Upon writing these words I truly had no idea how powerful-
ly God’s love and mercy would be revealed to me during my
time serving. The people were such an inspiration. Mission-
ary Jeong and his wife were incredibly gracious, accommo-
dating, and most importantly, they simply radiated the Good
News. Their dedication to the Filipino people is awe-inspir-
ing. Their commitment to seeing the Gospel change lives,
for me, was life-altering. In addition to the missionaries, the
leaders at each community exhibited such a joy to serve their
people. One in particular was James, a seminary student and
Children’s Pastor at Diezmo Community Church. His pas-
sion for sharing the Gospel with the kids was palpable, to
say the least.
May 29 th , 2019- 7:20AM
“We then made our way to the village of Diezmo, where our
first VBS ould take place. It was a joyous and heart-break- far. So…down to the facts. In preparing for this trip, people
ing scene. The kids and people were so happy and nice, yet kept insisting that everyone spoke English here. FALSE. The
obviously so impoverished and at-risk. Walking throughout language gap was pretty huge. In fact, James the awesome
their huts and shacks and inviting kids to VBS was an un- Children’s Pastor, had to translate everything word for word.
forgettable experience. I am humbled by their lives and my This threw quite a wrench in the games and bible presenta-
ability to ever complain about anything seems pretty ridic- tion, but we adapted. I’m learning that missions are all about
ulous. After that we headed to the Seminary where we met your willingness to adapt to whatever situation presents
several of the students, shared our testimonies, and wor- itself. It’s less about plans and schedules, and more about
shiped together. We bought dinner for the Seminary stu- presenting the Gospel and being sensitive to the Holy Spir-
dents, and after that we played a game of, ‘who can pretend it. After the first VBS session in Diezmo (9:30- 11:30), we
they are not seconds away from falling asleep while talking handed out snacks to the kids and took the young volunteers
to a local pastor about VBS?’ We all ‘technically’ won and James out to eat. We went to a place called Mang Inasal
the game, but we all continued to sporadically fall asleep where they make AMAZING chicken and rice. It’s a pretty
mid-sentence. All mission’s stories about the first day of a popular little place inside the local mall. All the kids opted
trip: totally accurate.” for the “unlimited” rice plate and took full advantage. The
joy on their faces cannot be understated. The most humbling
May 30, 2019- 6:40 AM part, however, was that at the end of the meal they only ate
“Reflecting on the last 24 hours reminds me that it is only about half of their chicken, choosing to take some home for
by God’s grace that anything is possible. Pastor Jacob said, a second snack and to share. There wasn’t even that much
“They say preparing for missions is to prepare for failure,” in chicken in the first place, but nonetheless they filled up on
regards to the fact that nothing ever seems to go according rice. Then we went to the grocery store to pick up snacks,
to plan. Although things certainly haven’t gone according to juices, baby wipes, sanitizer, and a basketball for the kids.
plan, I would categorize this trip as anything but a failure so The second VBS session went much better than the first. A
www.fkbc.org
랄리제일한인침례교회
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