I have been living and working for the past 9 years with the Pangasinan people here in the Philippines. So many things have happened and I thought I had better start writing it down...
Today we celebrated our first church, LBC's Anniversary..I can't believe it's been 4 years since we merged from a Bible Study to a church. Time sure does fly!
Today was awesome...tiring ...but awesome. We didn't sleep at all last night, preparing the food, equipment, activities, etc. Everyone was pitching in getting ready for the BIG day today. We had to leave between 3-4am to pick everyone up from both church plants and make it to the beach by 5am. That is when the sun rises here. So, we were all very sleepy..but it was such a great day. We had a beautiful service with music and Ferd preached a great message. Then, we went to the ocean where both church plants had their baptisms. Our church had 7 new converts and the our other church plant ( where Pastor Ronald is the pastor now) had 5 converts. SO, 12 new Believers!!! 
It was incredible. Some of these are my converts from my Singles class, some are from my Patch kids, and Ferd had an older man who is his convert. Plus, many others...it was just wonderful to witness. 
Then, of course, we had a delicious meal of sinigang baboy, giniling, mechado, and grilled bangus. Yummy!!!
I absolutely love Filipino food..I guess that is why I don't lose weight over here like normal Americans would (-: Today I was invited to my best friends son's birthday party where I got to eat some more good food.
The Campers had a great time... Ferd brought them back today. I only stayed at the beginning of the week due to responsibilities here. But, they are just so pumped right now and ready to serve more in the church. What a blessing to see them grow like this! I am so thankful that they had this opportunity..especially the new kids from our 
So, we are jumping right out of Revival and straight into a week of camp...but that's ok, because I am so pumped up from Revival ( and so is everyone else)!!! We had an AWESOME service today, just so filling. Ferd is an amazing speaker and I enjoy his approach to sharing God's Word. He definitely knows how to get your attention. I love that man!
These people are such a part of our lives, that they are like family. Today Jennelyn, the sister I never had..graduated from college with her degree in Elem Ed! Seriously, she is my sister. I have bonded with her so deeply over the past 7 or 8 years. Watching her bloom into a mature Christian young lady. To see her now is one of the greatest accomplishments that Lord has allowed me to be a part of..sharing the Gospel with her, discipling her and now she is the BIGGEST help to me in the church. She is my right hand woman! And today, God has blessed her for her faithfullness. She completed college and He supplied all her needs, which was incredibly hard for her coming from a family that doesn't have much..but THAT is how our God is! One of my favorite verses is Psalm 37:25 where it says " I have been young and now I am old and have never seen the righteous fosaken or His seed begging bread". ..I am quoting that from memory, so I may be off a few words. But I have seen that verse fulfilled here many times and Jennelyn is no exception! God WILL take care of HIS own!
Ferd was gone all day working the papers on the new van for TBC over in Lingayan..so Sean and I decided to have a date day all to ourselves. We finished up school early around 1pm and decided to go over to Rosales where they have a nice shopping center. It's about an hours drive, but we always play stupid games in the car which have us crackin' up so hard that we forget the time. We had a nice time, even though we came home late when it was dark and I missed one of my turns and we got " a little " lost... but that was part of the fun. (-: I am so thankful everyday for the miracle of Sean...he's my best buddy over here! As scary as this sounds, he is my "mini-me!"
God blessed our Sign language performance tonight and we did great! All our hard work was worth it!
I hate to see Revival end. I wish it would go on another week...I love Pastor Sam and what the Lord did through him this week..I just couldn't imagine living my life any other way than what I am right now, here in the middle of Pangasinan, Philippines..living amongst MY people, sharing the Gospel! It's awesome!!!
Today is Ferd and my Aniversary...makes 14 years for us. He is my best friend and we may look totally opposite on the outside, but we were truly made for each other. Our mom's were pregnant with us at the same time because God knew we couldn't make it in this world without the other one. (-: Because of everything going on,we can't really celebrate our special day today, but that is the beauty of our relationship. We just enjoy being with each other that as long as we are together, that is the best way to celebrate.
We went and saw our "daughter" Lian ( she is like a daughter to me) graduate from college. We were so proud of her achievments, but had to leave the 6 hour ceremony ( why are graduations here soooo stinkin' long????) early to be back in time for revival. Tonight, Dave ( who is my 2nd son) sang and it was so good..wow! He has the voice of an angel. 
Pastor Sam preached on loving and appreciating the Man of God in your life/your pastor. After the service, the whole church brought us up front and just cried and hugged us and told us how happy and thankful they were for us. They gave us gifts and those who couldnt afford gifts made promises to do special jobs like washing our car, etc to show they love us...It was super sweet and we felt so loved!
Amazing! I have never been to a revival like this. People's hearts are so tender and we are all so ready. The Holy Spirit has been working and preparing our hearts for this and He sent the perfect speaker to us. Pastor Sam is my all time favorite preacher here..that man can challenge me in ways that no one else can. He is such an instrument of the Lord and he definitely was used of God to stir my own heart. Every single person in that church ( besides a few kids) hit the alter just weeping and repenting. We all have hidden sin, including me...and this was a time where the Lord revealed it in all of our lives and we took it to the alter and gave it to the Lord. What a relief to be forgiven and to drop that weight!! I just praise God for what He is doing in my own heart..as well as in our villages. We are on FIRE for Him and I pray it keeps burning for a LONG time!!! To God be the GLORY! 
We also got to use our new van for the first time tonight at the Revival. The guy who sold it to us told us that it was a 14 passenger van..but tonight we found out it can hold ALOT more!Above are the TBC folks that came to the Revival
Just in time for Revival, the Lord provided a van for TBC...oh, this is such a relief because they all wanted to come to the revival at LBC and we couldnt figure out how to get them over to it. I was thinking I was going to have to drive there like 3 times back and forth..and it's a 30 minute trip. So, that was not going to work. But, the Lord worked it all out and allowed Ferd's friend to contact him about a little passenger vehicle for sale within our budget. It has totally new seats and the interior is so nice. The engine appears to be good, so we are super excited to finally have this need met!!!
I tell you, the Lord is using this burnt hand to remind me about the reality of hell... Praise HIS name forever that I have been saved from that torment. I will never experience the second eternal death! I have been saved by HIS grace! Well, my hand is all bandaged up and it is totally useless. Not only does it hurt like mad...but I can't do anything. I can't even put my hair up in a pony tail. Poor Ferd has to fix my hair for me. 
Today was horrible..
Ferd and I spent the whole day..from 9am till around 5pm doing all the graduations and award ceremonies today. It was very tiring, but we felt like proud parents as we watched so many of our kids here from our churches get awards...truly God has blessed them and they just shine!
