Yesterday morning we visited pastor Zabala's church about an hour's drive away from Butuan in quite a remote area where the vegetation is much denser and the housing even more basic. We love visiting this church because of the anointing upon the worship. Young and old sing with their whole hearts and the heavens seem to be open when they worship. The worship leader, Gideon has a voice of an angel and because of the anointing, young singers and musicians are drawn to this church. The girl with the beanie (in the picture on the right), called Isabel, also sang and we were simply amazed at what was coming out of her mouth. She lives in a very remote area and is part of the local tribal people. Frances and I shared a message on the reality of the Kingdom which God proved with touching the people with His presence. It was wonderful! After the meeting we had lunch together. It seems we are having lunch earlier and earlier each day. We got to taste some Jack-Fruit which tastes a bit like a mixture between pineapple and banana. On our way back to Butuan I spotted a Filipino recycling station.















In the afternoon we went to Butuan's favourite new shopping mall that is completely air-conditioned, where we enjoyed a coffee together with Julius, Roszel, Berwyn and Liberty. At the coffee place we met another pastor with whom I chatted and was able to encourage with a prophetic word. It was a divine appointment and we all left very much filled in our spirits.

In the evening we were invited to Julius and Roszel's new home and Aaron, Julius' brother cooked for us. It was a wonderful evening and a joy to see Yrah-Lee and Jonkris (Julius and Roszel's beautiful children). It was another special day and such a joy to see people encounter God as we share His love and encouragement with them.

This morning we went to the local rubbish dump where many poor families live in make-shift houses. In the middle of the dump is a little school building where little 3 and 4-year olds go to school. We visited the school and I told these little gems the story of the little boy with a lunch box filled with 3 pieces of bread, 5 pieces of fish and rice who came upon a man speaking to thousands of people on the mountainside and how God multiplied the little boy's lunch. It was a lot of fun and the little gems listened attentively. It is such a joy to share the reality of God with these people and to see the joy of hope shine on their faces as they listen to the good news.

After our visit we went to Bo's where we had a planning meeting with Julius, Roszel and Berwyn to discuss the next steps of our work together and future planning. It was a very exciting meeting and all of us sense God's hand upon what we are doing and plan to do in the future! This evening we have our second session with the core leadership team of KLB.

We are so excited about furthering God's Kingdom here and our prayer is that many will catch the vision so we can pour even more resources into this fertile and fruitful area of ministry.

"Do not be afraid, little flock, for your Father has been pleased to give you the kingdom. Sell your possessions and give to the poor. Provide purses for yourselves that will not wear out, a treasure in heaven that will never fail, where no thief comes near and no moth destroys. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Luke 12:32-34

Ministers of Hope

Well, we have finally arrived. After leaving Frankfurt on Tuesday morning and spending a day in Hong Kong, arriving in Manila at 1:20am and catching our flight to Butuan at 12:00pm today, we finally arrived in Butuan and were warmly received by Berwyn, Julius, Roszel and Aaron (Julius' brother).

It is quite humid and hot here. After a welcome lunch, we headed to our hotel and rested a bit. In the evening we had our first activity with KLB. A group of young people gathered to prepare for their weekly outreach activity where they go to a local area to minister to the street kids and give them some food to eat. They share the Gospel with them and 6 or more young leaders then take a small group of kids to speak to them and find out more about them. They then pray with the children. It was wonderful to see the joy on the street children's faces and to hear the testimonies of how the leaders were moved with compassion for these needy children. Frances, Berwyn and I sat in McDonalds and while we were there a group of 6 young men joined our table. I struck a convesation wth them and began to ask them about their future. I was propmpted by the Holy Spirit to speak hope and a future into their lives and they became more and more intrigued and their faces lit up. God was giving them hope and He was showing them that their future is only secure in Him. It was a wonderful opportunity to share the assurance of the hope we have. I am pretty sure they will be at the KLB service on Sunday to which I invited them.

"May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." Romans 15:13