Mission Accomplished!

With layovers, our trip to General Santos took a total of 25 hours. 

My wife and I had been talking about visiting her family in the Philippines for sometime.  The last time we visited her country was four years ago.  General Santos City is 8522 miles away from Chicago. For this trip we also wanted to impact more people by sharing the Christian gospel with them.  After much prayer and contemplation as to which method would be the best, God answered our prayers with a very doable plan.  The plan would be to make rice packages, pass them out to the poor, and include several bible tracts in the Hiligaynon language, which is one of the main language spoken in Southern Philippines.

Bobby's tricycle he rents from his brother and makes a living transporting passengers.

In preparation we bought a 50 kilo sack of rice, 100 food grade bags, and noodles.  On August 5^th we went ahead to Yusaville and Lanton to deliver 70 gospel rice packages.  The content of each bag had two cups of rice, noodles, and two bible tracts from the World Missionary Press.  To do this successfully we enlisted the help of our family.  Our daughter and niece helped us prepare the packages and kuya Bobby, who is also my brother-in-law, helped us deliver the goods.

We loaded the tricycle with the help of our daughter and niece.

We first rode to Yusaville in Bobby’s tricycle.  Bobby did all the talking because unfortunately, as was the case in Manila, I do not speak the language.  As we rode through the dirt road you could see the small homes made out of palm leaves and bamboo.  Most homes do not even have a livable area of 8X8 square feet.  I thought that we were going to be searching for people to pass the food out, but we didn't   As soon as one person took the food, people started coming out of their homes to get one.  How did they know?  I suspect that many were watching us from inside their homes---when they saw that it was good, as the Good News is, they sprung out!

At first people could not believe rice was being given away for free.

As the people received a bag they expressed great gratitude.  They all had a very big smile on their face.  When the rest of the family members heard the excitement they too came out to see what was happening. They would look at me and say “salamat.”  Others said “thank you” directly as they found out I was from Chicago.  Bobby told me, “They are very poor, they have no food and job.  This little rice is a big help for them.”

Bobby taking rice to an ailing neighbor.

At Lanton, the reception was even greater.  We were going to recruit two other people to help us.  But we didn't need to because as soon the residents heard we were given away some rice with bible tracts they came to us in droves.  Uncle Sadam, whom we met in front of his house, cheerfully repeated to the gathering crowd that the donations were a “Christian service.”  The people told us that they were looking forward to reading the Word of God.

Lastly, we had four remaining bags of rice. I asked Bobby to drive us to a small house church around the corner of Chico St. called the “House of the Lord”.  There we met a young pastor named Nasar.  He told us that our visit was unexpected, but greatly appreciated. I gave him the remaining rice, bible tracts as well as my contact information.  He told me that during their prayer meeting on Wednesday he would ask the church members to pray for our family’s safe return to Chicago. When he said that it really touched my heart.

We got a real warm welcome in Lanton.

This trip was very affirming. The Philippines is a very beautiful country with equally beautiful people. Filipinos are friendly and kind.  They are also very helpful--quick to accept you with a smile. Despite some hardships the country has been experiencing for many years, it has not change their heart. In America for example, people tend to be bitter about their circumstances rather than be thankful to God. I have never seen a Filipino being spiteful or mean. They are also open minded and not critical. This is key for accepting  the Lord. (When I gave a bible tract to a senior citizen, Juanine, she grabbed it and kissed it.)  Filipinos are looking for hope that only God can give.

Fathers taking a bag or two to their families. Uncle Sadam in the background.

There are so many people to thank for helping us on this project---but we would like to especially thank World Missionary Press for the donation of literature. Thank you pastor. To use a very popular phrase often used here in the Philippines, “to God be the glory.”

A young man shares a bag of rice with his next door neighbors.

Planting Seeds in Manila

On July 9th, with our two children en-towed we finally departed for the Philippines.  Our trip is serving a double purpose.  My wife is visiting her aging parents and we also thought we can do some work for the Lord in bringing more people to Christ and live up to our obligation of the Great Commission.  Thanks to the great folks at World Missionary Press we packed several hundreds tracts in the three main languages of the Philippines---Tagalog, Cebuano and Illonggo.  When we got to Manila I did not know how to get the first part of the work done.  I prayed in my heart for guidance and God answered my prayers in the form of my wife's young niece, Cherry Ann.

As we were unpacking our luggage Ann-Ann, as she is affectionately known, saw the tracts and asked my wife what they were.  She was surprised to know that I was very religious---which in fact I am not.  I'd like to consider myself more spiritual than religious, but that was beside the point. I took the opportunity to ask her if she would be willing to help me pass out the tracts and she happily obliged.  But first we had to come up with a plan.  The plan was that as my wife stayed in the hotel taking care of our two children, Ann-Ann and I would walk the streets of Manila and give the bible tracts to the people.  I was told to keep quiet, and let her do all the talking.  My task was to walk right next to her and keep watch for signs of trouble. What transpired was eye-opening.

Our first distribution was on the 10th.  We took 25 samples and walked about two blocks.  Ann-Ann was a natural.  With her kind voice she asked the people in the street if they wanted to read what she was passing out.  We ran out of the 25 booklets in less than a five minutes!  I could not believe how fast the people willingly took the tracts. Some people even called us from across the street wanting to see what we were passing out.

On the 13th of July we would try it again.  This time we would try to pass all of the remaining Tagalog tracts. Again I was a bit nervous because I did not know how the overall population would react.  Now, I need to clarify that Manila is a very large city that has many homeless people living in the streets.  The things I got to see where totally heartbreaking.  I saw mothers sleeping on the streets with their babies---one child had no eye.  I will never forget this. Others are living in cardboard boxes.  While others are living in their cars.  All the while gray water is running in streams along the city curbs.  The sights and smells are very vivid to say the least.  There are also many ran shacked buildings  were the homeless have taken up residence.  And mind you, this is in a major metropolitan city.

On our second day, we started slow.  In the beginning, the first few people we approached did not want to take the booklets.  But as soon as we crossed the street, people started to take them again.  One by one people readily accepted the word of God.  Many of the people said thank you.  Others that were sitting by the curb, quickly leafed through them wanting to read about how God could help them.  One man that was sitting read the title of the booklet and shouted out to us in Tagalog "Thank you for saving me!"  Another woman that was going to work and stopped to buy a street snack, took a booklet from Ann-Ann, read what it was and turned around to ask me for another one!  As they spoke I asked Ann-Ann to translated for me what they were saying. What did I realized in this venture?  That people are hungry for the word of God. People are looking for hope.  Who else can give them that hope?  Jesus Christ no one else.  On July 14th we are slated to go to General Santos---the heart of Mindanao.  Once we get to this city we will once again distribute more booklets to the people.  Once we start and finish our short term mission I will post how it went.  Please pray for us, the safety our family and that we are successful in sharing the word of God.

Exercising for the Lord

U.S. Marine Corps

NO, the picture above is not me.  But it is someone I aspire to be--fit and healthy.  Today marks my third week of exercise, non-stop, for at least three to four times a week.  Two months ago when I went to my doctor, she told me I had slightly high cholesterol.  I was shocked to say the least.  No wonder I was feeling weird.  I had stopped exercising for more than a year because I went through bilateral hernia surgery.  I was afraid of ripping my insides again.  But a year is long enough.  I came to weigh 169 pounds.  I am down to 160 and I hope to drop a few more pounds.  But today, I felt a little bit tired.  I did not want to exercise.  But then I thought of the following Bible verse which motivated me to get up and finish the week:

 

"In all thy ways acknowledge him, And he will direct thy paths."

Proverbs 3:6

 

I hope to continue to workout, putting God first in my plans so they will succeed.  I have eight more weeks to go...I'll keep you posted.

Spreading the Gospel

The other day, my big sister gave me a bunch of bible tracts to pass out in my neighborhood.  And I did.  I walked several miles putting them in parks, windows, door bells and cars.  I got such a nice satisfaction doing so.  And on top of that I was walking a lot.  Which is good exercise.  I know right now it is cold, but I can't wait for Spring when more people are walking our park and more will be able to pick up the seeds.  I was also moved to know that there is an organization that can send you hundreds of tracts for FREE!  There is no excuse for not spreading the Gospel.  All you need is time and a willing to go sowing....



 

Any one interested in getting a pack of FREE tracts may contact the following organization:

 

World Missionary Press, Inc.

PO Box 120

New Paris, IN 46553-0120 USA

www.wmpress.org

Tim Tebow: Standing Up for Christ!

Tim Tebow, Public Domain, United States Army

Tim Tebow is doing something that most Christians are afraid to do---to publicly stand up for God. When Tebow was born I was entering high school. 24 years later...God has created a phenom no one was expecting. Tebow's life story is quite amazing...his mother got sick while pregnant in the Philippines and she refused to abort him. Years later God has shown how he rewards the faithful. Every time he does something amazing on the football field, Tebow kneels down with one knee and prays. He is not afraid of being ridicule or criticized. He has said to public outlets that his expression of faith is part of his way of life. His "Tebowing' is going global. I pray that God may continue to use this young man for his glory and that he may protect his steps wherever he goes. This old geezer is being inspired by a new modern day hero. Thank you for teaching me not to be ashamed. I pray to God that I too can find the courage to stand up for God.

The Christian Cross

Today, while attending the Persecuted Christians: Affliction or Privilege? The Impact of Islam in the East and West Conference at Moody Church, I was saddened to hear how a 17 year old boy named Ayman Nabil Labib was killed in Egypt by his classmates and teachers for refusing to take off his Christian cross. What in the world is happening to people? Do people hate the symbols of Christianity so much that a small cross offends them? This incident reminds of the time when my classmates laughed at me for having a pocket size bible.

I also heard in the conference how Christians in the United Kingdom are being discriminated upon for the same reasons. They are afraid to come out and profess their faith in public. But we must be brave and courageous to take a stand. We as Christians should not hide from the world who we are. We must come out and show the world that we are Christians and we are proud---proud to be Christians and have Jesus Christ live in us. It has been years that I do not wear a cross. But if people hate Christ so much all the more I will show them that I am not ashamed of the Gospel or Jesus Christ.

How Do You Remember 911?

Public Domain Photo. U.S. Department of Defense.

How do you remember September 11? This is how I remember it---

Dead bodies. Dead and dismembered bodies laid everywhere. As I was walking through the devastation, my soul could not comprehend the horrific cruelty and lose of life I was seeing in front of me. I was shaking with dread asking who could have done this to other human beings? Many of the dead were Mexican, and as one of their race…I thought to myself who would hate Mexicans enough to kill them so merciless? It hit me very hard. All of a sudden, I woke up from this nightmare. But like the biblical visions of old, I felt as if it was a warning of a future time to come.

The day before 911 as I was driving to work, I looked up at the beautiful sunny and peaceful sky. It was so peaceful and still….it was unnerving. For whatever reason, time seemed to have slowed down. I noticed that even the pigeons streaking across the sky were flying in slow motion. How odd? I thought. But, like the millions of Americans, for me the day before 911 was just like any other day.

The next morning Fox 32 was reporting a crash of an airplane into one of the towers. The rest became part of history. Because of 911 my perceptions of life and faith have changed forever. Human cruelty in the name of God convicted my heart beyond understanding. As fate would have it. A month or so later I was invited to attend a seminar at Yale University. 911 was still very fresh in our minds. With a school colleague we ditched Connecticut that night and we took the train into New York.

It was my first time ever being in New York. I had always wanted to visit due to my youthful fascination with superhero lore. So we visited Ground Zero and the post devastation I saw was surreal. I was speechless. As I was standing looking into the big empty hole, how I wish I could have had real superpowers to rescue the people. How I wish I could have stopped the buildings from falling, or stopped the airplanes from crashing. But the only realization I got from paying my respects at Ground Zero was how utterly useless I was to do anything about it. Thank God for my Christian faith. Thank God that in spite of the hate someone may show me, as a Christian I must still demonstrate love and forgiveness.

It really makes me wonder how other people are dealing with the Dreadful Day of 911. How do you remember September 2011? How did it change your life?

You Too Can Experienced Powerful Prayer

Public Domain "Jesus praying to God the Father in Gethsemane," Heinrich Hofmann, 1890.

On Sunday July 31, we finally took Moody Church’s offer to walk down to the pulpit and ask one of the prayer partners to pray for us. As a family we were going through a lot of uncertainty: I was due for bilateral hernia surgery, had problems at work, and my wife’s childhood friend back in the Philippines had lupus. My wife was very worried about her friend. She was expecting the worst. When faced with these kinds of dilemmas you can’t take it anymore and want some kind of divine intervention. So I asked my wife if we could go down after the service to have one of the prayer partners to pray for us.

So we walked down the aisle and I asked a sister who was in casual conversation with another brother that we needed prayer. She couldn't pray for us at that moment so she asked someone else, who was also engaged in casual conversation and we were told to wait.  Seeing my discouragement my wife asked me to wait. She looked around and saw a young man, in casual attire, doing prayer with others. After we waited for our turn my wife asked him if he could pray for us. Bob, who was his name did not hesitate. As we bowed down our heads for prayer and he started to pray it felt that he was right on target with each request. (And at the end of his prayer I told him that.) We thanked him for his graciousness and we all departed feeling a little bit better.

I am very happy to testify that my surgery went better than expected, we have a new network leader at work which looks like it is for the best, because after introducing her self to the staff she said “I know God sent me here, “ and my wife found out that her friend did not have lupus!! For me the last one was hard to believe, because my wife was very sure her friend had lupus and because all of the telltale symptoms of lupus wer there, and her original tests by different doctors revealed she had lupus. But when she went to her final test--it came back negative! It totally blew me away.

I am so grateful to God for intervening in our lives. We can face tomorrow with greater hope that he is within the sound of our voice. I am also thankful for Bob, who was there at the right place and the right time to pray for us.

Get Real Super Powers

Public Domain, Fleschier Superman, 1940

Superman is a Christian. I just realized this earlier this week. True, he was created by two Jewish boys--but like every person on this earth he was converted into Christianity. Everything Superman does and believes in is Christian. Superman believes in protecting everyone. There is no evil in his heart. His forgiveness is Christ-like. No other superhero has such a high moral character. It is against Superman’s nature to lie and he always tells the truth. And just like Jesus Christ, Superman is willing to sacrifice himself, even his own life to save the life of others. To my knowledge his comic book creators have never acknowledge his Christianity---but they never had to. Like a true Christian Superman’s way of life, what he has practiced all of his life, is Christian.

His powers also show his connection to Jesus. Superman can walk on water, just like Jesus did. Superman can move at superhuman speeds. In one instance Jesus Christ, without a boat, beat his disciplines in crossing the other side of the sea. Superman can turn coal into a diamonds. Jesus Christ turned water into wine. Jesus once said that with great faith a person can move a mountain. Superman moves mountains. When Superman died at the hands of Doomsday, he came back to life; just like Jesus was resurrected after his crucifixion.

And what about that big iconic S symbol on his chest? His symbol are two fishes drawn next two each other. A fish is a symbol which represents Christianity. Additionally, the S represents Savior, Saved, Salvation, Son, Spirit, and Sacrifice. Above all the symbol represents “hope”. Just like the cross of Jesus which represent life, hope, love and peace. The great difference is that Superman is a fictional character. Jesus Christ is real. When life is to hard to handle. When I cannot take the pain and suffering anymore, I can turn to Jesus Christ with great confidence and He will rescue me. There is no other superhero like Jesus Christ---not even a superman.

Christians With Superpowers

Christians with Superpowers

As a kid I used to think that having superpowers would be the coolest thing. Most boys imagine themselves flying like Superman, or having a sixth sense like Spider-Man. It turns out that most Christians do have powers, but they are called Spiritual Gifts. I honestly did not know about this until I took the class “Discovering Your Gifts” at Moody Church. These spiritual gifts are wisdom, healing, leadership, prophecy, wisdom, discernment, faith, teaching, miracles, word of knowledge, interpretation, and mercy---just to name a few of the 23 that are described in the Bible by the Apostle Paul and others.

After completing several assessments I discovered I had up to five gifts/powers! I have the spiritual gifts of discernment, word of knowledge, mercy, faith and creativity. The description of each is as follows---

Discernment: To distinguish between truth and error. Differentiating between good and evil, right and wrong. Christians who have this gift are able to identify deception. They can recognize inconsistencies in a teaching, prophetic message or interpretation. They are also able to sense the presence of evil. (Ooooh! This is probably the coolest.)

Word of Knowledge: Brings the truth to the body through a revelation or biblical insight. Christians who have this gift are able to search the Scriptures for insight, understanding and truth. They gain knowledge that is not attained by natural observation or means. They are inquisitive and spiritually sensitive.

Mercy: To cheerfully and practically help those who are suffering or in need, having compassion that is moved to action. Christians who have this gift concern themselves with individual or social issues that oppress people.

Faith: Act on God’s promise with confidence and unwavering belief in God’s ability to fulfill his purpose. These Christians go forward when others will not. They ask God for what is needed and trust him for his provision.

Creativity: Ability to communicate God’s truth in a variety of art forms.

I tend to believe these choices are true of me because I would have wanted to have the gift of healing, or performing miracles--but the assessments did not score these high enough. Additionally I did not know or want the gifts of mercy or creativity---but they showed up very high on the independent assessments made by three people who know me.

Several points the teacher made clear was that these gifts are given to Christians after they receive Christ as their personal Lord and Savior. They do not manifest themselves before conversion. They are also meant to glorify God and not ourselves. So after all, I do have my own spider-sense! That means that no one should try to pass any wool over my eyes. What do you think?

Day Against Christophobia

International Day Against Christophobia May 18, 2011

Public Domain, Father Miguel Pro executed by Mexican Government on November 23, 1927

I cannot take the hypocrisy anymore. I cannot just sit here and not try to do anything about what is happening to our values, and families as Christians. Today, I openly declare that it is the International Day Against Christophobia--- the fear, discrimination and intolerance against Christians.

As Christians we do not hate anyone. Jesus Christ clearly told his followers to love one another, including those that hate us. If we speak against an immoral acts or behaviors, we disapprove of the act or behavior, not the person. But many groups have taken upon themselves to misinterpret the tenements of our faith.

There is a world wide movement against Christians sweeping the globe. Christians are not permitted to talk openly about their faith. Secular society is quick to stop Christians from professing their faith to others for fear of offending non-Christians. But no matter where you go in the United States, whether you are a Buddhist, Hindu, or Wiccan--nobody tells these and other religious groups from showing-off their faiths.

As Christians we know that we will face persecution in many forms but as the body of Christ we are all one. The Bible says that if one part suffers the whole body suffers. So if you are a Christian, or sympathize with Christianity in the most remote sense, let us come together and start our own movement to bring awareness that Christian persecution must stop all over the world.Please spread the world, share this movement with all of your church groups, friends and family members. Because Christians come in many different denominations, races, and walks of life, wear any color ribbon turned horizontally either to the right or left because it resembles the Christian fish symbol. Wear your ribbon every day of the year, because Christian persecution is daily and will culminate every May 18. Thank you. Be blessed in Jesus Christ!!

Facts against Christians

Vandalism--churches are burned, defaced, or broken into.
Violence--Christians are beaten, or killed for believing in their faith.
Music---death metal, pop, often declare hatred against Christ, the Church or Christians
Government--Over 50 countries have laws written in their Constitutions banning the practice of Christianity.

Statistics Against Christianity

150,000 Christians are killed world wide for their faith.
75 out of every 100 people killed for religious hatred are Christian.
Over 1 million children are the victims of Christian persecution.

Countries that persecute Christians the most

North Korea, Iran, Afghanistan, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Maldives, Yemen, Iraq
Uzbekistan, Laos, Pakistan, Eritrea, Nigeria, Sudan, China, Cuba, Egypt

© 2011 All Rights Reserved JFS