Hope For The Island

Month: September 2015

  • Heart Surgery Went Great

    Learning about yourself and your true identity is the basic theme of the seminar we held at Hope called Plumbline. The Hope team has a desire to work with heart issues and issues that hold us back from fully surrendering to God. We had been blessed by a similar course with Pastor Duane Siemens from Canada and now once again the theme continued with Plumbline.

    We all need to be willing to walk the same path as the people we minister to. Locals struggle with issues of self worth, unforgiveness and not knowing how to anchor on to their true identity in Christ.

    We have had previous discipleship sessions discussing forgiveness and who we are in Christ. Jing really felt the need for the Hope staff to go deeper to their roots and so we participated in Plumbline. We knew there were still those who were being held back by their cultural customs or past hurts.

    Sheila and Joy were great seminar leaders who came and not only led the teaching but also met and prayed with each staff one on one. Brian and Dennis from Canada and Ryan from Hawaii also participated while they were at Hope for the Island.

    It was evident that the staff had been impacted when we spoke to them about their experience after the seminar. They were now pushing past their shyness and walking in freedom. Something new was stirred in their heart. We saw increased joy and fresh passion for teaching and discipling kids, youth and adults.

    It was such a blessing as ambassadors for the Gospel, to have opportunity to participate in this seminar. Being filled up and checking your heart condition is vital for ministry. Fully submitting to God and His will for our lives not only changes us, but how we minister as well. Our serving becomes an overflow of what is already going in our own lives and heart.

    We want to keep serving well!

  • The $100 Reno!!

    Leaning HouseThis story is about a fiercely independent 76 yr. old widow who lives alone. Her humble home was leaning precariously on the side of a hill in the village of Burgos. Each typhoon that hit our area only made it worse.

    When we approached Nanay Tanysa about tearing it down, she was concerned that she would have nowhere to go.

    Under the umbrella of our Mercy Ministry, we supplied new and used materials to help make her home more stable. Family and neighbors tore it down and rebuilt on the other side of the road.

    It may not look the way we would imagine, but we are learning that sometimes we have to put our western agendas aside and let locals lead the way.

    We featured Nanay Tanysa in one of our recent blogs sporting her new donated sunglasses. These protect her eyes during long days of breaking large rocks into little pebbles with a hammer. It takes her two days to fill a bag that earns her 18 pesos or 50 cents =$7.50 month!

    Our Mercy Ministry regularly calls on her to spend time praying and developing relationship. We supply her with dried veggies and rice to provide her the energy she needs for rock breaking.

    Your donations help us have the resources in place to make decisions such as this. We are able to provide funding as God leads for a variety of needs. What a joy to see her smile and thank God. This simple blessing gave a sweet elderly lady the dignity and love that she deserves. We give God the glory for His provision.

    The cost to bless this dear senior was about $100! THANK YOU!!!

    Please take the time to click this link and view the 34 seconds of video. It begins with moving day for this independent lady, moves to the view inside her NEW home and finally she poses in the door of her NEW home.

    My New House

  • A Family Challenge

    Thank you for how you have embraced Bags of Hope. Thanksgiving is upon us soon.

    Read how Jesse from Winnipeg has challenged her family for the second year in a row in the following email:

    Hi To all My Family,
    I’m inviting you for our Thanksgiving Celebration. Let’s make it more meaningful.

    WHAT IS THE THANKSGIVING CELEBRATION?
    Thanksgiving is a day to give thanks to our LORD for everything that He has done for us and all the trials He carried us though during this year.
    Let’s not forget the true meaning of “Thanksgiving Day”

    REFLECTION:
    Over the years, we have gotten caught up in Holiday tradition and have completely forgotten what brought about the holiday celebration to begin with.
    From time to time we all need to be reminded of the struggles for survival that we experienced.
    But as a Christian let us not forget that there are people all over the world who are facing the same struggle, some people living in a hostile environment; starvation, death by disease, etc.
    But, even through the worst of the worst, God is with us… We as an individual person need to reach out to the people today who are facing these struggles and show them that they too have much to give thanks for no matter what situation they are in.
    We don’t have much, but let the small things make a wonderful experience. It would not only enlighten our kids about the true meaning of Thanksgiving. It would also remind all of us that this special celebration is more than just preparation of a large family meal.Last year during Thanks Giving Day we gave about 18 Bags of Hope instead of having a fancy dinner at the restaurant. (more…)