Sunday, September 21, 2014

The Blessing of Mission Trips

One of the advantages of being a PK is travelling. As a kid, we have been visiting churches, and held vbs on the mountain provinces here in the Philippines .So I was exposed to the mission field at a young age. Even now, I love mission trips because now I understand the importance of the mission, and I can see and experience the blessing of God to the churches and places that we are visiting.


The Mission Field

I commend the Pastors and Preachers, who you can consider to be poor, to be faithful in the ministry. They chose to serve God even if it is not a stable kind of "career" that even hardly supports them. While it is true that a lot of money has already been given to the church, but with the churches in the province, it is quite different. I am not inciting that one church is better than the other, or churches and pastors in the province are better. What I want to say is that despite their circumstances, they are still actively and joyfully serving the Lord.

Blessing in the Mission Field


A change of Heart

 In one part of this blog post Growing up as a PK, I talked about how I saw how nice it was to be a Pastor through my dad and the Pastor of the church we visited in Ilocos. The Pastor was energetic when he preaches. He loves his church, and cares for them. They are not rich, and they live daily with just enough. The joy he has when serving God, that was what struck my heart. My dad too was also a reason for my change of heart. I saw how he unselfishly gave back and added the love gift that was given for him. He saw the passion of the Pastor, and he wanted to be an encouragement to him. It's not about the money, or the church attendance, or the church building, it is about the joy of serving God - just like the hymn, There is Joy in serving Jesus. And that is true!

Because of this church visitation, little by little, God's transforming grace worked in my life, and I started to read and study the Bible, Christian books, and have a genuine and unselfish service in our church. It was hard and a struggle, specially with a service without murmuring but by God's grace I am loving it more and more.

How the Gospel changed Kalinga

I actually want to write and create a documentary on how the gospel changed Kalinga. You see, kalinga is a province here in the Philippines, and hearing the stories from Pastors how the gospel changed kalinga is amazing. Before, tribal wars are prominent. A tribe fighting another tribe, seeking revenge and taking the lives of others for justice. If you know the story of Missionary Jim Elliot, it probably is like that. I'm not sure, that is why I want to research it.

It is a great blessing and encouragement hearing their stories. You can see how they believe in God, and how they have hope in believing in Him. So making a documentary or research about How the Gospel changed Kalinga will really be a great blessing for me, as I will see God's transforming grace change a person, change a tribe and community and change a province. Maybe in the future, when I enter seminary :)

There is joy in serving Jesus
As I journey on my way
Joy that fills my heart with praises
Every hour and every day

There is joy in serving Jesus
Joy; that triumphs over pain
Fills my heart with heaven's music
Till I join the glad refrain

There is joy in serving Jesus
As I walk alone with God
'Tis the joy of Christ my Saviour
Who the path of suffering trod

There is joy in serving Jesus
Joy amid the darkest night
For I've learned the wondrous secret
And I'm walking in the light


Chorus

There is joy, joy
Joy in serving Jesus 
Joy that throbs within my heart
Every moment, every hour
As I draw upon His power
There is joy, joy
Joy that never shall depart

2 comments:

  1. I suggest a narrative told by a some of those changed lives. There's power in personal testimony because it's a truth on it's own and it's irrefutable. Perhaps former enemies embracing each other? That might be something worth considering. Documentary format is always the easiest, perhaps the use of caricatures would better tell the story since there's a component of art there as well. Just my 2 cents :)

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    Replies
    1. Yes, and personal testimonies of others are what encourages fellow Christians to keep the faith, and keep on serving God. I think there are already less tribal wars now. But from the stories of the pastors there, during their time, and the time of when my dad was young and involved in the evangelization of the gospel there, it was evident.

      Caricatures, drawings or animations would be good to tell the story of the war or their history, (well that is if i'm good at drawing, haha) + video coverage and interviews is probably the best way to tell the story.. hmmm xD

      There is a blog that one Pastor wrote when they visited the philippines, and had a conference for the Kalinga and other pastors. you can read it here
      http://tinyurl.com/lu9oel3

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