Jenn & I first met Todd & Ruth through our involvement at YWAM (Youth with a Mission) based in Maui, where they are presently serving as leaders.
When still single, Ruth came to Hope for the Island during the outreach part of her discipleship training school. Her team won over the hearts of the youth and staff!! We knew the relationships formed would be lasting. Even after moving back home to Scotland, Ruth remained a faithful prayer partner and would ship us boxes of donated supplies to bless the ministries.
After getting married, Todd and Ruth finished schooling in order to get back out on the mission field better equipped to serve. Unaware of our long time prayer, Todd contacted me asking if we would be interested in them coming here to serve and to help create a video for Hope for the Island. Our excited response confirmed God’s leading for them and set in motion plans for a two week trip to the Philippines.
Derek
RUTH
We were blessed and privileged to visit Siargao Island in April! Having first visited Siargao 5 years ago as part of a YWAM team, I was immediately met by many changes. We actually flew onto Siargao, the highway is now mostly paved and there also seemed to be many foreigners traveling to this beautiful island. Apparently the Philippines’ best kept secret jewel has been discovered and by many!
While the speedy development of the island has its positives and negatives for the islanders, I was encouraged to see how Hope for the Island has flourished since I last saw it. The message of Hope is resounding stronger than ever! The Organic Farm is producing some of the best quality produce on the island, while providing food for feeding programs and a healthy diet for Hope staff. Through that farm it is evident that our God is a provider of good things! It also serves as an opportunity for Hope leaders to disciple the farmers who are serving there.
The Kids’ Ministry is overflowing with children of all ages who are bursting with both heavenly joy and the ability to sit still and eagerly listen to their leaders. That’s an unusual combination in children! Hope ministers to hundreds of kids across various villages and I was so impressed to hear them perfectly recite not only the Scripture they had learned that week, but also many verses from previous clubs. These kids may not have the educational opportunities we have in the West, but they have God’s Word painted on their hearts and so I have no doubt that we will see the fruit of that in the future. I was encouraged to already see some of that fruit in the Hope staff.
One of the things I love about Hope for the Island is that the staff team is made up of local people – many of whom have been raised up and discipled through Hope ministries! Five years ago I got to know some of these girls as young leaders showing lots of potential. This time I got to see that these same girls have blossomed in their God-given giftings. They were leading Vacation Bible Schools, a Youth Camp and ministering to and praying for the elderly and sick in their village. These girls have grown up with the same trials as everyone else in their village – but they have also encountered Jesus’ love and hope. It was incredible to watch them lead ministries with confidence, creativity and love and yet also to think that they were once like the kids they were teaching.
We also witnessed local youth regularly hanging out around Hope for the Island: skate-boarding, surfing or playing guitar. The hope in the young staff is attractive to the youth, so that’s where they want to be! It’s amazing how God has made a Christian Ministry the “cool” place for teenagers to hang out – I’m sure that is every western church’s dream!
God has opened so many doors on Siargao, it’s hard not to see there that He is indeed living and active. We were so uplifted by our time on Siargao – in such an unlikely place we couldn’t avoid the evidence of Hope. Our hearts were stirred to continue praying that all needs be met for this ministry, so that it can continue to expand and grow as it has over the years.
TODD
Having heard about Hope for the Island for a number of years, it was a great opportunity to finally get a chance to see what has been going on first hand. Several of my good friends, as well as my wife, had spent several months on the island and had come back with amazing stories of how the Lord has been at work transforming the hearts and lives of many people through the ministry of the staff at Hope for the Island.
I arrived on the island not knowing exactly what to expect or exactly what I would be filming. Thirty minutes into the drive back from the airport, we stopped at the Organic Farm, which was setup by Hope for the Island. The camera was pulled out and the filming began. The filming barely stopped until we got back on the plane two weeks later.
If I had any expectations of our time on the island, they were all blown away. The amount of work that the staff at Hope does in their communities is incredible. Not only is there a lot going on, everything being done seems to be very worthwhile and bearing great fruit.
Having the task of capturing all the work going on with the camera was difficult, but very fulfilling. It was a great honor to be able to sit down with each staff member and hear them share their testimony of how the Lord met with them, transformed them and has provided for them each to be a part of the team. Many tears were shed as story after story of the Lord’s faithfulness and mercy were told in front of the camera. The genuineness of each staff member’s desire to see those around them know the love of Christ and the hope that is found in Him, shone through and was incredibly encouraging.
Having to pack everything up and say goodbye at the end of two short weeks proved to be a difficult task. In a very short time, the warm hospitality and genuine love and support that was extended to me had taken it’s toll! The task of editing together a film that truly conveys the amount of work taking place, not to mention the quality of work, is a daunting one. I pray that the outcome will be a video that will hold faithful in communicating the heart and vision of Hope for the Island, the wonderful heart of the staff members who have given so much of themselves to serve the people in their community and the excitement that everyone shares, in faith, of what the Lord still has in store for the community of Burgos and the surrounding villages on Siargao Island.
