Affair-Proof Your Marriage

The Myth of Greener Grass

Pastor Steve Williams

October 1 & 2, 2011

Our Forever House

Facing Your Forever

July 23 & 24, 2011

Pastors Ronnie McDougall and Shane Ham

I know that I can speak for everyone when I say that this has been a life changing experience.  The COH intern team was amazing…it was great to talk with them and hear how each one has set aside 3 months to serve the poor and to seek God for direction in their life. It was such an encouragement to me and our team to hear their stories and how God has brought them to this place of total surrender.

The Blachey Family is AMAZING. They are doing such a great work in the city of Davao. They put in countless hours each week ministering to over 5,000 kids. They have a heart for the people here and desire to see people come know know the Lord. In a place where people are poor and lack very basic things like food, clean water and medical care they are loving people in a tangible way by providing these things and a regular basis. They are the hands and feet of Jesus. This family is loved and respected in their community because they are not just preaching the gospel…they are the gospel!

It was an honor to serve with both groups this week.

Many of you may know that this team was scheduled to go to Haiti but because of the political unrest we joined COH in The Philippines. At first, I was unsure what God was up to with all the changes and ambiguity of the trip but now on the other side of things I am thanking God for his faithfulness and his hand in everything. Everything about this trip was perfect. To be in God’s will is the best place to be.

I am so proud of our team…They did great!! They worked hard and gave 110% EVERYDAY. They constantly looked for ways to serve one another and the people of Davao.

So is this the end of the journey….or just the beginning? God did some significant things in the life of the team members and I am excited to see how things unfold as they continue to seek after Jesus, the author and finisher of their faith!

So I leave you with this request….. please keep this team in your prayers as they travel home and think about what this trip means in the big picture of their life. What is God asking them to do? What is the next step? Please pray for each to hear the voice of God have the courage and boldness to RESPOND! We were created for a purpose…a purpose greater then us. Please join with me in prayer for what this means for NorthPointe. Some of you know that a few people have been experimenting with gardening and praying about what it would look like to use that to serve the poor and those that are struggling. This is also a new area of ministry for Convoy so the possibilities are endless. So at the end of this trip my head is spinning with ideas and thoughts for the future. It’s in time like this that I grab hold of the truth found in Gods Word…”Trust in the Lord with all your heart, do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take” Proverbs 3:5-6

So Lord we will seek you and we will trust you!

See you in about 36 hours!
-Kim

NPCC and COH

Tonight will be our last night here in Davao City but certainly not my last visit.  I have fallen in love with the people and the culture and feel so honored and privileged to have had the pleasure of serving here.  The things we have been able to be a part of will forever be in my heart. We have made many friends and extended family who will be greatly missed.

Today the team continued digging the hole for the new fish pond, planting in the garden, sorting through tiles to use on the garden pathways, and we helped to fill and tie bags full of Tang to freeze for popsicle’s for the kids that will be returning on Saturday and Sunday. At the end of our work day we went on a walk through the area next to the Family Circus. No matter what circumstance or situation we encountered, everyone greeted us with a smile and a warm greeting. The children were excited to receive the candies we had stashed in our pockets and also the coloring papers as well. I have noticed that the reception we have received here in Davao is like no other. Everyone is polite, welcoming, and eager to say hello. It has been a life changing experience for me and I am excited to share it with everyone back home. Tomorrow will be very difficult in saying goodbye not only to our friends at Family Circus but also to our friends with The Convoy of Hope. We all share a very special bond that can never be broken.

Thank you all for praying for us and our journey and I ask that you continue to pray for the COH team as they will remain here in service for another five weeks. In closing I also ask that you include the children of Davao City in your daily prayers. The need is great here.

Major progress on the hole for the fish pond.

]]> http://northpointe.org/2011/03/09/not-goodbye-but-see-you-next-time/feed/ 0 http://northpointe.org/2011/03/08/life-is-short-pray-hard/ http://northpointe.org/2011/03/08/life-is-short-pray-hard/#comments Tue, 08 Mar 2011 13:21:26 +0000 Kimberly Gragston http://northpointe.org/?p=7358 Everyone is doing well and staying healthy. Thank you so much for all your prayers. God has been doing some AMAZING things in the hearts of our team members, those we are serving with and the people of Davao. It is a privilege to be apart of the Convoy of Hope team as we serve this wonderful family that has completely given their lives over to Jesus and to reach people for The Kingdom of God.

Beautiful Faces

Below is the day through the eyes of Susan…..

Today was another busy day of work at the Family Circus property.  We almost have the fish pond dug out.  We also worked on a ton of broken tiles sorting them for reconstruction projects.  The garden has trellises going up, and the compost got another flip.  They must have to flip compost more down here south of the equator.  Did I mention it’s hot here?

After our work day, we took a short trip through the neighborhood on what they call tricycles here.  They are basically a bike taxi.  A bike with a little seat for 2 on the side is used to transport people around.  For about 10 cents per person (5 pesos here), we got a ride down to the beach to meet with children from the neighborhood who go down to play.  It is not a beach that we Americans would ever swim on because of the water quality, but there were quite a few kids running around and playing on the beach.

Darrell, the head missionary and founder of Family Circus, has a big heart for ministering to children.  He hopes to reach this generation with the love of Jesus.  We passed out some coloring page flyers to get kids to come to Family Circus, and then toured through a very poor neighborhood.  One stop was at a church members house.  It was a tiny shack smashed up against other tiny shacks.  The woman’s husband had just passed away 3 days ago, and she is left to take care of 11 children.  Family Circus will help her through that process because there is no support system for people in her circumstance here.

Darryl also took us to a cemetary, of all places.  I thought, why are we going here?  But he took us there for 2 reasons.  One to visit some children who are regular attenders of Family Circus.  They actually live in a little gathering of shacks within the cemetary property.  It was very strange to see families living at such extreme poverty in a cemetary.  He also took us there to remind us of the brevity of life, and that we want to take as many people with us to heaven as we can.  Time is a limited resource.

Another amazing dayin the Philippines reminding us that God is always with us no matter where we are in this wide world, and that He loves everyone all over this big world.

Susan, Jon, Deana and Robby in front of our hotel

As I worked today, that question came up a few times in my mind.  What things does God want me to do for His glory?  How am I to be a blessing?  One way that I was assured our team was being a blessing today was from a simple two word “Thank you” from Gai Gai.  I have never had anyone say that phrase and have it mean so much as when she said, “Thank you” to us  for coming here to the Philippines and showing that we cared for them.  D.D., her husband, told us that it means so much to them to have us come and help because it validates for them that other Christians are supporting his family’s choice to follow God’s will.

We shoveled dirt to make a fish pond, planted plants in a square-foot- gardening type garden (Jeremy, it was huge and awesome!), made cement stepping stones, moved debris, washed some dishes, moved compost, and many other types of jobs.  All the while in the past I would have been thinking, “Is this what God wants us to do?”  But today was different.  I felt extremely tired, and I probably won’t be able to lift my aching arms tomorrow.   But while I was working today,  I thought of that simple thank you and how just our presence here was making a big difference for our Christian brother and sister and their kids.

If I died today, have I done everything God wanted me to do?  Today was a good day.  With God’s grace, tomorrow I will continue to do my best to answer that question.

Jon Menton

a.k.a. George of the Jungle

P.S.  I was saying goodbye after the service on Saturday to some teen-aged girls.  They called me George.  Of course I asked them, do you mean George Clooney?  Of course they must have meant I looked like a famous movie star.  I was quickly corrected by them hollering, “No!  George of the Jungle”.  I may never know why, but Oh well…

Mall down the street from our hotel.

Street that our hotel is on.

Susan helping to distribute some rice before the childrens service begins!

The Family circus in action

The kids attending the service

Family circus provides transportation to and from the weekend services.

 

 Convoy of Hope partners with the Blatchey family by providing meals for the 5,000 kids they serve on a weekly basis. The name “Family Circus” comes from the large, circus type tent they use to host their weekend services. The services are high energy and full of life. In addition to the weekend services, the children receive medical care, school supplies and other basic that we take for granted.

They are changing lives on a daily basis and making a positive difference in this community.

Joe Lee, one of our team members shares the day from his perspective…..

After all the flying, layovers and logistical hiccups, we finally got to meet the kids and staff at Family Circus children’s ministry today. After breakfast we piled into the “Jeepney” and headed over to the big tent to help with the day’s service There were about 2000 kids that showed up for today program. We arrived at the compound and there were already hundreds of children running around and in line for food and other services. We all fanned out to help where we could. Whether  it w as help scooping rice into cups to hand the kids or working at the table where kids signed up for the id cards. We all seemed to find something to do.

All the children just love to have their pictures taken and as soon as we pulled out our cameras the children crowed around to see their faces on the screens of our cameras. They also wanted to hold our hands and get a hug. That was really a hug blessing for all of us. The kids are so loving and just want someone to pay attention to them. After something to eat, that maybe the most valuable commodity to them. I think I can speak for the whole team when I say that we were deeply affected by this living sea of children’s coursing about the tent and its environs. To a person we felt that we had really seen God in the faces of these little ones. After the service some of the children came and asked to be prayed for, and we were excited to join with them and serve in this way.  It was as big a blessing for us as it seemed to be for them. After the service we took a tour of the place with Darrell’s son DD, who works at the family circus with his wife and their two children. We learned about the planting strategies as well as the fish ponds. We will be doing some work on both of those later. We had some lunch at place with real local appeal, McDonald’s, which happens to be the favorite of our hosts. Then we had a little time to decompress and used it to go on a zip line. That was great fun follow by a dinner at a local Thai restaurant. Totally spent for the day we headed back to the hotel for devotional/debrief time and whatever details were needed for the next day before we hit the sack.

 We are having a hard time getting the pictures from today loaded. We will tray again tomorrow.

Goodnight!

Everyone is taking in all the sights and sounds of this beautiful place and are dying to expierence more of the culture.
Thanks for following our journey We will update again when we have arrive in Davao.

SOme of the first impressions of the Philippines from the team:

Korean Air Rocks!

The traffic never stops…driving from the airport to our room @3am and the streets were still alive

The people here are very friendly and VERY hospitable.