Antipolo Base

I just returned from the Philippines and now I am in Perth for report back week, which is sharing what happened during outreach and then debriefing and processing what we did and saw and getting ready for the future.  Antipolo base was the last place we were in the Philippines.  It was a great place to end outreach.  The base is on the side of a hill overlooking Manila and it is beautiful and very much like the jungle.  I did have a run in with a tiny snake the slithered under my foot, but a guy on the team was kind enough to kill it for me.  We were packed with ministry once again, but it was so good.  Here is what we did.

Children’s Ministry:

Every Thursday a group of kids come from the area to the base for a time of Bible study, worship, and games.  The kids range from 4-14.  We would do worship together and tell a Bible story to the younger kids (who I mostly worked with).  Then we would give a brief teaching and play games with them.  The older kids had teaching, testimonies, and small groups.  It was really good.  We built relationships with the kids and encouraged them to pursue Christ. 

Campus Ministry:

On Tuesdays and Fridays, we would go into two different high schools and teach an English class.  We then would go into different classrooms, who’s teachers invited us, and do ice breakers, skit, share our stories, and give a word for the students.  We often ended the class time answer kids questions and offering prayer.  We had a lot of great conversations with kids and they really opened up.  In one of the high schools about 70% of the students have reported abuse in their home…that is just the opens brave enough to report it.  So there is a lot of hurt to help the kids’ process through and to speak value into them.  On the last Tuesday, we were in we did 4 assemblies, each 1.5 hours.  I was chosen as the main speaker and I talked about value and self-worth.  It was translated and we had skits, testimonies, and a guy from our team rapped for the kids too.  It was an amazing opportunity and it hit a lot of kids.  I spoke a lot about how words affect us and talked about bullying too.  It was an honor to be asked to do this and the students responded well.

Children’s Open Air:

Every Saturday, the Children’s ministry goes into three different communities, when they have enough staff, and does a program and the whole community is invited.  There are games, songs, skits, testimonies, and a teaching.  We did this three Sundays.  It was great to see different groups of kids and really get them excited and share God’s love with them.  We saw a lot of kids come from other communities to see and hear us.  We were a novelty being foreign, but that led to kids hearing about God.  Some adults ended up accepting Christ because of the testimonies they heard.  We saw a lot of people who were hungry for truth.  We also did home visits in the slum community one of these Saturdays to the families who came to the open air.

Mother’s Ministry:

I was not a part of this, but every Wednesday and Thursday three girls from the team went to a Mother’s Bible study.  These mothers were of the children whose school fees are being paid for through YWAM’s child sponsorship program.  This month’s topic was quiet times.  The girls had an amazing time and had deep relationships with the mothers. 

Evangelism:

We did a lot of evangelism in the local community we were in as well as at the local mall.  The people in the Philippines love their malls.  We did this about 2-3 times a week.  The most stand out conversation for me was with an Ace Hardware employee.  He approached us and started to talk to Joy, Nathan, and I.  We asked him questions and he asked us where we are from and why we are in the Philippines.  We shared with him why we were there and what out purpose is.  He was surprised and shared about his own faith.  He was a former Catholic but switched to a ‘church’ to be with his girlfriend.  It turns out that this ‘church’ is actually a cult.  We had heard of it before.  He mentioned that he wants truth…so we asked him if he ever read about any religions.  He said no.  So Joy and I went and bought him a Bible in Tagalog and encouraged him to read it for himself and make up his own mind.  He was surprised that we would give him a gift even though we just met him that day.

Work Duties on Base:

We helped out with base work daily (dishes and food prep), but we also did work duties on base.  The guys cleared out an empty lot with machetes, the girls swept, and I was put in charge of organizing the hospitality closet.  It was very dust, so thank you allergy meds!

Thursday Night Meeting:

Every Thursday night they have a base wide meeting with worship, announcements, skits, testimonies, and speaker.  One Thursday, we were asked to run it.  So our team did worship, the School of Worship did a skit, our leader Ali did a special song she wrote, and I was the speaker.  It was scary for me to prep for that.  I felt very heavy over speaking to adults, but that was ok because it meant I was very specific and careful with my words.  What I said was totally given to me by God because a lot of it was revelation over God’s word that I had not had before.  So thank you God for speaking through me. 

Speaking in Churches:

We went to two different churches and at the second one we were asked to give testimonies and do a skit.  Sarah and Danny shared and the group did a skit.  The church was encouraged by what we shared and was excited to have us. 

Orphanage:

One day we were asked to go to an YWAM orphanage.  It was amazing.  The home has 26 kids.  They take in children that most others don’t, such as undocumented children, street children, foster kids, and kids with disabilities.  The typical orphanage just takes babies that are up for adoption.  I fell in love with a little boy named Anthony.  When we first got there were played catch and we were laughing and having fun and I was hugging and tickling him.  I held him and he got up and ran away.  It was weird.  About 5 minutes later he came back crying.  I tried to talk to him and I took him into my arms.  I said to him “You are beautiful; you are smart; God loves you; and I love you.” After each line he was whisper a yes.  For the rest of the day, he wanted to be held, cuddled, encouraged, read to, and just loved on.  He is amazing and only 4 years old, but has seen many hard things.  He is in the orphanage with 3 other siblings, yet there are 16 of them altogether.  He is an amazing young boy…please pray for him.

Anthony

That is mostly what we did while we were at the Antipolo base.  There are a few other little things, but those are the big ones.  I will be back in the states on the evening of the 18^th…so please pray for safe travels.  See you all soon :)