March 29- April 2 - HOLY WEEK

Holy Week is horrible here. That is terrible to say, but it is. It is a week of drunkenness, wickedness and creepy parades.

Some people drink themselves drunk and whip them selves with whips and others even go to the extreme of nailing themsleves to wooden crosses.

It is digusting and distorted. Easter is not celebrated here and not acknowledged. Stores are closed all week but then open on Sunday like its just another day. They like to keep Christ as either a baby who they can make idols of and hang beads on...or a bloody Savior on a cross who they can pervert the whole meaning of His death. They have no idea that He is risen and is coming again, nor that they need Him. It is truly sad....

March 30, 2010- Getting Out

It felt good to get out today and do some things. I have been inside for a couple of months, both in the hospital and house. I only leave to go to church and ministry outreach..so, it felt good to go somewhere. I felt really strong today and made it several hours out.

We went to the post office and mailed our prayer letters to our supporters..and then on to the High school where we were going to watch the 2010 Class Graduation. We have 3 graduates this year from our church and we went to support them and cheer them on!

March 29 - Happy 9th BDAY Sean

March 21-23 - Monkeys and Sleep

Well, I am down to a few of the last lingering symptoms of my health ordeal. I feel semi-normal again and am back to doing laundry and house work, etc. But the one thing that I just can't shake is the insomnia. It is crazy. I have been keeping a sleep diary and I only slept 6 hours last week. I just ache all day and feel dizzy. The bottoms of my feet tingle and I just need to sleep! Well, since we live right behind the church, Ferd decided that we needed to totally remove ourselves from ministry for 2 whole days. He felt that if I could be somewhere quiet and peaceful and AWAY from the work, I wouldnt obsess about it so much. I am trying hard to make changes , but it is a daily process of totally reprogramming my mind and body. I have always been a person who has to constantly be "doing"... and through much time with the Lord, He is showing me how wrong this is. Those quiet times are needed in our life.

Anyway, after all the church work on Sunday, we packed up and headed south for Subic Bay. Oh, it was wonderful. The first night, I slept for 4 whole hours straight! And the next night, I slept about the same! A BIG difference. During the day, we just walked around the forest and swam in the ocean. It was wonderful. We even had wild monkeys running up and down the hall way of the hotel we stayed at. They were everywhere. We could hear them on the roof and they were sitting out in the lawn chairs..it was so fun!

March 20, 2010- " The Band"

Well, I am improving ALOT since my horrible illness. I am seeing big changes each and every day. I was having bad tremors and the Lord has removed that. All the chest pain, stomach aches, etc are now gone and I give the LORD all the glory because I just cried out to Him and He delievered me from the pit I had dug myself into. It is a long climb out, but each step He is holding my hand. I am not completely out but I can see the light at the top now. I have learned so much and am making ALOT of lifestyle changes so that next time I get sick ( which is inevitable here) I will not be run down to the point that I can't fight it off. I have learned to delegate more and use the talents of the people more.

Ferd is focusing now full time in the new church plants and outreaches. I help very little there now since my illness, and instead am resting here at our first church plant, LBC. I need some stability and close church family right now and can't really do the strenuous work of the new villages right yet. It is extremely hard and primitive and I need to build my immune system up more before I can expose myself to that area full time. So, the members of LBC are helping Ferd more since I can't.

One of the ways I am finding therapy is through music. I really LOVE to play the piano and the guitar. Having my dad here last month really brought back my love for playing the guitar. I have played a special number twice now in church and I play constantly here in the house.

Dad worked with some of our young men and started a "band". That sounds funny calling it that, but WOW , they are such a blessing. We named them the "Light Beams" since our first church plant is Lighthouse Baptist.

My hands were shaking too bad to play the piano for a few weeks, so I decided to work with the boys and help them with their chords and timing, etc so that they could play during the congregation. It is AMAZING and the church folks LOVE it! They clapped during the hymns and it just added so much life to our congregational singing.

March 17, 2010 - Patch Club Awards

Tonight was the highlight of the Wed night Patch Club kids group. It was their award night where we recognize all their hard work and tally up all their points to see who has the top honor. They work hard memorizing tons of Scripture, they learned all the Books of the Bible, responsible to soul win and lead others to the Lord, help the elderly in the church and many many more responsibilities. I have enjoyd teaching in this class for 2 years now and the kids LOVE it. It has doubled in size since I started it and it is an excellent way to disciple kids for service. I am not into the " Bible story telling" style teaching. I like practical lessons that change us and teach us how to serve. So, there's no Noah and the Ark type lessons in this class, but challenging discipleship. Kids are ALOT smarter and ALOT braver than you think and they can do so much for the Lord!

March 14, 2010- Handbells

One of the neat things that Mom taught us while she was here was Handbells. We started off with the adults and young people and now we are continuing on with the kids. I enjoyed working with a young lady here who has committed to take over the ministry and keep it going. It is so awesome to see new areas of ministry and talents being opened and used. The only problem is that ALL the kids want to do it and there are only enough handbells for the chords needed in the song. So, we started a schedule to rotate the kids each week.