Category: Philippines

We arrived in Toledo yesterday afternoon to kick off our time with Street Level. We enjoyed a members meeting on Friday evening with those from Cebu & Toledo at our office space in Toledo. Members from both cities were able to spend time getting to know each other alongside our team from America.

This morning the summit was at Gall’s with a topic focused on commitment versus empty promises. A total of 19 students attended the summit and had the opportunity to learn thru teachings and small group discussions. The team (minus Pete and Abby, who will be doing some ministry with a church in the Toledo area) headed back to Cebu for church tomorrow, and got to spend some additional time with students on the ride back. We’ll head back to Toledo early next week to finish out with one final MTI class. Thanks for the ongoing prayers!

We traveled to Bantayan early Tuesday morning. It was a beautiful drive through the mountains followed by a short ferry to the island. Day 1 of our second MTI kicked off on Wednesday in Bantayan. Many familiar faces were present and it was a productive day of teaching and fellowship with the MTI students.

On Wednesday evening, we attended a youth fellowship night at the church of one of the pastors who attended the MTI. It was a fun evening of worship and fellowship. We organized a few games and a short Bible study and were able to connect with many of the youth in attendance during our short visit.

Today, we are wrapping up day 2 of the MTI in Bantayan. It was a joy to spend time with these pastors and ministers and we’re always happy to teach and fellowship with them. Tomorrow, we travel to the city of Toledo where we look forward to hosting the Street Level Summit this weekend.

Please keep us in your prayers.

Yesterday, Pastor Justin and Sara were able to attend the Miracle Church of the Nazarene on Bohol. Pastor Justin taught from Romans 12, encouraging the church to love and serve one another as they live life together as a church. 

On Sunday evening, we all gathered together for the Believers Church service in Cebu. Matt taught about being all in for Christ and then we got to enjoy dinner and fellowship with many of the regular attendees, which was a great time. It is a privilege to see what God is doing here in Cebu with this church.

Today we set up a booth outside of Southwestern University in Cebu City. We played games and gave out drinks as prizes. The booth was very lively and students were excited to win free drinks. We got into some good conversations and handed out flyers for Street Level – there seemed to be several students with genuine interest in attending Street Level. A couple others hung up posters around the city, and worked on projects, like building a shelf for our space in Toledo. Tomorrow we head to Bantayan for another MTI class there.

We finished up our second day of the MTI in Bohol. Attendees took their final exams, received certificates, and said our good byes. Over pancit & chicken we had the opportunity to laugh, share and talk about our lives. We were thankful for the opportunity to be here and pray that these training sessions bear fruit in the lives of those who attended, especially as they go back home to their churches & ministries. Tomorrow Justin will preach at Pastor Medel’s church in Bohol, and the whole team will be together at Believers City Church Cebu for Sunday evening service.

Today we held the Shofar Youth Network Summit on Bohol. Many of these young adults were from churches whose pastors and leaders attended the MTI earlier this week. We went through a video series titled “Unashamed” by Lecrae with 6 small group sessions throughout the day. It was great to connect with those who attended and encourage each other to be unashamed to follow Jesus and preach the gospel to those around us. Another highlight was the large group game of Rock, Paper, Scissors, where the winner was gifted a very large papaya! You can pray for these youth as they head back to their churches. We’re hoping some connections were formed, both for Shofar Mission and between the youth themselves.