We finished our sports fest yesterday and it was a total success. All of the teams had a really great time and for the finals we even had some fans come out, which was good to see. Our Church finished 2nd and we put up a good fight for 1st but couldn't quite pull it off, maybe next year.
On Saturday IT Tender took 10 kids (from the night life night ministry, which means they are homeless) to a children's Museum in Manila and which I went with them. It was a really awesome time, the museum was really well done with loads of fun things to do. They even had a performance of cultural dances and music. The kids had so much fun and it is really great to see them with smiles on their faces. You can see some photos on my facebook, I was tagged in some. After the museum we went to the park and played there for a bit and then had picnic which is always sweet.
On Sunday our Church celebrated it's 2nd anniversary in which we had big party for it. We had our service outside so more people could come. There were performances by the children and youth and even had games during the service. We made loads of food for a dinner after the service which was great. I am positive that everyone had a great time.
The Request that I have is that IT Tender is putting on a youth camp for the youth from their ministries and they want to bring 25 or more youth. The youth are either homeless or squatters and have never experienced a camp of any kind. It will be running from march 9-11 and they need about $1500 to make this happen. So I ask for your donations and prayers as we prepare for this camp.
Once again I thank all of you for your love, prayers and support. May God Bless all of you.
Jared
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Highlights and an Incredible Experience
This month at IT Tender Ministry (the drop-in center that I help out with) they are holding a sports fest that happens every Thursday for the month of February. I went to the first one but had to miss the second week because of the trip I was on. They call it a sports fest but really it's just a small basket ball tournament. They have 4 teams entered, JKK (the church I'm with), 2 partner Churches of IT Tender, and a team made of of the youth/young men who attend the drop-in center. It's a great opportunity for fellowship for all who are involved. One thing I found out is how much I hate b-ball (sorry Dad). Why can't they like soccer here, is that asking too much? I didn't play in the game because we are getting the youth of our Church involved but we played around a little after and I am absolutely terrible at b-ball and don't enjoy it in the least.
Our last youth event was quite the turnout. We rented a near by gym (a cement b-ball court) and let the word out to the area that we are ministering to and about 50 kids showed up. Mostly youth but some young kids showed up too and everyone seemed to have a good time. We had 2 b-ball games (half court) going on and some soccer/volley ball/dodge ball going on in the middle of the court. The older boys were playing b-ball because it is a mens sport here and volley ball is the girls sport. It was a little chaotic but I felt it went well and about 75% of them stayed for the small bible lesson that I shared at the end which is encouraging.
This past week I got a great opportunity to go way up north (12 hour bus ride) into the mountains, in the province of Kalinga. John's mentor, Hart, came here for a visit because he spent 20 years in the Philippines with a Bible translating organization (SIL) and spent most of his time in a small village up in the north. The first day we spent in Banaue looking at their famous rice terraces (you can see them on google) which was amazing. Then we spent a night at SIL compound which was very encouraging. We spent some time talking with Hart's old co-workers about their heart and desire to translate the Bible so others can read the word of God. This is the place where a lot of the translating happened for the northern part of the country. The Philippines has about 70 different languages/dialects so their were many people who stayed at this compound working on translating.
Then we moved on from there to a village type community, Tabuk, it has about 50 thousand people but is nothing like the metropolis that is Manila. We spent 2 days there at Hart's friends place and they were incredibly hospitable. We were very lucky to be in Tabuk this past weekend because there was a cultural festival going on and we got to see many different tribal dances and rituals. It definitely sparked a new found interest in the native communities in Canada for me.
Then came the most interesting part of the trip. We went on a 5 hour jeepney ride to the remote village of Asabunglan. It was the worst road that I have every traveled on. It's just dug out from the side of the mountains and parts of it is unusable in the rainy season. Also the whole ride we had a live pig on the roof that I watched get butchered once we got there for the feast they prepared for us. This place has no electricity and they take showers by taking water from the mountain spring using bamboo as a pipe. I feel as if I should have grown up here because almost every has a foot long knife on their hip at all times and they always have a fire going. My 2 favourite things in the world! Fire and Knives! They prepared a whole evening of festivities for us the night we arrived because they are so thankful to Hart for bringing the gospel to them and were very honoured that John and I came to visit. They brought out their gong like drums that only get brought out when blood has been shed, that is why we brought the pig up. So from about 7 pm till 1 am they were playing their gongs, dancing, singing and sharing. Of course they got us to dance which was quite entertaining. It was such an incredible night. The next day the moment I woke up I was asked if I wanted to go get coconuts and of course I did. So we went on a short walk and 10 year old boy climbed up the tree and started throwing coconuts down and we cut them up and drank the milk, so sweet. Then later that day we went on a 2 hour hike through the mountains and it was so awesome. They also caught a bat for us to eat, it was good but far too much work for so little meat.
I read a book while I was gone and I have to encourage everyone to read it. The Heavenly Man is the title and it is a must read. I would love to go in to much detail about it but I don't have the time, it would be a very long sermon about how we need to get serious about our faith. PLEASE READ THE BOOK.
As always thank you so much for your continued support and prayers, they are always appriated. May God Bless you richly and reveal himself to you in a new way.
Jared
Our last youth event was quite the turnout. We rented a near by gym (a cement b-ball court) and let the word out to the area that we are ministering to and about 50 kids showed up. Mostly youth but some young kids showed up too and everyone seemed to have a good time. We had 2 b-ball games (half court) going on and some soccer/volley ball/dodge ball going on in the middle of the court. The older boys were playing b-ball because it is a mens sport here and volley ball is the girls sport. It was a little chaotic but I felt it went well and about 75% of them stayed for the small bible lesson that I shared at the end which is encouraging.
This past week I got a great opportunity to go way up north (12 hour bus ride) into the mountains, in the province of Kalinga. John's mentor, Hart, came here for a visit because he spent 20 years in the Philippines with a Bible translating organization (SIL) and spent most of his time in a small village up in the north. The first day we spent in Banaue looking at their famous rice terraces (you can see them on google) which was amazing. Then we spent a night at SIL compound which was very encouraging. We spent some time talking with Hart's old co-workers about their heart and desire to translate the Bible so others can read the word of God. This is the place where a lot of the translating happened for the northern part of the country. The Philippines has about 70 different languages/dialects so their were many people who stayed at this compound working on translating.
Then we moved on from there to a village type community, Tabuk, it has about 50 thousand people but is nothing like the metropolis that is Manila. We spent 2 days there at Hart's friends place and they were incredibly hospitable. We were very lucky to be in Tabuk this past weekend because there was a cultural festival going on and we got to see many different tribal dances and rituals. It definitely sparked a new found interest in the native communities in Canada for me.
Then came the most interesting part of the trip. We went on a 5 hour jeepney ride to the remote village of Asabunglan. It was the worst road that I have every traveled on. It's just dug out from the side of the mountains and parts of it is unusable in the rainy season. Also the whole ride we had a live pig on the roof that I watched get butchered once we got there for the feast they prepared for us. This place has no electricity and they take showers by taking water from the mountain spring using bamboo as a pipe. I feel as if I should have grown up here because almost every has a foot long knife on their hip at all times and they always have a fire going. My 2 favourite things in the world! Fire and Knives! They prepared a whole evening of festivities for us the night we arrived because they are so thankful to Hart for bringing the gospel to them and were very honoured that John and I came to visit. They brought out their gong like drums that only get brought out when blood has been shed, that is why we brought the pig up. So from about 7 pm till 1 am they were playing their gongs, dancing, singing and sharing. Of course they got us to dance which was quite entertaining. It was such an incredible night. The next day the moment I woke up I was asked if I wanted to go get coconuts and of course I did. So we went on a short walk and 10 year old boy climbed up the tree and started throwing coconuts down and we cut them up and drank the milk, so sweet. Then later that day we went on a 2 hour hike through the mountains and it was so awesome. They also caught a bat for us to eat, it was good but far too much work for so little meat.
I read a book while I was gone and I have to encourage everyone to read it. The Heavenly Man is the title and it is a must read. I would love to go in to much detail about it but I don't have the time, it would be a very long sermon about how we need to get serious about our faith. PLEASE READ THE BOOK.
As always thank you so much for your continued support and prayers, they are always appriated. May God Bless you richly and reveal himself to you in a new way.
Jared
Monday, February 1, 2010
NO BALLS IN THE PARK?
So the other week I took the youth to a park. It's not the biggest park or really the nicest but you have to take what you are given when you live in a concrete jungle. It is mostly a park for runners but we came to play and that didn't sit well with some people. About 10 mins of being there playing with our soccer and volley balls a guard came by and told us that we are not allowed to play with balls in the park. So we stopped for about 5 mins and then said to myself wasn't my old e-mail address the rebel_14 so I told the kids to just play with the balls anyway, so we did. The guard never came back until we were sharing the Word. So he stayed around for a little and listened, then just walked off without talking to us again.
Last monday some of us were able to go to an orphanage outside the city called Christian Grace Fellowship, which is celebrating it's 40th anniversary this year. It is quite the amazing place, it is still run by the founder who is tiny 78 year old single women with a heart of Gold. The Orphanage has 70 kids at a time from 4-17 right now there are only 13 boys, a little unbalanced. Though it started as an orphanage the women started a school and a Church in which the surrounding community is apart of now too. All the helpers of the orphanage and the teachers at the school are all products of the orphanage. It was an amazing place to see and a great encouragement. It even has a small farm area to help with their needs. More about the founder, when we got there she was really sorry for keeping us waiting (which was only about 5-10 mins) because she was planting eggplant. She is 78 years old!
Yesterday we got a chance go to a different school once again outside the city. This one was started by an American women 20 years ago and her passion was to educate the less fortunate but now has turn into something so much more. There are about 150 children in the school ranging from 4-17 but they also have about 40 staff members who live there too. This orphanage/school is a little different because they are totally self sufficient. They have their own farm and provide all their own food and then sell their extra produce for extra funds. Also all the worker and teachers are volunteers, they just get free room and board. So they have no expenses but live but faith for everything else. One other thing this place does is put on seminars for Children and Youth programs to help other people who want to do what they are doing. They also put on horticultural seminars which I find is needed so much here. Many people need to be taught how to use their small plot of land to produce food they so desperately need. They call it F.A.I.T.H gardening Food Always In The Home. They are doing incredible things in this place and hopefully it spends far and wide.
Other then this I don't have much to report because I was out of commission for about 4 days with a nasty fever. Thursday afternoon I thought an alien (referring to the Alien movies) was going to come out of my stomach, it was so painful. But now I am better, so it's all good. Thank you again for keeping me in your prayers. May God Bless you richly, Take Care
Jared
Last monday some of us were able to go to an orphanage outside the city called Christian Grace Fellowship, which is celebrating it's 40th anniversary this year. It is quite the amazing place, it is still run by the founder who is tiny 78 year old single women with a heart of Gold. The Orphanage has 70 kids at a time from 4-17 right now there are only 13 boys, a little unbalanced. Though it started as an orphanage the women started a school and a Church in which the surrounding community is apart of now too. All the helpers of the orphanage and the teachers at the school are all products of the orphanage. It was an amazing place to see and a great encouragement. It even has a small farm area to help with their needs. More about the founder, when we got there she was really sorry for keeping us waiting (which was only about 5-10 mins) because she was planting eggplant. She is 78 years old!
Yesterday we got a chance go to a different school once again outside the city. This one was started by an American women 20 years ago and her passion was to educate the less fortunate but now has turn into something so much more. There are about 150 children in the school ranging from 4-17 but they also have about 40 staff members who live there too. This orphanage/school is a little different because they are totally self sufficient. They have their own farm and provide all their own food and then sell their extra produce for extra funds. Also all the worker and teachers are volunteers, they just get free room and board. So they have no expenses but live but faith for everything else. One other thing this place does is put on seminars for Children and Youth programs to help other people who want to do what they are doing. They also put on horticultural seminars which I find is needed so much here. Many people need to be taught how to use their small plot of land to produce food they so desperately need. They call it F.A.I.T.H gardening Food Always In The Home. They are doing incredible things in this place and hopefully it spends far and wide.
Other then this I don't have much to report because I was out of commission for about 4 days with a nasty fever. Thursday afternoon I thought an alien (referring to the Alien movies) was going to come out of my stomach, it was so painful. But now I am better, so it's all good. Thank you again for keeping me in your prayers. May God Bless you richly, Take Care
Jared
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