My amazing trip to the Philippines

Well it has taken me a week to go through pictures and try to put into words how much this trip meant to me. There are honestly not enough words, and even though I did take over 1,500 pictures, I could never capture all of the amazing things of this country and God's presence that was there with us. Our team of 33 people was able to share the gospel with over 30,000 people in 7 days!!! It was incredible to see the team that God chose to go, all of our many different talents combining together to minister the best way we knew how. I have never been a part of an evangelism trip of this magnitude before and I was truly in awe of how God continued to show me how big He really is. So many times we try to put God in a box and picture Him as an American white man, or at least that is what I have always pictured myself. I was able to see people all the way across the world worshiping and serving the very same God that I know and love and it was truly beautiful.

Again this is a day by day synopsis of our trip and there are video montages of each day as you go along. Yes it is a lot but stick with me ha! I wanted the blogging world to be able to experience this amazing trip as well, so here is my best attempt at it :)

Traveling- Thursday through Saturday

Our journey began Thursday morning about 3:00am. Elizabeth and I had drove to Charlotte the night before and stayed with her cousin that lived in the area so that we could be at the airport on time. Our flight left from Charlotte to Detroit at 6:00am and we landed just over an hour later, only to have an 8 hour layover in Detroit!!! It was ok though b/c we were able to meet our other team members in the mean time, as I only knew Elizabeth before we had landed. Our flight from Detroit to Nagoya, Japan was 14 hours and we made a small pit stop to re-fuel and then went the other 4 hours to Manilla, Philippines. We arrived to Manilla early Saturday morning (their time) and had to wait on one more plane to take us to Iloilo. All in all it was about 36 hours of travel and I was exhausted to say the least. BUT once we stepped off the plane in Iloilo and I saw staff from CPU waiting on us, it was all worth it.

We had breakfast when we got to the hotel and then had time to rest until our welcoming dinner. We stayed at a very nice hotel called the Moritz, and I was very pleased to find out that they had toilets and warm showers... beforehand I was not sure if this would be the case.

Anyways our welcome dinner was done by the CPU (Central Philippines University) and they roasted a pig for us. This is what they do to honor guest in their culture, so it was very nice of them. We got a brief run down of what the weeks plans would be, but for the most part it was just day by day planning :) I could not get over the generosity of the Filipino people. They were so kind to us and had the biggest smiles I had ever seen. We were finally here.. and I knew I was exactly where I was supposed to be.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Sunday

Sunday morning bright and early Elizabeth and I headed out to the church we would be serving with that day. We actually were assigned the church that was OUT THERE... over 2 hours away in a remote village. All I could think was, "Ok God, I trust you, so here we go!"

I had my first experience in the Filipino mode of transportation, the Jeepney, on the way there. Jeepneys are like a small bus/jeep crossed with a trolley maybe? I dont really know how to explain it, but it was very different ha! There are no windows in the Jeepney and it just happened to be raining that day, as it did every day, so there was really no point in us even getting ready that morning as we had the most wind-blown, wet hair by the time we got there it was just funny. Because of the flood there was bad exhaust in the air as well so we had to wear face masks to protect ourselves. And probably the thing I remember the most about this ride was all of the BUMPS! We went from paved road, to road with lots of pot-holes, to gravel road and then to dirt roads.. remember we were OUT THERE!

There were 3 other team members with us that were going to 2 churches along the way. In the 2 hour drive there I could not get over the detestation I saw from the flood to their land. Houses were completely destroyed, bridges were knocked down, and there was trash all over the place that had been washed up from the debris. There was mud all over the place, but for the most part the water was all gone. Because the air quality was so bad, we even had to wear masks on the drive there.

After the long journey out, we finally arrived here to our church. This is "Solid Rock" church, a church-plant of Sevier Heights. It was so beautiful there and I loved the simplicity. Going to church is not about the building that you are in, but instead gathering together to worship God. There were 6 families that were a part of the church, in a village of over 20 families. We sang songs, I shared my testimony and Elizabeth taught the lesson. There was a language barrier, so pastor Roger had to interpret for us, however they still hung on our every word. They were so thankful that we would come and join them, as they do not get much contact since they are at such a remote area. The flood had hit them hard and blocked off all the roads that lead to there for several weeks.

Here are Elizabeth and I with the church. I thank God for their faith in Jesus, and pray that through their lives the rest of the village and surrounding villages would come to know him. We shared bracelets and candy with all of the children and they were so grateful for something that was so small in my eyes. After the service we had lunch at one of the elders home and they honored us by killing a chicken for us. Their native chickens are a lot like American chickens, and they also serve as part of their livelihood there. It is their culture to honor guests by killing a chicken for them, as they only do this for special occasions.

This is Pastor Roger and his family. Roger was the pastor that lead our group around most of the week. He was hired by Bob Tebow several years ago to serve as the Filipino liaison for his ministry there. Roger has many, many contacts in Iloilo and it was a privilege to get to serve along side him. He has the biggest heart for his people out of anyone I have ever met. He lives every day to see more come to Christ and the passion in his words and the life that he lives is very inspiring. Roger's wife works as a principal at the Christian school they founded at their church. Roger has many ministries around the area including pastoring at 4 different churches (we went to them all on this day), sports evangelism ministry and ministering to the local police men and women in several of the communities. He is always on the go for sure, and because of all of his great contacts in the area we were able to talk to SO many people. It definitely proved that he was well respected in the area when he could call one morning the mayor, school principles, and the police sergeant and ask them if we could stop in and share a word with them.. and they ALWAYS said yes! I was also happy to meet these brothers, Joshua and Caleb. They joined pastor Roger every Sunday to help with the music ministry. Their father was a pastor and there were 8 brothers in all in their family, all of which were also serving in the ministry. They were really funny guys and it was neat to get to talk to someone my own age and hear about their life as a Filipino at that age.


After everyone met back as a group, we went to CPU and had a concert for the students there. It was a great start to a great week. In the video below you will be able to see the skit our team did throughout the week. You may have seen it before, "Everything" by Lifehouse, but if not you definitely need to see it! It paints the perfect picture of how Jesus is everything to us all.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Monday

Monday morning our team headed out at 6:30am to barangis close to where Elizabeth and I had went on Sunday. Pastor Roger used his connections again to allow us to visit and elementary school and a police station. Everyone again was so welcoming and to see the smiles on all of their faces was priceless. It was honestly like we were celebrities because they do not get many Americans there that come for vacation/pleasure, so they only Americans they do see, they know they are coming for Jesus :) As soon as we pulled up to the school, all of the kids were running out of their classrooms just to say hello to us! They loved taking pictures with us and shaking their hands. They all study English at school so they were able to say basic things to us like HI and how are you?
There were 400-500 students at this school. We started off with getting everyone involved with hugging (thank you Mike Bell- video included) as an ice breaker, then sang some songs, had a testimony by Adam and then Elizabeth shared the gospel with them. This was Elizabeth's 4th time doing a trip like this and she was a pro! I loved watching all of the kids watch her every move. You can see plenty of video below in the montage, but my favorite part was hearing them pray out loud. Their voices were so sweet and it reminded me that God has called us all to have a child-like faith.
This was the response we got when Elizabeth asked, "Who wants to receive God's free gift of eternal life?" Praise God!After the service we all went down to talk with the kids. They all loved taking pictures with us and honestly swarmed!
I am not sure how it got started, but before I knew it kids were asking me for my autograph ha! Oh little do they know I am not anything special :)
After the school we met with the mayor and prayed for him and his community. He told us about how they were going about rebuilding the area after the flood. He was a retired general from the army and a very well-respected man, so it was awesome to be able to pray for someone with such power over all of his people.
We also were able to talk with the police officers and share the gospel with them. Adam did a great job bringing the message to them, I shared with them my testimony and Mike sang "Amazing Grace."


After lunch we headed to Tina high school to meet up with the rest of the group. We did a choir service for their students and then played basketball against their team. Prior to going on this trip, Elizabeth had mentioned that there would be basketball being played, and since I LOVE basketball I told her to tell them I would play. Well crazy me didn't even think to ask if there would be any other girls playing, and so come to find out I was the ONLY girl! It was quite humorous honestly b/c when the Filipinos noticed that a girl was walking out on the court everyone stared at me and the place filled with laughter. What I also did not know before walking on the court was that Filipino women do not play basketball, and therefore most of them had never seen a girl play ball before. WOW! I thank Adam and Mike for helping me get over my embarrassment and getting me out there to play anyways... man I don't think I had been under that much pressure to do good every. I mean I couldn't let them think that girls COULDN'T play, so it all fell on me now :)
We played in a open pavilion and it started raining an hour before the game and continued to rain throughout the whole game. Us Americans are very spoiled with our gymnasiums, and I can honestly say I have never played in the rain before... so needless to say it was interesting!Here I am laughing because there was an announcer for the game and every time I touched or got near the ball he made a comment about "Mrs. Beautiful". The guys honestly didnt know how to act with a woman on the court!We decided that our ministry would be taken away if we beat them so they won.. just kidding! They beat us and were a really good team. We had lots of fun though and it was great to be able to fellowship with them in this way.

Here are some of the cheerleaders. They were so sweet.. and SO CUTE!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Tuesday

Tuesday was a lot like Monday, but different at the same time! We did all of the same things, but each new place brought a totally different experience for us all. I loved taking pictures on our 2 hour journey out to another barangi. I am a people watcher by nature so it just fascinated me to see how they lived.

This picture shows what a typical street looks like with all of the tricycles parked along side the road. The tricycle, or "tricyca" as the Filipinos called it, was the poorer populations main form of transportation. It served kind of like a taxi and people would ride in the cart beside the bicycle they were riding. It was amazing to see how many people they could fit on one of these things.. sometimes up to 10 at one time!

We went to an elementary school first and the kids there were so small and sweet! I could have sat and taken pictures of them ALL day long and I definitely wanted to hug each one of them! Look at those faces.. how could I resist :)

Ray shared the gospel to them and it was presented so well to them on just their level of age! This picture is great b/c it was when he was talking about Jesus resurrecting from the grave!It was so precious to hear their little voices say the prayer to Jesus. I loved seeing their innocence in it all and how thankful they were to be receiving the gift that Jesus had given to them.
After the school we went to visit another police station and another mayor. It was great to get to talk to the men and women who had such power in the community.

This is Mayor Matt, who is a Christian brother. He had such a humble spirit and was so very welcoming to us. You could sense his reliance on God and how he truly wanted his community to be changed for Him.


We met back up with the group at another high school in the afternoon. This school was very large and the kids there were so energetic. I was able to get lots of videos of our groups songs and such so make sure to check out the montage!

This is Mrs. Coral Chaney, wife of our leader. She was awesome with teaching us all of our movements to all of the songs and I loved watching her get into it! This is her doing her guitar move :)"I am a friend of God"

After our service we had another basketball game. This time there was no rain, however the loose rims made it interesting :)

And here is point guard Lindsey. Ha wow what am I doing?This precious little girl on the right had the sweetest smile I have ever seen. I spotted her during our concert and she quickly came running after us after our game. It was always hard to say goodbye to the kids!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Wednesday

Wednesday morning bright and early we hopped aboard this ship and headed over to Bacalode island. Bacalode proved to be a lot more city-like and Americanized as compared to Iloilo. There were more cars, bigger buildings, and just a lot more going on.
After getting off the boat we all piled in our Jeepney. Notice how on top of each other we are and also there are no windows in the back so therefore it is one fun joy ride :)

And we got to have McDonald's for breakfast! I dont even eat Mickey D's here in the states that much but it was nice to see something familiar for sure! The only thing that was rather interesting was their "Hamdeasel" which had a very interesting special sauce.. no thanks :)
After breakfast the whole team went to a Bible College to minister to the students there. This is Phil Chaney who was our American leader on the trip. He is the music minister at Indian Trail BC and offered great encouragement to the students. It was a blessing to have him and his family on our team. He brought his wife, 3 daughters and his son and daughter in law. Lots of Chaneys :)After the service we had lunch with the students and were able to talk to them and find out that they were HILARIOUS! This is BongBong, me, MM, Michael, Adam, Albert and John. I was shocked at how much they new about American culture and they were making us all laugh so hard! I took some videos that you will be able to see in the montage so that you can see for yourself. Good times!

After our time with the students in the ministry we went to another school. This is the school where I met two young ladies that were in high school who were also married to older men. I had not encountered this until going to that school, so to meet two of them together really saddened me. Alana was 18, married to a 36 year old and had one child. This is not THAT uncommon in America I dont guess, especially having a kid, however once I met the second girl Tupas, I began to realize that these girls were not married b/c they wanted to be. In Filipino culture, often times the family will marry off their daughters if the man has money b/c it would mean that the family would benefit from his money as well. I did not ask either of them about this, as I could tell they were already embarrassed enough when I found out they were married. I began to talk to each of them after the service because they both came up front indicating that they had accepted Jesus for the first time. I explained to them that Jesus is not only our Heavenly Father, but also acts as our Heavenly Husband. I could sense that they did not feel value in their marriages, b/c they were forced into it, and therefore wanted them to know that there was something greater in Jesus. I pray that they did in fact mean the prayer they prayed that day, as I know it will change their lives from being broken and scarred to renewed and satisfying in Jesus.

Alana and I

Tupas and I

Here you can see Steve, Mike and Adam doing the dance moves to one of our songs. This is a small glimpse of what we saw when we were on stage at each school. Typically we would sing and dance to 3 songs, have someone share their testimony, present the gospel and then have prayer and counseling time afterwards.
After having time with the students we went to a church and ministered to them during their prayer time and then joined together at the Chicken House for dinner. "Chicken on a stick" is their famous cuisine there and boy did we have LOTS of it!
This is Tim showing that he is a real man! This is what they like to call "chicken butt" and yes it is exactly what you think. In the Philippines they dont just eat chicken legs, breast and thighs like we do.. they enjoy EVERY part of the chicken from feet, liver, head and even butt.

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Thursday

God continued to stretch and mold me... and particularly on this day. We were now 5 days into the mission and I was still guarding myself. I was afraid to speak in front of so many people, but why would I be if I was not ashamed. God chose THIS day to change all of that. We went to 2 schools during the morning, and it was my turn to share my testimony. The first school was in the most beautiful setting I had ever seen.

This is a picture I took as we were driving into the school. Who wouldnt want to play basketball when that is your backdrop!?!?
Here is Mike sharing the gospel to the 1,000 students at this school. There was a sea of them it seemed, and they were so very well behaved, unlike some of the other schools we visited.
I really enjoyed getting to shake hands with the students before and after our services. You would see them come alive when you spoke to them one on one and I loved that. Most of the boys were bashful because I was a girl ha, so I really liked walking up to them and just smiling.

Again.. not on my strength at all, but God's alone, I am sharing my story with the students. Mary Grace was a student that was smiling at me the entire service and quickly came up to me afterwards to say hello. She was a Christian and again so thankful that we came to her school. It was awesome to see for myself specific people who were believers and get to hear their story; it reminded me of how BIG God is. He not only cares about me, but sweet Mary Grace who is across the world.

After lunch we played basketball in the pavilion right in the center of their barangi. Again I loved having cheerleaders on my side and here is a group of them with me after the game!After the game we quickly got ready again to go to a local church to share with them. Here I am with local pastors that were also on our basketball team. Did I mention I have never sweat so bad in ALL my life??? Then we had no time for a shower before our visit to the church. Hopefully I didnt smell to bad :)

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Friday

Ugee Bon was the highlight of my Friday. This sweet little boy came up to me after we were done with the service at his school and thanked me for coming to share Jesus with his friends. He explained that his dad was a pastor there and that he always does his best to share Jesus as often as he can. For Americans to come over and help him share, was an answer to his prayers.... what a faithful boy he has already become! He gave me the blue bracelet that I am wearing in the picture and it says, "Pray until something happens." We were the answer to his prayer and now he wanted me to have this bracelet to always remember him. Thank you God for choosing us to answer Ugee Bon's prayers and I pray that you continue to let his light shine in that school.
Tara was one of our team members who was like a little sister to me. She was eleven years old and all of the kids at the schools LOVED her! It was so neat to watch as God used her to connect with each of them and she was such a great dancer too. Sweet Tara made us all smile :)
This is Bim Bim and his daughter Bambi. He was one of the Filipino pastors that helped out our team and was one of our main guides while in Bacalode. His daughter was TOO precious and stole my heart right away of course. His wife, Ruby, worked so that Bim Bim could be a full-time minister. This was a huge sacrifice for them as having the job of pastor did not bring in any money, or very little if they were lucky. It was amazing to see his passion for God and seeing his fellow Filipino's grow in Christ. We were able to visit his church and they were so incredibly kind to us. Bim Bim was a hilarious man with a giant heart!

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Saturday

Saturday came WAY too fast, as it was our last day in the Philippines. We had one last college convocation at CPU where Ray preached and did an awesome job! It was a great end to our time there to see Jesus become so real to many of the students there. Ray was able to paint a perfect picture of God's gift of eternal life that He wanted to offer them. So many of them were Roman Catholic, so it was a freeing time for them to KNOW without a doubt they would have eternity in Heaven, instead of wondering if they had done enough to get there, as their previous religion had taught them. After the service it was time to pack up and head to the airport. It was so sad to have to say goodbye to everyone on this day for sure, as it seemed that our time together was WAY too short. The relationships I made with the members of our team, Filipino brothers and sisters in Christ, and the entire Philippine land was nothing that I would trade for the world.

Here is our team (well most of us)~ I truly cannot say enough about how amazing it was to see each person that God chose to be a part of our team. We had a variety of people with so many talents and to see us all come together was nothing short of amazing! The team was made up of members of First Baptist Church Indian Trails out of Charlotte, members of Sevier Heights BC out of Knoxville, and then me! I was the only one not a part of one of these churches, but how thankful I am that they let me join anyways :)
This is Loida. She was our organizer and mom for the entire trip. She scheduled each school for us, our transportation there, meals everyday and so much more! She truly has a servant heart and knew exactly how to take such good care of us. Her and her family were so willing to do whatever any of us needed and they always did it with a smile. I learned so much from her servant heart and am thankful that she made herself available to be a part of our group.
Here I am with Nelson and Bethel, who are the anchors behind each trip that is taken to the Philippines from Sevier Heights. They live in Knoxville and have for several years now, but are from the Philippines. Bethel is a nurse in the states and Nelson is an engineer. To see them poor everything they make in America back into the Filipino friends and family they have made me in awe of their sacrifice. They have their own water bottling company in the Philippines, to provide good drinking water for the people there, as well as giving jobs to many of the people who wouldnt normally have a job. They have also built a home for Bethel's brother and sister-in-law to live in and also serve as a pastor's retreat place. It is so beautiful and on the ocean (pictures on Wednesday's section). We were able to meet so many of their friends and family who still live there and there is no doubt that they are a HUGE blessing to so so many people there. I truly love this couple and am so thankful to have met them. They took such good care of Elizabeth and I on the trip and I loved it that every time Nelson saw me he said, "Thats my girl!"

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

I definitely feel as if a part of me will always be in the Philippines. I am so grateful for this opportunity I had to share in the lives of the people there and am even more thankful that they taught me so much more than they could have imagined. I love it when God uses times like this where you think you are going somewhere to help others, and in turn you get more from it.

Thank you to each of you who supported me through prayers and financially. I can promise you that it would have been worth every second and every penny for just one person to accept Christ, but I am so thankful that God was glorified so much more than that. I would encourage anyone and everyone that if you get a chance to take a missions trip.. please say YES! It will change your life forever I promise! I really desire to go on so many more, and would go back to the Philippines every time if I could! I hope you have enjoyed learning about my trip and I will be glad to answer any other questions that you have!