Wednesday, April 18, 2012

We Are Moving!!!

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Crazy Week of Many Dilemma's & Answered Prayers 

It has been a crazy busy week for DJ & I as we are preparing to move to a condo in Timog (closer to the church). As some of you already know, our aunty in the Philippines blessed us to live at their condo for a year for free. This June will be the end of our year and in turn we will need to look for another place to live. 

Dilemma #1

As missionaries we were concerned about rent money, since our current financial support isn't sufficient enough to cover the upcoming monthly rent. On top of that we weren’t sure if our current supporters would continue their support for another year.

We are literally stepping out of faith. Our faith budget was $500/per month for a small studio. We were trusting that God will some how provide an extra $500 a month for the rent along with another year of support.

Answered Prayer

It is now end of April and God has answered our prayers. Another missionary who is leaving to another country had just bought a brand new condo unit. She too was praying for a married couple that is a missionary to occupy her unit. The unit owner and I crossed path through a mutual friend and she was willing to lease her unit to us. She even lowered her price of $400 to $300, which is well below our faith budget. Praise God. 

Dilemma #2

When we visited the unit, it was completely bare. There were no appliances, fixtures, furniture’s etc... it was literally completely bare. My heart dropped. There is no way we could afford this place if we have to purchase our own appliances, and furniture (which is a common thing in the Philippines)! 

Answered Prayer

Me being a bargaining person, I asked the unit owner if we can deduct the amount we spend on appliances and furniture off the rent. Without a hesitation she said yes! God is so good! We will not be paying rent for 8-10 months instead it will go towards the furniture & appliances.

Dilemma #3

Now, the 3rd dilemma was where are we going to get the money up front to purchase the furniture’s & appliances! Well, when God provides he really provides! 

Answered Prayer

My father-in-law who so kindly did our taxes just informed us that we would be getting a lot of money in "tax returns"! With the tax returns and our fundraiser money from HCWO, it will be more than enough to help us with the purchasing! I love it when everything just falls into place and God literally takes care of everything. When you are faithful with the little, God definitely blesses you with more.

So, now the fun of decorating, and purchasing brand new furniture, and appliances of my choice begins. However, the unit is 250 square feet, which is a super duper small 1 bedroom studio, I have a challenge of carefully purchasing furniture’s and appliances that will not make the already small studio smaller. 

I know God will continue to provide for us this upcoming year. 

 We are planning on moving in on May 1. I will post before and after pictures along with a video tour. 

 

Tuesday, April 17, 2012

A Taste of Hope Chapel Metro's New Venue

This past Sunday Hope Chapel Metro was excited to moved to Berting's Grill, a new location within the Timog area. It was a huge blessing to find this bar that is centrally located, just feet away from the main strip of clubs, bars and restaurants that make the nightlife of Timog so popular. 

This new venue is not only cheaper, but they also provide storage space for all our equipment. But what is even more encouraging is that the owner had been praying that some sort of religious group would come in and rent his space...and that was us! Although, as Pastor Nolan said, "we are far from being religious, we just love Jesus", and we're hoping he and the rest of this area will catch that vibe too and join us.  

We're are just thankful to God for His continued provision for our church. Here is a short 2 minute video highlighting our first night at our new venue!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClGRii5ElsI?rel=0]

Thursday, April 12, 2012

Training the Faculty at Asian Theological Seminary

As many of you know, Lynnette and I continue to look for ways to help support ourselves on the mission field in addition to the generous support of the friends and family who have partnered with us. 

Recently, It was a shock at first to be offered the opportunity to be hired to train the Faculty at ATS, in using an internet application that allows them to offer their courses online for the first time. It was such a blessing and a privilege to work with this great group of people, who are crazy smart and fun to be around with. 

How did I end up with this opportunity?

Amazingly, three of my past expriences that are totally unrelated, converged together for this project. With my background in web development, as a trainer at Apple, and the fact that I am using the exact same web application (Moodle) for my online courses that I am taking at Fuller Seminary, God conveniently orchestrated my meeting with the President of ATS...and everything came together.

I am hoping that I will be able to continue a working relationship with the wonderful people at ATS.

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Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Hope Chapel Metro's First Easter!

It was the first Easter at Hope Chapel Metro, and it was great to celebrate it with everyone out here. Just like Christmas, many people in our church, (and in Manila in general) travel outside of the city back to their provinces to spend the Easter holiday with their families. Although we missed them, it was great to see some new faces at the church, as well as people give their life to the Lord!

Here are a few photos Lynnette took of the night:

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Sunday, April 8, 2012

Hope Chapel Metro - Leaders Retreat

This past weekend from Friday to Saturday we gathered old and new leaders in Hope Chapel Metro for our weekend "Advance" (since God's people don't "retreat" we "advance" forward!, as Pastor Nolan reminded us). We stuffed 22 people in 2 vans and drove about 2-3 hours away to San Pablo in Laguna...that's how you do it in the Philippines!

It was a great time of building relationships, especially with new leaders. On Good Friday, we had a chance to take communion together and re-set our hearts on Christ. On Saturday, Pastor Nolan recasted vision as we looked at better ways of shepherding the people. After a good time of swimming, games and resting, we also had a chance to hear from Pastor Luckie. 

Pastor Luckie not only ministered to us for inner healing but also equipped us to be able to guide people through inner healing as well, with the help of the Holy Spirit. It was a powerful time, and very much needed as we anticipate a new season of growth in our church.
Below are some photos from our retreat:

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