4/25/16
Hello friends and family in the US! Greetings once again from the Philippines! We have had another hot but good day. Today started the youth conference, “Catching Fire” based on Acts 1:8, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.” Joe, Audrey, Abigail, and Aaron are doubling as students partaking in the conference as well as leaders helping with it. Today they had worship and played lots of team building games.
Dan and Kelly Liu arrived today! We are very happy to have them as part of our team!
Meanwhile, we were assigned to lead worship tomorrow morning, so I came up with a song set and printed off music and lyrics for us. Audrey will lead, Joe will also sing, I will play keys, Aaron drums, Dan bass, and Jabin Pino will play guitar. Also, Christine, Rita, and I ran some errands and enjoyed a delightful Strawberry Guava Slushie oceanside.
I experienced another aspect of Dumaguete traffic today. We were out at the busiest part of the afternoon, and we were driving into streams of moving traffic. As long as we are the bigger vehicle, we win! Most people drive Motor Bikes as their main transportation in the Philippines. It’s a cheaper way to get around. We had a car, therefore we were bigger most of the time. Surprisingly, they say they rarely have accidents in the Philippines, despite the very chaotic traffic rules, or lack thereof.
We had a powerful meeting this evening with 200+ young people. They answered the call of God on their lives, and were touched powerfully by the Spirit of God. It’s funny that prior to coming, I didn’t realize I thought this way until after the fact, but I was surprised to see God move the same ways He moves at home. For some reason I apparently expected God to move differently in some way, in a Filipino way, maybe? I don’t know, but it is the same. God moves, people respond with crying, falling on the ground, raising their hands, laying on their faces, kneeling, etc. It seems to be universal. I don’t know why I expected it to be vastly different, but the American God and the Filipino God are one and the same, and people respond to Him the same. There is one response to the God of the Universe, to Surrender and Follow Him.
Please continue to keep us in prayer. Jerry has had some physical struggles, and Audrey had some issues with allergies and asthma this evening. I know the constant heat, sweating all day when you aren’t used to it, is very draining. Please pray for continued energy and strength for us. I am so pleased to report though, that my back was healed the weekend before we came, and I have not had one hint of any back pain. Praise God! The God that healed my back can definitely heal Jerry, Audrey, and anything else that comes up.
We finished the night off with a dance contest, where all the groups of students had prepared a dance to the same song. I was called on to be a judge of the competition which was fun and difficult. I must say, Joe Burbee kind of stole the show with his dance solo. It was a very fun time. See videos on Facebook, if you’d like to watch.
Good night friends!
-Alicia
Hello friends and family in the US! Greetings once again from the Philippines! We have had another hot but good day. Today started the youth conference, “Catching Fire” based on Acts 1:8, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.” Joe, Audrey, Abigail, and Aaron are doubling as students partaking in the conference as well as leaders helping with it. Today they had worship and played lots of team building games.
Dan and Kelly Liu arrived today! We are very happy to have them as part of our team!
Meanwhile, we were assigned to lead worship tomorrow morning, so I came up with a song set and printed off music and lyrics for us. Audrey will lead, Joe will also sing, I will play keys, Aaron drums, Dan bass, and Jabin Pino will play guitar. Also, Christine, Rita, and I ran some errands and enjoyed a delightful Strawberry Guava Slushie oceanside.
I experienced another aspect of Dumaguete traffic today. We were out at the busiest part of the afternoon, and we were driving into streams of moving traffic. As long as we are the bigger vehicle, we win! Most people drive Motor Bikes as their main transportation in the Philippines. It’s a cheaper way to get around. We had a car, therefore we were bigger most of the time. Surprisingly, they say they rarely have accidents in the Philippines, despite the very chaotic traffic rules, or lack thereof.
We had a powerful meeting this evening with 200+ young people. They answered the call of God on their lives, and were touched powerfully by the Spirit of God. It’s funny that prior to coming, I didn’t realize I thought this way until after the fact, but I was surprised to see God move the same ways He moves at home. For some reason I apparently expected God to move differently in some way, in a Filipino way, maybe? I don’t know, but it is the same. God moves, people respond with crying, falling on the ground, raising their hands, laying on their faces, kneeling, etc. It seems to be universal. I don’t know why I expected it to be vastly different, but the American God and the Filipino God are one and the same, and people respond to Him the same. There is one response to the God of the Universe, to Surrender and Follow Him.
Please continue to keep us in prayer. Jerry has had some physical struggles, and Audrey had some issues with allergies and asthma this evening. I know the constant heat, sweating all day when you aren’t used to it, is very draining. Please pray for continued energy and strength for us. I am so pleased to report though, that my back was healed the weekend before we came, and I have not had one hint of any back pain. Praise God! The God that healed my back can definitely heal Jerry, Audrey, and anything else that comes up.
We finished the night off with a dance contest, where all the groups of students had prepared a dance to the same song. I was called on to be a judge of the competition which was fun and difficult. I must say, Joe Burbee kind of stole the show with his dance solo. It was a very fun time. See videos on Facebook, if you’d like to watch.
Good night friends!
-Alicia