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Life - Reflections - Updates From The Philippines

Cut to the Heart

I have always enjoyed writing, but since I started seminary and got some help developing my writing, my interest was reborn. After I did an intro to philosophy course I also developed my thinking patterns and now can go deeper into ideas then ever before. Now I have a place to get down what I am thinking, and I hope it will be a blessing, as well as a challenge to go deeper into contemplation, especially with the Bible.

Peter, Jesus' right hand man finishes one powerful sermon and the crowds are left with a dagger in their hearts. He has shone light on the reality of what has just happened, they finally grasped the significance of their situation. And in what was probably utter shock they asked Peter and his friends, "Brothers, what shall we do?"

This moment of pure agony, the time when they actually "got it" was a moment I did not have growing up. Peter shares to the crowds of people, a number somewhere around 3000, that it was them who killed the Messiah, the one they had been waiting for, Emmanuel "God with us."
Though I was raised in the church, had a wonderful family setting incredible examples for me in holy living, I never grasped, or at least never fully grasped the significance of Jesus, sin, and everything. I had never "got it."

I find it so interesting that the people where "cut to the heart." Did your walk with Christ begin with a dramatic experience like this? I think I was 5 and in my parents bed room, and I don't know anyone who had this experience. Yet on the day of Peter's speech to the crowd, 3000 were "cut to the heart," in realization of their actions. It was them who stood in the courts of Pilate and shouted for a murderer to be released in the place of Jesus, it was them who spat and laughed at Jesus as He carried the cross through the streets. I don't know about you, but this is where I start pointing my finger, and saying "Those hard headed Jews, how could they be so foolish?"

Maybe the idea of being cut to the heart does not seem applicable to today, since none of us were in those crowds. But this realization, the dagger going all the way in, is when we open our eyes to the fact though we were not their on the day an innocent man was unjustly murdered, but our shouts were heard amongst that crowd. Our shouts were our weakness and shame, failures and shortcomings. Simply, it was because of my sin, your sin, that the final offering had to be made - Jesus.

I can honestly say that I have been cut to the heart now. Fell to my knees in the realization that I had been in that crowd shouting for the execution of the one that breathed life into me. The people that stood and heard Peter speak had been waiting their whole lives, the Jewish people as a whole had been waiting more then 700 years for the Messiah. The people stood in the crowd and finally wrapped their heads around the fact of what they had just done, and they were broken, cut to the heart.

The people in that crowd would have had an intricate knowledge of Jesus and His significance, and with out the knowledge the power of the sacrifice of Jesus will never really be grasped. I challenge you to study and learn, in the hopes that you can grasp the significance of the One who created it all, giving it all up.

This is not an idea to dwell on, simply a step in the long path of discipleship. The more we grasp the more we celebrate for who the Son sets free is free indeed!

Second Anniversary Celebration

This weekend was very exciting, as it was the church's 2nd year anniversary.  We had a big bash on the bottom floor of our building in the parking area.  I already uploaded pictures onto facebook so you can see there and get a feel for how it went.  We had a pretty good turn out of people, but the best part was seeing how all the members worked together.  There was no real leader of the whole show, but everyone did their part well and the whole event went relatively smoothly.  I was very proud of the entire team for the hard work and great preparation.

I am also very happy to say that I'm able to step back from ministry in the church until the end of March.  With the wedding just around the corner and my last month of this semester in school, I knew if I did not step back I would go crazy. Joshua, my team leader, will be stepping in for me and taking care of leading everything till I am done school.  This is really great for me because in the last few weeks I was really running out of steam and this just allows me to focus on other big things in my life right now.

Grace and I are well on our way with getting the wedding preparations set, and I look forward to seeing my parents and a few other special guests arrive in the coming weeks.  I have now been gone longer then any of my other trips, so it will be very nice to see family again.

There are some things to be praying about of course, and I think at the top of the list is Grace getting a visa.  But Grace and I are also going to have to make some choices about the coming months, as our lives are about to experience a lot of change.  We are going to need to raise more support - at least another $500 monthly, and we are still praying for a car, and looking at some options for our ministry.

Thank you all for your love and support! Please keep the emails coming as well.  I love hearing from everyone and getting advice and wisdom.  I have got some great emails of encouragement and wisdom and they are very special to me.

Busy Days

It has been a long and hard few weeks. There has been good things as well many very hard things to deal with. I have been very encouraged with the commitment of some youth, and God brought back some of the original youth that I had been working with. Since they are both girls Grace has really stepped in and lead the discipleship, and the one girl has barely left Grace's house in the past week. We also began a morning devotion at 7 am from Tuesday to Friday, and I think we have all felt that really helping us. Since I am so busy I felt that I needed to do something to maintain and continue developing my relationships, and the the morning devotion has done just that. As well as giving everyone one a chance to share, and gain more confidence sharing encouragement or a devotion.

While seeing good things happening, I have also really been struggling. My schedule is daunting and I am constantly running around from one place to the next. I have also discovered that the weight of dealing with tuff decisions is burdening me and I don't enjoy it at all. There have been a lot of strained relationships over the last few weeks and it has left me pretty hurt. I feel let down and betrayed by some peoples actions and foolishness. I've chose to let Mackie go and search for a different church since his issues are far beyond anything I can handle, and he needs a church that can really get behind him and support and restore him.

After some good talks with my family it seems clear that I need to make some changes in my schedule and commitment. I talked with my team leader and told him whether we like it or not we are going to bring someone to help with the pastoring (bringing in an outside pastor is not usually how a new pastor is found in the Philippines) because I am sick of carrying everything on my back. I love the job and the work I have to do but I am also in school which is so critical to my long term effectiveness as a missionary and need to give more attention there. I made it clear that we need to do something very significant, or I will burn out soon.

Grace is doing a wonderful job preparing for the wedding, and being very patient with me because of my schedule, and I really appreciate her so much. This week or next week we will do our civil wedding, and then Grace will get a new passport with my last name and we will begin processing her papers to come to Canada.

Today I am heading off for Tagaytay in a bit to take a rest until Sunday afternoon. I am very excited because I have not had a good motorcycle trip for a while, and being beside the lake and seeking God is just what I need. I really need prayer right now. I have more tuff decisions waiting for me when I get back, and I need to make some real changes in how I am doing things, and it wont be easy.

It's times like these where I appreciate everyones support and prayers so so much!

Brett

Exciting News

This is one of the most exciting emails I have got to write in some time. First, I am happy to say the church is doing great and the ministries are also improving, but the really exciting news is to do with me and Grace. After a few months of planning and thinking about our future, Grace and I felt we were ready to take our relationship to the next level. I asked for my parents blessing a few months ago, and during my semester break asked Grace's father for his blessing as well for us to get married. Last night I reserved the gazebo on the 21st floor of a hotel in Manila where we had dinner and I proposed to her. It was a wonderful evening, and Grace was very surprised and I am happy to announce she said yes!

We now have the date for the wedding set for March 13th 2010 and then a reception in Canada on May 28th. Now the reception really depends on Grace being able to get a visa, so lets all pray that she will be able to get it. It may seem a bit rushed, but after evaluating our situation for the last few months we thought it would be wise for us to be practical and get married sooner then later. Grace does not have a place of her own to stay in, and for the last few months she had been staying with people in the church or on my team. She constantly travels, and we are always waiting around for her to be able to go to where she is staying. Grace has made some big sacrifices for our ministry and for me as well, and we both would like to settle down. Most of all Grace is a wonderful woman of God, and I can't imagine finding anyone more committed to serving. Our love for one another has deepened so much over the past year and a half, and I always remember when I said the first time I met her on the boat 3 years ago, that I was going to marry her. I am honored to have someone like Grace to walk beside me in the good times and in the bad times.

This makes lots of things to pray about! I started fundraising months ago for a car because I knew that I would probably be getting married in 2010, so now I want to put that higher on my priorities list because doing grocery runs on a motorcycle is only entertaining the first time, after that a real pain. I do enjoy the convenience of having a motorcycle, but now since Grace's safety is part of the picture I really would like to get a dependable car. We also have looked at our budget and will probably need to add another $500 to our monthly income. I have moved 4 times since I have been here and I am very much looking forward to settling down in one place! Please join us in prayer, and pass on any words of wisdom you may have for me and Grace.

Thank you all for your love and support!

Brett

Life Getting Back to Normal

Life is back to normal.  I am in class, we are all very busy, and again I am figuring out how to manage it all.  It is nice to have some routine again after the semester break, but I also did enjoy the time I could spend at the church.  I am very excited for this semester since I have more classes that I will be enjoying, and one class that is a huge blessing.  It is Urban Evangelism and Church Planting!  When I saw it I knew I had to take it, and after a few classes, I am really enjoying it!  I have a great teacher, and my mind is really being expanded as well as, getting so many new ideas about the city, church, evangelism and more!

Though next year is really the beginning of my Bible subjects, right now the focus is on getting the general education classes out of the way, and I am happy with my classes this semester.  It was very interesting when I got my grades back to see that almost all are in the 90's!  I then asked a foreign teacher how it was possible (since in my whole life I have never got a 90% other then in gym class), and she said the marking system is very inflated here, as well as the fact that the passing grade is 75%.  So I have basically all 90's so far (except for that thorn in my flesh, math!)

December is a very very exciting time in the Philippines, and the church is ramping up for all the parties and programs!  We have had quite a pain trying to set a date for our children's Christmas party,  because of the previous flooding, the children missed a whole week of school so they have to catch up by having Saturday classes, so we have decided not to have a early party, but to do it on the 23rd of December.  I am very excited since we are planning on having 300 children!  We are going to use a basketball court and invite all the kids in our neighborhood.  Our plan is to do a carnival-style party and share the gospel and the truth about Christmas through a puppet show.  We have gift bags packed and ready and are fixing up our carnival games and adding some new ones this year.

Some wonderful news is that having the new missionaries here is a huge blessing!  Since they arrived our youth ministry has improved so much and it has lifted a huge burden off my back.  It's so nice to have more people around to help out and, some fun roommates!

I also forgot to mention in my last update that we started a daycare in the church.  It has been something we have been wanting to do for sometime, so I said "let's just go for it" and see how it goes.  I am happy to report it has been going well, but we are seeing that there are some real needs!  Everything hinges on having a great teacher, and one of our missionaries is a teacher, but he does not speak Tagalog so it makes it very challenging.  We will continue to pursue it and work hard at getting a great program started since there is a deep need for this kind of ministry.  I am going to have to make a tough decision soon about it, but I hope and, ask you to pray as well, that we could be able to continue.  We have been able to reach out to a lot of new mothers in our community, so we really desire to continue.

Please pray with me as there is a lot of work to do this month and I need to manage a lot.  It will be an exciting time as well as a challenging one so I would deeply appreciate your commitment to prayer for what probably will be a wild time!

Grace

This update topic has been a long time coming, and many times I have planned to write about it, but for a variety of reasons, I've put it on hold. So, now is the time to update you about my personal life. If you look at my Facebook page, you will know I have been 'in a relationship' since I arrived back to Manila in January. I chose not to talk about it because at the time it was not very serious and I did not know where it was going. Now I want to tell you all about how I met Grace.

Grace and I met on a boat when our team was going on a missions trip, and her Bible school was also doing a missions trip. They had some Koreans missionaries with them, because her school is run by Korean missionaries, and we noticed them reading a Bible, so started talking with them. They introduced us to the rest of their group, and then I noticed Grace and started chatting with her. We chatted for the rest of the boat ride, which was three hours and I began to connect with her. She was quiet, confident, and clearly a strong woman of God. I was very impressed. Since I was relatively new to the Philippines at that time I did not understand where her Bible school was, and I thought it was very far away. I began to think about it, and I thought it would never work because of the distance but I was wrong, and I actually can drive my motorbike there!

It was almost two years after we had first met that I finally got to see her again. I had been in another relationship during that 2 years and had learned a lot. The biggest thing I learned was that there was no chance unless she had a clear calling and will to serve God. I really began praying spcifically .that God would lead me to the woman that He has for me. I asked God that she be the daughter of a pastor, from outside the city, have a calling, share my heart in the ministry, and more. When I met Grace on the boat, she was/is all that and more. I literally checked off everything I prayed for! I was so surprised, and for whatever reason I had to wait two years, but it was well worth it. It gave me time to do more growing up!

When we finally connected again things went great! We met once a week at a mall and would spend the afternoon together and just talk. It was great that before we got serious we had four months to build a friendship. Soon however, I was back to Canada which was my last trip home from last September to January. The four months I was in Canada I called every other day and we talked and continued to develop our friendship, and our plan was that when I arrived back we would officially be dating. So when I arrived we became official, but were still only able to spend one day a week together, sometimes once in two weeks. But it was good, healthy and allowed everything to progress slowly.

When Grace finished Bible school, she moved to Manila to her sister's house. She began attending our church and slowly getting into the ministry. It was so nice to have a trained person to help out, as she could lead programs and take on significant roles and responsibility! Grace has flourished in our church since she came, and has become crucial part of our team. Since I had to commit a lot of my time to school, it was her who helped pick up the slack, and leading the mothers ministry. Right now she is vital to the church and a huge help with dealing with all the girls we have here. I really thank God for her, and the impact she has had one me and my church.
I would like to ask for your prayers, as this is a very important aspect of my life. Obviously a cross cultural relationship brings on different challenges, but when I reflect, what relationship does not? Me and Grace have made it very clear that constant communication is going to be key, and that we have to recognize that there are going to be some things that are just harder for us because of where and how we were raised. Pray for understanding and Gods clear direction for our relationship. I am very excited that for what our future holds, and what God will do with us. I remember the day well when I saw the potential for our relationship when I asked her "what will you do if we got married and God called me back to Canada? Or somewhere else?" She replied "It's ok for me, my life does not belong to me anymore." When I heard her say that, I new God had brought me straight to the right girl. For me, being a single missionaries has a lot of advantages, and a lot of disadvantages, but the truth is it's lonely, and I am thankful for a great person to walk beside me in the ministry!
Thank you all for your love and support! This Monday I am back in school, so that means I am back to a hectic schedule and a lot of work.

Exams and Challenges

I am very excited to say that this is finals week, and next week I will have two weeks off from school! With the storm and flooding that took place, our classes got extended one week, so next week I am finally free. The original excitement of starting school made it easier to overlook how busy I was becoming, but as the months pushed on I became very overwhelmed with all the responsibility. With Mackie still under disciplinary action, and going to be for quite some time, I has now become formal that I am the senior pastor. If it seems bizarre, maybe even inappropriate I would fully agree, since I am far from being "ready." It is not very exciting that the role was given to me on the terms of default, since Mackie was being groomed to take the lead, but I accepted willingly, and with the clear reality that I don't really have a choice. Even if we were to try and find and hire another pastor, that is not a process that can be rushed through, or even easy for that matter, so without any negative connotation, I am quite stuck in the role! Joshua is guiding me and walking with me through the everything so I am very much not alone, and I also keep in contact with my senior pastor at home.

The last few weeks have been really challenging to be honest. I was surprised to see my mother had sent out an email, because I should have been the one, but the morning I got up and checked my emails and saw it, I felt much better. There was a few mornings I struggled to get out of bed because of the back pain, and made class very challenging. I think part of the reason is that the title and job given to me is pretty scary and overwhelming, and I want to do my best, and put too much pressure on myself. The fact that the two people who were supposed to be leading this church fell away within a year, loads up weight even more, since after me there is no one else. Though the church is doing well and developing, the leadership is strained to the ends, and I have to either stand up and lead, or let the church fall. This is a common story, and one that God has done great things in time and time again, and my hope and trust is in Him to lead, and for me to be the hands and feet.

Some great news is that Canadian missionaries that I am good friends with and grew up in my area are going to be arriving November 4th. I have actually been waiting for them to arrive, which is unusual for me with missionaries since so many come and go, but these guys are coming at such a critical time, and I am so thankful. I am glad that our strong base of youth are continuing to playing such key roles in all the behind the scene aspect of the church, but since I started school the youth ministry has not been what it once was, and with these guys here to really give the attention to the youth that I am not capable giving, will really help out. They will be here 1 year which is also great because it gives them enough time to develop long lasting relationships, and allows me to hand bigger responsibilities over to them.

I have a few stories I would like to share, but for now I want to tell what happened a night a week ago or so. I was walking the youth home, and we walked past the street that the squatter area is on, and I noticed a girl sitting almost in the middle of the road, wailing, kicking her feet and crying. Their house was right there so I dropped off the youth and went over to see what was happening with the girl. At first I thought she was demon possessed because of her seemingly violent kicking and ending crying and wailing. But as I looked and observed more, I realized that this was an emotional issue, so I approached the people on the street and asked what was wrong. People started making jokes about her and saying she does it all the time, and my heart sank! Someone sitting on the dirty street crying out, and people could only makes jokes, it was frustrating but I new that they did not know any better. I had to approach this situation very carefully because I did not want to seem like I was trying to get into the gossip, but meaningfully try and see what was happening, and thankfully Toph was with.
I saw her mom, a regular attendee at our church, single mother of 4 and has a terribly hard life, sitting on the curb and laying back onto the side walk. I became totally overwhelmed as I looked at the mom laying there totally hopeless, in a culture built around "keeping face," her daughter sat in the road wailing and screaming and crying and shoeing off anyone who tried to talk to her. How embarrassing would that be if that was your child making a fool of you in front of your entire neighborhood was what I was thinking, and so I approached the mother and asked her for permission to talk to the girl. She had no problem with us talking to her, and both me and Toph were worried we were going to look like fools if she just went crazier. As she saw us approaching she started being more dramatic, and then it all became clear to me, it was a cry for love. Me and Toph squatted beside her and began talking to her. This girls father is a drunk, and makes a fool of himself in the area all the time, he beat his wife, and they have public swearing matches often, I could not imagine what was in this little girls mind. So I sat and I told her that I loved her, and that all of "Ate's(ah-tahs - big sisters)" and "Kuya's koo-ya - Big brothers)" loved her at the church. I just kept saying it over and over and over, and Toph told her how much Jesus loved her. She began to relax, and I "shhhh"ed her for a few minutes, and promised to be there for her anytime she needs us, and to just come to the church and find me or the others if you have a problem.

What makes this story special to me is that I saw the power of commitment and love. She would literally do that for hours from what the mother said, and no one else was able to quite her, except me and Toph. But the best part was at church on Sunday when I saw her, and I could see trust, and when I met her on the street the other night and she basically jumped on me and treated me like her brother. It was such a good reminder that simply showing love is the most powerful thing we can do, even if it's simple, or dealing with a full on temper tantrum! One thing that shocks me, that little girl is not so little, she is 14! I almost could not believe it when I was told after her exact age, she looks 10, and her actions well they speak for themselves. Again, I can't even begin to fathom what she has gone through to be so undeveloped emotionally, or to throw a fit in the middle of the road for literally hours. Please pray for her, her name is kathline, and I hope God has something special planned for her!

Thank you all for your prayers, I really need them in this time!

Brett

Flood Update

As most have heard Manila, and 25 provinces were rocked by massive flooding on September 26. We got a months rain in 12 hours which totally overloaded all drainage. Until now there are parts of Manila still underwater, and in a tomorrow we will be getting another super typhoon, and in another week it was said another one coming. We are all worried right now and hoping that the next storm will pass by.

I as well as everyone I am working with are fine. We had floods above my waist but thankfully that my apartment is on the second floor so their were no issues for me. We did not have electricity or water though for most of the 26th. Most of us went to the church, since there was water and it was the fifth floor. I went out with two others and bought for everyone, and we had to walk through waist deep water.

My classes were cancelled all week, as was the rest for the whole of Manila. I will start again on Monday, but thats if everything goes well during the next storm. The water receded by morning and we even did our church service but with many missing. Where I am, it is almost all back to normal, but there are parts of Manila that are seriously suffering. Please pray for those people.

I just went out and bought food for 25 people, and it will be handed out later tonight. The youth are now packing it and they will head to the still flooded area to hand it out.

Please pray for the Philippines right now as their is a good chance we are in for some rough times. I also just found out that many parts of the city will have their electricity turned off this evening, which for most of you will be in the morning when you wake up. I will email again as soon as I can but dont worry for us here. Our church is high up as well as my apartment and we live in the business district so it will be some of the first to have water recede and power restored.

Thank you all.

Brett

Let the good times roll!!!

Something has changed! It is as if the whole atmosphere of the church and the work seem to have been turned a 180 degrees. It's not as though it's perfect, but there is a realness to it all, as if people have become much more genuine. Every service we have continues to be powerful and encouraging, and even the ministry is wonderful. Yesterday afternoon I led the bible study at a members house and after we were all eating together and it dawned on me, and I said to myself "this is the church." To see a group of people young and old laughing and sharing stories and eating together, and pursuing the call that Jesus made to us, it was beautiful. God has transformed lives, and His goodness is beginning to overflow from the lives of people He has touched. I was listening to a mother who was asking Christopher, better known as Toph here, who is the worship leader, to get a copy of the lyrics of some of the songs we have been singing. She had been singing what she new to her friends, and they were touched by the song, so she wanted to get all the lyrics. I also taught, and everyone understood! Which is a big deal for me since I can actually teach to a non english speaking group and have them walk away with something.

We also began a bible study in another persons house who was very seriously sick, and still cant make it up the five flights of stairs in the church. Toph led that bible study, and her family joined in and actually listened. That woman has quite the story since she literally died a few times in the hospital. Her heart had stopped I think around 4 times, for extended periods of time, but had been revived each time. I went and visited her many times in the hospital to pray for her, and that has really gone a long way in developing my relationship with the family and her. All of her 3 sons greet me each time they see me, and I think a seed has been planted and I hope to be able to share the gospel with them soon.

This week is the end of the time that Mackie was given to separate himself from the church and the Youth Mobilization team. I am nervous because to be honest I still have strong negative feelings about what happened.
Forgiveness is so necessary because regardless of what has been done, I am a sinner as well and need Gods grace just as much, but the reality of that has proven to be challenging. What Mackie did in the eyes of a Canadian is absolutely disgusting, and could be criminally charged. But since it's a weakness more prone to men here, people have been very forgiving and understanding. I on the other hand can't do that, and it's going to make this a very challenging process. Please pray for me in this situation.

Some not so good news is that fundraising for my car has not gone so well. I have one seriously committed donor which is great, but please pray with me as this is something I really hope to get soon.

I will send another update soon to give more details about Mackie coming back and I will note that he is not doing any ministry or has any leadership.

Please join me in prayer for the church and the fundraising for a car.

Thank you for your love and support!

Brett

Challenges and fruit

It has been a challenging time for us all here, but also very fruitful. God really challenged me to step up and put my faith in Him and lead the church, and He has continued to pour out His understanding upon me and strength to continue.

Last Sunday God made His presence known to the people. Actually, since Mackie has left the services have been totally different, and for the good. Gods presence has been overwhelming and people have really experienced healing. After I preached and as we began to worship I started to see real manifestation of the Holy Spirit, which is something I have not seen for quite some time to be honest. Anne, Joshua's wife was also in the service, and helped me in the service and prayed for people. It was a wild service from what I have become used to, and I hope the God will continue revealing Himself each week like He did.

We also started a bible study in a members house, and had two of my original youth repent last week. God has blessed me so much that I can't dwell on the weight of my responsibility! I really feel new, and as if the tanks have been filled to the very top! God has renewed me and my heart and showed me a path for the church. Right now we are going to continue focusing on our discipleship program and try and start more bible studies in the area.

What I am going to start focusing on in my support is raising money to get a car. I have been praying hard and I really feel this is the time to get a car. I have set a budget for around 3500$ as the least I would like to spend, and I am hoping and praying to get around 7000$. After doing a lot of research I think I would like to get a small car more designed for the city, and either a japanese made or korean. The church is set right now, and with the rent paid it will not require any extra help, so I have decided to take this time to focus on fundraising for the car. I am happy to say that my brother will be visiting me this November for a few months, and it would be really nice if I could have it by then. So I am setting my goal for this November. Please pray with me that God will provide all that I need. I also would like to ask all my supporters and prayer partners to join in as well if capable to give. I will be setting up a separate account for this, as it is a special item.

Thank you all for your prayers as always! Join me in praising God for His faithfulness, and even though He took me to the very tip of my understanding and capability, He still leads me through it all and now I have become even stronger because of it!

Brett

Leadership Challenges

I have been avoiding writing this email, in fact, I have put it off for days. However, I need to let you know about a situation has a serious impact on our church community. Also, I need to ask you to pray with me, my team leader Joshua and for our church.

Last week one of my fellow church pastors was confronted and confessed to inappropriate behaviour with one of our interns. The Pastor has stepped down and is now under the direct care and mentoring of an experienced pastor from another church. This affects so many people and I've just been shocked, hurt and angry as I feel betrayed by a fellow leader.

* Note, there will be an official announcement from my team leader in the coming days and I may send it all my prayer partners.

This all means for me that I will now have to take the bulk of the church responsibilities on my shoulders. Joshua has been helping and has really made a big difference by leading, but his direct role is temporary. Your probably saying, "How on earth is Brett going to manage being a full time student and carrying a church?" Well that's just what I am asking myself and, to be perfectly honest, I am nervous. I was already working really hard to manage school and church, it will mean even more work.

So, I am considering reducing my classes next semester, but I will wait on God and listen for Him. I feel a lot like Moses right now, when God told him to go back to Egypt. I really want to make excuses and ask God to send someone else, but for me the point of the story is that its not about Moses, it's about what God is going to do.

It feels like we have been through so much already, but God has provided and guided us through. One thing I have learned in the Philippines is that, the prerequisite to blessing is hardship and suffering, so if you ask me, God has something big in store!

Please pray with us now:

Pray for healing for our entire team and church as this effects so many people.

Pray that God will take this terrible situation and turn it around for His glory.

• Pray that my fellow pastor will be fully restored.
  
• Pray that God will flood me with His wisdom and I can be a great leader in our church.
  
Pray that Joshua will have the strength to persevere through all this and continue leading the church as long as he can.

• Finally please pray that God raises up more strong men and women for God to become the next leaders of this church.

Thank you all for your love and support! It is comforting to know that when I am in a dark time, I can make a call to prayer and have so many people care and respond!

Brett

School, Car Fund

This week and a bit has been more of what I was expecting when I got into school. Its been very busy, filled with problems, and things to do! I got some big surprises last week, but I wish they were good ones. If you remember the story of the girl we casted the demon out of a few months ago and how she had a serious problem with stealing, well we realized the issue is not over. After basically being caught red handed stealing one youths phone out of my house, she confessed to it, but also to something very shocking. When vincent was living with me a key for my house went missing, and that girl confessed that she had taken the key and had been coming in and out of my house while I was gone. A few weeks ago she stole almost 300$ out of my apartment, and most of that was church tithes and she was planning to get my laptop. Thank God we found out before she was able to get anything else. It was so hard for me because I had been helping her so much and encouraging her and helping her grow. She just lied and lied to me over and over again, and now I have no clue what is true and what is not. It really hurt me when I found that out, it was a complete violation of my trust and a stab in the back since I had done so much to help her. We meet with her and her mother on Saturday and told the mom about everything that happened. Its hard because we have no idea what to do with this girl, but the mother has committed to work with us and help with the restoration, as well as pay back the church tithes. Please pray for Colleen as we try again to restore her.

The same day we talked with Colleen, I got robbed again! Nikko, one youth staying with me came to me and told me that the door was open and my cell phone and ipod were gone. After talking with the guard I realized that it was totally useless and that there was nothing I could do. I remembered the first time I got robbed my first year here and the first police officer showed up drunk at my house and they did nothing. I just prayed that God will be the one to bring justice. I am very frustrated because I dont really feel comfortable in my house anymore, and I am going to see if I can end my contract early and move, but if not then I will just deal with it. Please pray that God will show me what His will is, and if I will stay there He will be my guard and protector.

After a few years of thinking and considering, I finally have decided that I would like to get a car. I have faced the elements for almost 3 years now and I am ready and willing to deal with traffic. There are many pros and cons in riding a motor, the best aspect being that you can get through traffic so fast. The reality is that though its much faster in the city, its very dangerous. I thank God I have not had any serious accidents in the last few years of riding, but I think its an inevitable fact a serious accident will eventually happen. It will also be a big blessing for ministry to have a vehicle the church can use. I have spent the last few months reviewing magazine and talking with people and I think I have a good understanding now of what I am getting into. My dream would be to get one of the ultra compact cars, since gas would be cheap, but since they are relatively new to the car market, a decent one runs around 7000$. I think that might be pushing my luck and I have figured that anything here under 3000$ probably wont be worth the money because car prices here are higher then in Canada and the cars are so old. Please pray with me for Gods provision.

In the midst of everything we are trying to get our church renovated and prepared, so that has really added to my stress. School has also had some big projects to do, and this week I have to preach. All in all I think this is a good week to pray for me. I am still trying to get the hang of all this so it is sure keeping my life interesting.

One great thing is that we have a new church and a place to call home for a few years. We are thinking this present building should be sufficient for about 3 years, and the idea of not having to move next year gives me much peace! Please pray this week that I can have strength and wisdom for all the things that I have to do.

Thank you all,

Brett

New Church Location

I am very happy to announce that we already have a place for our new church, and better yet we already have the money for the whole years rent! We got a big discount again if we could pay one year advanced, and after sending one message to a very good friend, the money was committed! We will have the 5th floor of the same building that the YM team is in. Its a good building with fair admin and very trust worthy. YM has been renting here for more then a year and never had any issues with them. There are also minor repairs needed so after we pay the rent I don't even have to raise additional money!

This is always how God seems to work with me. He takes me to the point where I give up and then blows my mind with another miracle! I am so excited for the new place and the opportunities it will make for our church. I will attach some pictures so you can see. I am off to school to work on a project, so another email will come soon to give better details, also I am almost done my next news letter.

Join us as we praise God for His faithfulness and power!

Brett

Church Update

I am a few weeks into classes and still very much enjoying it. The new setting and friends and challenges are keeping me very busy and interested. There are a lot of foreign students here, but I am really the only one who really speaks Tagalog so making friends is very easy. The school is relatively small also, so getting to know everyone has not been very hard.

While life has been school has been good, things at the church has not been. I feel confident that the issues we are facing are not the result of my time being very divided with school, but personal choices of the youth and others in the church. A lot of the youth have been making very unwise choices and that is one very frustrating thing I cant control. We as the leadership did not recognize early enough the issues with the youth, and how much it had spread. Egos and personal differences as well as judging others had created some division amongst the young people. Some had fallen into temptation and old habits like drinking also were becoming an issue. We started addressing the problem on Friday night at the prayer meeting where Kuya Joshua gave everyone a strong reminder about sin and how it starts small and can grow too big for us to control. Mackie preached a great sermon on Sunday, and I spent time personally talking with some youth to clean up some of the mess. We have lost around 5 boys, one to other church commitments but the others chose to pursue personal desires. Being a youth is a hard time in life, everything is constantly changing and there is so much going on in their heads. I will give them time and space and pray for them, because thats all I really can do. One thing that is really hard is to watch people you have seriously invested in to just turn and walk away regardless of what you try.

On top of it all we just had our last service in our church building, and the contract is now done and we move out today. It is for sure going to make things more difficult but I am seriously looking forward to not having our own place. Sometimes it take losing something to realize how important it was, and I want to remember what it was like a year ago when I was desperately searching for that place. There were also some very big benefits, but some burdens as well. When people get comfortable or familiar they tend to take things for granted and get over comfortable, and children and youth and adults recently have not been respecting the church at all. Asking them to leave is not hard, but then as soon as we go to bed they continue to gamble and drink right out side the church, even after a year of not telling them to. Also, separating them from that area usually means they can be more open and honest when they don't have their neighbors watching there every move. Finally the building owners are terrible people and have lied to us since the first day and for the last few months we have not even had water!

So we will be using the YM office again, which is where we started. We are continuing to search for a new place, but I do not want to get stuck in a contract with stupid building owners so we are being very cautious. The YM office will be ok for now, but it is not a permanent location at all, and the search continues. I dont really know why but I am not worried at all. I remember a few weeks ago I tried get the other guys in the leadership to be a little more serious about finding a place, but they did not show an ounce of worry and so I figured I can't change it and put it into Gods like they did. Its odd for me not to be super stressed and constantly worrying about every detail, but deep down I just know that everything will be ok. God has shown me His power by providing our pervious building, I know He will do it again. Sometimes its hard for me to accept that I am not in control of this church.

As soon as possible I will be getting out a newsletter because there is a lot to say, and I feel a update letter would be more effective then a really big email. Please continue to pray because it is very evident that Satan is throwing a lot at us and our young people and the church as a whole. But I have also learned it is in these of times where God is moving and preparing for something.

Brett

Update

I am just starting my second week of school. I would have sent an update last week, but it was quite uneventful because it was really just introducing the classes. I am enjoying it so far, and have made lots of friends, and feel very comfortable here. Its a totally different atmosphere here compared to high school and I love it! My body is relaxed and I have almost no anxiety which means my stomach is fine. Also, all my classes but one are in the afternoon and evening which makes me life easier as well. I am really happy with the way things are going, and one of my big worries was that my stomach was going to be terrible and it was going to make the whole school experience torture! I praise God for His faithfulness in making sure everything has gone smoothly.

I have great news from the ministry this week! The women who had been leading our women's bible study stepped down because she has so much to do in her own ministry. I new that it was inevitable since their ministry had been growing so much, but it was a bit sudden and I did not really know what to do. I texted Charity, the Canadian missionary that runs the orphanage where I took vincent and asked her to teach. I new it was a long shot since the women works 18 hours a day 7 days a week, but replied that she would "love love love to!" So on Wednesday she came with all of her boys including Vincent who was very happy to be back in his neighborhood, and led the bible study. She speaks perfect Tagalog and knows what these women go through each day and I new she would be effective, and she was! The mothers loved her and were so touched, and when she was leaving they waited for her at the gate to say good bye and one even hugged her! I have never ever ever seen them so responsive and I was deeply encouraged. Charity said she would come back again this Wednesday and teach, but I am hoping and praying that she will be able to come back every week! Please continue to pray for the mothers ministry! Right now its really making an impact and I saw how much this Sunday! The place was filled with mothers and their kids, and for the first time there was more mothers then youth!

My dream of seeing this community rise up will take both the mothers but also the fathers. We are making real head way with the mothers ministry, but I will be honest to say that we have nothing with the fathers. The biggest issue for us is that only Joshua is a father and old enough to teach them, but he is far to busy to start a ministry to them. I am not to down about this because I know that to get the fathers we need to reach out to the "leader" of the area. Any fathers ministry would be a waste of our time if we dont get that key leader of the neighborhood, so for now I will ask that you please pray that God will prepare that man. That we will see a dramatic and radical conversion in his life, and that he will lead the change in the community for men!

I am very excited about what I am seeing, though its a bit frustrating to know that I will have to focus on my studies instead of ministry, but I know that it was a wise decision. I am already feeling the difference in my life to do with personal schedule. I have always had a weekly schedule but not as organized as being in school and I am actually enjoying it. My roles in the church are really just to make sure the women's ministry is set and to preach once a month. Since I live so close to the church it makes it easy for me to say in touch. Now a big part of what I do is just talking to people and listening and following up. I need to make sure I have a constant and consistent presence in the neighborhood.

As always I just want to thank you all for your prayers and support! I am seeing a slow but steady change in our community, and with me in school each day I am coming a little closer to my dreams!

Brett

Team retreat and school

I am very excited to say that this Monday I will start school! I am still working on getting my student visa, but I still will be able to start Monday. I have

Our team left on Tuesday for our mid year retreat to a very beautiful place called Puerto Galera until Thursday. It's not to far from Manila and only took a 3 hour bus ride and a boat ride, or as I renamed it the "vomit comet," after a few team members lost their lunch on a very rough ride! We had a wonderful time of relaxing and having fun and was a very good time for the team. We got to see a few sights and swim at some great beaches. I am usually the first to have stomach issues while traveling, but thanks to God I felt great almost the whole time!

I am feeling very much refilled. It was a good break from some of the issues that we had been dealing with here. Last night I was able to have a good chat with Rodel and see how he was doing. He is in one very tough situation, and dealing with some tough family issues. Please pray for him and his family, because it looks like to deal with these issues Rodel will have to be out of the ministry for at least a few months.

The church has been doing well over the past weeks. We had a few hard weeks and I felt like satan was really throwing everything he had at us. Some youth struggled and we were dealing with that persecution from the Catholic church. Now, I am feeling that people are doing better and becoming stronger. We had lost a few youth, but now we have got almost all them back. There is always the issue of finding a new place for the church, and we are continuing our search, but have not had much luck. Please continue praying for that and the church and especially the leadership. With me going to school it will bring new challenges and issues and really push me, so pray that I have strength and wisdom to deal with all the things coming.

Thank you all for your love and prayers!

Brett

Vincent to the orphanage

Last night I took Vincent to the orphanage where he will be living now. The change seemed to go well because the other boys were busy so he fell right into the swing of things there. They were practicing karate so he went out and joined them. It was almost as if he forgot all about me and just fit right in. Which is good for him, but of course did not make me feel great. I know that when I serve or doing something good to a person I am not just looking for something in return, but the 14 year boy who I clothed, fed and took off the street did not even have one nice thing to say to me. I talked with Charity, the Canadian who runs the orphanage and she said in 9 years not a boy has said thanks. As much as it sucks to be honest, I guess it will keep me grounded and make me remember why I serve. I will make sure to keep visiting him and make sure he is staying out of trouble.

Today I finished my OSLAT exam at bible school and it went well. After I got through the rough math parts it was all smooth from there on. Next week will be the enrollment and this thursday I will meet someone for an interview and I think I will choose my classes then. I am really really excited to go to school, which is a surprising thing for me! I am looking forward to the learning and growing and the new opportunities it will bring for me. I am also happy that I will be able to apply everything I am learning in the church as I go, apposed to four years out of the ministry. The school has great facilities and is right in the business district so everything it right there.

This last Sunday was great! I preached in the morning service which I don't normally do because its for the mothers and they do not speak good english at all. But I went ahead and gave it my best, and it did not look so good. People did not seem to be listening and saw a few heads learning to far forward or back. I was actually discouraged because I thought it went terrible, and the people were half hour late. But after the service I had two people come up and tell me how much they enjoyed it and told what part was their favorite. Then one mother began to share about how she was so happy in our church, and that its always her son who is maybe 5 years old who reminds her to come to church. I was so touched, and after feeling so down it was just what I needed to hear. Sometimes its so frustrating serving the urban poor, but that was one of the beautiful moments. It was so nice to hear because she has 5 kids and is 28 years old, her husband is a alcoholic and after working four days will drink all the money away. I sometimes feel like we are getting no where with this community, but I realized that its really going to take time to get into the peoples lives. One observation new missionaries always have here is that the people in the squatter areas are always smiling and joking and happy though life is pretty rough. For my first 2 years I was fascinated by this, but I realized that in a lot of cases its simply a way or hiding or suppressing their true feelings. I brought that point up at the mothers fellowship/bible study on Wednesday and I had hit the nail on the head. One mom sitting beside me looked at me and the others and said it was very true. So now we are really getting into the lives of the families and are going to be able to hopefully bring some healing and restoration for these people. This is something to please pray for because, again I am in way over my head, but I know that God will do what He has planned.

One other prayer item has come up as well. The squatter community beside the church has been told by the catholic church that they cant come to our church or they will take away the card that gets them free medicine. This has already effected the church and maybe half the mothers don't want to come out because of the fear of losing their card. Its frustrating because the catholic church does nothing at all for these people, and they are in desperate need of God, but they continue to hold them by stuff like this. Please pray that the mothers will still come out, and that this persecution will stop, and God will use this to His glory.

Next week is enrollment, and I am still not sure if I will take on a full load or just do the first semester half time. Please pray for this as well. I was hoping to just go full time to make the process a little quicker, but I am still not sure, but next week I will have a better Idea.

Thank you all for your love support and prayers!

Brett

Update: Great News!

This week was a little less eventful then my last! But one great thing that did happen is that I got the boy who had been living with me, Vincent (bunso), into a orphanage! What is great is that it is run by a Canadian family and the women who directs it has been working with these kinds of boys for 9 years. After taking him there and seeing his reactions I was very encouraged! Also, one boy there shocked me when he went over and sat with Vincent and started talking to him. When I looked over my shoulder and saw them talking, I new instantly they were friends! I was so happy to know that when he goes he knows at least one person! The family that runs the orphanage has their family stay on the third floor, and the boys on the second and babies on the 1st. When you go there you can feel the atmosphere of a family, something Vincent may have never known. I am very excited for him but also the relationship I have with the family. They have so much knowledge and experience and its also nice to have some friends who are older Canadians!

Charity, the director of the orphanage, has a busy two weeks so she said to give her two weeks and I had to prepare him for coming. So that means doing 3 hours of school work a day, and waking him up on time and making sure he is home on time and making sure he is in bed. So I have had to play dad for the last few days and it has been quite interesting! God always seems to be in a hurry with me! With Vincent gone I will have 2 others staying with me, so 3 in total. I am hoping to get rid(in a good way) of the other boy and be down to two of us. My apartment is not close to big enough for four boys, and I have zero privacy and almost zero alone time. I am looking forward to having the place to myself a little more.

The next great news is that I passed my first exam for bible school! (if you being exempt is considered passing) The first exam was a english proficiency exam, and even after I thoroughly tried to convince them that I was an english speaker for some reason I still had to take it. When I was in the room about to write the test, a teacher comes in, who was also a foreigner, and tells me I did not have to write the test. I was happy that I did not have to write the 3 hour exam, and I went home! So now on June 2nd I will write the other exam which is more like a IQ sort of test, but with a bit of math. Now when I was in high school I thought I was going to build houses and not become a pastor so I took every class I could that was as far away from academics as possible. So that one really bit me in the butt since now I have to do just that! What I am getting at is to please pray for me!

I will let you all know how my next exam goes, but its looking like June 22nd I will be official a bible school student! Also the school is really nice and is in a large building right in the business district and only 5-10 minutes from my house! Perfect!

Brett

Baptism

On Friday we had our churches second baptism outing. We rented the same pool as last year and baptized 6 more youth! Because its summer some of the youth were away and could not make it so it could have been around 10. Hopefully before summer ends we will be able to baptize those who could not make it. We rented two jeepny's (just imagine a jeep with an extended back with two benches in it) and packed them full of people. It was a lot of fun and around 40 people came out!

The past few weeks had been very challenging for me. It started becoming clear that the church was becoming too much for Rodel to handle lately. We are not just serving youth anymore but have two service and have all ages. When we started it was manageable but we have really grown and had to accept the reality. It started really bringing us all apart because I was constantly frustrated and was not being led. So last week Joshua, my team leader and the advisor for all the pastors decided that he needed to step in. So joshua has taken the full leadership for one year, or until Rodel is more capable of handling the responsibility. This will give him the time to get to bible school and be better trained. Also joshua will be spending more time working with him and mentoring him. It was a wise move by joshua and I have already seen and felt the difference. Joshua is a strong leader and this will really help our church!

We do have one big problem that is only getting bigger. At the end of June the rent of our church will run out. The building will also not renew our contract which means we even have to find a new place. Its very very difficult to find a space big enough for us, and if we did it would be very expensive. Our church struggles because we serve the poor in the most expensive place in the city. Our tithes, which are really just the pastors and Rodels mother, just cover the most basic expenses of the church and utilities, us paying rent is literally impossible. We could maybe afford to rent a small office, but a place for our Sunday gather is almost out of the question. I am thankful that I dont have to think in realities of man, but can call on a God who has endless budget. When we were getting the building we are now in last year, it was a complete miracle, and I expect the same to happen again. To put our situation in perspective, our church gets around 150$ a month from tithes. Which is enough for utilities and to give a small budget to the ministries, and then its gone. To get enough space for our church we would need 1000$ just to pay rent, not to mention all the other expenses. My personal monthly support is down, and so you can imagine my worries. We really want to get a big place so that we can actually do sunday school, have a day care and be able to do other ministries for our community, but we are no where near capable. This is something that really needs to be prayed for, because we have invested a lot into this community and we really want to see real change here!

Join us in prayer, because as you can see we really need it! I am very confident that God will provide, He did once and i am sure He will again.

As always thank you all for your love and support!

Brett