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2010 Missions Trip Report

Tue, 15 Feb 2011 11:16:52 +0100

Praise God for the opportunity to reach the nations! Read all about the highlights of our 2010 Missions Trip to the Philippines including:

2010 Missionaries.
Hope Manila: Harvest of Souls in Nova.
God turns fear into boldness.
Medical and Dental Mission.
Hope Pangasinan Projects impact communities.
Pasig: A mission within a Mission

>> Download the 2010 Missions Trip Report (1 MB)

To God be the glory!

Youth Missions Trip 2010

Fri, 07 Jan 2011 20:19:50 +0100

In the span of 12 days (28th of November to the 8th of December), I could honestly say we finally understood and saw the LIVING Word of God. The people we met lived and breathed the Word of God like it was their first language and Tagalog was their second. We saw the bible verses we grew up with being actively used in their daily life. The bible was not just pages of advice but the Word of God was ALIVE IN PEOPLE.

We so easily say, ‘All I need is you God’, but when one thing is taken away from us, God is the LAST person we run too. They didn't have much materially but they had something eternal. They were so abundant with hope and faith that no hardship could separate them from God’s love. It made me think of all the times I wasted my breath complaining when I should have been praising God.

Here in Australia, we tend to memorise verses. It sometimes goes in but as soon as we’re under pressure, we can’t even remember it. What I learnt in Philippines is that they didn’t have verses prepared in their heads. They had it written in their hearts. It was their life support. They needed the Word of God like their whole life depended on it. The youth we partnered with were like 13-15 years old when we did street evangelism and they shocked all of us. In the time I took with trying to figure out where to casually insert the Word of God in the conversation, the youth already had them saying the Salvation prayer. That’s how much the Word of God was engraved in their life.

That’s where we all learnt how God and His Word taught us to be Fearless. We found out we were more than capable with the Word and Spirit of God. Language and cultural barriers were broken because there were many cases when most of us, who don’t speak Tagalog, were sharing about God IN Tagalog. It surprised us on how much, at missions, God proved what He promised in that He will equip us with whatever is necessary in fulfilling His will. For me that gave me such a confidence boost knowing that God really was right there next to me. It was in evangelism that we got tested for what was written in our hearts, and how available we were to be used by God.

My highlight was the Medical/Dental mission. In the Medical/Dental Missions, we got thrown into the deep end. We came to the realisation that none of us had ever done one-on-one evangelism before. We’ve preached and taught at youth but never to a complete stranger, let alone someone from another country that aren’t too familiar in speaking or understanding English. After the doctors and dentists provided free services, they came to us for counselling. In all honesty, I was so nervous the whole way through until the last girl. Everyone was relaxing because it was almost over, when Val asked Jovelle and I to counsel one more girl. Since I was caught off guard, I had no time to prepare anything. I was like ‘God, I’m counting on you’. So we began talking and crying on how much God has already changed us just by being there, and I can confidently say God really used us as His mouthpiece. It was definitely ALL him. She became the first person we ever lead through the Salvation prayer. That’s where we learnt how to evangelise, when everything and every word came from the Holy Spirit and we were humbly His messengers.

The Missions trip made everything we learnt about God come to life. It was more than just a memory but a turning point in our lives. It made us realise that people out there STILL don’t know how much God loves them. God tugged at my heart during worship at missions and He said, ‘Tell my sons and daughters that I love them, that’s all I want you to tell them. I’ll set people in your path so you can show them how much I love you, and in turn how I love them just as much’. That is what WE ALL are meant to do. There is no specific formula to evangelism, simply tell them that they are DEARLY loved by a God that will never stop loving you. God’s love will speak for itself.

Hope Manila Project Update

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:03:42 +0100

God does not despise small beginnings. In fact we can substantiate that truth by looking back to the Old Testament times when God called people like Abraham, Moses, and Noah. They all had humble beginnings.

The Hope Manila Project may seem to have started only about three years ago but in reality God was already leading the Agape Christian Church way back in April 2001 when 6 Agapeans went to the Philippines on their first mission trip. The purpose of that trip was to see firsthand what God was doing in the lives of the street children. The mission trip included the feeding of street kids, gift-giving and teaching of the word of God.

The project continued even after the mission team came back home. With our partner church in the Philippines, we continued to feed these street kids every Saturday and taught them the life-giving nourishment of the Word of God.

The second missionary journey of Agape Christian Church in March 2008 gave way to the sponsorship of 10 kids as a start. The goal is to support the kids financially and prayerfully until they complete their secondary studies. It is a long term goal and commitment for the Agapeans and other sponsors outside the confine of the church.

Now the scholarship reaches 105 students. Praise the Lord! The goal is to reach the 200 mark. Nothing is impossible with God. He supplies and calls people to respond to his cause.

2010 is the year of the third mission journey of this church. The mission dates are set for November 28 – December 12. This is a two part mission trip: Hope Pasig by the young people and the Hope Manila/Hope Pangasinan by the adult group. Let us wait and see what God will do in the lives of the Agapeans who become obedient to the call of the Lord in their lives.

Let us be united, preach the Word and reach the nations of this world. This nation may be your friend or workmate from another nation. Christ is the Name where all nations of this world can put their hope in.

Matthew 12:21 “In his name the nations will put their hope."

IN FOCUS: Words from a Sponsor

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:07:28 +0100

I remember the excitement that I felt when Hope Manila was launched by Agape. For me, this was the best project Agape has ever undertaken. This project gave opportunity to a lot of us to share the blessings that the Lord bestow upon us. Along with my children, Ronjie, Rj and Elisha, we took part in the project and sponsored some kids.

We had the wonderful opportunity to visit and meet the children and their parents at FTCC last October during our holidays in the Philippines. It was raining heavily, but all of us enjoyed the children’s service they had prepared.

I am very happy to know that Princess, one of our sponsored children is now graduating from the 2- year vocational course she took. I can’t explain how much joy it gives knowing that at the end of the day, someone or somebody has fulfilled their dreams because you decided to share a portion of what you have. I believe that the best part of this undertaking is a heart that gives without expecting anything in return being reminded that when we give, we give to the Lord. Our Lord Jesus said in Matthew 25:40, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.’

It does not matter how big or little we give. What matters is the little unknown acts of kindness and love that one shows to all who cross his way. Joy is obtained not because we do great things but because we do small things with great love.

I believe in the Lord’s promise - a hundredfold return, pressed down shaken together and running over when you give because He said so but this should not be our utmost motivation for our giving. In Galatians 6:9-10, it says, ‘Let us not become weary in doing good for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people especially to those who belong to the family of believers.’

Let us also remember that the pure and faultless religion that God accepts is to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world – James 1:27. Let us encourage one another to redeem our time, using it wisely and grabbing every God blessed opportunity to give to those who are in need, sing our song to cheer the weary and share our faith to every troubled heart for now is the time to fulfill the call and the purpose that God have for us for we many never pass that way again.

HOPE for the Future

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:08:54 +0100

God loves justice. There are a handful of scriptures in the bible where He has given the people of Israel specific instructions on how to defend the widow or care for the poor. As followers of Christ we are to continue in carrying out the Lord’s work to expand his kingdom here on earth. The Mission Team of Agape Christian Church has taken this challenge on board in obedience to God’s calling. The team, in collaboration with partner churches in the Philippines has targeted poverty stricken places in the country to extend financial and spiritual blessings to the less fortunate brothers and sisters. God loves justice. There are a handful of scriptures in the bible where He has given the people of Israel specific instructions on how to defend the widow or care for the poor. As followers of Christ we are to continue in carrying out the Lord’s work to expand his kingdom here on earth. The Mission Team of Agape Christian Church has taken this challenge on board in obedience to God’s calling. The team, in collaboration with partner churches in the Philippines has targeted poverty stricken places in the country to extend financial and spiritual blessings to the less fortunate brothers and sisters. Our team’s project was simple: to give children an opportunity to attend school and their local church to learn about Jesus. We believe that with this simple plan we can take part in advancing God’s kingdom.

Hope Manila/Pangasinan, the name of the project, is now two years old and over the years, the number of sponsored children gaining access to basic education and coming to the knowledge of Jesus Christ grew.

The team believes that none of this growth would have been possible without God’s hand on the project. He has sent (and will send more) faithful workers and sponsors to partner with the church in reaching out to the world. This is His mandate.

Currently, the fruits of our labour are seen in the smiles of the children and their family receiving a portion of our blessings.

Access to Education Children from the streets of Novaliches, Malasiqui and Pangasinan are now gaining access to basic education. This gives them the opportunity to learn how to read and write. Education brings knowledge and understanding and therefore can help them hone their skills, potentials and dreams in life.

Salvation This is the main focus of Hope Manila/Pangasinan. What good is an education if the knowledge of our Lord Jesus is not planted in their young minds? Children and their parents are being saved and publicly declaring their relationship with Jesus Christ. Indeed we are blessed to become a blessing. What a joy it is to take part in giving hope and life to the people who are lost and in need. God loves his most valuable creation. He will provide the means and the ways to extend his love and peace to his people. It is all up to us now how far we are going to take this call.

To God be the glory!