Faith Center Youth in the Philippines

The youth from Faith Center Church came to stay with us for 2 weeks. Our goal was to keep them busy. First we traveled about 5 hrs north to the province of Nueva Ecija, where we did 2 music and healing festivals. We did one in the town of Quezon and one in the town of Santo Domingo. Then we brought them back here to Cavite where they used their gifts at a multi-church youth conference. About 20 local F.R.E.E. Mission churches together brought over 700 of their youth. We had another music and healing festival in a new upstart church in Kubuhan. We then took them to the beach for a couple of days of R&R. We did one more music and healing festival in Purok Sais to end their trip. It was a very busy 2 weeks to say the least. The team did a great job of sharing and showing the love of Jesus where ever they went. There were hundreds of people born again at the festivals and many lives changed through the healing power of God. The impact that they had here was great. We are still hearing testimonies of their love and generosity. From all of us here, we love you and thank you very much. Maraming, maraming salamat po!

Music and Healing Festival in Quezon

The people came by truckloads to the evening event in Quezon, Nueva Ecija.

The venue was an outdoor restaurant. They were expecting 200 people and were pleasantly surprised when 300 showed up.

Everyone loved the music

About 150 people came up to receive Jesus. After the healing prayer a lot of of people testified of how God had healed them.

Faith Center Youth in Santo Domingo

There was close to 1,000 people at the "Music and Healing" festival in Santo Domingo, Nueva Ecija. People came from miles around.

The Elevate Generation worship team set the atmosphere for the evening with exciting praise music.

Lots of people accepted Jesus after the Gospel message was shared.

People also came up to receive healing. This man suffered from the aftermath of a stroke and could not walk without a cane. Our friend Luke felt moved to pray for him and walked the gentleman around the court until he could walk on his own. The whole crowd was focused on him until he received his healing and then erupted with a loud cheer.

Faith Center Youth in Kubuhan

The day started off with the team going door-to-door inviting people to the afternoon Children's program and to the evening "Music and Healing" program. In this picture the team is being introduced to the children. Pastor Bong's wife, Cielito planned a wonderful program filled with traditional Filipino dances, games, and the Gospel message presented by our son, Jayson and Pastor Seth's daughter, Zoe.

Jayson did a great job of sharing the Gospel message.

Zoe did a wonderful job of sharing the healing story of blind Bartimaeus.

After the Gospel, the kids prayed to receive Jesus and to have hands layed on them for healing.

Pastor Bong and his wife Cielito (who is expecting their third son) and their 2 boys.

Traditional Dances and Games

The church members in Kubuhan performed some traditional Filipino dances for us.The object of this one was not to get your feet pinched between the bamboo poles.They invited the American guests to try it, which gave everyone a good laugh. It was a lot harder than it looked.

This is another traditional dance done with candles.

These are the guys that spent 5 hrs working their way up a 30 foot, greased bamboo pole to collect a bag of money that was attached at the top.

Music and Healing Festival in Kubuhan

The day started off wet and rainy but cleared up in the afternoon. By the time the festival started, all that was left was mud. If we had known ahead of time, we would have all bought rubber boots.

The musicians and the dancers were amazing

There were around 300 people present that night. Several people came up to receive Jesus. When we were done praying, people came up to have hands laid on them for healing. It was amazing watching God's healing power set people free. Pastor Bong has a church of around 50 people. The majority of them are women. The biggest miracle for him happened within the next few days as the men of the community started receiving Christ and coming to church.

Faith Center Youth in Purok Sais

We started off the day visiting door to door and invited the children to come to the church for a children's program in the afternoon. We also invited everyone to the "Music and Healing Festival" being held that evening.

The kids had a great time playing games, singing songs and getting their faces painted. Jayson and Zoe gave the Gospel message through an interpreter and they all prayed a salvation prayer together.

That night, even though it rained, we had about 200 people listening to the program. Some of them were standing on the other side of the fence or were listening from their homes. A lot of people came up to receive Jesus after the gospel was preached. Unfortunately, the night was cut short because of rain. Later that week, Pastor Tony told us about some testimonies of miracles that took place that night. One of the coolest things that happened was that several members of the local gang were present and they stayed for the whole time. Anna-Lisa, along with our friend Pressy, was able to personally lead one of them to the Lord at the end of the evening.

Amazing Day

I had an amazing day today. It started off with a text that one of my little friends in Purok Sais was still sick. So I went and got Pastor Tony and we went to where he was staying. When we got there Kenzu got up on my lap and I could feal that he had a fever. As we prayed for him the Holy Spirit put an urgency in me to pray for somthing deeper than just a fever. When we were finished I knew we had prayed him through somthing a lot more serious. Kenzu is one of the kids in our school that is close to my heart. His father died just before he was born so I try to pay special attention to him when I am there.
As we were leaving a lady across the way that had heard us praying asked if we would come pray for her. So we went into her little one room house to find out what was wrong. She had just been sent home from working overseas because they found out she has cervical cancer. I spent some time talking to her about the goodness of God and and about the people we had prayed for that were healed from cancer and other diseases. Then I made sure she knew that God was not only able, but willing to heal her. We laid hands on her, prayed and spoke life into her body.When we were done Pastor Tony explained the Gospel to her and led her in a prayer to accept Jesus as her Savior. I still felt like she was missing something so I spent some time talking to her about how much God loves her. How she is His daughter and He wants to hold her in His arms and take care of her. Well by the time we got done both her and her sister who had come in were both in tears. I believe she is completely healed. She is very excited to come to church on Sunday. I have been praying for divine appointments and I believe this was one of them. God is so good!

Pagadian Healing Festival

Our last 3 days in Mindanao we spent in Pagadian City doing large Healing Festivals every night. They got bigger every night as word of the miracles got out.

We estimate that over 1500 people came forward to receive Jesus during the 3 nights.

Hundreds of people received healing for there bodies.

Several people came up on the stage to testify of healing. There were tumors that disappeared, paralysis gone, people that didn't need glasses anymore and lots of aches and pains gone. It was also fun to here some of the testimonies from people that were healed last year but didn't know until it was confirmed by a doctor.

We were able to visit with the mayor who was amazed that it had not rained since the team arrived. He looked at his calender and said, "It has rained every day for the last month. Then you come here, and it stops for 3 days." Leslie said, "that's because we prayed that it would not rain and disrupt the festival. But, tomorrow you're on your own." We could see the clouds and lightening storms all around us during the 3 days, but it never rained on us. The festivals were held in an open field, so not having rain was important. At 2am the next morning the rain, thunder and lightning cane back with a vengeance. That was quite a testimony to the mayor.

Davao Pastors Conference

A group of us spent a week in Mindinao. We started off with a 3 day pastor's conference in Davao for the pastors and leaders who came from the areas where we did healing festivals last year. The organizers decided it wouldn't be a good idea to go back into those places because of the war going on there and the recent kidnappings. So we brought the pastors to us. There were over 300 in attendance. We had a great time teaching and training. Pastor Paul taught on the love of the Father, Pastor Jun taught on God's grace, Howard taught them how to preach the Gospel with signs and miracles following and I finished up with a teaching on the infilling of the Holy Spirit with the evidence of speaking in tongues.

On the second night, Howard and Leslie demonstrated how to preach the Gospel just like they do in their large healing festivals. The main point of this conference was to train these pastors and leaders to do this so they can go into their communites and reach the lost and see the amazing power of God heal the sick.

After the preaching of the Gospel, God always confirms his Word with signs and wonders. Several people received instant healing and more were healed later that night and testified about it the next day.

The last night, I spoke on the in-filling of the Holy Spirit to a pretty conservative crowd. About 60 of them came down to the front to receive. As we layed our hands on them, some of them hit the floor and some of them started speaking in tongues. It was an amazing time watching the Holy Spirit move and set people free. There was a lot of dancing after that. What a fun time.

Howard and Leslie

Howard and Leslie came to visit for a couple of weeks. We love it when they visit. They are such a blessing to everyone here. They arrived on a Thursday night. We let them have a day to acclimatize and then started the schedule on Saturday. Howard spoke to our men's group and Leslie spoke to our women leaders. Sunday morning Howard preached at our church then prayed for the sick. It was an amazing service. That evening Leslie spoke at our 1st annual Ladies Tea. She had a perfect word for the ladies. All-in-all a great way to start their visit here.

Education for the street kids

Ptr. Tony and Ptr. Jay have been trying to figure out a way to get a group of kids from Purok Sais off of drugs and alcohol. They're called the "rugby boys" because they sniff Rugby glue. Ptr. Tony was at his local water district office and found out there was a program being run by the water district along with a well-known university in the Philippines. It's purpose is to rehabilitate and educate street kids or kids from very poor circumstances. Ptr. Tony and Ptr. Jay were able to gather 16 kids from Purok Sais to be a part of the program. They go through drug rehab during the day and school at night. A majority of these kids have only a third grade education. The hope of the people running the program is that the kids will end up with the equivalent of a G.E.D. and then be tested to enter the university. We were able to purchase all of the notebooks and pencils for them. Ptr. Tony and Ptr. Jay periodically visit to encourage the boys.

Our New Car

A big THANK YOU to those of you who donated money for us to get a car. We are so excited!

For the last several months we have been praying and believing God for a vehicle. Last month, Ptr. Glen called us up unexpectedly to tell us that he had talked to some business people and had raised enough money for us to buy a vehicle. He also opened it up for our church congregation to participate in this gift. We are so thankful for our God who is so faithful to us. We are also very grateful to the people who were used of God and who gave towards this. Our God supplies all of our needs according to His riches in Glory through Christ Jesus. We used the money to buy a 1990 Mitsubishi Pajero (in the States, it's called a Montero). It is the best vehicle that Jay found for the price range that we were looking for. It has low miles, new tires, tight suspension (important for the roads here), 2.5 L. turbo diesel motor, a sun-roof that probably won't be used much, clean interior, seats 7, and the most important feature is the duel A.C. Having our own transportation is really going to expand what we can do here. Once again, thank you to all who participated. And mostly we give thanks to the One who loves us unconditionally and who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us.

My Girls

I (Anna-Lisa) call them "my girls". These are the girls that attend my "small group". Usually, we have a book study every week. Every six weeks or so, we have a fun day. This time I had them all over for a popular Philippine treat called halo-halo. It's made from crushed ice with different add-ins, including but not limited to banana, strips of fresh coconut, fruity things (don't know what to call them or how to describe), rice crispies, ube (another item that I don't know how to explain, but it is my favorite ingredient), piece of flan, and evaporated milk. It's served with the add-ins on top and then the person eating it, stirs it up. They tell me that halo-halo means mix-mix. It's one of my favorite things now. We are so thankful to our friends, the Dillman's, who gave Jayson a snowcone maker for Christmas just so we could make this delicious treat. The ice was perfectly shaved. The girls also enjoyed playing on our Wii. Another item that we are thankful for getting at Christmas. We had a lot of fun. I mostly had fun watching the girls enjoy themselves.

Easter 2009

We had an awesome Easter service. Pastor Jay was our main speaker. He shared the Gospel and approximately 50 people came forward at his invitation. Out of those, 36 received Jesus as their Lord and Savior. The others made a re-dedication to Jesus. After the service, we had Pastor Paul and his family along with his sister Pressy and her family over for Jay's famous cheeseburgers. Jay makes the best cheeseburgers around and are requested by all who have the pleasure of tasting them. For fun after lunch we had the annual egg hunt. This was Pressy's daughter's first experience. She talked about it for days afterward. It was a very enjoyable day from beginning to end.

Graduation 09

Last year we purchased uniforms for some youth who wouldn't have been able to attend high school without them. Pictured above are two of the group who graduated this year. Out of the group of 13 who received uniforms, all but three either graduated or are still attending school.

Pastor Bong's outreach

We had a great outreach last night at Ptr. Bong's church. People from all over the community came.
The Ladies made sopas (creamy chicken noodle soup) for everyone.

The band and the tambourine dancers were great. The Trinity Dancers
from EFC also performed. They were amazing and drew in a huge crowd.

After the music and dancing, Ptr. Bong showed a Billy Graham film that had been translated into Tagalog. When the film was finished, it was my turn to preach the Gospel. About half-way through, a fight broke out on the hill and distracted everyone. There was a drunk guy that was trying to disrupt the meeting. Some of the locals (not church members) jumped him and started beating on him. At that time no one was paying attention to me so I stopped speaking and with the authority given to me from God through the sacrifice of Jesus, I told the disruptive spirits to leave and called in peace. The fighting stopped and people came back. When the invitation was given to receive Jesus, a lot of people came up, including one of the church members' husband and her son, the local gang leader. The whole family was in tears as Jesus did an amazing work in their hearts. We then had a time of worship and people came up for healing. It's always fun to see God move and heal people. There was a little boy that was burning up with a fever and as I was praying for him I could feel his temperature drop. God is so good! What an amazing night. Ptr. Bong was very excited that his first outreach was so successful.

Sunday morning at EFC

Jay preaching at our church on Sunday. He taught on, "Applying God's
Grace in Your Life". Of course, I think he did a great job, like always.

Praise Report

This is my buddy Joe. He got born-again last year and healed from Psoriasis. At the time he
was bed-ridden and broke but, God healed him and gave him an idea to make lamps out
of waste banana fiber. Today, he has more orders than he can keep up with. Praise God!

Jayson and Sherwin chillin.

Purok Sais Learning Center

The Preparatory Class

The Kindergarten Class

Jayson passing out toothbrushes and toothpaste.

Anna-Lisa showing the kids how to brush their teeth.

Ptr. Tony invited me to speak at the Parent Teacher Fellowship. I talked to them about
speaking life into their children. Proverbs 18:21. I think we all need to understand
that our circumstances don't need to dictate our future but that we can speak
our future into existence through the creative power of our words. Mark 1:23,24