We went through what I would call a boot-camp missionary training program. We started our week off on Tuesdays and went from 8am to around 8pm by the time we got into our hotel room. We had meetings, leadership meetings, worship, planning meetings, prayer time, ministry time, and meals in that 12 hours per day and it was a non-stop motion filled day. There were days when we had lots of energy and days when we were dragging, all in the midst of 90 degree/90% humidity weather, somedays were definitely harder than others. We learned and experienced so many amazing things, I am incredibly thankful for this training.
One story I want to share with you is that of a 98 year old man and a 89 year old woman. We met Basilia and Melodicio the second week we were in Cagayan de Oro in a little village called Baloy. I had the opportunity to minister to these two with my interpreter named Michael in a very special way. They had never made the decision to placing their faith in God, but one afternoon they were wondering what they would eat and we showed up with a bag of food. God used this to soften their hearts because later that day during a second meeting with them they gave their lives to Christ! What an amazing feeling that was, it made all the sweating I was doing worth every drop!
We continued to visit this couple and gave them a Bible written in Cebuano, thier native toungue and found them reading it often. The las week we were there we talked to them about getting baptized and they seemed interested. The Saturday before we left, we had a big celebration in Baloy where we gave away fresh fruit, played kids' games, sang songs and at the end had a baptism in the ocean - Basilia and Melodicio joined us! It was a glorious day and I swear I heard angels singing!!!
One of the greatest things Scott and I have taken away from this experience is that God wants to use us, in spite of us. We know that our family is prepared to go into missions full-time and we are excited about that. We are believing that God has a plan for us and that He is unveiling that plan in our lives now. Remember, it only takes simple obedience to please God.
