So since Saturday night (Friday morning east coast time) I have been in Manila, Philippines…
My journey to Manila began in San Francisco at 5:20 AM when I boarded Supershuttle and headed to the airport.
All my travels went smoothly and I was greeted at the Manila airport by a special guide to help me get through customs and get to my transportation to the hotel. I was so relieved to have a friendly face meet me at the airport. I was also glad because I was so sleep deprived that I had not filled out my customs sheet correctly. I had forgotten to write my name and sign the papers. OOPS!!!!
So after getting through customs without any problems I proceeded to baggage and got my luggage and changed some money! The exchange rate was definitely in my favor. It is 44 Filipino paesos to every American dollar.
I was absolutely amazed when I arrived at the hotel. I stepped out of the van and into a beautiful lavish hotel lobby. I was greeted by some of the hotel staff with a warm hello and “Welcome ma’m.” I was ushered to the check-in desk and was then swiftly escorted to my room. This was wonderful considering that I had been in transit for about 33 hours.
The next morning all the CT (Connectional Table) and the SCWWNC were all headed out to local congregations to worship with them. Stef Schutz (the youth DMYP member on the CT), Karen Greenwaldt (General Secretary of General Board of Discipleship), Stef’s mom Nancy, Mike Ratliff (Assoc. General Sec. in charge of DMYP), and I all went to Solid Rock Ministries. This is a New Church Start that is hoping to be chartered by next year.
Worship here was amazing. 3/4 of the congregation were all children, youth, and young adults. The fire and the passion that these people had was absolutely amazing. The service is a contemporary worship service with a praise band. They rocked it out!!! The rest of the congregation worshiped with such intentionality and praise. They felt the praise music through their entire body! Pastor Joubert was great and you could feel his commitment to this congregation flowing through him and the members of his church. During the service the children of the congregation came forward and performed a song. There were 2 children playing the keyboard, 4 boys singing, and another boy on the drums. The girls were all doing a choreographed dance in the front. They did such a great job! They were just so excited to perform and all of them sang from their hearts. Pastor Joubert preached in both English and Tagalog. Even if he hadn’t been translating for us, his passion seeped through his preaching and we were able to feel the emotion of the sermon. After church was over, they invited us to stay for lunch and have some time of fellowship.
From the time that we arrived at their church from the time that we departed they demonstrated to us such radical hospitality that I felt privileged to even have met them. At all times they kept thanking us for coming to visit their church and seeing their ministry. When in all reality, it was my (our) benefit, our pleasure to have been able to be there.
The warmth of the people.
The smile in their hearts.
The joy in their worship.
The radical hospitality.
The love of Christ that comes transcends through all.
This is just the beginning of the stories of my trip. I have only been here for 4/5 days and I have been changed.
