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