discipleship

I wanted to fill you in on one of our favorite things we get to do here in Aurora.

It’s called FAT Group. Don’t worry, this group chose the name themselves. And none of them are overweight. But they are FAT. I’ll try to explain.

We have many unique opportunities in our area of the Philippines because there really are a lot of believers. And they really need discipleship. Side note: thousands of Filipinos move abroad every year to find work. How incredible willl it be to see trained, Christ-following Filipinos move abroad to ‘work’ and proclaim Jesus?! It’s almost like undercover missions. And because they have a very versatile face, they could fit in almost anywhere. So back to the story- in early February we invited our church members to come to an interest meeting for a group we wanted to start. We announced that we wanted to train this group in disciple-making. We opened the invitation to anyone who was remotely interested in making disciples. Of course it’s inevitable that we had names in mind of who would come (and who would not) and of course our Lord already knew that we had no idea what we were really in for! At our first meeting we laid out what the expectations were for anyone who wanted to continue meeting. We asked that they be Faithful to attend the weekly meeting, Available to really invest their time in making disciples, and Teachable to learn the counter-intuitive ways of God’s Kingdom. Faithful, Available, and Teachable (Hence the name FAT Group).

Since February we’ve met almost every Sunday afternoon to offer encouragement, cast vision, train, practice, set goals, and pray for reaching Maria Aurora and the nations with the Good News. We could not be more proud of the 15 people in our group as we see God developing in them a real desire to spread His Gospel. Explaining all that FAT Group entails could get really complex, but I want to fill you in on the main points. With 2 Timothy 2:2 as motivation, we first taught the group some concepts such as multiplying the church vs. adding to it, circles (or small groups) vs. rows (or pews), go vs. come, disciples vs. converts, group settings vs. individual, etc. We trained them in the method we use when starting Bible studies called Discovery Bible Study or DBS. We practiced this for a few weeks, paired everyone up, and then sent them out to start DBS groups (us included) with people far from God. It took a while, but each group except one has now started their own consistent Bible study! One group has even started another FAT Group with youth Christians in another community. We’ve also covered unreached people groups, persecution, forming your testimony, and how to share the Gospel in pretty much any setting.

We are humbly learning as we go and we certainly need your prayers for this group. We know the enemy will raise his ugly head at this. Pray for faithfulness, availability, and teachable spirits among the group. Pray for boldness in sharing. Pray for the ability to think counter-intuitively. Pray for the Holy Spirit’s anointing of the new Bible studies. Pray for anything the Lord lays on your heart.

Last, but not least, I want to give a shout out to my husband for what an incredible job he has done at leading FAT Group. When I say ‘we’ started and ‘we’ teach, I really mean that Monica and I give encouragement, advice, and prayers :) The Lord gave Josh this vision to start this group and his obedience has been a blessing to us all. Now, pray for my husband’s humility :) 

Cooking dinner after our meeting one week

During one of our training times

“And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men who will be able to teach others also."   -2 Timothy 2:2

Back to School

The school calendar in the Philippines is a few months ahead of the States. We just finished up summer break and school is back in full swing. I wanted to post a few things about the schools here. Because the Lord has given us opportunities to be a part of a lot of children's lives, we want to ask you to pray for those children in specific ways.

 The schools here are basically homogenous. They all look very similar and seem to function in the same way. Most of them look like this from within. There are a few buildings, flowers and plants, and a courtyard.

The schools teach both the Filipino (Tagalog) and English languages. In Tagalog this says "Me and my family." (How exciting that we now speak enough Tagalog to keep up with the elementary kids :)

 You can count on adorable, smiling faces at any school you visit. And they LOVE pictures.

Filipinos also learn much about their culture while in school. Because of such a mixed culture in the US, we don't really have much to learn. I find posters like these really interesting. Jose Rizal who you see pictured is their 'national hero' and a barong is attire for a special occasion.

This is the part of school that I want to share most with you. These idol statues of Mother Mary are found all over the Philippines: in schools, homes, businesses, roadsides, etc. She is worshiped by many. Roman Catholicism in the Philippines is very different from what I've understood about Catholicism in the States. Many families here will offer money and food to these statues as well as those of other saints. It's a huge system of works that leads to emptiness. The part of this that burdens me most is the teachings that children receive in the schools. They are taught many catechisms and priests come to the schools weekly and encourage children to confess their sins. From my own observation and from stories I've heard from friends my age, the children are very confused and thus begin to follow the cycle of religion that many Filipinos are caught up in. In rural areas like Aurora, there isn't really another choice but to have your child indoctrinated at the public school.

While many Christian families have taken a stand to request that their child does not have to attend confession or learn how to worship the saints, other families do not know any difference because they were taught the same rituals during their school years. Good works and charity, proper worship and idolatry; it's all a way of life here.

But we are praying for something different in the lives of the kids we know and love. We know it's possible as we've seen transformed lives who were touched by the ministry of our partners Barry & Lilia. This is why we want to be a part of discipling them. We're praying this new cycle of following Jesus will continue and the old cycle of religion will be broken. We're praying these kids will even impact their parents and families. We pray they will follow Jesus with all that they are. We pray they will see with their own eyes the difference in the religion they've been taught and the Scriptures they read with us. We pray they will know and believe and understand who their faith is in.

Join us in praying on Mondays, Thursdays, and Saturdays as we spend intentional time with three different groups of kids. And of course for the normal life, unplanned times as well. Pray they will always see Jesus in us and that we would trust the Holy Spirit to draw them evermore to Himself.

Love you all!

One Year!

A lot of things can happen in the span of a year. And the Lord can refine us in so many ways.
We celebrated our first wedding anniversary last week! We were able to take a vacation to another island of the Philippines, named Boracay. It's a small island that required land, air, and sea travel to find. Though our 4am bus left us and we almost missed our plane, we did finally make it and the week was surreal. The trip came at just the right time as we were finding ourselves somewhat burdened and restless. However, with a week on the beach and fresh air in our sails, we've made our way back to Maria ready to pick up the pace again. The time for just the two of us was was truly a blessing. Not many young couples get the chance to retreat to an island! We praise God for the opportunity. As we reflected over all the things that we've experienced in our first year, we were so thankful for it all. Marriage has really given us a greater depth of understanding the gospel. And we are continually grateful for everyone walking through this journey with us.

Enjoy the pictures of BEAUTIFUL Boracay!!