Well, today is Monday, and it is our last day at the Bible School. Today is a bitter sweet day, as I am ready to get home but I don't want to leave the guys. I've gotten to know several of them over the past few days. To avoid the repetitiveness of the preceding days, the focus will be on our leaving the students. All day several of the guys have come up to me asking when I was leaving. They were all quite sad to see us go, especially those which have become my good friends. When leaving the school, all the guys were in good spirits, though even as I was I know that they were sad to see us depart. A few of them even voiced this opinion. But now we have left, and so ends the narrative of the trip. We will be staying tomorrow in Manila and flying out on Wednesday. Beyond that, there isn't much to say.
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Today is Sunday, and again the team is splitting up into two groups. The group that I am going with us headed to Pastor Allan's church. The service started with Sunday school at 8:30, and finally ended at noon. It was a great service. The Sunday school lesson went great, and I took the full 45 minutes. This also happened to be the service that Pastor Allan decided to interpret, so I ended up being his guinea pig. He did an outstanding job; I talk slow enough that he was able to keep up. Though with the preaching, his wife, Pastora Teresa, interpreted. She is the one that usually does the interpreting. Sis. Petit said that the lesson was exactly what that church needed to hear. Then the rest of the group got up and testified and sang a song. Last of all, Bro. Pahlman preached on the things God cannot do. He cannot be contained, He cannot sin, and He cannot change. The service ended with prayer. Many on the congregation prayed for a long time. After the service, both groups met at Shakey's for lunch. We then came back to the school. I was exhausted from being congested the day before, and since all the guys were taking naps, I joined them for about three hours. Also in the morning before church, I gave some of the guys American coins to remember us by. Unfortunately I ran out of coins before each guy got one. I became good friends with three of the guys, though I talked with all of them some. But 9 days isn't enough time to get to know every one of them; this is an unfortunate fact, as they are all good guys. This evening’s service went good as well, and the students prayed really good at the end. Bro. Pahlman preached, and Sis Lisa, Kendra, and I testified. Without collaborating the testimonies and the preaching were on receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost. There is one junior and all if not most of the freshmen that still need filled. To end the day, we went to McDonald's for supper, and Pastor Allan and his family came too. Now we are back at the school, and it is time to go to bed.
Today is quite relaxed and laid back from the rest of the week. After breakfast, some of us played volleyball, only a couple of the students came to play with us. Some of them were still doing their duties, and some of the guys had gone to help build a church. About 10 AM, we to a trip to Laoag, where we went to the market and saw all the unsanitary meat and the scrumptious smelling fish. There were so many health and good violations there it's no wonder we have all the laws we have in America. After the market, we went to the mall to eat and look around some more, and then we went back to the school. In the afternoon, I laid down for about an hour because my head was congested and hurting. I then studies for a Sunday school lesson. The when starting to study, the Lord laid something on my heart. It was to take the parable of the sower and the seed and compare the four types of soil to four different types of "Christians". I spent two to three hours studying for the lesson. By then, it was time to go to Pastor Allan's and Teresa's for a Filipino dinner. We had a wonderful time there and the food was exquisite. I also spent some time with their son Aldre, he really good on the drums, and he is learning how to play the guitar. I showed him some of what I knew about the guitar. He picked up on it fast. Unfortunately we ran out of time, and I didn't get to show him all that I wanted to. When we got back to the school, I spent about an hour talking with some of the guys. But I had to go to bed, because my head was so congested and I had to teach Sunday school in the morning. I ended up going to bed about 9 PM.
Today we had scrambled eggs for breakfast. They were exquisite. Then we went to chapel, but at 8 AM, the half that didn't go to the necro went to the funeral. After 2 hours of classes, those of us remaining took a jeepney to Loaog for lunch. We met the rest of the team at Shakey's. I got full on pizza... We then went back to the school for the last two hours of class. After class, I hung out with Gian playing the guitar and singing. We even sang a couple of songs he wrote. This was followed with an early supper, because we had to get ready for the crusade. When we finally made it to the crusade at the plaza in Loaog, we found everything set up. It wasn't long before people started showing up, and eventually most of the seats were filled. The service went amazingly well, and many responded to the call of salvation. This is another experience that I won't soon forget. After the crusade, we went back to the school and had a snack at the Petits. Now that I have finished writing about the events of the day, I am going to sleep.
Today started out like any other day. First we had breakfast then chapel. Brothers Cody and Lee and I taught the Juniors’ first hour. That went good. Then we all went to the beach overlooking the South China Sea. It was beautiful and shows the wonders of God's creation. Afterwards we ate lunch and made it back in time for the last hour of class. Then at 3:30 some students from both schools went to Loaog to pass out flyers for the crusade Friday night. It was an interesting experience, and I got to see some of the town from the street, as we were walking. When we got back to the school, we ate supper; we had cashew chicken. Then half the group, including me, went to a necro for an 88 year old woman. That was an experience that I won't soon forget. The place was smokey, and after 3 and a half hours, the service was still going. But Bro. Petit decided to leave as he had to come back in the morning for the funeral and burial. We made it back to the school a quarter after 11 PM and went to bed.
In chapel this morning, Kendra and Tara spoke. Kendra spoke on ability vs. availability, and Tara spake as well. I then sat through Pastor Jun Jun's class on pnuemetology. 2nd and 3rd hours Sis Petit taught in what to do with your single years. Then we went to Shakey's for lunch where I tried my first piece of squid. It didn't really have much of a taste to it. Then during fifth hour, the whole sent team sat in class with the freshmen and Sis Petit. We discussed with the class different things we had learned about dealing with people, especially our roommates. In the evening service, Lorraine and I testified, and Lydia, Tara, and Hannah sang a song, and Sis Lisa read an opening passage of scripture. Then Bro. Cody preached on being harvesters. We then had supper with the Petits. We ate tacos and topped it off with some ice cream. But now it is at the end of the day, and it is time for bed.
This morning we started the day with ham and egg sandwiches with the Petits. Then Hannah Morgan spoke in chapel. After chapel, Lee and I studied and compiled notes to teach systematic theology to the Juniors. We then taught them third hour. We taught on the atonement. The class went well. We then had lunch with the Petits. Afterwards we went to a local school where we had half an hour to teach the kids a Bible story and songs. It was an amazing experience. All the kids were enthusiastic to see us, and I soon found out that they love giving high fives. After the PSM (public school ministry) I sat in a Child Psychology class. The class was taught in Ilocano with some English thrown in. I was able to understand most of what was said, and at the end of the class I was interviewed by the teacher. It was a lot of fun, and I gave a part of my testimony. One of the students Gian has a similar story to mine, in that he went to the Assembly of God church before becoming holiness Pentecostal. We then fixed supper at the Petits, and after the meal Bro and Sis Petit, Kendra, and myself played a game of scrabble while the rest of the team were sitting around talking. I ended up winning with an excess of a hundred points. Now the day is at a close, and it is time to go to bed.
This morning I preached chapel. I have the message that God has given me about a week ago; it was on persecution and how we should respond to it. It felt like a strange message to me, but even if it didn't speak to anyone else, it spoke directly to my interpreter. I was so thankful to know that God used me, but the glory goes to God. For it was His message not mine. After chapel, Bro. Pahlman taught a seminar on "grief according to God". Many of the pastors and pastoras came to the seminar, and it went to about noon. Afterwards, we had lunch and then went to a mall for groceries. When we got back, Bro Cody, Lee, and myself were interviewed by Sis Petit for the benefit of the Junior Class. After class, we all played either basket ball or volleyball. We had a lot of fun, but we quickly found out that they are far better at basket ball than we are. Then, about 6 PM, the students and some of the pastors practiced songs for the crusade that is to be on Friday. We then are supper with the Petits. When I got back to the dorm that night, several of the guy students sat around asking me all sorts of questions about me and FGBI. It was the first time that so many of the students really communicated with me at one time. One student in particular, whose name is Christopher, opened up to me; I will be remembering him in my prayers. This closes out the events for the day, and now it is time to sleep.
It is the first day of our ministry here in the Philippines. This morning I went with part of the group to a church close to the South China Sea; we stopped there and touched the water on the way back from morning service. The church, that we went to, is pastored by Arnel and his wife Rochelle. The group I went with consisted of Bro. Petit, Bro. Pahlman, Kendra, and Tara. We drove for about an hour to get to the church. While there, after Bro Petit introduced us, each student testified and we sang. Then Bro. Pahlman preached. The service was amazing. To see the way, that they worshiped the Lord, would put the majority of churches to shame. After service, they had a meal for us, and we stayed for a while talking with some of the teens. We learned a tongue twister in the Elecono language. The evening service was held at FBI, and Bro. Pahlman preached again. In both services the Lord moved mightily, and the people prayed well. They received help from the Lord. It was an amazing experience in the work of the Lord. To end the day we went to the McDonald's mission field for a bite to eat.
The flight from Manila to Laoag went well even though it left late and had a rough landing. After eating at McDonald's, we made it safely to the Bible School. Meeting the guy students was interesting, and I didn't quite know what to do with myself, but thankfully Lee and Bro. Cody were there as well and together we made out OK. A couple of the students gave up their mattresses so that Lee and I didn't have to sleep on the wood bed. I also learned the difference between a comfort room and a bathroom. A comfort room is a restroom, and a bathroom is the shower. To flush the toilets here you have to take a bucket of water and pour it into the toilet. They don't have tanks like we do in America. Quite the experience, but this day is now at an end, and tomorrow, I am sure, will have its own stories to tell about.
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Timothy Hooks
Timothy Hooks is a Junior at Free Gospel Bible Institute. ArchivesCategories |