Catholic Parade Night

it was a long night in Antipolo...but God protected us and gave us the strength to make it through the night! this event was an experience of a lifetime for me. i had never seen so many people in one place [actually one street] in my entire life. there was over a million people constantly walking down this road to visit a idol of mary. it was worse than rush hour in atlanta at this place. people were selling idols and pictures of jesus along the street. there were stations set up along the road as well where people would pray, take pictures, and worship pictures of Jesus. All representations of Jesus do not compare to who He really is...but there was one picture that had the actor who played Jesus in the "the passion of the christ" on it and everyone was worshiping it. they hand candles under the picture, people were talking pictures, and they were praying in front of it. this was 5 or so in the morning when i saw this and God just gave me a burst of energy, and i went in front of this station and preached directly to these people. here they are worshiping a movie star as if he really is Jesus. talk about Godly anger. the whole night was filled with things like this.

God gave us the strength we needed and shared the Gospel with these people - the truth. one thing about this event, and every year, is that some of these people believe that Jesus dies every year and they worship him in this way as such. Some people are not even catholic, they just follow the crowd. some just view it as another day at mass. so there are millions of people at this event who are ignorant to the truth or do not care about it. One scripture that was in my mind during this event was psalm 115:4-8, "Their idols are silver and gold, the work of human hands. They have mouths, but do not speak; eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear; noses, but do not smell. They have hands, but do not feel; feet, but do not walk; and they do not make a sound in their throat. Those who make them become like them; so do all who trust in them". in my mind, that is exactly what these people have become...deaf and blind to the truth. they walk in darkness and they have completely lost all senses of truth. but praise God He has the power to break these barriers!

the story i spoke of earlier about the picture was one of the experiences i had. another door that God opened up for me is to share with one guy. thursday night probably within a couple hours of just getting at the event, a guy pulls up on his motorcycle and talks to me. i was wearing a sign that said do not make and or worship idols. this guy saw it and asked me why. so God gave me the opportunity to share, not only why, but share the Gospel with him. we only talked 5 minutes or so before he had to go but he was very open to what i was sharing with him. so pray for this guy!

thanks to everyone for all the prayers and encouragement for this event!

continue to pray for this upcoming week...we will be having our big youth retreat. As i said in the previous blog, pray for the hearts of the youth and that they are ready to hear from God. also pray for the leaders and speakers and everyone that will be involved in this event. pray for the public ministry we will be doing there as well. i will give an update on the youth retreat when we get back on may 1.

Enjoyment With Your People!

This past week since I have been back from the mountains, I have been a part of [through participating and teaching] youth Bible studies here. We gather to worship through song, reading His Word, and fellowship with other believers. It is truly some amazing time! Some of the leaders here have been doing a study through a book called "Cat and Dog Theology". I won't explain the whole study on here (it would take to long), but the thought behind it is this: The Dog says, "you shelter me, you feed me, you provide for me, You must be God" and the cat says, "you shelter me, you feed me, you provide for me, I must be God". We have been looking into every aspect of our lives and seeing if God is overflowing in every area, not just some. Are we God-centered or self-centered? It has been a good study.

I have also helped by speaking on "No Compromise". We looked into the life of Keith Green, a Radical (obedient) Christian in his time, who urged people to not compromise for the world. You are either all for God or you are not. Really an amazing story.

It has been a growing time with God!

This coming Thursday, we will have group of us here going to a "Catholic parade"...basically, a day that Catholics from all over go to this idol to see it and worship it. Big event! We are going to preach the Gospel to these people on the street for 12 hours straight, through the night. We will be right in the middle of the action! So please pray for our protection, that God would work through us, and that lives would come to Him through our obedience and His power. Also, pray for next week as we will be having our big youth retreat. We will be having different topics throughout the week, public ministry, activities, and worship. Pray that every youth's heart is open to hear God and that everything would go smoothly. Pray for the speakers as well: Derek, Jec, Richard, Agnes, Lean, and myself; pray that we would be prepared and ready for God to use us.

Back From The Mountains

wow...where do i start...some much has happened the last few weeks. as you know, i was in montalban helping out with the ministry there. what a refreshing time it was...enjoying the mountains, nice weather, the quietness, and great company. I was able to take part in the Bible studies there, going to people's houses and sharing with them about God. Every week it was a joy to go to these houses and pray and read God's Word with them. We also went to a new area to pass out tracks and talk to people. We had some good responses...some were Christians and wanted to know if they could have Bible studies. God is great!

I had a lot of experiences, but one that impacting me was the walk up the mountain. our group walked maybe 20 minutes up a mountain to a member's house to pray. maybe i should say that again...we walked up a mountain to PRAY!! wow, what an encouragement to me that was and such a conviction. I confess, sometimes i have trouble praying in my own room, much less walk 20 minutes to do it. we need more of this in America! we need to be a people of prayer!  

another great experience i had was with the youth overnight. the youth there gather every Friday night and on this particular Friday when i happened to be there (thank you Lord) we spend the entire night without sleep praising God through songs, activities, and the reading of His Word. it was a great time to hang out with the youth there in montalban and really get to know them. Not only that, but i had many visitors come a talk to me and get to know me throughout my whole stay there. I will never be able to express how much that meant to me! that was one of the many highlights of my trip.

I thank God for the opportunity that He gave me to spend time with the montalban group. One thing that went through my mind last year when i came was that there was no time at all to really get to know the montalban group like we know the dasma group. we were so busy that it was hard to sit down and talk with them. so i am very thankful that i got to do that and now i have 20 plus new friends and family!

All in all, my experience was amazing! Thank you montalban for taking care of me and for making me so welcomed!