So I have officially made it through my first week in the Philippines! It has been incredible so far. This entry will be long because I am catching up from all of last week.
On Sunday June 6, the other 2 interns, Heather and Garret and myself all flew to Bohol. Bohol is one of the larger islands in the Philippines, it is pretty far from Manila, much closer to Mindanao. The three of us had the amazing opportunity to come to the Philippines a week early and stay at the Bohol Beach Club. This week was completely dedicated to all of the AG missionaries and their families in the Philippines. It was a retreat week of them and the three of us worked with their kids all week while all of the business meetings went on. Heather and Garrett went with the toodlers-5th graders. I had the great privilege to work with the age I love the most, the youth!!!
I thank God so much for the passion that I have for working with youth and that I had the opportunity to once again this week jump right back into it.
Sunday: Arrived in Bohol, it was kind of a day off while everyone flew in. Michaela, Heather, Garret, Josh and I all spent time on the beach and in the ocean swimming and finding starfish, climbing coconut trees, and laying in the hammocks on the beach. That night we were broke up into our groups and we took the time to meet each of our groups. With the youth, I was able to work side by side with an amazing man of God, Cornell Jordan. He is known for hitting kids in the face with the truth, which is exactly what happened! Our first night we did a spiritual assessment test so each of the MK’s (missionary kids) knew where they were spiritually, t was not for us to look at, just for their own personal knowledge.
Monday: We had breakfast and jumped right into our day. Cornell and I met Kim who helped us out for the rest of the week with the youth. I started off the morning after breakfast with a devotion, talking about Psalm 37:-3-7 that we are to commit ourselves to the Lord, to delight and trust in Him. In our first session, Cornell spoke on overcoming struggles.
“No temptation has overtaken you that is not common to man. God is faithful, and he will not let you be tempted beyond your ability, but with the temptation he will also provide the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.”
[1 Corinthians 10:13]
Jesus is always trying to passionately save us from impending danger and He always provides a way out. Often we choose not to take the way out because of our flesh, but we have to make it a priority to always look of the way out when we are tempted.
So that we didn’t overwhelm the kids too much, we had free time after lunch for about 3 hours so we would go swimming, play games, or Frisbee on the beach. Then we had dinner, and headed into our night service. This night, we had the worship team come in, and then Cornell spoke on Don’t Just Face Your Giant, Fight Your Giant! It was a great refreshing look at the story of David and Goliath. We really focused on the verse where Goliath calls out to them saying, “Why are you lining up to fight?” Cornell challenged us with the same question. When the devil calls you out and asks you why you are lining up to fight, will you just stand there and face him, or will you step up and truly fight. If you don’t standup and fight, who are you embarrassing when you just stand there? The other challenge was that we do not need to be clothed with earthly armor, like it describes what Goliath wore in 1 Samuel 17. We are to be like Daniel who was so knowing of his heavenly father, stood there saying that “ You come against me with sword and spear, but I come against you in the name of the Lord Almighty . . .All those gathered here will know that Lord saves; for the battle is the Lord’s . . .” (1 Samuel 17:45, 47).
Tuesday: This was everyone’s day off. About 30 of us woke up at 4:30am for breakfast at 5am to get on a boat at 6am. We spent the morning dolphin watching and then snorkeling. God’s creation is truly amazing, everything from the beautiful sunrise to the vibrant colors of fish and coral. Seeing all of the fish and sea turtles was such a sight, until it started to itch all over. I thought I was having an allergic reaction to something in the water, but then my lip was hit and yep, JELLYFISH! All over my body I was being stung by hundred of tiny jellyfish which quickly brought all of us swimming as fast as we could back to the boat . . .poor Cornell got left. This was a great story that made for lots of laughs later at lunch. After lunch, I learned how to ride a motorcycle! This was a lot of fun. The Dailey’s took me out and we did a 3 hour motorcycle ride to the other side of the island and through the countryside.
It was a wonderful day!
Wednesday: Same schedule as Monday with breakfast followed by devotion with Kim, and then into our first session with the Mk’s. Cornell spoke on Who is the Holy Spirit? It was a great challenge for all of us to just truly remember who the Holy Spirit is, and his relationship to the Father and Son. It was great to spend time in prayer after just reflecting on it. I was really happy to have time after the message in the morning sessions to break the group in half and spilt into small groups to go a little deeper and discuss what the message was on. In our evening service, we started off with 15-20 mins of just having the MK’s spend time in prayer and seeking God. Cornell then brought a very powerful message entitled, Spirit Filled. It was so good! A lot of scripture and some hard-hitting things on what it truly truly means to be Spirit filled!!! I loved being reminded that God does not care what you look like, he wants us to care what He looks like to the people who see us. We have got to be a reflection of who God is in everything that we do. The Holy Spirit is what gives us power and if we truly know God, we HAVE got to be willing to let the spirit work in us and through us to reach and change others for Christ.
Thursday: Our only session with the MK’s was in the morning. We talked about the calling of every Christian. The thing I took away from this was from a short video illustration we watched. The verse at the end was Jeremiah 1:6-8 which says, "Ah, Sovereign LORD," I said, "I do not know how to speak; I am only a child." But the LORD said to me, "Do not say, 'I am only a child.' You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you. Do not be afraid of them, for I am with you and will rescue you," declares the LORD."
I was really able to use this to talk and encourage the Mk’s when we had our breakout session.
I was really able to use this to talk and encourage the Mk’s when we had our breakout session.
That afternoon, a group of us went to the Chocolate Hills and to see the tarsier, my favorite little animal ever! Then we headed out to dinner with everyone for one last meal together at the Bee Farm where we had a talent show and a great time of fellowship. God is always good and blessed me as I was given the privilege to meet so many missionaries and to then pour into their kid’s lives.I am so thankful that God blessed me to have the opportunity to work with the youth. I learned a lot from them and was able to pour into them over the past week!
I am now sitting on a 6 hour bus ride to the mountains in Baguio. I will be writing more often now.
God is always faithful,
Jinnae
