Village Blog

Hello again from the Philippines,

What are adequate words to describe this day, our last for English Camp? I'll try for you - smiles, singing, fun, trust, relationships, teaching, joking, laughter, preaching, Jesus, friends, goodbyes, tears. It was definitely all this and more.

This has been an English Camp to help 6th grade students improve their English skills. But it has also been an evangelism and discipleship opportunity to point the kids to our Lord Jesus Christ, either for a first time encounter with Him or to encourage those who are already growing in Him. Everything that was taught or sung or shared had the Lord and His Word woven in to it.  

The kids reveled in their time with us. We had an absent student from time to time, but not often. The kids bonded with their teachers. They knew they were cared for by those who loved Christ and loved them. Today was a culmination of a lot of team activities that the students worked on through the week. They shared a group cheer, a group song, and were given graduation certificates by their group teachers.

Again, Pastor Lloyd spoke to the kids about a relationship with Christ. Each day he has preached he has followed a theme. Today was about loving your neighbor.

He preached to them in their native tongue to be certain they understood, but shared scripture verses mostly in English.

No one wanted to leave right away after camp was finished.  There were many hugs and tears. One boy Raymond, I especially noticed.  He was intent on keeping a sort of an emotionless,"macho" demeanor. He limited his expressions with fist to fist bumps.  I thought, OK, that's just his persona, no problem. Then I noticed as he left the room for the last time, he was fighting back the tears. He couldn't hold it back.

Each teacher has several stories about their kids. As I awaited the playground container, I got to know many of the children by hanging out and helping where I could. But the teachers had the most exposure and the most impact on these young lives. Our team from Village will have a lot to share when we return.  

Saturday we had a much needed break after five 12 hr days in a row. The Helwigs took us to Taal Volcano. We had a boat ride across an ancient volcanic crater that is now a lake. In the middle is an island that rises out of the lake. It is much higher than the lake level and that also has a crater in the middle of it which also has a lake. We hiked up to the rim of that crater and looked down on its lake. But that lake is much warmer because of the volcanic activity beneath it. It was a really interesting excursion. Sunday, we visited the Helwigs church for a second time and afterward went to a different market area than last week. We returned in the early evening and had our final team meeting where we shared with each other how the Lord had impacted us this past week through the English Camp ministry and the children. We closed out this final meeting with prayer and praise to God for the great things He did this week.

The team returns Monday morning, Philippine date and time, and will be back home Monday afternoon, Sugar Grove date and time. Thank you so very much for your prayers for our travel.

In Christ our Lord for His service,

Your Philippines Team