Mary Ann and I arrived in Manila late Saturday night so thanks to
many of you who prayed for our trip. A special thanks to several of
you who made it possible for me to join Mary Ann in hosting the open
house for Micah. The following are ministry updates for
your prayerful involvement.
1. A MONTH OF SPEAKING
Beginning June 23 through the month of July I spoke every weekend at
some sort of youth meeting. I was really encouraged and challenged in
my walk with Christ being around young people who love the Lord and
desire to grow in His grace and truth. I trust that I was able also
to inspire them to be responsible citizens of the Kingdom of God. The
Apostle Paul's encouragement to young Timothy as he led the church in
Ephesis was, "Let no one look down on your youthfulness, but rather
in speech, conduct, love, faith and purity, show yourself an example
of those who believe." (NASB 1 Timothy 4:12) This is how we need to
encourage the young people who are stepping up to lead in our
churches as well.
2. ACCEPTED NEW TERM AS FIELD DIRECTOR
My second 3-year term as Philippine Field Director expired July 31. I
was nominated and accepted the nomination for a 3rd term but with the
following condition: 1. That our field restructure our line of middle
management in order to spread out some of my responsibilities; 2.
This field aggressively pray for and seek someone to serve as my
assistant; 3. We also aggressively pray for and seek a successor to
follow me in this position.
Mary Ann and I both think this will be our last term as Field
Director. I have served, if I remember correctly, at least one year
as Officer In Charge, one year as Interim and 6 years as field
director. This doesn't mean that we would leave the Philippines in 3
years time, though it might. We are open to all possibilities as the
Lord leads. We thank God for our team's confidence in us and our
leadership despite our many inadequacies, weaknesses and failures. It
is by God's calling and grace that we serve in this capacity.
3. MAKE ME A BLESSING FOUNDATION
A few weeks ago I received an unexpected phone call from a
representative of a local foundation called Make Me A Blessing and he
said, "Jeff, I would like to give you some money but first we need a
ministry proposal with a budget and your auditor's report for 2006
before I can give it." I replied by saying, "I can provide all this
information by the end of the day, but if I do you will need to make
my effort worthwhile." And he replied by saying, "I know what you
mean and if you are able to satisfy our questions, it will be worth
your while." So by the end of the day I sent all their required
information and he told me we'd have a check on Saturday from their
foundation. That Saturday Alvin joined Mary Ann and I at one of the
youth meetings I just referred to and he gave me a large donation for
our feeding ministry for street children. Mary Ann said to me the
reason he was able to give you a check after you provided the
necessary information is because Alvin saw that ACTION operates with
integrity with nothing to hide. Praise God for this experience.
4. CAMP BROCHURE and JULY CAMP
Mary Ann and I wrote and published a fresh brochure explaining our
camp ministry for street children in the Philippines. We sent about
4500 copies to the ACTION USA office for distribution and in the
brochure we talk about the plight of Manila's street kids, our
strategy in ministering to them and encouraging churches to work with
them along with requesting prayer for kids and workers alike. If you
would like a copy of the brochure for yourself or your Sunday school
class as an idea for a project, get ahold of our ACTION USA office
and request one. I've already noticed some donations coming in for
Philippine camping as this brochure is being distributed.
July 24-27 we had a camp for 34 hard core kids fresh from the street.
Many of them are involved in prostitution, drugs and crime and they
were recruited and are now being followed up by 4 partner ministries.
The following are a few brief testimonies from the campers.
* Jefferson, 19 years old, has lived in Ermita (the red light
district where I worked with CGM's Lighthouse for 3 years back in the
late 80s) for 10 years. Jeff says "Ermita is my home, my gang is my
family. I have been in centers for street children but I still felt
empty. At this camp I realized that I need Jesus Christ in my life
and that's why on the 2nd day I accepted Him as my Lord and Savior."
* Ina, a 16 year old prostitute from Ermita, "I need to do this sort
of work to support my needs and my baby. My mother encouraged me to
get involved in this kind of work and I have been a drug user since I
was 13. I am very thankful for the Word of God, especially when I
learned that if I confess my sins, God will forgive and forget all of
them. I received Christ as my Lord and personal Savior."
* Edward, 14 years old, "I am from a poor family and work as a
scavenger. We are 8 kids in the family and my parents cannot support
our education. I enjoyed all the activities of this camp and I hope
that next time my brothers can attend also. I learned many things
about family and spiritual life like how to pray and read God's Word
in the morning. I thank God that He is now my Savior."
* Rhonell, 17 years old: "I am a former member of the Batang Bakaw
(Child Thieves) gang when I was a young boy. I come from a very poor
family and that's why I had to work hard to support and help my
parents. While working in the fish port I learned to sniff shoe glue
from my friends. It's good that Joseph and Darby (former campers) of
the Christian Challenge Church have a regular outreach in our area
and invited me to camp. We had fun playing basketball and doing
team-building exercises and I was blessed to attend this type of camp
for youth like me. I am glad to say that I received Christ as my Lord
and Savior."
Pray for the ongoing follow-up of these kids and that they will have
a true desire to follow Christ. We are now gearing up for our
September 4-7 camp for street kids so pray for that as well.
5. JOSHUA CONRADSON
The day after I arrived in Minnesota we received word that Joshua
Conradson, the 16 year old son of Shelley one of our missionaries,
died while practicing search and rescue skills while scuba diving
with his mother and members of the Philippine Air Force. The cause of
his death is still unknown. Pray for Shelley and others as they
grieve over Joshua's death but we are all comforted in knowing that
he is now with Jesus his Savior.
6. I-35W BRIDGE COLLAPSE
While we were eating supper at our apartment last Wednesday around
6pm, we heard sirens blaring and helicopters flying overhead and we
knew something was going on. I turned on the radio and they were
talking about something terrible that happened in downtown
Minneapolis, MN. I then turned on the TV and saw live coverage of the
huge I-35W bridge that had collapsed. We, along with many others,
were stunned, shocked and saddened over this horrible tragedy. The
stories of people who were on or near the bridge at the time of its
collapse are horrific along with the stories of Good Samaritans
helping others are amazing. Pray for the families who have lost loved
ones, waiting for news of those who are still missing and for those
who are injured. Pray for the ongoing recovery efforts and those
trying to figure out why this happened.
As we were absorbing the events of this situation, I found myself
weeping and saying to myself and those around me "this is my city and
I grieve for her". Mary Ann and I are both Minnesota natives and had
lived and ministered in and around the Minneapolis area for years
before we came to Manila in 1985. When we go on furlough, this is
where we go. Manila is our city too. She is our adopted city and we
have the same feelings for this great metropolitan area. It's very
strange to call both cities home when they are half a world apart. I
find myself praying for both cities often as I walk the streets and
mingle with the people. Cities have a life of their own and I love
the pulse and energy of city life. Jeremiah 29:7 says it well "Seek
the welfare of the city where I have sent you into exile, and pray to
the Lord on its behalf; for in its welfare you will have welfare."
Friends, let's not simply be commuters and consumers of the cities'
benefits but let's enter into both the joys and difficulties of urban
life and pray for the cities where God has planted us whether they be
big or small.
But all the while let's remember we are pilgrims in our cities and
"For this world is not our home; we are looking forward to our city
in heaven which is yet to come." Hebrews 13:14 NLT
Sincerely in Christ, your urban pilgrim,
Jeff
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