This Mission Has Begun

After nearly a year of training, practicing and praying, the mission has finally begun. The first batch of our team landed yesterday and today was our first day in the field.

Today was a fully packed day for our missionaries. Interestingly, our first day began with a funeral. A "church mother" or "nanay" had gone home to the Lord and we began our day visiting the family. Our mission is about being the Salt of the earth and the Light of the world. We are here to bring people hope and share Christ and yet we begin with death. But our mission director (My dad), Virgil said this, "If you don't understand death you will never understand life". And I think that this helped a lot of our missionaries to realize how important our job is here.

After visiting with the family, we proceeded to the town of Mangaldan, which is right next to Dagupan City where we are based. We were able to share the gospel with a lot of children via beaded bracelets. It was thrilling, amazing and a bit overwhelming at times

But perhaps, the highlight of the day was reuniting with our most beloved brothers and sisters at EMC Dagupan and especially the children. Words really can't describe how the missionaries, especially us veterans who are returning to the Philippines feel.

Our mission continues tomorrow, please pray for us and for the missionaries who will arrive in the coming days! (Pictures to follow soon!)

-Melissa M
(Sorry for the short entry...it's getting late)

Meet a Missionary: JP (aka JPizzle, aka JPeso)

Sam & JP

Since my last encounter in the summer of 2010, I've been anticipating to go back and reunite with EMC Dagupan and friends ;). God has opened doors for us to go back in the summer of 2012 and we have been preparing for months now. Above all, we are preparing for Christ's return and spreading the gospel to the ends of the earth! God has called me to be a light in the darkness and salt in a bitter world. To be able to join in what God is already doing in the Philippines is a privilege and honor that demands me to bruise my knees in prayer! Besides brushing up on my tagalog, I'm excited to share with the youth, the students, the leaders, the servants, the poor, the needy, the rich, the powerful, the widows and orphans that my God is bigger than life! And as people who are redeemed through Christ's sacrifice on the cross, we have a hope... we have a purpose... we have a light.



-JP