DISPATCHES: Philippines (June 2013)

Tuesday, June 11

(3 p.m. local time) The team is approaching the final village of Licungan after a successful mission day in Les-eng. The team will rest and prepare for the final climb to Santol la Union to conclude the mission.

The team met someone in Les-eng that was another divine appointment; learn more about it in the post-mission climb report. Please continue to pray for the team for a safe journey home.

Monday, June 10

(6 a.m. local time) Mission day in Tacadang once more was a blessed success. To God be the glory! It is always difficult to try to summarize the events of mission day because there will never be enough space to write down all the testimonies from the 15 climbers. But here we go: After attending the Sunday service at United Church of Christ in the Philippines (UCCP) church the team was divided into four smaller teams. One team led by Doc Francis Daytec did the medical mission and diagnosed more than 30 patients. Jael Garcia led a new women's ministry, which was attended by many Kankanaey women. Coney Pagtakhan and American members of the team ministered to the children. Ace Concordia and Michael Wall talked to the church leaders of Tacadang and distributed Bibles. It was an active fruitful day that produced many individual testimonies shared during the evening devotion. These testimonies will be shared after the climb to further paint the picture of the glorious masterpiece God is doing in Kibungan!

Today, the team treks to Les-eng to complete its mission. Please continue to pray for these servants.

Sunday, June 9

(7:30 a.m. local time) The team arrived in Tacadang on Saturday after a nine-hour trek in good weather. The team had a devotion in the evening, where Michael Wall of Durango, CO, USA, shared a testimony on his Climbing For Christ ministry experiences in a forbidden nation to give C4C Philippines members a view of the other great things God is doing around the world. Michael also shared about how ministry is like a bicycle – every part is important for it to work and move. It will be the same today knowing that everyone on this mission climb is here for a purpose. Today is “Ministry Day” and everyone is excited at the great things God will do. We covet the prayers of all of those who are supporting this mission.

Saturday, June 8

(5 p.m. local time) The team Arrived in Tacadang at 4:15 p.m., declaring: “God is good to us.”

Friday, June 7

(7:25 p.m. local time) It's 7:20 p.m. and the team has just finished dinner and is preparing for devotion and pre-climb meeting. The climb to Tacadang begins at 5 a.m. Saturday.

(11 a.m. local time) The mission team arrived at Poblacion Kibungan at 10:30 a.m. Much of the road to Kibungan has been improved, resulting in better travel time. But portions of the road still remained muddy. The team carried with it an overflow of donations of Kankanaey Bibles, medicines, school supplies, slippers, and gifts for the teachers. The team will be spending the rest of the day re-packing the donations, meeting with the guides, and preparing the program for ministry day. The weather is just perfect and please continue to pray that it continues to favor us. The mission is off to a good start.

Some members of the Tacadang team.

Thursday, June 6

Get 'The Word' Out

By Ace Concordia
C4C Philippines coordinator

“What did he say?” I found myself asking this question many times during my first mission trips to Kibungan. The Philippines has a myriad of sub-dialects that change from one province to another. So even if you’re a Filipino travelling to a different province or island in the Philippines it is like travelling to another country. The local languages have minor similarities at times, but often there are major differences.  This language barrier makes the simplest of conversations a complex game of charades. Even the most basic questions are met with a curious stare just because people don’t understand each other. This is when we realize the value of understanding words – they are part of what makes our life function. Without knowing  what’s being said or how to say something slows life down to a halt. Life can’t move on until both parties get a clear understanding of what the other is saying.

It’s the same with our relationship with God. The world started with the Word. It says in John 1:1-3 that nothing was created without the Word of God first. Everything starts with the Word of God – everything! God spoke every good thing into existence, and even up to this day life is the result of God’s Word. Everything around you communicates one message: that God loves you! The universe is God’s billboard, which He created so masterfully and so immensely so you wouldn’t miss out on His grand message of affection for you. But when man fell into sin we lost that link to God, and we lived lives not knowing about God’s love. It’s just like in marriage, no matter how many years you’ve been together, husbands and wives need to hear the words, “I love you.” Those words, when said, make all the difference in our lives. But sin closed our hearts to God’s Word, and that is why we long for a love we cannot find, we long for those words we so desperately want to hear, “I love you.”

God knows about our situation and He cares too much for us to do nothing. So He executes a plan that will send the most powerful message of His love for you. He sent his Son Jesus to be persecuted, tortured, and crucified for your sin. Then He inspired people to write the story of this great act, so that people will know how far He went just  to show you His love. The Bible is God’s love letter to you, and if we don’t read it we miss out on the greatest message of unconditional love ever meant for us. That’s how important God’s Word is: it contains the most important words that you will ever read or hear in your lifetime. That’s why everyone should have a Bible and read it, understand it, and know about its message.

The Kankanaey people that we minister to in the mountains of Kibungan Benguet have not had Bibles in their native language for more than a decade. This is due to the fact that there have been no committed Christian ministries to do missions in Kibungan. The Kankanaey have been deprived of God’s Word for a very long time, and this has led to poverty and loneliness in the lives of the Kankanaey. Like the woman at the well in John 4, they thirst for life-giving water. Their wells of hope are running dry. Nothing good can ever start without God’s Word, and that includes the new life in Christ and the revival of our spirit. God wants to start a fire of salvation in Kibungan; it all begins by putting Kankanaey Bibles in the hands of the Kankanaey people.

Climbing For Christ is about to go back to the villages of Tacadang and Les-eng. We will be carrying precious cargo: Kankanaey Bibles to be distributed to the churches there. No longer will the Kankanaey thirst for God’s message. They will read it and hear it themselves in their own language. God will now speak in Kankanaey through every pastor and every pulpit in mountain churches of Kibungan.  So we ask you to pray for more Kankanaey Bibles to be distributed in more mission climbs. May we saturate the mountains of Kibungan with God’s Word, so God can light a fire in the hearts of the Kankanaey people, and revival can begin.  Let’s get  The Word out!

Sunday, June 2

Colorado members – Michael and Rachel Wall, Kala Matzdorf, Meagan Prins and Cody Wells – flew from the States to the Philippines, arriving on Tuesday, June 4. They will be joined on this Evangelic  Expedition to Tacadang and Les-eng by Ace Concordia, KZ Abesamis, Carmela Oliver Caguimbal, Elso Callo, Karl Vladimir Manzon Callo, Francis Daytec, Jael Garcia, Spencer Ng, and Coney O. Pagtakhan.