Looking to the future...

It has been a while since we last posted an entry about our adventures in Manila, Philippines. The Justice team returned to Tauranga, New Zealand last Sunday to complete their re-entry week.We had our graduation on Thursday evening and have officially completed the Justice DTS! Outreach has given us so many stories of how God has been present, active and faithful in the Philippines. He has gone before us and provided the opportunities for us to demonstrate his love and do justice to the variety of people we meet. As a team we have been awed at the grace God has given us, despite our weakness and failings our Almighty God has equipped and used us to bring hope and encouragement to those we met. We have received freedom in Christ and we have had countless of opportunities to reflect this in the ministries we have been involved in.

This will be our final blog post, we thank you for your support,for praying and thinking of us during the weeks we have been away. We thank you for taking time to read the blog and learn about what we have been doing. We are so excited to share more of our stories of God's greatness with you when we return home. We now look towards the future with nervous-excitement, but with confidence that God has a mind-blowing, joy-filled plan for our lives. We leave DTS with a growing knowledge and understanding of who God is and an increasing love for the amazing God we serve. We can't wait to see what he has in store for us.

Thanks again for supporting us.

Blessings,

Justice Team

 

Debrief week in Manila

The Pacific Hope, our home for the past few weeks



Graduation Night, Paul and our tough Justice girls



A Little Slice of the Kingdom

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:3-4, ESV)

This is a continuation of the story of our time in Olongapo City, focusing on Friday night at the base. This is our leader Dan's response to our great experience from that night.

After a week of bar outreach, Friday night came as an amazing time of spiritual refreshment for us. Earlier that same day, we had led a Bible Study for girls and lady-boys that we had invited during the week and seen many of them decide to pursue a relationship with Jesus. That was the very start of a journey for them, and it was a great thing to see. However, on Friday night we got to see women (a whole little community really) much further along on that journey, having already experienced some of the healing and redemption that God offers us. And that was even more amazing to see.

After eating dinner together outside in the long “courtyard” within the YWAM base compound, everyone at the base gathered together for a big party consisting of testimonies, performances, LOTS of dancing, photos (of course, it’s the Philippines), and awesome fellowship. Officially, it was a party celebrating everyone there with a birthday in May. In reality, though, it was simply an all-out celebration of God’s goodness to us and an outpouring of the excessive joy that He gives us. It was so right that several times during the evening I had the profound impression that I was seeing a glimpse of the kingdom of heaven: people of all ages from all over the world were singing, dancing, and praising God in unity, filled with real joy.

It started with the children doing dances that they had learned, including the hit “Tootsie Wootsie” that our team had taught them. Their other dances were “choreographed” and incredibly cute – there was an innocence preserved in them that had been denied many of their parents. After that, though, came something even more beautiful and redemptive. First, the current disciples (all former prostitutes or bar girls) performed a “dance” (or a sign language interpretation) to accompany a worship song. It was so awesome to see these ladies express their love for God in such a beautiful form – ladies who had previously danced only for the pleasure of others now able to dance solely for their own pleasure and for God’s. That isn’t to say that those watching don’t get pleasure out of it anymore; on the contrary, the purity and goodness of their dancing draw out a deep spiritual pleasure for everyone looking on. There’s still pleasure, but it is of a very different kind than before and it is shared by both dancer and audience. That’s redemption!

The disciples interpreting a worship song

The dancing continued as another young woman visually interpreted “My Redeemer Lives.” The dancer was the daughter of one of the base’s staff members (and herself staff at a different base), so to me her performance was a picture of a new generation of women growing up with true dignity and confidence in God and who He made them to be.

Queeny performing "My Redeemer Lives"

Finally, one more group of ladies performed a dance to a version of “Lean on Me.” This further emphasized the joy of the Lord and His redemptive work in this base and these women’s lives. Although the discipleship process is a long and difficult one, the ladies here have such a loving, sisterly attitude toward one another, and God’s healing touch is so powerful. Watching them dance, you could tell they were just having a great time – I think Cathy (one of our leaders) was smiling the entire time. What made it even better was my Swiss friend Joshua, who from the beginning of the song sang and danced along so enthusiastically that one of the ladies came and pulled him into the group, where he picked up the moves there were doing amazingly well. It was hilarious, but also yet another redemptive picture: a man dancing with the ladies, complementing them, totally respecting them, and sharing the joy with them. Another thought struck me: this is what real fun is – everyone sharing joy together in fellowship. And not just an elusive, short-lived “joy,” but a joy founded solidly upon the everlasting hope we have in Christ. It’s so much better than Satan’s cheap imitation of fun – taking pleasure at another person’s (or even your own) expense – which we had seen in the bars all week long.

The party continued with everyone singing “Happy Birthday” to those with May birthdays. Then Virgie, the base director, and the staff that had been leading us gave us an awesome thank-you, and then we took more photos and had cake. But that wasn’t all! We kept on dancing together, now led by a very capable band made up of three of the young guys at the base. We sang and danced until they stopped playing, but then a CD picked up where they left off. When that was over, we thought we were done, but they assured us they had one more thing for us to do.

What was it? Of course, it was eating balut! For those who don't know, balut is a fertilized duck embryo that has developed for 16-25 days before being boiled and eaten - essentially a delicacy in the Philippines. Nearly all of us ended up eating it, but I’m not sure any of us would do it again willingly. To be honest, it wasn’t too awful – it tastes generally like a hard-boiled egg, just with a rather awful texture and appearance. Fortunately, it was pretty dark outside where we ate it, so I pretty much just put it in my mouth without looking and it was OK. Others were not so fortunate (see photo).

Anyway, this party was a pretty incredible way to end the week. After of walking straight into some of the darker corners of the world, God lifted our eyes back up and showed us how powerful his Light really is.

Redeemed,

Dan

A crown of beauty...

The Spirit of the Sovereign LORD is on me, because the LORD has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the broken hearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the LORD’s favour and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion-to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the LORD for the display of his splendor. – Isaiah 61:1-3

We have just arrived back to the Pacific Hope after spending a very full week at YWAM Olongapo/Tamar Foundation in the city of Olongapo. The Tamar Foundation is based at YWAM Olongapo and “provides counseling, education and basic needs for women at risk and those who been prostituted.” The Tamar Foundation provides a live-in, two year discipleship program for up to twelve women (and their children) and seeks to restore value and dignity to women through sharing Jesus and equipping them with skills that will enable them to gain further qualifications and employment that does not involve prostitution.

Tribal Church Ministry

On Sunday we woke up early and travelled by jeepney and on foot to a church located in the tribal community. It took us about an hour and a half to walk to the church (fortunately through beautiful scenery) and when we arrived a group of us went to tell the villagers that church was starting. The majority of this church’s attendees are under 12 years old, so for much of the service the majority of our team was outside leading the 40-50 children in actions songs and games while Joshua preached the sermon.  After the service we helped with the feeding program, ladling chicken noodle soup into bowls, tin cans, cups and anything else that the children and adults could find to hold their meal. We finished the morning with lunch followed by swimming in a nearby river. It was so refreshing after the hot walk, the church service, and all the time in dirty, urban Manila.

Local children enjoying chicken soup

On our way to church

We then began the week with orientation on Monday morning and jumped straight into the first session of children’s ministry that afternoon. We were amazed at the energy of just 10-15 children (all from 1 to 12 years old), and we soon realized their love for dancing and music. This ministry was a great time for us to share stories of the Bible through skits, give teaching about what faith looks like and get to know the children through games and songs. Kyle, Joshua, Nicole, Edgar, Paul and Mishelle all took turns to organize and teach during the children’s ministry which continued each afternoon until Friday.

The amazing children in the kids ministry

Teenage Guys Bible Study and Mentoring

After dinner each evening (Monday through Thursday), the guys of the justice team had a chance to spend time with a small group of teenage guys who live at the base. Our guys used this time to get to know the teenagers, share testimonies, and teach them based on Scripture and their own life experience. This was a really great opportunity for these teens to be mentored by solid Christian men, something they can’t always get because most of them don’t have fathers in their lives.

Disciples Bible Study

Alongside this, our girls would get together with the disciples and lead a bible study. The disciples are women who have previously been involved in prostitution and bar work and are now part of the Tamar foundation’s two-year program. As the emphasis of this ministry is ‘one person at a time’, each young woman has started the program at a different time and is therefore at different stages of the healing and restoration process. A number of our justice girls led the bible studies with these beautiful women and taught on topics relating to identity, spiritual warfare, and seeking Jesus. Our ladies also shared powerful testimonies during the week, prompting questions from the disciples about forgiveness, pain and healing. This presented an amazing opportunity for our justice girls to speak truth into their lives, to share their own experiences in relation to the questions raised, and speak hope and freedom in Christ. We were able to pray and talk with each of the women after each bible study and minister to them individually. On the first night, one young woman in her early twenties (and 8 months pregnant) decided to give her life to Jesus Christ. Christie and Mishelle were invited to pray for her (and her unborn baby) and then lead her in prayer to accept Jesus as her Lord and Savior! We are so thankful that God gave us this small but significant part to play in this woman’s journey of faith; it was a definite example of our Father partnering with us and inviting us to be involved in the incredible work that He is doing at YWAM Olongapo.

Bar Ministry

After the Disciples’ Bible Study each night we would spend some time in prayer as a group before heading to an area called Barretto which is a well known for bars and prostitution. Once there we separated into three groups of four. A YWAM Olongapo staff member also accompanied each group because they are familiar with the bar area and what bars we are allowed to enter. Our goal each night was to initiate conversations with the waitresses, dancers, and mamasans (the women who negotiates business between the customer and prostitutes), invite them to a Bible study on the coming Friday, and get their phone number so that the ministry can maintain contact with them. If we were not speaking with the girls, we were praying for change and transformation in the bar and the lives of those who enter it.

During this bar ministry time we learnt more of the nature of prostitution in the Olongapo and the Philippines as a whole. Many young women enter bar work due to poverty – they are either responsible for financially supporting their family back at home or must work to provide food for their own children. One girl told us that she came to work in the bars to support her family who in Manila. Her family is unaware of the nature of her work; she told them she is working in a restaurant knowing it would hurt them to know she was involved in prostitution. Many girls do not think that there are any other options for them: one 18 year old girl we spoke to had been working at the bar for 3 months, and when asked what she hoped to do in the future she looked confused and had no answer for what other job she could see herself doing. This mindset is understandable when the prostitution industry in the Philippines is the third largest in the world. Jobs in bars are more accessible for women who have not finished their high school education or who are desperate and feeling the pressure of supporting family and children.

But there is still hope and options for their future! This is the message we brought with us into the bars: the love, hope, and provision that is available from and in God. Through prayer we were prepared to go into the bars, observe the oppression, darkness and injustice, and seek to bring love and change to the people we met. This is true in one bar that Jules, Christie, Kyle, and Dan went into. One customer approached Jules and Christie commenting that something was different about them – they made him nervous. This led to conversation with him and another man about their personal stories, their view of God, the bars they were in, and the prostitution industry. This was a God-given opportunity as we learned more about the brokenness, pain, and guilt that is present in lives of the men who come into these bars and were able to bring truthful answers to the questions they asked about ourselves and God. 

We have so many more testimonies of how God provided opportunities for us to speak with young women and present another option for their futures. One group met two young women who had just begun working at a bar. They were not happy with their situation and were interested in leaving. During that night, these two women (at different times) packed up their belongings and came to the YWAM Olongapo base with the help of the base staff. After conversation with the base coordinator they decided that they wanted to return to their province, the justice girls and two staff members then spent some time praying for the two women before they left. It was great to see God at work in the situation, both young women accepted Jesus Christ.  Meeting and helping them was a reminder of the potential for the conversations we have with those working in the bars to lead to women making the decision to seek a better future and take action to leave bar work.

Community Orphanage Service

During the week, we spent a couple of afternoons in a Catholic orphanage and retirement home talking with the residents and singing with them. This was an enjoyable and sometimes amusing time for us as we learnt more about what life is like for the elderly who do not have family who can take care of them.

Bar Ministry Bible Study

On Friday we returned to the Barretto Street bar area to host a bible study for the women and lady-boys (young men who dress as women and find their identity as women) we had invited during the week. We had no idea how many men and women would turn up, but we arrived with expectation that God would prompt those who needed to come. God answered our prayers as we had a group of about 15 men and women who we had met during the week come and be part of the bible study. This time of ministry was a brilliant example of how we have a God-selected team. Each person of the justice team had a specific role to play during the bible study time: some were praying, others were spending time getting to know the girls and guys who attended, and still others led worship, gave testimonies or prepared and delivered the message. It is awesome to continue to see how God has used such a diverse group of people to share the gospel and minister to a broad range of people during this outreach.    

YWAM Olongapo’s guiding scripture is Isaiah 61:1-3 (see beginning). The reason why they chose it is evident because it encapsulates their purpose so well. This past week the justice team has got a taste of this mission in action. We saw that as Christians we have the authority of God to preach good news to the poor (financially and spiritually), to minister to the broken and hurting people we meet, to speak about the freedom we have in Christ, and play a part in helping men and women be released from the darkness of the profession they are involved in. God equips and strengthens us to comfort and provide for those who mourn and experience loss, to speak truth about the value God places on each individual and to demonstrate the love God has for us practically.

The Justice team and those who attended the Friday Bible study

Blessings,

The Justice Team 

Working in Us

Now may the God of peace who brought again from the dead our Lord Jesus, the great shepherd of the sheep, by the blood of the eternal covenant, equip you with everything good that you may do his will, working in us that which is pleasing in his sight, through Jesus Christ, to whom be glory forever and ever. Amen. (Hebrews 13:20-21, ESV)

One of the children at the dumpsite feeding program

Mishelle hard at work at the Nutritional Day Care

We have come to the end of our second and final week serving within the Smokey Mountain community. Our week started out slowly with cleaning on the ship for Monday morning to get it ready for a function the next day. In the afternoon we headed to a nearby mall, caught up on shopping and ended the day watching Iron Man 3 at the movies. On Tuesday we returned to Smokey Mountain and continued with the various ministries that YWAM is part of. We split into groups again with one group heading to the Malnutrition Day Care to help feed and play with the delightful babies. Each of the justice group have found their favorite little person and the time we spend with at the Day Care is a definite highlight of the day. A number of bible studies also took place with Jules, Amber and Christie teaching to various groups related to the YWAM Balut school sponsorship program and Tuberculosis Ministry. These bible studies were often spur of the moment and required us to rely on God to give us the right words and insight into what we were to teach. Through these bible studies we were able to share our testimonies and the hope we have in Christ; we were also able to listen to the stories of how God has provided for Christians living in Smokey Mountain over the years. One lady who has worked with YWAM Balut for twenty years shared how after nine years of marriage her husband died and she was widowed with four young children. She told how she prayed to God that He would help her and provide a way of getting all her children a high school education. God has answered her prayers as all her children have gained a high school qualification and now have steady jobs. This is an amazing outcome as it is not common in the Smokey Mountain community for all the children in a family to have received high school educations and be employed in regular work. This is definite evidence of God's faithfulness and providence in this family.

Singing and dancing with the kids at the feeding program

Amber and Lindsay at the feeding program

This week has been a time where we have seen God working in everyday situations and the lives of ordinary people. Amber, Dan, Joshua and Mishelle had the opportunity to visit a wonderful Christian lady named Noemi last week who was in need of reading glasses in order to read her Bible. The group of four returned to her and her husband on Tuesday to tell her that they would help her buy some glasses. Through donations by the justice team and crew of the Pacific Hope we were able to raise about 2000 pesos over a week! Part of these donations was used to buy ten Tagalog Bibles while the remainder was to be used to buy glasses for the Noemi. However, when they shared this with her, she told them that her husband had found a job the previous day and they would now be able to afford to purchase the glasses on their own. This was phenomenal news as the previous visit our YWAM group had prayed for employment for her husband, this prayer was answered within a week. Noemi encouraged the group to use the money to bless someone else who needed it so they prayed about who they should give the money to. Amber, Dan, Mishelle and Joshua continued with their visitations, expecting God to provide an opportunity to bless someone financially. This came during their final visitation when meeting with a blind lady who could not afford to pay for electricity and did not have any chairs for her visitors to sit on. Her next door neighbor, Lola (grandmother) Melly lent her some chairs and was sharing her electricity so that the blind woman’s room could be better lit. Lola Melly lives with her husband who suffers from arthritis and is being treated for TB, her 20 year old daughter and granddaughters in a nearby permanent housing unit. Lola Melly was eager to learn more about God and really wanted to start attending a church. The group of four shared the gospel with her, prayed for her and through conversation found out that she had a Bible but is also unable to read it due to poor eye sight and lack of glasses. This was really the same situation that sister Noemi was in, so we felt that God had answered our prayers and showed us who and what to use the money for. On Friday, Mishelle, Dan and their translator Kuya Lito went with Lola Melly to the optometrist to get her eye sight assessed and new glasses fitted. This trip was a success and Lola Melly planned to return to the optometrists on the next day to collect her new glasses. On the train ride back to Smokey Mountain Lola Melly shared with Mishelle and Dan that she had enjoyed spending time with them and felt hugely blessed by God. She explained how she knew that God was using our Justice team to help her and her family. We are so thankful to know that we can be used by God to help people through the little things that will make a significant impact on their daily lives even after we leave. God prepared the way for us to be in a position to bless others practically and demonstrate His love and care for them.

Lola Melly trying on new glasses

Melly wearing her new frames!

Another way we have seen God continue to work and answer prayer has been when we returned to an area of Karaoke bars where we first met a group of young women who were working in one establishment during our first day in Manila (refer to our first blog post for details on our first meeting with them). We really wanted to see them again and continue our conversations with them. The justice team has been praying for the group of five women during debrief time each night since we met them. We arrived at the Karaoke Bar mid afternoon on Wednesday and began praying for an opportunity to speak with the girls. After a few minutes of arriving Lindsay noticed a young woman walking near the bar entrance so she started a conversation with her to find out if she knew of the girls we had spoken with previously. She did and said that they would be arriving at the bar for work at 5:00pm; that meant a wait of an hour and a half for us. Lindsay got her phone number and we began to wait and pray along the street. Lindsay suggested that we buy the girls some cold drinks to share between them as a practical way to bless them and to show that we had actually stopped by to visit them. A handful of us went to buy drinks and the others continued to pray for opportunities to meet the girls again and for God to provide a way of delivering the drinks to them. We also wrote a quick message to them with the justice group's phone number on it in the event that they would like to contact us, we told them we had been praying and thinking of them and that we would love to meet up again. After the group returned with drinks and we had waited about an hour, Danny knocked on the bar's side door with the hope that someone would answer. It was opened by a man who knew of the girls and said he would pass the drinks and note on to the girls. We said good bye and prayed that he would actually deliver the message. During our ride back to the ship in the jeepney we received a text from one of the girls thanking us for the drinks and note. She and Amber have been texting each other, we are hoping this will lead to us arranging a time in the coming weeks to catch up with all the girls for coffee. We will trust that God will provide the opportunity for this to happen and put us in the right place at the right time.

Nicole and Edgar also had an interesting afternoon on Wednesday with the family they have been getting to know visiting the Pacific Hope. Nicole and Edgar presented them with one of the Tagalog Bibles that the Justice Donations Container had helped raise money for. As they were leaving the family was able to sort through the ship’s recycling rubbish and select the plastic and aluminum cans that they can sell for much needed money. It was interesting to observe that our rubbish and easily discarded waste was a central way this homeless family earned money to survive day to day.  

Edgar and Nicole with Alona's family and friends

This week came to a close with an evening of games on the ship with the YWAM Balut staff, this led to Kyle and Paul trying a special delicacy of the Philippines: balut. While it is also the name of the community where the YWAM base is located, balut more commonly refers a fertilized chicken egg that is boiled and eaten after 16 days of development (so that the embryo is already partially developed). There are many street stalls in Manila selling balut, they definitely offer a challenge for any eager person wanting to try something different.

On Saturday we left the Pacific Hope and Manila to begin the journey to the YWAM base in Olongapo to begin ministry with former prostitutes, their families, and local bar girls. We are excited about what this coming week will entail; we know God will definitely be at work in us and through us to plant seeds of hope, truth, and healing in others’ lives as well as our own.

Blessings,

Justice Team

P.S. Here are some more photos of the Smokey Mountain area, taken by the talented Danny Aviles.