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Some of you may know that when Chris and I were first married, we were teachers. We both worked in the public schools and in the private schools teaching third grade and preschool (Chris), and teaching middle school and computers (yours truly). This week we continued our teaching careers. Chris taught the parents of our Sonshine Center kids at their breakaway service. She spoke on the power their words have on their children. I taught the FUEL.PH crew on hermeneutics.  Going back to our roots: If you haven't yet been to FUEL , you really need to check out this place. Believe it or not, theological topics like hermeneutics are actually quite fascinating. She don't need no translator--Chris taught most of her lesson in Ilonggo. There is no time like the present.  Chris had the parents write positive and encouraging words for each of their kids so they could begin putting this lesson into practice right away.

We are knee deep in Summer Camps.  Recently we did Camp Sonshine at Calajunan, the city trash dump site where some of the poorest kids in Iloilo live. These kids were charged fifteen pisos to go to Camp Sonshine. What do we think we are doing charging these kids to come to camp! How can we do this to some of the poorest of the poor? Camp Sonshine works with Hope Center, a local church plant in Calajunan started by Pastora Pilar and Go To Nations missionaries Nate and Abegail Shuck . Most of the kids who came to camp already come to the weekly ministry at Hope Center. The leadership of the church wanted to teach their kids that they are valued, and that nice things also have value. Usually you don't value things that are free. The ministers at Hope Center did not want to give a handout, they wanted to teach their kids about stewardship and value. So they charged the kids to come to camp. They challenged them to do odd jobs, find money on the ground, and save their pisos and ...

It is more blessed to give than to receive. Acts 20:35

Today Faithy turns eleven. In honor of her birthday we are posting eleven pictures of Faithy doing ministry. She has a heart full of compassion, and God is using that heart on the mission field. 

As I type these lines I am sitting at a coffee shop window with a view of my alma mater Oral Roberts University .  Seeing ORU for the first time in almost fifteen years puts me in a reflective mood. Read on . . . Camp Sonshine has changed my life. I met my wife there, I did my first children's ministry there. Chris and I still work there (at Camp Sonshine Philippines), and so do our children . I almost did not go. In the Summer of 1991 I was planning to go on a missions trip to France.   ORU Summer Missions organizes trips each year, and I was on the France team. I spent the entire year raising funds, meeting with my team members, and learning French (actually took two semesters). But I did not make it to France. I was not able to raise the funds. Eventually I got THE LETTER from the Summer Missions department. I got it in early April. You know the letter, "The Hook"--basically telling me "since you did not raise enough funds for this trip, you will ...

-nine camps -with twenty five partnering churches -at eight different locations throughout the Western Visayas -ministering to over one thousand children This is what we have been up to these past few weeks. This year's Summer Camps were special for our family in that our children played a bigger role in doing the actual ministry of the camps. They have been campers in previous Summers, and Danny was a camper at the first camp at the Sonshine Center. For the other camps Eric, Faith and Danny worked as assistant counselors, helping with crafts, games, dramas, and even helping lead assembly. Watching your children do ministry, having them learn that they can be used by God, even at a very young age (Danny is not yet five years old), is quite frankly A-MAY-ZING. These pictures (below) are of our children being missionaries NOW:

For us in the Philippines it’s summer, and summer means Camp Sonshine Summer Camps. This year we're expecting about one hundred kids per camp with ten camps in all. I will be attending nine of these as an assistant counselor and as a member of the skit team. Here I am taking a bow with the rest of the skit team. My sister Faith will attend about three or four of these camps as a volunteer throughout the summer. Please offer your prayers for the kids and for my family throughout the summer and may God bless you.

Today we had an amazing outreach at the San Isidro relocation village. Building on the continuing work of Mike and Jude Kelly and Natalie Mattes , we held a hygiene clinic for the families who live there. The message was simple, wear shoes, and stay clean by washing your hands and feet. We talked about the importance of cleanliness especially as it relates to preventing disease. After our teaching, we put this lesson to practice, and washed the kids' hands and feet. Remember Jesus did tell us to do this: [Jesus] got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around His waist. After that, He poured water into a basin and began to wash His disciples’ feet. “Do you understand what I have done for you?” He asked them. “You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Lord,’ and rightly so, for that is what I am. Now that I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also should wash one another’s feet. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. ...

Go To Nations missionaries Nate and Abegail Shuck have had a dream to build a children's ministry and a church in Calajunan, the Iloilo city dump area. This dream is currently being built, and is starting to come true. Today Eric, Faith, and Danny did some work at their ministry/work site, helping build this dream. The work was not easy, but it was totally worth it. You will get rich when you're digging a ditch when your reward is in Heaven. Next week Eric will return to Calajunan as an assistant counselor for Camp Sonshine. Not "future" missionaries . . .

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.

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.

Pictures from the Sonshine Learning Center (preschool) Christmas Party, the Mom's and Dad's Bible Study party, and the big Saturday Kids Club Christmas bash with Jolibee. WE HAD OVER 300 KIDS!!!

Today was spent getting things ready for Christmas celebrations at the Sonshine Center. The kids helped Chris and the rest of the Sonshine Learning Center staff get ready for a Christmas party, decorating, preparing gifts, etc. We then spent the evening going around Iloilo passing out meals to the poor on the street. Danny and Chris at work Eric and Danny filling bags of gifts One of the most amazing things about missionary life is watching my children do ministry. We always say they are not "future" missionaries, they are missionaries now. Faithy helping to bless a street family with a simple meal. I miss watching my children play in organized sports. Eric was able to play t-ball and flag football in our life before missions. I really miss that. However, while scoring touchdowns or hitting home runs might one day get their picture in the day's newspaper, what they are doing here in Iloilo--spreading God's love, advancing His kindgom on this earth--has a more eternal ...

I remember Renz "Meggie." He was one of our very first preschoolers at the Sonshine Learning Center. Here he is many years ago on the first day of classes: In fact he was the first student to show up for classes, he was so excited. Sadly Meggie has passed away. Dengue fever is a big problem here in Iloilo, it is a very deadly disease when untreated. Sadly this disease took Meggie when he was just eleven years old. Meggie was fun. He was always smiling, and he was also pretty responsible. One of his jobs was to help monitor the kids on the jeepney as they traveled from their squatter village to the Sonshine Center, I guess you could say he was like a "bouncer," keeping things in order. Those of you who knew him know that he was well suited for this job, he was a pretty big kid, the other kids did not mess around with him. Meggie spent his life living in a very poor squatter village in Iloilo. He was also a faithful Sonshine Center kid, in fact I remember seeing him...

Dan is loving preschool. Eric and Faith are still going to the Anasco Homeschool Academy, while Danny goes to the Sonshine Learning Center. He is learning Ilonggo, growing into young student. Today he joined his classmates at a field trip to Pizza Hut.

Chris has been homeschooling our children even before we left for the mission field. However, we felt that Daniel would benefit from attending the Sonshine Learning Center for his first schooling. This way he could make some Filipino friends and learn some Ilonggo. Here are some pictures of his first day of preschool. The day started off a little weepy, but it got better. He now loves going to school everyday.

When I come home from a day like this I think to myself, "I want every day to be like this," so full of purpose, so full of opportunities to be a blessing. We had a major medical outreach at the Sonshine Center. We saw nearly 200 children, blessing them with doctor's visits and medicines. Thanks to the leadership of Go To Nations missionaries Mike and Jude Kell y, we had more than enough doctors and nurses to see all of our kids, and they also got medicines donated. It was yet another amazing day. I want everyday to be this amazing.

Something I am try to do is to look at everything as an opportunity to learn. This changes the way you look at things. The interns continue to grow and learn. They have basically taken over the children's ministry at the Sonshine Center. They run both the Thursday Afternoon Afterschool Program and the Saturday Morning Kids Club. They organize and plan the songs, games, Bible lessons, memory verses, everything. The Sonshine Center staff continues to assist with translation and guidance. It has been a great time of continued ministry, continued opportunities to learn and hone skills, continued opportunities to grow.

This was a week of great growth among the interns in that they took over the ministry at the Sonshine Center on Thursday and Saturday mornings. They organized, planned, and implemented both the Afterschool Program and Saturday Kids Club, also the interns led ministry at Calajunan, the city trash dump site. It was an incredible week of learning and launching. Gifts were developed and on display, leadership roles were taken on, and lives were touched, the week ended with great success.

We visited the city dump site area in Iloilo, Calajunan. It is one of the most awful places in the world. While I have visited here many times, it still overwhelms me when I visit. At the same time those families and children need to experience the love of Christ, so we have been trying to regularly minister at the dump site. Hopefully soon, working through Calvary missionaries Nate and Abegail Shuck, Camp Sonshine can establish a more permanent ministry presence in the city dump site. Keep that in your prayers.