"The More I Seek You"

The more I seek You
The more I find You
The more I find You
The more I love You
I wanna sit at Your feet
Drink from the cup in Your hands
Lay back against You and breathe
Feel Your heartbeat
This love is so deep
It's more than I can stand
I melt in Your peace, its so overwhelming

Truly, We will find Him if we seek Him with all of our heart. This song written by a friend from Christ for the Nations has been the cry of my heart recently. Sometimes we feel God is nowhere to be found, like He's so out of reach that we can barely see Him or feel His presence. Even in desperate moments, to the point of crying out, or of even screaming out from a dry, broken and hungry soul...still we cannot fully fill the need inside us, still we feel empty. But I believe that God hears every cry of our being and He knows exactly what we feel. And He wants us to cry out for more, to know and experience how it really is to pursue His heart. Because the more we seek Him, the more we find ourselves falling for Him... so deeply in love that we would never want to leave His very presence.. to just sit at His feet and be intimate with Him. May we never stop seeking our Lover because He is waiting for us...day and night, with His open arms, God is waiting for you.

It's time for Christmas

The preparation for Christmas has started! You can Christmas decorations set out in the stores, Christmas trees (fake ones of course) and the lovely Christmas music being pumped through the speakers in the mall! Sound a little odd??? Well that is because the "Ber months" start the preparation for Christmas. "Ber months" are the months that end in B-E-R. September. October, November, December. I guess in a country that struggles financially it is never to early to start buy Christmas gifts, even if it is September

Typhoon Xangsane!!!

All is well here in Iloilo City as Typhoon Xangsane passes through the Philippines as a category 3 typhoon. I have managed to stay somewhat dry. (as dry as one can be when your dodging rain drop on a motorcycle )It has rained the past 3 days and looks like it will rain a couple more. We have been spared from the winds this time but not from the rest of the effects of the typhoon. Iloilo City sits at sea level and is the last stop on the Iloilo River before it dumps out into the ocean. This can be a problem if heavy rains fall in the mountains and countryside because it all runs into the Iloilo River upstream. Last night I heard the fire trucks going through the city warning people of the rising water in the Iloilo River. Sure enough it overflowed its banks and flooded portions of the city with 2 to 3 feet of water. Thank God I live a ways from the river and not to mention my new apartment is elevated off the road and out of the flood plain. Parts of the province are under 5ft of water and entire towns and villages have been wiped away. And it isn't even a direct hit in Iloilo City or our island. It is still rainy season and looks as if another Typhoon is gathering its self just east of the country and may hit the country in another week. Please pray for us as we can often be caught unprepared for weather as the country does not have the technology to predict or monitor storms like this, it often leaves us guessing what is going to happen day to day. Please continue to pray for the children we work with, as Dengue fever cases are starting to rise in the area they attend school.

Picture: That not me of course, but a man in Manila. Hey i know what thats like though. When all you got is a motorcycle to get around on you do what you can to get home so you're not standed somewhere.

Moving on up!!!

Praise God i am all moved in and settled in my new apartment! 2 bedroom 1 bath apartment with spanish tile thoughout! It is an incredible blessing thank you lord. I was able to get a large portion of my deposit from my other apartment. Thank you Jesus!

Motorcycle the Ultimate Multipurpose Vehicle

Anyone got any other ideas on how i can transport lumber??? Haha we just do things differently here! Hehehe

"Rise" with me

I am so excited we have started a new class For Rise music. Starting with a fresh new batch of students. 8 new students learning drums, guitar, bass, piano and voice. It is exciting to now have 2 classes of students and a drama class running during the week. The more advance class continues to amaze me as they are learning new song weekly and are growing into an anointed worship team. Thanks for all your prayer and support. We are seeing lives changed through worship, and are only beginning to see the fruits of raising up a generation to seek and worship God!!!

Mc Do's

Bet you never have seen fried chicken or spaghetti on the drive-thru menu at McDonalds. What about a rice chicken burger??? Yup that’s right! Chicken patty between two rice cakes! I always say I will try something once but…next time I am going to stick to my regular order..$2 quarter pounder meal!

Taco Bell

I have come to realize that being 8000 miles away from my "homeland" can be difficult at times. I miss very few thing from home and family and friends are near the top of the list (Sorry guys I do really Love you all) but not number one.
It always seems to be around 11pm that I begin having strange cravings for food that is impossible to get. Why is it impossible to get??? Well because they just don’t sell it here!!! If you have ever taken me out to eat you would know that at the top of the list is Mexican cuisine. In the US it is on nearly every corner, but here…zip, nada, Wala, nothing!!! So you can only imagine my surprise this week when a friend who had traveled to Manila returned with TACO BELL!!! Ok, ok, I know taco bell isn't exactly authentic Mexican food, I don’t even know if we can classified it as food, but going months on end with VERY little Mexican food is enough to drive me crazy! Only 2!!! That’s right 2 Taco Bells in the entire country. Over 80 million people in this country and 2 Taco Bells what a grave injustice!!!!
Dave and Christine Thank you!!!! those 2 bean burritos where a taste of heaven! Even if they where 8 hours old! Haha!!!!

Just Weird!

Being here almost 4 years few things seem to take me by surprise. I often forget at times that I am a foreigner in this land. A week ago I had a strange and somewhat scary experience with my new landlord.

Tita (Tea-ta local word for Aunt) is a wonderful woman from the countryside, simple life and old fashion in her ways. Tita with the help of her son who works in Chicago built a home with 2 additional apartments attached to it. She moved to Iloilo City about a year ago. Life as she would put it is fast and complicated. A week after I moved into my new apartment I started having problems with the water pressure tank. I went and explained to her son in-law about the problem and he agreed to take a look at it even though it was 9pm and they are usually all in bed by then. (People from the countryside sleep early and wake early) After inspecting it he said they would put a new one the next day. 6am they were ringing my doorbell to replace the water pump. Shortly after they started working on it Tita came over to check up on the workers, she brought with her a paint brush and a small can of red paint. She explained to me that she was going to paint the pump when they where done. A little confused why she was going to repaint a brand new pump I just said ok and went inside. I came out later to find her painting little red crosses all over the pump and tank.
I asked why she was doing that she explained that since it was a new pump that she wanted to pray for it so the new one wouldn’t break. I would consider that a little weird but brushed it off as superstitious. A couple day later Tita came over and wanted to inspect the pump. I explained that it was working fine but to go ahead. I went inside to put on my flip-flops only to return to find anther woman outside on her knees chanting and rubbing a weird red substance on the ground around the tank. I quickly explained that it was fine and didn’t need this ladies prayer. I inquired if it was blood and she said "no it is chicken…Chicken blood!" A bit scared and weird'd out by the situation I went in and got my roommate Nomil.
I said "Nomil wake up! There's a witch doctor outside praying for our water pump and wiping blood all over things.




We went outside again as she was finishing her prayers. He later explained that it is a catholic belief here that anything new should be prayed for, only thing is that Catholicism here has been mixed with years of ancestral worship and superstition.
The next day I went out with oil and prayed over our water that God would bless our water and keep us healthy!

Update on oil spill

Oil continues to seep out of the oil tanker that sunk in a storm off the coast of a nearby island, The oil has spread and has effected Iloilo and the entire island of Guimaras. Only 2 of the 10 tanks on board have leaked out. Much different than what was initially thought. But this continues to be considered the worst oil spill in the Philippines. Many of the families we work with have been spared of the direct effect of the spill. But fishing and their livelihood have been effected which is worst than having oil wash-up on your doorstep. Please continue to pray for these families. All the politics involved have brought the cleanup efforts almost to a stand still. They are talking late November is when they will start siphoning the remaining 8 tanks of oil from the ship. It is a ticking time bomb that could cause unprecedented effects to the environment and the lives of hundreds of thousands of people. Please pray God will cause the government to move swiftly to stop any farther destruction of his beautiful creation.

Overwhelming Love!!!

Well life continues to move EXTREMLY fast! Can hardly believe that October is just around the corner, and that I will be married in about 4 months. We continue to believe God for the fiances for our wedding, preparations are moving along but having trouble finding the "perfect place" that fits into our budget. We are excited of what God is doing, we are attending Pre-marriage counseling weekly and we are growing in many areas as a couple. God is so faithful and has given me an incredible gift and beautiful bride to be. I am only beginning to understand the kind of love that Jesus spoke so passionately about when he described his love for his bride to be (the church). It is an overwhelming and all consuming love that I am so grateful that God has given to me.