Maupay,

We are all back from the Journey of Hope.  For the Passion Generation kids, it was homecoming from more than 2 months of travel including Manila stay.  We are all well and grateful for His Grace, Inspiration, Provision, His People and Churches.  We were well fed with all that wonderful Korean food. 

The kids were challenged, learned, and inspired by what they saw and hear.  We have about three medium size and a very small supporting churches in Korea.  However they were lavished with love and generosity from all those churches equally. 

The small church with about 30 members still served them with all they have.  The church supported us more then 10 years $30/month.  To us this church is as precious as big churches who gave a few hundreds dollars. 

We wanted them to be challenged from this church.  For it is not how much you have on you, but how much you share with others from what you have on you.  The Waray spirit has to be broken.  "We are too poor to give.  We are too small to serve." 

Du ring the trip one thing the Lord put on my heart is that the Hope goes hand in hand with the Courage.  In order for the Hope to be survive, one must take the Courage also.

Here are some pictures.  

Pray for us that the Hope continues on the wings of Courage.

Ruth, Mrs. Missionary

Maupay,

As we wrote to you in our last newsletters, we are taking the Passion Generation Praise Team to Korea in a week.  A few days ago, the team was finally approved by the Korean Embassy for their entry visas.  It is not easy for a Filipino to obtain such since we guess many do not return home but stay in Korea illegally for better paid jobs.  The kids had to process their passports from scratch like getting their birth certificates worked out by going back and forth to Tacloban City (the biggest city in our region).  It has been a long and apprehensive visa process which finally got through.  Since they are all poor singles who have no spouses/ children, nor properties, nor big bank accounts to return to, we had to ask the Lord to make the embassy to trust us, also the poor missionaries who have been in the field long enough to know these individuals and guarantee them.

We have named the trip as “the Journey of Hope”.  Why Hope?  Over the years, we have learned the worst enemy of poverty both in physical and spiritual is hopelessness, the mind set of “nothing (Waray waray) will change”.  We are asking the Lord to show and plant His Hope in their hearts through the trip.  Why Journey?  Even though the trip is only 3 weeks time, we don’t want it to be end there, rather to continue with their journey into the hope filled future.  For the most of them this is the first ever plane ride and the first ever travel outside of Philippines for all of them.

During the trip, they will perform and lead worship as the opportunities arise.  But more than that they will visit prayer mountains, dawn watch services, memorials of the Western missionaries who gave their lives for the poor Korea back then, and etc.  They will see how the poor nation became the nation of God’s blessing with 11,000 missionaries all over the world.

Through the time consuming often the aggravating process, we have thanked the Lord for the way He has transformed us in many ways over the years.  Definitely this way of doing things is not my cup.  Things like food, lodging and all the provision are still uncertain. Also getting around in a foreign nation with 10 people is not that easy.   However we still rejoice in the opportunity that the Lord has given us and for our youngsters knowing that He will provide and work out things for us.

Please pray for these items…

• Safe and fun travel in spite of many uncertainties
• May the Lord implant secure hope for the future in our young people
• For all the provision for the trip
• May we bless visiting churches in Korea.
• For the sale of Passion Generation Worship CDs

Thank you again always for being out there for us and the SICAP Ministry. 

Daniel and Ruth

Maupay,

When PD and I came back home past Sunday from 2 weeks of Holy Land Pilgrimage with our home church group, a news was waiting for us.  Jenith was in hospital.  She is one of our graduates church planter whom PD married to another graduate, Jeffery 2008, January. 

It didn't sound too serious and we were too tired from almost 2 day travel just to get home.  So I thought, "I will cook some soup and visit her tomorrow."  Early morning Monday, we were awaken my a phone call that she was on oxygen.  Since we could not get exact info, we hurridly proceeded to hospital.

What waiting for us there completely shocked us.  She was intubated with someone manually amboo bagging, pupils were dialated, and still gasping.  At that time she was 8 month pregant with her first child whom she gave birht to a few hours ago.  Whole day I have been going back and forth to gather any info through her doctors.  (this picture was taken right after the wedding, trying to relax before we were leaving in a boat)

Evidently she had septicemia from recurrent UTI which did not respond to any antibiotic.  I don't know wether hospitals here have any capacity to do blood culture and sensitivity.  Early Tuesday morning she went home to her Maker at the age of 29 leaving her 27 year old husband and 2 day old baby boy.

She has taken a very special place in both of our hearts since she was a student here.  Very fragile and docile outside and yet such strength occoupied her inner heart.  She kept her faith during her early church planting period which was filled with challenges and struggles.  Then she married and the two were great in working togather as a team. 

PD and I are so disappointed that He took her away from us in the likely manner. 

I am keep going back to Rick Warren's remark.

In the interview by Paul Bradshaw with Rick Warren, Rick said:

People ask me, What is the purpose of life? And I respond: In a nutshell, life is preparation for eternity. We were not made to last forever, and GOD wants us to be with Him in Heaven.

One day my heart is going to stop, and that will be the end of my body-- but not the end of me.

I may live 60 to 100 years (for some maybe 30) on earth, but I am going to spend trillions of years in eternity. This is the warm-up act - the dress rehearsal. GOD wants us to practice on earth what we will do forever in eternity.

We were made by GOD and for GOD, and until you figure that out, life isn't going to make sense.

Life is a series of problems: Either you are in one now, you're just coming out of one, or you're getting ready to go into an other one.

The reason for this is that GOD is more interested in your character than your comfort. GOD is more interested in making your life holy than He is in making your life happy.

We can be reasonably happy here on earth, but that's not the goal of life. The goal is to grow in character, in Christ likeness.

This past year has been the greatest year of my life but also the toughest, with my wife, Kay, getting cancer.

I used to think that life was hills and valleys - you go through a dark time, then you go to the mountaintop, back and forth. I don't believe that anymore.

Rather than life being hills and valleys, I believe that it's kind of like two rails on a railroad track, and at all times you have something good and something bad in your life.

No matter how good things are in your life, there is always something bad that needs to be worked on.

And no matter how bad things are in your life, there is always something good you can thank GOD for.

You can focus on your purposes, or you can focus on your problems.

If you focus on your problems, you're going into self-centeredness,'which is my problem, my issues, my pain.' But one of the easiest ways to get rid of pain is to get your focus off yourself and onto GOD and others.

We discovered quickly that in spite of the prayers of hundreds of thousands of people, GOD was not going to heal Kay or make it easy for her.

It has been very difficult for her, and yet GOD has strengthened her character, given her a ministry of helping other people, given her a testimony, drawn her closer to Him and to people.

You have to learn to deal with both the good and the bad of life.

Actually, sometimes learning to deal with the good is harder. For instance, this past year, all of a sudden, when the book sold 15 million copies, it made me instantly very wealthy.

It also brought a lot of notoriety that I had never had to deal with before. I don't think GOD gives you money or notoriety for your own ego or for you to live a life of ease .

So I began to ask GOD what He wanted me to do with this money, notoriety and influence. He gave me two different passages that helped me decide what to do, II Corinthians 9 and Psalm 72

First, in spite of all the money coming in, we would not change our lifestyle one bit. We made no major purchases.

Second, about midway through last year, I stopped taking a salary from the church.

Third, we set up foundations to fund an initiative we call The Peace Plan to plant churches, equip leaders, assist the poor, care for the sick, and educate the next generation.

Fourth, I added up all that the church had paid me in the 24 years since I started the church, and I gave it all back. It was liberating to be able to serve GOD for free.

We need to ask ourselves: Am I going to live for possessions? Popularity?

Am I going to be driven by pressures? Guilt? Bitterness? Materialism? Or am I going to be driven by GOD's purposes (for my life)?

When I get up in the morning, I sit on the side of my bed and say, GOD, if I don't get anything else done today, I want to know You more and love You better. GOD didn't put me on earth just to fulfill a to-do list. He's more interested in what I am than what I do. That's why we're called human beings, not human doings.

Happy moments, PRAISE GOD.

Difficult moments, SEEK GOD.

Quiet moments, WORSHIP GOD.

Painful moments, TRUST GOD.

 So this is dress rehearsal! 

We can mess up a little cause there won't be any messing up in the Real Thing!

Pray for us, Jeffery, and not yet named baby boy.

Ruth, Mrs. Missionary

Maupay,

Think I'm aging faster because of this thing called cyber business.  My laptop was in shop for more than a week and then as soon as I got it, I've been trying to upload some pictures for a few days.   Finally here they are.

Our BAKAS Center (college student center) was finally reopened last Tuesday.  The NCFC guys started the remodeling when they were here a month ago.  The word BAKAS is an acronym for long Waray words BAtanon (Youth) KAusuwagon (Strength) Susunod nga generacion (Next Generation).  BAKAS means 'foot print'.

It will provide wholesome, safe, and nurturing environment where the local college students come and hang out between their classes and after school.  There also weekly Bible studies, a movie night, and monthly and yearly special activities.

This is a ministry where we like to reach out for future lay leaders of Samar.  Kevin, our short term missionary is working hard to re-establish the center.

Anyone interested working with these young people for a year or so let me know.

Ruth, Mrs. Missionary

Maupay,

Extremely busy with cooking, but still so good to be sorrounded by our friends and family. 

Now all the team members are in St. Ninyo Island, which is infamous for 2003 NCFC team's near drowning experience.  They will be back to SICAP tomorrow.

The enemy is very upset by now with the manifestations of the Holy Spirit.  Keep on praying people.

Here are some pics.

Ruth, Mrs. Missionary