Surviving the Super-Typhoon! (OJT Report, part 2a)

“The storm that hit the island made a wave for Jesus and filled the whole church!”

That was a song that one of our students created to fit with the words of a Scripture song to fitly describe their experience during the time when the super typhoon hit their island. They were located on a small island off the coast of Cebu – one of the islands in central Philippines and directly in the path of the terrible typhoon and what experiences they had!

Both ladies wrote down their stories and since both of their names start with J, you will read from J¹ and J².

J² says, “Thinking back over this week, so much has happened! Yet every time I pause for a moment, I am in continuous awe with God’s way and how He reveals His love for us while we take part in His work! Sometimes we humans cannot see beyond what is before us (like the big typhoon) to the blessings that God is giving us. God revealed to us through the challenges that He loves us! I can’t believe how close we were to being one of the victims and losing our own lives, but God planted in our hearts the greatest peace and joy while it [the super-typhoon] was happening.”

Before we go on and learn what happened to them, J¹ says:

“From the very first day we got to our site and even before we got there, my partner and I really prayed that the Lord will prepare the way for His work. We prayed that the Lord will shake the island and bring His people back to Him, but when we prayed this, we never thought that He would literally answer it! When we arrived here in our site the first day, we noticed that it was a very noisy place because of all the videokes [a small TV with speakers and a microphone where someone sings to the accompanying music; it’s usually very loud with rock music!] around here and there. But after the storm hit and the power went off, the whole island was silenced and hushed.”

On the morning of November 8 at 7:00 am, I received this text from the two students:

“Teresa, please pray for us because the storm is really bad and it’s only just starting! Roofs are flying off all around us, but we ourselves are safe.” Needless to say, after that, I was concerned for the safety of our 2 students on that tiny island!

J¹ reported: “Early in the morning of November 8, super typhoon Yolanda hit the northern part of Cebu, including the island where we were to have our evangelistic meetings. At our site, the strength was signal #4.  [This is almost the strongest level of typhoon there is.] We were staying in a small native hut [made out of bamboo, palm branches, etc] near our host’s gate. When the storm hit, we were in their concrete house having breakfast. After we finished eating, the winds were blowing stronger and stronger and we were worried about our things inside the small native hut.

“We wanted to go out and get our things and bring them inside our host’s house, but they forbade us because of the mightiest winds we’d ever seen. Roofs were flying off and the wind was blowing rain and sand from the nearby seashore with it. So we waited inside our host’s house and earnestly prayed that God would cover our small hut and keep it safe from the storm. Soon we began wiping up the water which was coming into the house and continually prayed that God would protect our little hut with all our things inside.”

J² adds: “I really thought it would be just some strong winds and that’s it, but as our neighbor’s roofs went flying off and the walls of their houses began crumbling around us, we realized we were in a very serious situation! Yet during that time, I feel more at peace in my heart than during the times there was no storm raging around us. Only God could give me peace like that! Our week really started out with some major challenges, but God had His ways of answering our prayers!”

J¹ continued the story: “God really kept us safe in our host’s house! After the typhoon passed over, we went out and saw the devastation and destruction everywhere. Almost all the houses went down, even the strong concrete ones. We went to our nearby hut and saw that God had really placed His hands over that little hut! It was still there and even the roof was still on! Though all our things were totally soaked, all were there, unlike many of the neighbors who had theirs blown away. We praise God for His protection and presence!”

As the song says, “The Lord is our rock, in Him we hide – a shelter in the time of storm”!

J² added, “How grateful we were that no one on our island (except one) was killed in the storm, though most (including us) were living on the seashore. All the electrical posts were down and fallen trees blocked all the roads. And we were supposed to start our meetings that night! But because all our handouts, crafts, laptops, clothes and everything else were totally soaked, we had to think quickly and make other plans.”

What were they going to do? Check back tomorrow for the rest of the story!

Love wins children’s hearts! (OJT Report, part 1)

Here is the first of the inspiring stories and experiences you have all been waiting for! 

Love really wins hearts, especially the hearts of children! But how does love work with a whole room full of naughty, noisy children who don’t understand the language of the foreign teacher? Keep reading!

Our Chinese student, Anita was sent to a city several hours north of Manila for her OJT. She was the one doing the child evangelism and another classmate was her partner for the adult evangelism. The opening night of November 8 soon arrived and this was one of the sites who were able to start that night since the typhoon did not reach their area. Anita said, “Though there was little church support, we were still blessed that there were many children who came to the opening night!”

The Pastor had told them earlier that they would have 2 projectors – one for the adults and one for the kids. But just the day before they were to start, Anita was told that one of the projectors would not be available. Plus she didn’t have a sound system, either. Everything seemed so hopeless, but Anita earnestly prayed that God would provide. After praying, she felt peace in her heart and was no longer anxious. Just before the program was to start the opening night, another pastor came and brought his projector and sound system and let them use it! Commenting on the story, she said: “My heart was filled with joy and I was so thankful to the Lord! He really answered my prayers and He always provides for us at the time we need it most.

Some of her friends.

Since the children did not understand English, Anita used a translator to help them understand the message. As she continued her program, the first 4 nights were very challenging! The room for the 

children was so small and it was crowded full of lots of noisy kids. Probably just being in such a small, hot, stuffy room made them so noisy! Sometimes the children were talking so loudly that Anita had to stop her presentation to discipline and restore order to the place.

But on the 5^th night, something changed! Anita took time to talk to the children – especially to the boys who were the major source of all the noise most of the time. She said, “When I talked to them with love from the bottom of my heart, things began to change. My attention for them worked wonders! Since that night, they behaved far better than ever before and kept quietly listening to my story. Love can do so much!”

During the second week of their seminar, the children got better every day. Some of them would come at 4:30 in the afternoon, though they didn’t start until 6:30. They wanted to make sure they were there and how they loved to learn their memory verse! The truth was really touching their hearts and they began to listen much more carefully to the stories. Anita added: “What a big difference it was to compare them with the first week when they came. They were just busy talking to each other or sitting there absent-mindedly. God really changed them!”

Thought Anita didn’t speak the children’s language, she spoke something that all of them understand and that was the message of Jesus’ love shining through her heart to them. She said, “Love is the best way to work with kids. I never shouted at them and every time they got noisy, I just smiled at them. I was so blessed that God put His love deep in my heart for these children and that’s the only way I was able to be calm and patient with them. Only love can awaken love. I worked with the noisiest boy the most and his attitude has changed a lot! Now he speaks politely to me and listens very quietly in the story. When it’s time for the children to go home, many of them want to shake my hands. Someone nearby told me, ‘The children love you so much.’ I know there is a reason why they love me, because I love them from the bottom of my heart – a love that only comes from God, the source of love.”

Anita and her translator

Yes, Anita was the children’s friend because she had Christ’s love for them in her heart. Most of the children could hardly speak English, but they all tried to talk with her and one little 8 year old boy became her translator when the children wanted to communicate with her since his English was quite good. They had such fun together!

One night just before the meeting, it rained very heavily. They were worried that the children wouldn’t come since many came from far away. But when we started more than 2/3rds of our children were there! That was a great encouragement that the children would come even through the rain to hear God’s words!

Day after day went swiftly by and soon one month was over. During that one month, Anita’s friendship with those children grew deep and strong. They would love to sit with her and were so interested in her Chinese language that she taught them a Chinese song. All carefully learned it and in just a few days, they could sing it so well!

After the baptism and graduation of the last Sabbath, they planned a social night for the children. But it turned into a crying night! Almost all the children cried that Anita and her partner and translator would be leaving. They all told her, “Teacher, I will miss you very much!” She said, “Even the naughtiest boy cried a lot, which I never thought he would. But the most amazing thing was that this boy who was so very naughty in the beginning was so changed by the truths of God’s word that he decided to be baptized! That was so amazing and so encouraging, too! When the Holy Spirit works on one’s heart, he will never be the same as before! That’s God’s power!

What was her counsel for those working with children in God’s vineyard?

“When the children get noisy and disobey, don’t shout at them! It might work for awhile, but it won’t change them. They will do the same thing later and sometimes even worse than before. Shouting is not the solution. Smile with love is a powerful weapon and no one can reject its power. If you want to change children, there is really no other way but to love them. There is power in love, which can change their hearts. Drown their disobeying with your love. Children are very sensitive and they can feel and receive your love when you really love and care for them. When they love you, they will listen to you and respect all you say.”

The team and their baptismal candidates.

And that was just one of the many amazing stories coming from the student’s OJT time! Keep checking for more stories – soon to come!

Super Typhoon!

You might have been wondering what’s been happening at PAFCOE for the last few weeks since nothing was posted lately. It was not because there was nothing to write about! Oh, no! There were so many stories and experiences to share and simply not enough time (or writers) to get them written down and published!

So what has been going on at PAFCOE lately? More than can fill one blog post, for sure!

During the days following October 31, all our students and staff left the comfort and security of PAFCOE and headed out for their respective evangelistic sites – more known as OJT (On the Job Training). Doing a one month evangelistic seminar for either adults or kids is a requirement for the students to be able to graduate from PAFCOE, so all were participating.

I am sure that as they arrived at their sites where they would be preaching, some were a little nervous and unsure of what would happen during their one month stay in that place. What would God do through them in that area, especially because this was their first time?

All the students and staff had about one week at their site to organize the church, prepare their crafts and do a week of prayer in their local churches. November 8, 2013 was the target date for the 30+ seminars to be taking place all over the Philippines at the same time. All was going well and everyone was excited for their first night!

But very early Friday morning, November 8, super typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan for the rest of the world) with winds up to 200 mph slammed into the eastern shores of central Philippines, causing 

severe destruction and devastation everywhere it went.

Most of you read about it in the news as it has been the worst typhoon to hit the Philippines in 30 years. Hundreds and even thousands of people died from drowning in the huge storm surges and heavy flooding from the severe, driving rain and strong winds. Roofs flew off most of the houses and many (including concrete ones) were totally destroyed, leaving the inhabitants (if alive) with no shelter for the coming weeks. Because many power poles collapsed, most people were without power and some had no water, either. 

Did the storm affect our sites? Yes, it did. Out of our 30+ seminars to start later that same day, about 10 of them had to postpone because of the bad weather. Those in the central part of the Philippines were hit the worst, while the northern and southern areas were not affected too badly. For awhile, we were very concerned about some of our students and their safety, but little by little, the news started trickling in that though many had gone through some harrowing experiences, all were alive – safe and sound! Praise God!

And the stories that we began to hear were absolutely amazing of what God did to help the students and staff whose sites were affected severely by the super typhoon. For those of you who prayed for us and our students and staff, a big “thank-you” for lifting us up in prayer, for God really heard!

During the next blog posts, we will be sharing with you the many stories and testimonies of the student’s experiences during their OJT time.

Keep checking for more stories, coming soon!

Unexpected interests!

“Please pray that we can find the people and don’t get lost!” said one of the students to me as she passed by on her way to join her partner for outreach.

“I will!” I called out as she went by. Several times through the afternoon, I remembered to pray for them as they were on outreach, seeking to find the people who had requested them to deliver the books that day in a faraway place.

The next day during lunch, I asked them how it went and what a story I heard! It was so amazing! 

Later on, one of them wrote out the story and here it is:

“It has really been so inspiring this week – so inspiring of what God has done for us! Last Tuesday, when we were doing canvassing, we met 2 ladies who were sitting outside in a restaurant. We talked with them and showed them the 2 books (Health & Peace and The Great Controversy) we had. They were the most interested in the Health & Peace (the Ministry of Healing) and they wanted it to be delivered to their workplace – a real estate business. So we set an appointment with them to come the next day at 5:00 pm. The problem with that was that her workplace was far from here (more than an hour away) and neither of us were familiar with the area.

So the next day, we set out to find them to deliver the books. As we started out, we got so stuck in traffic. Finally we reached the train station and rode to the area we thought we needed to go to. Then we waited for an hour just for a taxi or jeepney to pass by. It started to rain, so we waited in the rain. And we prayed and prayed that we could make it there on time to meet the ladies.

The minutes ticked by and it was already 6:00 – an hour past our appointment time and we prayed that the two ladies would not go home though it was already after 5:00 pm. Finally we got a taxi and it was such heavy traffic that we couldn’t move fast at all!

At last, we arrived at the right place! We realized we were in the business area and all around us were business people. I saw the tallest ladies I’ve ever seen before and they were wearing “killer” heels – 6 inches high and the shortest skirts ever!

While waiting for the ladies, they showed us around the place. Once the ladies were free from their clients, we went to a coffee shop to give them the books. Once inside, they gave us the money and we gave them the books for which they were delighted!

We offered to pray with them, but suddenly someone else called us to introduce something to us. After they talked for awhile, several of them began smoking. Suddenly one of the ladies said, “Oh, before they go they wanted to pray with us. Can we pray?”

The others put their cigarettes down and responded, “Yes, sure! Let’s pray.” So we prayed for them all and they all closed their eyes. After prayer, they said, “Thank you! That’s just what we needed!”

I was so surprised and just so amazed that though these people may look tough and have anything they could ever wish for, yet they are empty on the inside. They are stressed, tired, hungry and thirsty for comfort and a knowledge of God’s love.

As we left, one of the ladies told us how excited she is to read the book and that it is just what they needed ‘to be a good person, to overcome our stress and have good health management.’

Then she added, ‘I believe we met for a purpose and that is not going to be our last time together!’

Though we reached home very late, we praise God for what He did through us that day!”

What a story! Yes, God wants to reach even the upper classes. Though they have everything money could buy, they are seeking for true happiness and meaning in life.