Lynnette hosted a Kids Venture movie event. She took kids from our church to see the movie "Brave". Its been on her heart to bless these kids, especially since some of them have never been in a movie theater before!
A special thank you to Michelle Chinen, Derwin, & Quennie for sponsoring all the children & chaperones!! They all had fun!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x-9rIaeZtbI?rel=0]
Yesterday, the monsoon rains relented and we were able to experience some sunshine, much needed by this devastated city. Most of the water had receded and many of the roads are now drivable. As we watched the news, it was heart wrenching to hear that in Metro Manila alone there are over 44,000 people forced out of their homes by the waters, now living in 359 crowded evacuation centers. The amount of food and supplies needed to care for these people is overwhelming to think about.
Anxious to do something, Lynnette went online to look for ways that we could help. She found a government center that needed volunteers in packing relief bags for the evacuation centers. A few friends from church joined us and we headed out finding ourselves in a room too small to handle the amount of volunteers that were squeezed in with all the food and clothing.
It was encouraging to see all these people committed to volunteer, but the amount of people packed in that room seemed to actually slow down the relief packaging process. So, with difficulty, we packed some relief packages and then decided to jump in a jeepney and move to another relief center at the University of Philippines (UP), hoping we would be more of a help and less of a hindrance.
Arriving at UP we entered a huge gymnasium, buzzing with action and young people. Each of us quickly jumped into helping in different areas, which included creating rice bags, sorting clothes, filling relief bags or simply falling into a chain line to move bags and boxes from one place to another. It was awesome to see the amount of donations that had come in and the amount of relief bags that were created by the hundreds of volunteers eager to help the flood victims.
It was a tiring day, but we were blessed to help in the small way that we did. There's still so much that needs to be done for those impacted, and to rebuild/clean up the city. We continue to keep all those effected in our prayers.
Check out the video that Lynnette made of our experience:
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a2URKQPjb68?rel=0]
Just a little over two weeks ago I (DJ) boarded a non-stop 13.5 hour flight to Los Angeles from the Philippines to attend the two week on-campus seminar required for my Masters program at Fuller Seminary, in Pasadena. For those who are curious, it is the MAGL or Master of Arts in Global Leadership program. Yes...I know, its a mouthful but as cool as it may sound, it has nothing to do with preparing myself for some sort of world domination.
Actually, the MAGL is an excellent program that brings together a cohort of students from all over the world to learn aspects of Christian ministry and leadership from each other and professors, while still working in ministry from our various locations. It was a costly trip, fortunately we had started saving for this two years ago and were able to cover all the expenses, praise God! Thankfully, I am excited to say that I am only a couple of classes away from graduating!
It was an inspiring two weeks to say the least. My faith was immensly encouraged by the stories and ministries of the people in my cohort. It was great to just hang out with these lifelong friends who've stuck together in our program over the past two years.
Lynnette remained in the Philippines, and I have to say that I am really proud of her for sticking it out, and holding down our fort in a foreign land by herself. Of course, we have a great community of friends here that are always here for her as well.
Some Highlights:
Now that I am back in the motherland, it's time to put some of the lessons learned into practice!
Just a little over two weeks ago I boarded a non-stop 13.5 hour flight to Los Angeles from the Philippines to attend the two week on campus seminar required for my Masters program at Fuller Seminary, in Pasadena. For those who are curious, it is the the MAGL or Master of Arts in Global Leadership program. Yes...I know, its a mouthful and probably sounds like I am preparing myself for some sort of world domination...which would be nice..
Actually, the MAGL is an excellent program that brings together a cohort of students from all over the world to learn aspects of Christian ministry and leadership from each other and professors, while still working in ministry from our various locations. It was a costly trip, fortunately we had started saving for this two years ago and were able to cover all the expenses. Thankfully, I am only about one quarter away from graduating!
Lynnette remained in the Philippines, and I have to say that I am really proud of her for sticking it out, and holding down our fort in a foreign land by herself. Of course, we have a great community of friends here that were there for her as well.
Some highlights include:
This past weekend we celebrated the one year anniversary of our church, Hope Chapel Metro! It's been inspiring to look back and see all that God has done in only the first year through this church plant. We had been anticipating and planning for this service for a couple of months. We knew that this would be a great opportunity for people to invite friends and family to join us in the celebration.
Before the service I (DJ) admit that I was nervous, and I wasn't even the one speaking that night! But I was nervous about the videos that I edited being any good, if we could set up everthing in time, if people would show up, and I was just nervously excited for what God would do.
The night was incredible, the place was full, 200 people attended and about 25% were first time guests joining us. We were blessed to see a friend, that Lynnette met and connected with through her youTube video blog, bring his entire family to celebrate with us for the first time.
You could feel God's presence, the room was filled with joy and many were moved to tears by His love for them as they listened to the message given by Pastor Nolan and the stories of some church members whose lives had been transformed by God. Over 80 people responded to God that night by giving their lives to Jesus or rededicating their faith. It was powerful!
Then like a cherry on top of an already awesome sundae (and Sunday), we were able to raffle a brand new iPad, it was encouraging to see a yaya (nanny), accept her prize in tears. We were able to further serve the people with a giant 65", 600 slice pizza - the biggest in Quezon City!
For Lynnette and I, the past few weeks leading to the celebration have been busy, and crazy! Our days were filled with shopping for equipment and supplies, organizing teams, late night video editing, and countless other details. But it was all worth it to see lives changed, and Jesus glorified. In the end, without His strength and help, we couldn't have accomplished anything.
With the anniversary over, now the hard work begins! Now we must now focus our efforts in connecting with all the new people who joined us, to thank them, and to hopefully help them become a part of this awesome Hope Chapel Metro family!
We were really blessed to find our new home in Quezon City! After many prayers and a connection through our good friend at church, God orchestrated everything to help us get this apartment/condo.
Check out the tour!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGJJ1ZJ3EKk]
We were really blessed to find our new home in Quezon City! After many prayers and a connection through our good friend at church, God orchestrated everything to help us get this apartment/condo.
Check out the tour of our new place!
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGJJ1ZJ3EKk?rel=0]
