Philippines 2019_Day 4_Wednesday

Xiu Mei

This morning’s devotion was special as it was led by Paige who chose a passage from 1 Samuel on David and Goliath and involved some children to act the story with her. As Paige was born in the Philippines, speaking in Tagalog allowed the younger children to be more engaged in this morning’s devotion and sketch. May they be reminded and encouraged to seek the Lord in all they do as He can turn the impossible to possible.

I was assigned to the dental station today. There was a moment when a child at the dental station started crying, it set off a ripple effect and another child at triage started crying too! The youth interpreters were so patient with crying children, calming and encouraging them that the process will be over soon whilst Jason blew them hand glove balloons to distract them.

Edwina

We did clinic in San Isidro’s orphanage in the morning. My translator was Margie, whose parents actually came to see us too. Her mum had just fractured her clavicle few days ago from a road traffic accident. She had gone to see a doctor who said they can’t do much. And I know with a fractured clavicle, you just had to wait for it to heal. She couldn’t lift her arm nor could she care for herself and Margie had to juggle all these whilst helping out with us being there. I felt a pang of helplessness come upon me when speaking to her, and I told her mum that as a doctor I couldn’t offer her much, but with God, when we proclaim him as the Greatest Physician and Healer we can pray for healing. The mother was so receptive to it and I rallied a team to just pray for her. As I laid hands on her, tears just rolled down my eyes and I just cried out to God admitting how we have come short of His glory and that there is nothing I can do for this woman but He being the greatest physician and Healer, can heal her. She initially could not lift her hands upwards at all due to pain. Her shoulder and clavicle which was initially curled forwards in pain, I just felt it loosening, and the shoulder straightening itself out. I lost track of how long we were praying for, but there was tears for Margie, her mum and the team. And when we call upon the name of the Lord he heals, he restores and she was able to lift her arms again. The mum was so overjoyed that she was in tears. As we knew that her husband was there too, we felt led by the spirit to pray for the whole family again. I came to learn later that one of Margies’ sisters had walked away from God, but came back to God on Saturday at one of the joint services BLi and ROLM hosted! I was just speechless at how God works and how he works not on individuals but also families too!

In the afternoon, we headed to Aroganga. This was the place where the blind and deaf man was healed previously. A few of us went with Pastora Fely to visit him at his house and we got to know that his vision went approximately 2 weeks after he was prayed for the last time, and he admitted because he stopped going to church. His hearing was fine as Pastora Fely spoke to him from a distance and he could respond. We encouraged him to come to the clinic so we could see him and pray for him.

Quy, Jason and Ying Ying started off with powerful sharings and you could see tears streaming down the eyes of some there including us. The power of the Holy Spirit felt so strong and real there. I could feel that God was going to do great things. The blind man’s name was Frankilino and he came for a check-up with his wife. Josh tested his vision and hearing and he could probably only see no more than 10cm ahead of him. One literally had to stand up close front with Him and he still said it was blurry but he

Across the room, I could see the pharmacy dispensing medication and praying for the villagers. There were definitely many proclamation of praise when people being prayed for were healed of their sickness or pain.

Frances

This morning was much more relaxed as we were setting up dental clinics at the orphanage itself and so didn’t need to pack up and travel. This meant the kids and youths were able to be treated too, along with the village. It was quite an emotional session (both for the kids and us!). It’s not easy to have a tooth taken out at such a young age and there were many tears! Markneil and Jimmel who usually help us translate in the clinics were wonderful as usual and helped us by covering the kids’ eyes, stroking them and blowing up the gloves like balloons to entertain them. I remember my helpers today – Xiu Mei and Hui Hui were a little shocked on how bad some of the kids’ teeth could get. We made a point of instilling long-term oral hygiene education to these people, and not just a case of meeting their short-term needs.

After lunch, we packed up our things and took the boat to a village called Aroganga. It was a very hot day and the sun was beating down on us. We set up clinics in a two-storey small building next to the church where Jason and Quy would be sharing to the villagers. The dental clinics were stationed in a small hot room upstairs with a balcony, and to my relief Josephine, one of the youths came running up with a fan! Xiu Mei and Josephine helped me in the first hour or so on my own as Jason was preaching downstairs. It was going pretty smoothly until the patients started to slowly come in and I couldn’t work as fast as they were coming in. Soon, the small cramped room was filled with people waiting to be seen and Hui Hui had to send people back downstairs to wait.

When Jason returned the atmosphere in that hot room was crazy. God’s presence really shone through as we all worked together as a team, by that time the room was very crowded. I particularly remember taking a tooth out of a little boy and the whole room singing the song My Lighthouse throughout the treatment to calm him. There were prayers, cheering and laughter amongst all the chaos and the dentistry became only second to what the main thing was in that room which was the spirit of God making a difference.

We packed up later than usual with the feeling of great joy and relief, and walked out to be greeted by the most beautiful sunset I had ever seen, splitting the sky into many colours

– God’s wonderful creation.

Hui King & Ai Seok

The River of Life Mission was founded 17 years ago by Ps Fely, and carries an inheritance that is very precious. Back before the ministry started, Ps Fely described the villages as ‘killing fields’, a place totally lawless, filled with desolation, abuse, and hopelessness; a place not recognised by the government, where people literally went around killing one another. Since the start of River of Life Mission, the ministry has been restoring and transforming countless lives and communities, through the truth, hope, love and power of Jesus and the new life that God gives to all place their faith in Him.

The leaders carry a very important role in leading the ministry; teaching, guiding, caring and praying for the people, and continuing to carry forth the vision of River of Life Mission – to take the good news of Jesus to the ‘ends of the earth’. Yet, it is so easy to get caught up in the immediate needs of the here & now and focus on our own needs, rather than on things that will last for eternity, including wholly giving one’s life to Christ, and committing and serving the ministry.

This morning I shared a message about living in the light of eternity, of how we are living on this earth for such a short time only, compared to the eternal life we will continue to live, and to invest our short lives into this. I shared about living with an enduring faith, a faith that lasts the test of time – which is tested – of finding strength in God only, over and over again, in the middle of pain & struggles. Hui King shared about the preciousness of the eternal inheritance that God gives to us, and of the inheritance that the River of Life Mission carries, that is to be carried onto the generations to follow. Hui King shared about how we cannot despise the inheritance given to us; like Esau did in the bible, giving up his inheritance for a bowl of soup. Ai Seok shared about the legacy that Elijah passed onto Elisha (in the bible), as Elisha continued to serve Elijah faithfully.

The leaders were all invited for prayers, starting with Ps Fely. As we all prayed for her, she fell under the power of God. She later testified that she saw a vision of a waterfall with crystal clear water and trees planted along the waters on either side, with the water flowing freely. We prayed for all the other leaders, all very much touched by God. They shared testimonies from the session afterwards which were encouraging to hear. Two of the leaders had been planning / considering leaving the ministry for family reasons, however following the session were convicted to stay & continue to serve God in the ministry given to them.

Later that day I felt so convicted of the message of the inheritance speaking to me personally – to continue to serve the River of Life ministry as a lifetime commitment – that this is an international ministry, with the importance of partnering nations having a place to support & work together with River of Life to continue to carry forth the legacy for the generations to follow.