Yesterday was a great day here in Iba. I was able to talk with Paul and Tina Ebert they are missionaries who live here at the camp and we went to church together in Springfield back in 2003 and 2004. They planted a church in the town of Iba this past November. I have made plans with them and will be staying the weekend here in Iba and will be ministering with them in their church. The difference between the type of ministry the Lyon’s have and the other church experiences I have had here in the Philippines in my previous trips is like night and day….one extreme to the other. It is funny to me that they have the same conservative/progressive issues here in the Philippines that we have back in the states. I look forward to experiencing the Ebert’s style of ministry, which I expect to be more of a blended style, this weekend.
Filipinos are required to learn English in school, my friend Nympha asked me yesterday, “ You are not required to learn Tagalog in your school?” She, along with most of the dancers, has been trying to teach me Tagalog. Rachel and the other American intern here, Sally, are picking it up very well. Me, not so much! The fact that I have a stuffy nose and a hoarse voice does nothing to help my pronunciation. But I will not have that excuse for very much longer…Tina Ebert gave me some cough and cold medicine and I am starting to feel some relief. The Filipinos use the word “nosebleed” when their brain is straining so hard to speak English that their nose is now bleeding. Well, I have been having “nosebleed” with Tagalog for the past few days!
Please pray for Sally, she is having some sort of allergic reaction to some bug bites, she has huge welts all over her legs and she has been in bed all day today. This is her third week here at camp and without her smiling face around all the workers are asking, “Where is Sally?” and “How is Sally?” So please lift her up in your prayers that she will get to feeling better, she does a lot with the production and games and worship, and it was a fight to get her to stay in bed today even though she needed the rest.
God is working in mighty ways here at the camp. My involvement is mainly in the production side of things right now. My assignment the past few days was to “observe.” Tomorrow I will be assigned a specific area of ministry. I don’t have specific numbers for this week (I’m working on getting them) but I do know when I talked to Greg Lyons 2 months ago they had seen 14,000 young people come to know Christ since January. So far this summer (Since January) they have had over 70,000 campers. The numbers are amazing, I honestly couldn’t believe it when he told me, Dad and I thought he must have meant those were the total numbers since the camp had started a few years ago. But now that I am here I can see how these are numbers from this year alone. I myself in just the past 4 days have seen over 4,800 campers. As I said, I don’t know specific numbers right now, but I do know that I have witnessed no less than 200 baptisms the past two mornings.
While the messages are all in Tagalog, the worship services are in English except for one song which I almost know. It is an amazing experience to have the opportunity for praise and worship three times a day! This is probably adding to my hoarse voice but it is totally worth it.
Tagalog Phrase of the Day:
magandang umaga = good morning
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