The mission continues...

Hi Everyone!
The other night we had our church "Philippines Feedback Night" which was a great night of Filipino food, games and jeepney reenactments, fellowship, dramas, and hearing of God's work in the Philippines and our experiences over there! We had over 90 people come and it was encouraging for us as a team to see how they were interested!

But the mission isn't over yet...
Dina is still in the Philippines, working at Faith Academy- please continue to pray for her.
Please pray for the Christians of Welfareville, Cogeo, Trece and Calapan, as well as the missionaries in Manila.
We may be back in Australia, but God is still working through all the people there!

We are all so thankful for the opportunity we had to be there, and meet brothers and sisters in Christ, on the other side of the world.
We've all learnt so much, and are looking forward to the God's mission continuing!

Nearly home...

Hi everybody! We're currently on our way home via Singapore Airport. Praise God that none of us were sick on the plane, and that Erica and I have remained standing while Sam and Kathryn seem to be just about recovered.

It's a little scary to think that in 24 hours I'll be lying on my bed catching up on sleep. But, as Paul would say (well, he might have said, it, he said similar things) "I rejoice in my tiredness!". Why? Because it shows how much stuff we have done in our two and a half weeks. We've performed to celebrity-hungry kids, we've attended prayer meetings, we've ridden Jeepneys, Trikes and FX's (a kind of taxi/shuttle bus), we've met and prayed with local youth, we've attended house church meetings, we've snorkelled, and we've battled against at least one virus!

God has all shown us lots of stuff during this trip, and we'll keep on updating the blog, filling you in on Calapan, and on our personal thoughts and feelings regarding the trip. But for now, we're going to wander around Singapore Airport before heading off on the flight home! Yay!

Jono

Quick Update

Hi everyone, just a really quick update:
We had a safe trip to Calapan, and stayed in the lovely OMF guest house with amazing sea views. We did 2 concerts there- one was quite wet but the other was dry and lots of people of all ages came (including gamblers on the other side of the park)!
We also spent a few hours snorkeling off a small tropical island- that was amazing!
We'll have more information and photos later...
Unfortunately, I, Kathryn and the guesthouse owners got some food poisoning or a virus or something, and then Erica and Jono got it last night. Thankfully I'm feeling much better, and Kathryn too, so pray that all of us will be healthy and a safe trip home!
Thanks for praying
Sam

19th & 20th January - a Day at Faith Academy & more

 On Wednesday 19th we went to school! that is faith Academy where Di has worked for 2 years previously, and will be again after the rest of us leave. We had a loooong day as we had to be there for soundchecks at 8.15am and got home about 9.30pm. What were we doing there? First we ran Middle school chapel (i.e. yrs 6-8) which included 2 dramas and lots of songs with some prayer and a short talk based on the Sower sketch (by me). We provided some aussie flavour by having an Australian beachball for them to throw round and praise God when they touched it, as well as with some improvising by Jono & Sam to make the wise and foolish builders Australians! Later we did a drama in High School chapel and then after school (they finish at 2.15) there was a middle school kids club where we ran the whole programme, including games, a chat about what we've been doing, and aussie quiz (one kid even knew who our PM is!) dramas, songs and prayers for those who don't know Christ. They were a pretty good bunch of about 50 kids. Then Jen brought us dinner and we were involved with youth group for years 9-12. About 30 kids and some adults, including one of the chaplains who is Australian. Kathryn and Jono gave testimonies, we did a drama and played a few worship songs. We also watched video of Toowoomba floods and the kids prayed with us for people affected by them back home. It was lovely to see their concern, and to appreciate the Christian ethos of the school.

Today (Thursday) we left for our last visit to Welfareville. Jen wasn't coming so we made the journey by jeepney all by ourselves - quite an experience, but with god's help we managed to get to the right place. Then we did a short 45m concert outside the BL centre with preschoolers and others listening and joining in actions, and their teacher Lisa explaining the parable drama. They were very happy and we were very hot! (like being in a sauna)Then we chatted with people, and were treated to sticky rice at the BL guestroom above a Christian lady's dwelling. We also met a monkey named Gordon in her kitchen. Then we faced the outside world again and the jeepney and explored the big shopping malls - quite a contrast!  Eventually we made it back to Jen's and supper of homemade pizza! There won't be news from us for a few days as we go to Calapan on the Island of Mindoro, leaving at 5am tomorrow....so please pray for us as we give 2 concerts there and maybe help play in a church service.

Marge and her team

Prayer, Rest and Encouragement

Hi everyone! Thanks so much for praying and supporting us during our time over here in the Philippines- we're all having a great time and in many ways wish we could stay longer!

Yesterday, we mostly had our day of "Sabbath rest" - with Erica sleeping in for the longest she has in her life! We spent the morning relaxing and reading God's word together. It was good after the crowds we had faced the day before! In the afternoon we went up to Faith Academy and swam in their amazing pool (with amazing views of Manila!) and diving board!

This morning, we went to our fellow missionary friend Helga's house for a Urban Poor Ministry prayer meeting. This was a very encouraging time to meet with missionaries and Filipino church workers and pray for the house churches of Welfareville, Cogeo and Trece. We were also reminded to completely TRUST in the Lord with all our hearts, something which the Christians here having to do every day.

Tonight, we are going to an OMF Prayer Meeting, to meet with fellow missionaries here in the Philippines.

Please pray for safe travel in the traffic, on the ferry to Calapan and on the plane home, and that we will have plenty of energy and really make the most of the rest of our time here.
Thank God for our opportunity to meet with fellow Christians here, to spend time with the Urban Poor and to a little bit more like Jesus.


In Christ,

Justin Beiber  Sam Mills and the rest of the team!

A weekend out at Trece Matires

Okay, time for another update...

Our latest adventure was a trip to a town called Trece Matires (Thirteen Martyrs) about three hours south of Manila. It was nice to get out into the country a bit and see some different sights, including coconut and banana plantations, rice fields and the occasional water buffalo.

The poor area we went to was also quite different to what we had experienced in Manila. It is a relocation centre from places where the government had bulldozed slum settlements to make space for water ways or railways. The streets are wider (they actually have streets) and the houses are bigger (they actually have cement houses) but the poverty and unemployment is the same. Fortunately God's grace is also the same.

Everyone else arrived on Saturday, but I traveled down a day early by public transport with a trilingual german missionary veteran named Helga, and Janice, a Filipino from Welfareville. These two go down to do ministry every weekend in the Trece housechurches. I caught a taxi, then a Jeepney, then a train, then a "provincial bus" then a tricycle. The cool thing was I got to hang out with the local youth for an afternoon.

On the Saturday and Sunday we gave concerts on local basket ball courts. Hundreds of people in total attended these; mainly lots and lots of children, but also many adults and teens. Praise God that were were able to share Jesus' love for them with the help of our Filipino MCs Janice and Juvel. We pray that they will respond to what they saw and heard (please join us in this). We had numerous bits of feedback that indicate people were taking in our message. We were also an encouragement to the local housechurch members. We praise God that in answer to our prayers he held back the thunderstorm until just after we finished for the night, and that most of the difficulties of outdoors concerts in a poorly equipped area were overcome.

The children were the most fun. They went kind of crazy at the end, swarming us and shouting out to 'Kuya' Cameron, Sam, Jono or 'Ate' Erica, Kathryn or Marge...
Hello! Hi! High five, high ten, high three, high twenty! Justin Beiber! [that's Sam apparently] What is your name? [and random phrases in Tagalog] Can we have a photo with you? [Yes] Can we have your cell phone number? [No] What instrument do you play? You are so handsome/pretty! [Awkward] Your nose is funny [ummm, okay] and so on.
It was fun at the time but we all decided we don't want to be famous.

I think I've written enough or too much now, so I'll finish by saying we then took the three hour drive home packed like sardines and smothered in luggage, and had pizza for dinner at 10:30 pm.

Bye for now,



Cameron and the team.

New Video Uploaded

We've just uploaded a video we put together of our photos and videos we've taken so far. Hopefully it will be shown at MAC on sunday, but for those followers who may not be there, you can watch it at our youtube channel: www.youtube.com/macmanilamission

Thanks for your support and enjoy the video!
Sam