As I have promised…this is the story, my first email to you…
Yesterday, my problem was about how to get my email started… So, I thought of making a heading for each, and now, here we go:
TRAVEL– We left June 8- Friday, right? From Manila, our first stop was in Taipei, Taiwan. We waited for two hours before we flew to Seattle, Washington. The trip from Taipei to Seattle took about 20 hours… Akala ko pagbaba sa Seattle, yon na.. hindi pa pala, ang layo pa pala ng Texas… TExas pala from Seattle is another 5-hour flight.. So after two hours again in Seattle, we flew again via China Airlines to Houston, Texas. So, we left there sa Philippines 11 am ng Friday- June 8, at dumating kami dito sa Houston, Texas ng June 8 pa rin, 9pm… So paki-bilang my dear, hehhehehe.. Our time difference is 13 hours. 13 hours advanced ang time ng Pinas. So right now, it’s 9:50pm here of THursday, so ngayon jan sa Philippines ay 10:51am of Friday…
HOUSING—Sa house kami ng aming leader dumerecho muna, he is from Argentina, 27 years old, but a powerful person. A pastor, who graduated from Montemorelos University - an SDA university in Central America. HE speaks Spanish. That was Friday evening, so that evening, we stayed at his place.. It was a beautiful house that he’s renting..
FIRST SABBATH— We could hardly sleep though we were very exhausted and tired in our long-flight, coz you know, our body systems are not adjusted yet to the time. Though tired, we all felt awake, coz that evening, it was daytime in the Philippines. It was already 10am when we got to the church, we attended the service at the HOUSTON INTERNATIONAL SDA CHURCH, which is in Beechnut, Houston, Texas. Naku, sobrang saya ng simba dito, masigla ang mga kapatiran, powerful ang music.. It’s really good to be a member of God’s family. Mga kapatid, being an SDA has always been a blessing to me. You will never feel alone. You have a family wherever you go. We can really feel the essence of being a member of the real church. Guess what, in that day, may Filipino SDA na nagkataon lamang na doon sumimba sa church na yon, although member sya sa Filipino Metropolitan SDA Church. He offered his place to us, kasi his family is now on vacation in the Philippines.
HOUSING– After three days, we decided to move to the house of this brother–he’s a church officer, his name is Albert Lising. His conversion story is also amazing, he learned it from the ‘AMAZING FACTS’ of Doug BAtchelor. You will see here how God really works.. No event is an accident. He sets everything perfectly and accordingly.
BLESSINGS– yes, blessings eventually come. When we first attended the Midweek Service meeting at the Metropolitan SDA Church, they welcomed us so much, and from then, blessings from God through them started to come. Until now, we receive so much blessings from them. That is very amazing, coz they really know how to share the blessings to others. Some of the experiences here are unbelievable. Sometimes, when we are about to go to work, may mga tatawag na lang to give supplies to us. As in, na-a-amaze kami, kasi from head to toe ang supplies. Pinag-aagawan kami dito ng mga kapatiran para padalawin sa kanilang mga houses, para pakainin, i-tour sa houses nila since houses here are so huge! most are like mansions.. tapos, kapag umuuwi kami, para kaming nag-shopping all the time.. Noong isang araw nga, may tumawag, mag-asawa sila from church, they said, they want to take us ladies to the shoe store para bumili ng 2 pairs of shoes, we can choose from any style and brand that we want. Wow! Clothes, food, supplies, prayers…countless blessings that God sends us! How amazing! Many other things..blessings, in ways na nakakatuwa…
WORK— The field is so big.. Can you imagine po? We were called here to work at the whole Texas area, but until now, hindi pa kami tapos sa area namin. The work is great but the laborers are few. Almost the same experience with the canvassing in the Philippines. the difference nga lamang is that hapon kami nagwowork, kasi summer dito, super init talaga! that’s the reason why all the houses and establishments here are centralized air-conditioned… So, we work from like 4 or 5pm until 9 or 10pm in the evening.. And it’s not a problem kasi lumulubog ang araw dito ng 8:30 pm.. kaya mas maikli ang tulog namin dito, kasi at 6am, sisikat na uli ang araw… So same work, kumakatok sa pintuan ng mga tao, upang magdala ng message about God.. we introduce our books.. Health books and spiritual books.. we introduce mainly the BIBLE–Family BIBLE… Some people are very kind, accomodating…minsan naman, they won’t let you in.. but it’s all expected, it’s already a part of it… We are already victorious in Christ, and those are part of the work, things that would strengthen us…
UNTIL WHEN TO STAY HERE– By God’s grace, three years ang allowed na ibinigay sa aming visa to stay here, to work for the Review and Herald Publishing Association. Our visa will expire in June 2010..
There are too many things to say.. I will keep emailing you my dear friends.. I have to end this now, but for sure, will write more of God’s amazing revelation in my next email.. God is really good all the time!
SOME EXPERIENCES— There are many programs here.. We are right now on our 9th night of the OPERATION GLOBAL RAIN, it’s a prayer meeting which the purpose is to deepen the understanding of the HOLY SPIRIT… Also, another seminar I have attended just last week-end was the ALL POWER SEMINAR (
allpowerseminar.com) of Pastor Leo Schreven. He talked about the power of setting goals and power of following God’s holy will.. We can all be rich and be what we want us to be.. To share with you some of the powerful messages of this man of God, here are for all of you:
5 STEPS to BEGIN Achieving Success:
1. Decide to master every dimenstion of life including spiritual.
2. Decide what you want out of live in every area.
3. Take specific actions to achieve your purpose and goals.
4. Monitor your results consistently.
5. Be adaptable, make changes, and role model.
YOU CAN CHANGE anything instantly, you can change anything RIGHT NOW…
YOUR FUTURE and DESTINY are BASED on YOUR DAILY BEHAVIOUR…
EVERYTHING YOU THINK OR DO HAS AN EFFECT ON YOUR DESTINY…
‘We cannot change our outward actions permanently until our subconcious mind has been renewed, which is done by feeding the concious mind good pictures, words, emotions and thoughts.’
Many more things to tell…
Friends, brothers and sisters, there’s no other joy for me than the joy that I experience when working for the Lord.. The work is challenging, but God blesses us so much too..
To close, let me tell you this.. OUR HEAVENLY FATHER HAS A THOUSAND WAYS TO PROVIDE FOR US OF WHICH WE KNOW NOTHING…THOSE WHO ACCEPT THE ONE PRINCIPLE OF MAKING THE SERVICE OF GOD SUPREME, WILL FIND PERPLEXITIES VANISH, AND A PLAIN PATH BEFORE THEIR FEET…’ Colporteur Ministry, p. 114
Thank you for being a part of our ministry here by continually including us in your prayers! We 26 missionaries feel the power of the praying church! God bless us all!
