Chels For China

tonights sermon was titled "Remember My Bonds" and the pastor spoke about the apostle paul and the persecution that he endured and then the persection that people are going through now in countries like pakistan, laos, and china...God really spoke to me tonight...am i truly and fully surrendered to Him? am i willing to face persecution for His name? matt. 24:9

also pray for me because i seem to be getting sick again...im taking medicine and drinking some sort of warm juice something or other but i really need to kick this thing before i have to fly on friday!

more pictures...today i spent time with hazel, mitch, and mam mayla from the bible college...tommorrow i will spend all day at the school and going on visitation...

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=89195&id=588667832&l=f1309292e6

well i made it back to the hotel last night...although it took much longer to get back here than it did to get over to starbucks...and to be honest i did get a bit nervous and maybe scared a little...until i evaluated the driver and decided that if it came to a fight...i could totally take him...

so we had our outing to the beach today...it was alot of fun...we drove about an hour and when we arrived the students divided into their "groups" which is there groups they are put in when they begin school their first year and they remain there for the duration of their time at BBC...anyways...so we got with our groups and had devotions and games and then we went swimming before lunch...after lunch dr. jesalva arrived and i talked to him for a few minutes...he brought me a fruit basket...with mangos...i love this man!! mmmm yeah im gonna eat one of those mangos when i get back to my room! so good! ok well back on track...after lunch and my chat with dr. j...we swam some more and then a few of us went out on a little boat...it was great fun...except for poor jay....he was our "muscle" mam myla made jay accompany myself and three other girls..and we were crazy loud singing and goofing off..poor guy!! but i had a blast!! and that brings me back to sitting here in the restaurant of my hotel...praise God the wi-fi is fixed!

im not entirely sure what tomorrow has in store....maybe some visitation...i dont have any definite schedule that i have been given...

also, i have posted more pics
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=88943&id=588667832&l=6fae0f55de

enjoy! thanks for your prayers and your support!!

*chels*

so...i am currently sitting in a starbucks...somewhere in cebu city...the internet has been down for the past two days at my hotel...im not totally convinced that they didnt turn it off after the last time i was sitting in the lobby laughing like a crazy person at the comments bobby hughes left on my facebook pics! anyways...this lack of internet access is what has caused me to take my life in my hands and hop in a cab and say "starbucks or any coffee shop with wifi please!!" well 15 minutes and 70 pesos later i find myself sitting here...sipping a dark choco mocha frappuccino....getting my internet fix...and not remembering the name of my hotel...

well..lets get down to business! lets see...my day started out with a nice american breakfast of pancakes and bacon...which was delicious and then my friend hazel picked me up and we went to church! the church was awesome...the ministry there is just amazing...the people have such a passion to reach out and win souls for Christ! the messages in both sunday school and the main service were challenges to me...especially the sunday school lesson...the teacher spoke about the path God has for your life and surrendering to him...its amazing how God is still revealing himself to me on the otherside of the world..in a half english lesson...my prayer from the beginning of this trip is that God would shake me...wake me up...show me his will for my life...and he is doing so much more than i expected!! pray for me as i continue to grow and seek God's will during this experience....

dr. jesalva announced tonight after church that the entire student body of bible baptist college cebu will be joining me for an outing to the beach tomorrow!! so we are all really excited about that!! it is hotter here in cebu that it was back on luzon...it hasnt rained here once...yet...well...my internet time is about to expire so i will say so long for now....!!

o also tried alot of new food today...pics and explanations to follow later =]

June 20, 2009
Where to begin….well first of all…my last couple days in manila were great…I spent Wednesday night with the eberts….and then on Thursday I went with the interns working with MMI and Greg Lyons. I was able to go out on the “Fun Trucks” which is a ministry of Community Baptist Church. Basically we went out into different neighborhoods with a speaker, microphone, two mascots, a magician, and some songs. We would gather the kids and then sing songs and give a lesson. It was great! I was really glad I was able to be a part of this experience…after the fun trucks Sally and I commuted back to the house where the interns are living this summer…o my!! First of all, on Wednesday night Paul and Dennis Ebert told me quite a few stories about being robbed and stabbed while riding on a jeepney or in a cab. Then Sally and I took two jeepney’s home and then I took a taxi to the airport =] it was terrifying…lol no it was actually really cool!
So I arrived in Cebu yesterday afternoon…the flight from Manila was only 1 hour. At the airport, I was welcomed by a group of girls from the Bible college. The girls are great…they are a lot of fun. Last night we ate dinner at a coffee shop/restaurant near my hotel…it was really good. This morning we had a prayer meeting at 6:30 and then I was able to go out with the evangelistic teams to “the area.” This ministry is very similar to the fun trucks that CBC does in Manila. Two girls and I went out and conducted “Sunday school” out in the squatter areas of Cebu. We did three different areas this morning and tomorrow we will go out and do it in 4 other areas.
This afternoon Ate Hazel and Ruth…two of the girls from the college picked me up and we went to a Bible study with a couple girls that they had led to the Lord. We were there for a couple of hours and it was amazing…the passion and desire of these girls to win souls was a challenge to me. We spent time sharing things from our devotions and the Ate Hazel gave a lesson on tips for witnessing. It was a great time of fellowship. Ate Hazel, Ruth, and I commuted home from their house to my hotel and had dinner at McDonalds on the way.
So now I am just sitting in my hotel room, with no more plans for the evening. I will probably go to bed early tonight…the car will be here for me at 6:30 in the morning. So, I am enjoying my time here in the Philippines, and I have made some great friends already here in Cebu, and there are only 6 more days until CHINA!!!

so im sitting at starbucks with sally, rachel, and another intern from bbc in springfield, kristen. we dont have to be at the office until 11 but our ride to the city was only available at 5:45 this morning....so...here we sit! =]

i had a great day with the eberts yesterday...we did some grocery shopping and then ate dinner at chili's with paul's parents, dennis and gloria ebert. it was so nice and great to see the eberts again before i leave. today is my last day in manila...from here i leave for cebu tomorrow at 1pm where i will stay for a week before i go to CHINA!!

well i am back in manila...the last few days in rizal were great!! the anniversary celebration and service was great...dennis sabiduria...the man that started the church...and his family came up for this special time...three of his kids came...james, 24, ruth, 21, and jonathon, 18...so we had a good time getting to know each other...on friday..the day of the big anniversary celebration we had a motorcade around the city of rizal...where we walked...and some drove with balloons and postors to celebrate the anniversary...after that we went to the local high school gym and had a service...there were 6 preachers each with a 20 minute time limit...we ended up 2 hours behind schedule...lol...ahhh baptist preach are the same no matter where you are in the world!!
after the service we had a big lunch and then played some basketball!! it was alot of fun...i was even able to see a friend from my first trip, Mark!! it was an awesome day!

on saturday the santiagos and the sabidurias and i went to a water resort for swimming and celebrating the 3rd wedding anniversary of Ace and May..it was alot of fun..we cooked out filipino style and i ate with my hands like a real filipino =] ace is teaching me to become a filipino because he is trying to marry me off...and my dad is encouraging him in the venture!

well...im am back in manila now...im staying in a hotel for a couple of days while the lyon's are out of town and then i will be staying with them the last two nights before i leave for cebu....paul and tina ebert from iba, zombales are coming in tonight and i am spending the day with them tomorrow..im very excited...i havent seen another american in 15 days!! i saw a white guy in the lift this morning and got really excited...i stared at him a little...(see i am becoming filipino!) but when he talked to me he was british, australian or russian or something...

well...seeing as it has stopped raining...im going to venture out and try and make my way over to the mall for some dinner....ive posted some pictures from rizal on my facebook there is a public link to the album so you dont have to have a fb profile to look at it:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=87529&id=588667832&l=567509d173

also...as im sure you were all very worried...i talked to my friend josh today and i am in the process of receiving the season 5 finale of the office through aim...im pretty excited...im gonna get some popcorn...peanut butter...and some C2 and watch it later tonight....its a special occasion =] just wanted to share that little fact...love you guys!!

Oh!! also! ive received some more information about my basketball camps later this summer...amazing!! for our first camp we already have 60 college students signed up and classes havent even begun! we are expecting over a hundred participants! we are going to have 5 weeks of camp where we will combine basketball and english....

and with that i am going to venture out into the city...oh man! (said with enthusiasm) its raining again! thats awesome...now i get to wear my rainboots!! its a good day!

*chels*

so i talked to sally, one of greg lyons interns, and she gave me the offical camp results...
TOTAL CAMPERS: 79,965
SALVATIONS: 29,090
BAPTISMS: 6,357
BBCA APPLICANTS: 1,668 (Baptist Bible College-Asia)

Amazing!! Praise God for the great things HE has done!! Pray for MMI as they are now doing follow-up with the campers and their student center opened yesterday...their sc is a place for students to come before and after school and just relax and hang out in a christian enviroment..


well my first week in rizal has gone well..the services this weekend were great...there is much to be done in preparation for the anniversary celebration this coming friday...i have been sick the past couple of days...i thought that i was going to have to go to the doctor yesterday..but i avoided that...im still feeling kind of weak today...i cant eat much and my hosts just dont seem to understand that!! please pray for my recovery...i hate to spend my time here just lying in bed!

well i have made it to rizal!! on our way from iba we stopped at pizza hut and had pizza and some ice cream for habbakok's birthday..today was a pretty relaxing day..i went to the market with may and mary and bought some fruit and veggies..then we had church tonight..the service was very good...it rained alot today...maybe a typhoon...so many of the church members were not able to attend..they dont have any transportation in the rain...tomorrow i think we will go to cabanatuan with may's husband ace...he works at the radio station there and there is a mall =] but first we will be playing basketball at 6 am!! ahh!!

please be praying for my friend ezekial...he is going to be taking the exam for his nursing boards this saturday and sunday...and also pray for the church's anniversary celebration on june 12...all of the missions and daughter churches will be coming to rizal for the celebration

well with basketball at 6 am..i am going to bed!