Toledo

  After a great week in Cebu, we departed for Toledo City in a 1980s bus that substituted air conditioning for the loudest speakers I think I have ever heard (my fellow passengers can certainly attest to that)!  Two hours later we arrived and were pleasantly surprised with our living arrangements.  The hostile that we stayed at had air conditioned rooms and a swimming pool.  Even though we managed to fit 5 people in a room, we were very grateful God provided us with this place to stay.
  The first week we partnered with Jesus Christ is our life church to evangelize the streets, houses, markets and barangays.  We started witnessing to a few families that lived in a barangay.  Erica and Jeff presented their testimonies, while the rest of the group danced and taught the kids how to hacki-sack. We got a chance to share the gospel with a few of the kids. After the testimonies we got to pray for some of the people there. After receiving prayer, they said they had never felt the love of God so tangibly before.  The Holy Spirit was definitely moving !
  After speaking at the barangay, we ventured into the market where we performed our "Mighty Mountain" skit which led into Erica giving her testimony. Shortly after Alex presented the simple gospel and extended an invitation to come forward and receive Christ. An old lady came forward and accepted. We got talk to some people there and pray for them.
  After much evangelizing throughout the week, we needed to spend a day just resting and recovering. Destination - Beach. As you can see, it was in fact possible to get a few hours of rest during a busy outreach.

 A nice Saturday at the beach was just what we needed. While staying there, we came across a youth group from the Assemblies of God in Toledo. They shared some of the things God had been doing through them and encouraged us with some verses before leaving. 

  On Sunday Jeff and Jon prepared sermons for the two churches that we were partnering with.   Jeff spoke on the 4 types of soil that Jesus spoke of in His parable in Matthew 13, while Jon spoke on the oil of gladness. 

  Week 2 we hosted a discipleship camp at one of the churches. Each member spoke on varying topics including worship, discipleship, who God is, reading the Bible (basic instruction before leaving earth), prayer and evangelism.  After the lectures, chains being broke off and preparation for sharing the simple gospel, we divided up and went out applying what we learned. After an hour, we gathered together to share testimonies of the lost being saved and other workings of the Holy Spirit. 

  In all, we had a tremendous 2 weeks in Toledo. We got to see the passion for Jesus in the you as well as God transforming the city little by little through them. 

  Video of the youth crowd surfing and proclaiming their chains being broken by Jesus. 

Philippines here we come !

  The first week in the Philippines was an opportunity for Team Fun to form a list of first time experiences for many of the members.  At the top of the list was eating balot, which is a Filipino delicacy (for those of you that do not know what it is, it is a fertilized duck embryo that is boiled and eaten in the shell!!)

  Chris, don't mess with Texas, turned hero on us and gulfed down 4 without looking back.  Colby also embraced the moment and ate 2. Irene, Dylan, Derek, Jeff and Ben all ate one to say "been there done that." Lastly I want to give an honorable mention to Matt and Alex for tasting it.  Close behind eating balot on the list was bucket showers.  One may ask what is a bucket shower. Here it is for you!

  Weeelll you get the idea ...

  In addition to these two, it was everyone's first time riding in a jeepney. The jeepney was brought over to the Philippines by the Americans during 1st world war. They left them after the war and the Filipinoes adopted them as the primary mode of transportation. (According to Dennis)

  This is one of the many times hoping quickly into the jeepney to cruise back to our lodge. 

  I am sure there will be a lot more first time experiences, but that will suffice for now.

  Some of the other things we got to do was go to church and hear a message from the founder of CSC shelter orphanage, Paul Healy.  Paul gave an excellent message about adoption and relating it to our own adoption into sonship of our Abba Father.

  The last day before leaving we gathered together at the IWT, Impact World Tour, office for a last minute briefing before dispersing into two separate outreach groups. One group would begin their outreach in Toledo city and the other would be in Carcar.  But wait, before going let's get one last photo of our team !

  Look at that crew getting prepared to go and share the good news to the Filipinoes.