Pictures Delayed

We apologize that we are unable to upload our pictures at this time. The internet connection available to us is limited. We do however have MANY pictures to add to each blog. They will be added once we enter the city of Manila during our trip, so keep checking!

Thank you!

100 Islands

Creation. What better way to see and experience God than to be wrapped in His beauty? This Monday the HSE team took the Pastors and their wives onto a boat, and over to see the Philippines 100 Islands! Even though the Pastors have lived in the Philippines their entire lives, few had ever gone to see these exotic islands. 100 Islands is seen as a luxury, and out of their budget from their humble lifestyle. This was truly a blessing for these Pastors and their wives to enjoy the beauty of their own country, and to fan the flames of the romance between husband and wife.

Upon arriving to one of the lush green islands, the HSE team and company explored the island and its crystal blue waters. To see the wives laughing and playing in the water, as the men admired them from under the shade of the cabana, was truly a heart warming sight. These men and women have dedicated their entire lives to the Lord, living in tin roofed homes, with dirt floors and concrete walls. They have gone without dinner, in order to feed others in need, even though they themselves are in the same situation. They have watched their churches turned to rubble by the seasonal typhoons, and have diligently rebuilt them without complaint. They have worn the clothing that has been patched and repaired for years, and have only adorned themselves with Gods strength and dignity. This is why, a day of rest to these wonderful and fearfully made people, meant so much to them and the Team.

After a fair amount of recreation, the group ate lunch as Joseph made an announcement. Prior to the outing, the HSE men had a meeting with every pastor. There, a list of needs and repairs for each church was formed. Praise the Lord, our God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, and His grace is sufficient to supply for all our needs. With prayer and U.S. fruit sharing opportunities, the pastors were blessed with supplies to repair and rebuild their churches. 10 pastors, 10 churches and a multitude of members will all see the love of God and His blessings in a tangible and real way.

The group then boarded the boat to move to the next island. There, the group of island hoppers took portraits of each couple, hiked up to the lookout point, and basked in the amazing sights and sounds of the island. Shortly after, everyone boarded the small wooden boat and headed back to the main island. With the wind at their backs, the ocean waters misting sun kissed faces, and the Pastors humming and singing familiar hymns and psalms, they made their way home.

The vine of life

This Sunday the team went to the church for service. Matthew, Micah, Booke, Claudia and Sherlynn gave a testimony and the entire team performed the skit. Mike led worship for the first time within the Church, setting the tone for a day of reverence. Joseph went onto the stage and was accompanied by Pastor Aguido. Joseph shared with the church, a message of Gods love, and how we are called to love one another as ourselves. We love ourselves perfectly, and God knew that we would understand that kind of love. Joseph explained the importance of husbands loving their wives as Christ loves the Church. He also addressed how many of us have broken relationships amongst our family members, and that forgiveness is required from us, just as Christ has forgiven us. Pastor Aguido translated Josephs message line by line, and then invited the Church to come to the alter, and ask the Lord to restore their marriages and relationships. The ENTIRE Church came forward, and the HSE students laid their hands upon them, and prayed. The Holy Spirit was clearly ministering to every single person there.

Later on that evening, the HSE team joined the youth of the church for games and fellowship. They played Bible charades, pulling out names of Bible figures from a bowl. A HSE student would accompany one of the church youth, and silently act out the chosen character. It was both fun and educational!

The youth then made their way over to the basketball courts to hear a message from Micah VanDover. He explained how Jesus is the vine of life, and we are the branches connected to Him. Jesus is the life source of all that we are. If a branch is not connected to the vine, the branch will die and not bear any fruit. If we are not connected to Jesus, we are then spiritually dead, lacking the love of God, that is necessary to love one another. Without that connection with God, we will be incapable of growing spiritually and loving others. The youth gave Micah a very enthused applause and gave thanks to God for a wonderful day of teaching, admonishment, and fellowship.

Our Sabbath

Exodus 31:13 "Say to the Israelites, 'You must observe my Sabbaths. This will be a sign between me and you for the generations to come, so you may know that I am the LORD, who makes you holy."

The team decided to take thier sabbath on Saturday and head to White Sand beach. There, they saw an array of wild animals, within a small exhibit off the beach. Ostrich's, snakes, birds, and monkeys. Not quite like the San Diego zoo, but just as entertaining!

Heading down towards the beach, the team dispersed to overlook the ocean and have thier devotional time. It is so important to fill our cups with the Lords word and prayer, especially when being poured out so quickly and frequently.

Cherre' Ewing saw a women and her 5 children sitting alongside of the shore, and felt prompted to speak to them. After only a few moments, she found that the mother used to practice Catholicism, but no longer even owned a Bible. The mother asked for a Bible, but Cherre' had just given her last one at the market earlier. She went over to Matthew Hutchinson, and asked if He had a Bible to give, and he did. Matthew then joined into the conversation, explaining the difference between Catholicism and Christianity, the importance of focusing on the relationship with Jesus Christ, praying to the Father and Jesus and not the Virgin Mary and explained the trinity. Cherre' was circled by the 5 daughters, and began to explain to them, using hand motions and talking slowly, what it means to have Jesus in your heart. After engaging the family for just 20 minutes, Cherre' led the 5 children to Christ, and Matthew led the mother and the oldest daughter to Christ. Cherre' then explained to the children what it was to be baptized. She asked the children if they wanted to publically display the inward representation of thier heart, and they all agreed. The 5 daughters followed Cherre' into the ocean, and one by one baptized them. God is SO GOOD!

The Philippines Team then gathered together to share what the Lord had put on each of thier hearts, sharing victory stories for the Lord, and drove back to thier home.

Tondol High School

The team went to the Tondol Highschool for the first time today. Each team member was placed within a classroom sharing the gospel using props, skits, songs, testimonies and of course the Bible.

By the end of the day, dozens of students accepted Christ as thier Lord and Savior. Purihin ang Dios! (Praise the Lord)

The students then went home to have thier lunch, as the Philippines team treated the staff to a hot meal.

Upon the students return to school, Mike Terrell led the entire school in "western style Worship." With shouts and shrills of excitement from the boys and girls of the school, God was glorified!

Next, the team announced that they had prepared a skit for the entire school. The skit is a reenactment of the youtube video called, "Life house skit." It represents the sins of the world that people are faced with everyday. Lust, greed, alcoholism, drugs, eating disorders, cutting and suicide. The skit shows Jesus form a woman and the sins of the world pulling her away from Jesus. lastly, Jesus holds back all the sin away from His creation, setting her free and leaving her to walk with God.

The roles of the play went accordingly:

Jesus- Matthew Hutchinson

Creation-Janene Valdez

Lust-Micah VanDover

Greed- Brooke Neilsen

Alcoholic/Drugs- Cherre' Ewing

Worldly Body Image- Sherlynn Laureanti

Suicide/Cutter- Mike Terrell


"I was happy that they understood the skit. I was talking to some of the students and they said that drinking, suicide and anorexia was not prevelant on the island. They did seem however to understand when they saw the sin towering over Janene and Jesus holding them all back. They really liked that part."- Mike Terrell

"It was amazing to see the students captivated by the skit. The cheer from the students after the defeat of sin, reminded me of how we should be rejoicing daily from all the trials the Lord has rescued us from."- Cherre' Ewing

The team then left the High School, and went to visit a small Elementary School with only 90 students and 4 teachers. Blessed and given a fresh anointing of the Holy Spirit, the team went at it again, sharing the gospel with each child. After feeding the teachers and fellowshipping with the locals, the team ended thier day.

Public Elementary School within the Barrios of Anda

This afternoon the Philippines team was invited to an elementary school within the barrios of Anda. They decided amongst the team who would teach the younger children, the older, and also the teachers themselves. After reviewing and discussing our spiritual strengths and weaknesses and acknowledging our gifts and talents, the team dispersed themselves throughout the classrooms.

There were no rules or regulations on how they were to teach the class, everything was up to how the spirit led them. This was such an amazing opportunity! Never had any of them been given so much freedom within a school to share the love of Jesus. Each classroom ranged from 40 to 50 students, and only one teacher. Tiny wooden chairs, chipped desks, cracked black boards, and a room ranging from 80 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit is the norm for these children. But looking around at all the smiles, hearing the laughter, and seeing their eagerness to learn, no one would have ever suspected a hint of want or need.

The younger students were taught the story David and Goliath, using a felt board and pictures by Brooke Neilsen and Janene Valdez. Janene also had her class memorize Mark 10:27, “ With man all things are impossible, but with God all things are possible.” She explained to them to trust in God with all impossible circumstances, just as David did. Mike Terrell showed the children how Jesus was their friend with scripture and with song. Claudia Rodriguez had the Evangecube as a prop. It’s a block with images on each side, showing how God loves us so much, that He gave His only son to die for us! At the end of the class, all of Claudia’s 50 students received Jesus as their personal Lord and savior, and prayed the sinners prayer. It was slightly challenging, because the younger classes did not know how to fully understand English. However, we were graciously given translators upon request. More importantly, the universal language of love was entirely comprehended by all onlookers.

Inside the classrooms of the older children, the HSE team poured out all they had learned over the past 10 months. The Gospel, giving, forgiveness, salvation and our testimonies were some of the topics that were delivered to these children. Micah VanDover taught John 13, and the necessity of washing the footprint that unforgiveness leaves on your heart. He also told them to start their day off with the Lord, and fill their cups so that they can pour out love and forgiveness all day long. Cherre Ewing taught out of Luke 11. She showed them how God calls us to pray, and how He will always answer us when we pray according to God’s will. Overall, the HSE team was completely overwhelmed by the amount of love they experienced from these children.

When class was over, the students all ran to the middle of the court yard, singing praises and worship songs! Matthew Hutchinson, whos calling is clearly children’s ministry, lavished the children with stickers and candies.

With the grace from our sponsors, the team is able to afford to have a hot lunch for all the teachers and staff members at every school. After teaching from 9:00am to 4:30 pm, this was immensely appreciated by all partakers. We then said our goodbyes, loaded into the truck, and watched the children wave and chase us as we drove away. Praise the Lord!

New foundations and friendships

Today is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it! It can be unanimously agreed upon, that today was completely spirit led. It is difficult to fully describe to you the joy, love, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness and self control that was completely embraced.

After our morning devotionals, Joseph Laureanti led the team in their daily message reviewing 1 John. Pastor Aguedo rode his bike in from town and joined us. The team then left to begin the first day of construction on Pastor Aguedo’s home. The recent typhoon had left his family without a roof over their heads, and with overall destruction of the property. Joseph had met with the pastor beforehand, and had written out new plans for the house. The pastor was very pleased.

With a sledge hammer, a iron rod and a couple of wheel barrels, the team of 9 began to demolish the original concrete foundation. Many of the local children found this amusing, and gathered around with their own tiny hammers and helped break up the debris. Matthew Hutchinson took on the task of chopping down a mango tree that was in the way of the pastor’s new house plans. With a machete knife, a worn axe and a God given drive, the tree was cut down in one afternoon, leaving room to extend the house.

For lunch the students were taken to Tundle Beach. A very nice gesture after a busy morning, the team enjoyed chicken adobo underneath a bamboo cabana, overlooking the white sandy beach front. God’s creation never ceases to amaze us, with His extraordinary beauty all around the island.

Next, everyone returned to the church to meet with the pastors from all over the island, and their wives. Joseph, Matt, Mike and Micah welcomed the pastors, and began discussing the arrangements for the festival of life. This meeting alone was proof that God wanted this festival to occur. Although each pastor has a heart to serve God, there has never been a community between churches. The plans for the date of the festival, who was to speak, the location, and the message, was all agreed and determined by the end of the evening.

Meanwhile, Cherre’, Janene, Brooke, Claudia, and Sherlynn invited the pastor’s wives into the sanctuary. Their, the team had arranged for the wives to see their gratitude for serving their husbands and the Lord, by washing their feet. Janene opened the meeting in prayer, followed by Cherre’ reading Proverbs 31, and gave exhortation and recognition of the daily sacrifices these women have made for the Lord over the years. Brooke read through John 13, remembering the act of love and humility that Jesus displayed, as He washed the feet of His disciples.

The wives were so touched, confessing to us that they had never once had anyone wash their feet, or had been given any sort of foot spa. However, the team continued to remind them, that the blessing was truly all theirs. Claudia, who had been sick all day, was given grace from God, and found the strength to give a message of the importance of a wife’s role. She went over the character of the women in the Bible, and how they must continue to intercede in prayer for their husbands, family, and friends.

The evening came to a close with a meal planned and prepared by Sherlynn and Claudia. The wives requested the teams correspondence addresses to stay in contact with each other, while the men gave Joseph their prayer requests.

It was truly a anointed night! Stars overhead, the Philippines Horizon School of Evangelism family worshiped the Lord at the beach waters, and gave thanks to such an incredible God and for another Holy day!

A day of rest

Genesis 2:2
"And on the seventh day God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made."
Today is Sunday, our Sabbath. Early this morning, we all woke up for our morning devotionals and quiet time. Some of us stayed in bed and read, while others walked out into the shallow ocean waters, and sat upon the coral reef, and met with their maker.
As the sun began to warm the island, the team made their way over to the Caniogan Bible Baptist Church. The church has been built over the last two years, and has still a ways before completion. Approaching the church our eyes laid upon a basic concrete foundation, dirt floors, and cement brick walls. Men, women and children stood outside the church to greet us, with smiles and hand shakes. “Magundan Omaga,” the team exclaimed, which means good morning in Tagalog. We were then escorted to the front row of the church. Pastor Aguedo Carino opened us up in prayer, and then led us through his message. He emphasized the importance of having a meaningful personal devotional time, and the necessity to be in fellowship with God.
Next, the younger children of the church performed a series of songs giving praise to God. Children as young as 5 years old, stood in front of the congregation, and recited scripture after scripture. In awe of such dedication to memorizing the living Word, a big applause was given in return from a very impressed group of HSE students! For some, tears rolled down thier cheeks, while others were humbled and convicted to see how much these children knew the word of God.
After service, we were surprised by a authentically cooked meal, prepared by the hands of the church body. To see these beautiful people, living in homes without roofs, and beds made upon dirt floors, come out and share the little they had with us, was very humbling to say the least. Our meal consisted of fried fish, sweet rice, papaya, ochre, and pancit! It was amazing! But what was even more amazing was to see God in every person at the picnic. Their hearts of servitude permeated out of every single one of them. Gods presence was clearly there. At the end of our meal, the team ran and played with the children, sang songs in their native tongue, and sat and listen to elders to glean from their wisdom.
Looking around, seeing dogs running to and fro, cows laying in the meadow, rice fields upon rice fields all around us, hearing the laughter shared between new and old friends, it was impossible to not feel the love that God was so freely bestowing upon us.

1 John 3:1
"How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know him."

Boys and Girl Scout camp

This morning we had a pleasant surprise! One of the local pastors called, and asked if we would be interested in visiting a Girl scout and Boy scout camp. We of course were elated by the offer and agreed! Seconds later, we hopped into the pastors van, and made our way over to the camp where 1,400 children participated in games, dancing, singing, and fellowship. The children were very interested to see a group of Americans entering their campsite. With smiles and curious eyes, they came out to greet us. We were told that there were very few children that had ever seen an American, other than what they had seen on T.V.
We were then escorted outside of one of the classrooms, where a mini stage was awaiting us. Mike Terrell began to lead worship, as the rest of the team encouraged the audience to clap their hands and praise the Lord. The kids were captivated, and repeated the new foreign worship songs with happy hearts.
After worship was finished, Micah VanDover shared a message pertaining to Gods Perfect love, and how we can all experience His love anytime. He also explained to them what it meant to rejoice always, pray without ceasing, and how to give thanks with everything and in every situation.
Matt Hutchinson and Janene Valdez shared a brief testimony, on their own personal experiences. Janene shared how she had lost her earthly father, but how she gained a eternal everlasting Father. The children listen intently, as it was something that some could relate to, and apply to their own lives. Matthew explained the importance of knowing Jesus, and exercising the gifts and talents that God has given to every one of us.
We finished off our time on stage with one more worship song, and were then escorted around the camp. There we were introduced to the principals of the schools from all over the island, watched dance competitions performed by dozens of elementary school kids, and even attempted in some of the native dances ourselves. Everywhere we went we were swarmed by children. Although many did not speak English, they still gathered around to hear what we had to say. Praise the Lord, we used the crowds for the advantage of God, and poured out His love onto them.
Many children did know who God was, but were not experiencing a relationship with Jesus. Other children were affiliated with Jehovah Witness churches, who do not claim Jesus to be the son of God. Whatever their background, they were all very receptive to hear what we were preaching, which was that Jesus Christ is Lord and our Saviour! Purihin ang Dios! That means, Praise the Lord!

Jesus is contagious!

While waiting for the airlines to board our team, we made ourselves at home amongst the crowd. It did not take long for us to see the holy spirit moving through and for us. Brooke Nielsen, Matthew Hutchinson and Micah VanDover were all divinely seated next to 3 eager hearts, waiting and willing to hear the Word of God. Bibles in hand, and scripture written on thier hearts, they began the work of reconciliation for our Lord Jesus Christ.

Brooke Nielsen had the opportunity to lead a gentleman named Vic to Christ. After a brief introduction, Brooke dove into the heart of a man, who did not know what life with a personal relationship with Jesus looked like. He said he grew up Catholic, but something was missing. Brooke then began to explain to him the simplicity of Gods love for him, and how it was a gift that has always been there, and just needed to be recieved. With wide and eager eyes, Vic asked to be lead in prayer to ask the Lord for a personal relationship with Him. After a heart felt prayer, Cherre Ewing gave Vic pocket sized Bible. He looked at it with a big smile and said, "I'm going to read this on the plane!" Mike Terrell then began to read over scripture pertaining to God's love. Vic was illuminated.

How amazing to see different parts of the body come together, using the God given gifts and skills to further the kingdom.

Our team quickly realized that we had not even boarded the plane, and yet our mission trip for the Philippines had already started. Evangelism in not something someone does, its what they live.

For such a time is this...

WELCOME TO TEAM PANGASINAN'S BLOGSPOT!
On November 11th, 2009 at 12 noon, Team Philippines gathered with friends and family at the Horizon School of Evangelism to pray over our trip and the people that God would have us meet. With ready feet, eager hearts, and a truck and a van full of luggage, we were off!

hse2

hse2 leaving

LAX Airport

After leaving the school, the team of 9 Philippine bound missionaries were graciously escorted by fellow students Carmen Garton, Kari Cervantes, Mike Thompson and Will Calaguas. After 2 hours in the car rejoicing over God's glory, and brushing up on our Tagolog with the help of Mike Terrell's lessons on CD, we arrived in a very busy LAX airport. With cars buzzing, future passengers running, and a load of HSE students grinning from ear to ear, we thanked God and our friends for their help and care.

PRAISE THE LORD, our baggage check-in went according to plan! Already, we were seeing how Gods hand was clearly over this trip.