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Showing posts from March, 2011

Where Were You on March 28, 1995?

Where were you on March 28, 1995? I know exactly where I was on that day. I was in the Philippines then, in a remote area of Mindanao called Tagoloan, near the bigger city of Cagayan de Oro. I was in the Philippines on a missions internship, working as an associate pastor with a network of local churches. A man approached me telling me that he has been instructed to inform me that I needed to be at the airport in Cagayan de Oro at a certain time that afternoon, I was to meet an arriving passenger (I had no idea who, but I was told that the arriving passenger would know me), and there I would receive further instructions. It all sounded kind of mysterious to me, but I told the stranger that I would be at the airport at the assigned time. The pastors I was working with agreed to accompany me. I went about my business of the day. We were starting to work on doing Camp Sonshine with the churches there. I had counselor training in the morning, and then we were going to visit with some famil

Danny, the Graduate

Actually not really "the graduate," he's technically just moving up. Today Daniel completed his first year of preschool at the Sonshine Learning Center. Today was the school's graduation and moving up ceremony. We are still very much committed to homeschooling. At the same time we felt that Daniel would benefit from attending the Sonshine Learning Center preschool. This school was started by Chris and is primarily made up of our street children. Daniel had an amazing year, making friends with these Sonshine Center kids, he also learned some Ilonggo. His amazing teacher, Ms. Krisel His class He got awards for being most generous and being best in phonics. He had an amazing year, although it did start out a little rough: A far cry from his first day of preschool.

Even if My Father and Mother Abandon Me . . .

Recently we visited the city of Davao on the island of Mindanao. There Go To Nations missionaries Ken and Cris Sandberg run (along with Bible schools, a church, and several other projects) the Living Stones Orphanage . There I met Baby B (pictured) a foundling, that is his mother left him at the door step of the orphanage.   Being a father of four, I cannot even imagine the heart-wrenching decision it must have been to simply leave your child at an orphanage, with the hope that he would have a better life. Looking at him I saw the faces of my own children, he even looks like he could be a relative! Baby B is doing much better. He is healthy, strong, and active, and he will probably be adopted by a North American family or European family within the year. Testing your teeth can be painful. This is painted on the front wall of the orphanage: Even if my father and mother abandon me  the Lord will hold me close.  Psalm 27:10

240

Medical missions, is there a more concrete way to bless someone? Of course the answer is YES. However, blessing some of the poorest of the poor with medical missions is a pretty amazing way to be a blessing. Today we ministered to over 200 (240 to be exact) children and families through our yearly medical outreach at the Sonshine Center. It was an amazing day.