Flood Relief
We have started administering the flood relief finances that we recieved from AOGWR. We came up with a four stage plan, releasing certain aspects of relief and assistance on a weekly basis to the 100 selected fanilies in the Fairview area. The relief goods are being released over a four week period in an edeavour to ensure that target families are assisted in the best possible way.
The assistance is termed a “Re-establishment Package”, where the aim is to give 100 families the various items needed to actaully conduct life. Families will recieve pots, pans, gas cookers, various household items, various containers, food preparation items, things to wash clothes, school uniforms, bags, stationary and shoes. Twice during the next month families will recieve a 50kg sack of rice, plus weekly food allowances.
A secondary goal with the flood assistance is too purchase as many of the items as possible from the sourrounding area and so inject finances into the local economy.
Pastor James Troup has so far been the one administering the relief and has done a great job.
Something “AMAZING” – Crazy People like US
In a world where people are often looking for “excuses” for so much of what they don’t do, it is not all that often that you find “families” that are looking for “reasons” to do things for Jesus.
We have a family of 8, mum, dad and 6 children (all under 18) who are coming to live and work with us in Baseco for 3 months…notice they are coming to LIVE IN BASECO with us. How amazing is that…they could have all the excuses in the world, too many kids, kids are too young, too many commitments, too busy, school, work, business, all just too hard etc…but they don’t…they have a reason.
Jesus is ultimately their reason, plus they want their children to experience another worlds normality. Incredible. James is a pastor in Australia and runs a decent size computer business, Cathy is a mum, a teacher (they home school the children) and a child care/mid wife professional.
My wife and I have moved out of our little home and moved right into the middle of the slum, into our Prayer House, so that James, Cathy and their children can have our house. Our house is great by Baseco standards, it has power, running water, small aircon’ in one room, is relatively rat and bug free and is safe and lockable…but by western standards it is nothing and a family of eight is going to move in there for 3 months – no space, sleep on mattress’s on the floor, pack everything up every day, no shops close by, everything very manual, leaks in the roof, floods in a heavy rain or high tide, huge rats playing in the roof every night, constant noise, no internet – these people must be crazier than us – no doubt God will use them greatly.
Pray for them as the Lord leads you too – there will be some many challenges and adjustments for them all.
If you would like to follow their adventure, please click on the link for “Cathy” on my blog roll.
Mark
Trip to Thailand
As some of you know we were recently in Thailand for a combined Aussie Missionaries Sumitt for the Pan Asia Region. It was great…
We stayed in what was for us, a luxury resort, Club Andaman…beautiful, quite, peaceful and a great swimming pool. Maybe 100 metres from the beach (although a bit rough for swimming). We both enjoyed the rest.
But the Conference was the focus of the trip. There were perhaps 100 Missionaries from India, China, Japan, Thailand, Parts of the Ukrain, Vietnam, Cambodia and the Philippines. It was so inspiring hearing what the Lord is doing through them all in the countries He has sent them to. Some of them are really doing things that are effecting the whole nation. Stuff ranging from church planting, orphanages, clean water services, building of whole villages, drug rehabs, work amongst Muslims, lots of work amongst the poor…but the scale of some of the works was incredible…”we were like grasshoppers in our own sight” as we got to spend a few days amongst “giants of Faith”. So inspiring, way too much to say, except, “Thank you Jesus for sending us there.”
The most amazing thing, is that none of the Missionaries there were amazing, they all were amazing in so many ways, but really they are just ordinary people with an extraordinary God, who does incredible things through them all…
Baseco Missions TEAM…
Three of our best, Pastora Marivic, Pastora Annie and Riza went last week as our very first self funded Missions Team from the slums of Baseco to work with and bless, Lucy Longdon in the incredible work that her and her team are doing in Cebu.
The stories and testimonies are still coming out of our team, as they are now back in Baseco, but it is very clear that they were both blessed and a great blessing while they were there. They saw another world of ministry. The Lord used them to see baptisms in the Holy Spirit as they ministered in youth meeting, with women, in prisons, in the cemetery…many different places.
What did Jesus say “Go into ALL the World”…and do what…”Preach the Gospel”, and then what will happen…”Signs will follow…”. Amen. How simple is that.
Notice that He never mentioned “do this when you are FREE”, or “do this when you have some extra cash”, or “do this after bible college”…imagine, girls from a slum, with so little education, no bible college, definitely no spare cash, the 2 pastors still have small children at home…but still, they have enough faith TO GO on a “self funded” missionary trip…have you ever heard of anything so crazy in all your life….WHAT’S YOUR EXCUSE…
Mark
Home Renovation – Baseco Style
Nothing fancy here guys – pull it down, throw it away and build something that serves as a home…the home we started with you would not consider to be a home, the home we finished with, you would not consider to be a home…but “a home” they both were…we just improved it significantly…this is a Muslim family. A team from Melbourne helped build this home and change these lives.
The original roof was asbestos and other forms of scrap stuff, there was no door, no security, walls were bits of this and that and the framing for it all was just thick sticks of wood. The roof is now tin, there is a door, walls are all plywood,rats and cats were all kicked out and a mum, dad and four children now have more effective shelter…it took a day to change some lives and display Jesus to a Muslim family.
The mother accepted Jesus about 2 weeks later in church…she now has an “Eternal Home” because we built her a wooden one…all it took was some wood, some nails and some willing people…bit like the Cross really, some wood, some nails and a very willing Jesus…
Waste or Wealth…all a matter of Perspective isn’t it…
This boy and his family are “walking the rubbish sea” in search treasure…
The best time to do this is during or just after a decent typhoon, although, if you do it “after” you will of missed out on the best finds…
What a life, what a world – Mark
Storm coming…
How we would love this sort of rain in Australia…it comes here every year. For the poor , again it is simply another burden. When you live in a house made out of this and that, perhaps bits of plastic, bits of tent…and then maybe only the ground for a floor…lots of rain and wind is not your friend.
Imagine yourself living in a slum home, with say 8 kids, 3 are sick with various diseases, 2 are malnourished and a big storm is coming…your job is to keep everyone dry and maybe even to try and keep the house together in the strong winds. As the flood levels rise after 7-8 hours of torrential down pour, some kids are on chairs, some on a box, others on a pile of clothes, you are in the water trying to keep certain items dry…moving children away from the bigger leaks in the roof…and it rains like that all night…so you are doing everything in the dark.
What a life…
Mark
Some of our Youth
Here are some exceptional young people, current youth leaders, future Nation leaders. These guys, and others like them, run our childrens ministry (which Sarah Harrison did alot of work on setting up), they also run the youth ministry…this is Allan, Rodelo, Riza…the secret to their greatness is…
We PRAY…
Don’t WORK, don’t EAT…then you DIE…SO WORK…
Do what you need to do…fish on a styrofoam boat, in an incredibly polluted bay…if you want to eat…maybe you are a little child who should be in school, but you need to be wading through the incredible pollution to gather hard plastics, metals and bottles that are washed up after a storm…or maybe your the parent who has to encourage your child to do that…question is, do you want to eat today…
Jerome – Malnourished
This is Jerome, he is 6 and 3rd degree malnourished. His lips are dry and cracked, his body is very weak, his appetite is all but gone and he will be full of worms. There are 5 other children, who are ok. The father is a scavenger, the income is not enough. This family will be starting in our family sponsorship program this week.
The message of Jesus Christ is good news for this family, because with the message comes the hands and feet of His ministers. First thing we do with Jerome, is de-worming, as it is almost a guarantee that he is full of worms, usually both round worms and thread worms. The worming stuff we use is in the form of chocolate squares, and Jerome is like every other child, he loves chocolate, so it is never hard to get the kids to take the worming medicine. Literally the next day he will be worm free. Next we weight him. Then he begins on specialised milk formula, again chocolate. We gave him some while we were there and he loved it, and the good thing for him is he will be able to drink as much as he wants, the more the better. The milk is 380p (AUD 12) per 400gram tin, he will prob’ need a tin every 2 days, 3 tins per week, an absolute impossibility for his parents. He will also start on liquid vitamins daily. We can save his life.
We had a chat to mum, she seems to be a good mum in a difficult spot (not all parents are good people), we explain he needs to eat fruit and veg’, or what ever they are eating as well as the milk. He has a week or so to show some signs of improvement or else he will need to go to a specialised malnourishment hospital for treatment. The best news is Jeromes mum got saved today. She was one of 5 ladies who accepted Jesus Christ as their personal Lord and Saviour.
Hands and Feet of Jesus – walking to where people are and then holding them up until they pull through whatever their need might be.
“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who believes in Me, the things that I have done you will do, and even greater things you will do…”
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“Most assuredly” – this verse is like the rest of the bible, it’s a certain promise, sealed by Jesus Himself, backed by all of heaven, it can never fail, this will work…
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who said this – Jesus, therefore it’s true…
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who did He say it to – Me and You…
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what are the qualifications needed – “he who believes” – nothing else added, just to make it easy for everyone to do…
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This faith of yours will lead to fruit, real, tangible, lasting fruit, seen by all…“you will DO”
Every born again, bible believing, Spirit filled christian is “so able, so full of ability, so incredibly qualified”…let today be a day where you “arise and shine” in Jesus name. Let the message of Jesus Christ be good new through you today, change some ones life.
God Bless – Mark
