| | Dear Friend,
So how do you plan to spend your Christmas and News Years this year? I'll be going to the Philippines this winter for 3 weeks - December 12th - January 2nd.
Why the Philippines?
The short answer is, I met this incredible missionary family at Fuller. Never have I met someone so passionate about the gospel. They're the kind of people that you read in books - they sold everything they had, went to a foreign land, and waited on God. The end result was this missionary building an orphanage for young Filipino girls (think education, sex trafficking, poverty, etc.), and also a center to train indigenous pastors with the vision to "plant churches where there are no churches."
When I say, "where there are no churches", I'm talking deep in the jungle (hiking 6-8 hrs), the marginalized of the marginalized. I pause to share quick story. On one excursion to a local village, a bone-thin man approached my friend as asked him a heartfelt question - "Do I have a soul?" This question is significant because in these people's view, White People are the pinnacle of humanity, then it's the rich Filipinos in the city, then the poor people, then its him and his village. Their self perception was so bad that they thought that being so lowly, they must not have a soul. My friend assured him of his soul-fulness and began to share the love of Christ with him. This man, overcome with tears, exclaimed, "Nobody has ever told me this! This is such great news. Would you please come to my house and tell this everybody because nobody in my village knows this!" So they went with food and supplies and to this village where almost every family accepted Jesus Christ. Now there is a church in this village. We will be going there again...
What will I be doing in the Philippines?
The mission is simple. We're going to go to the Orphanage and the location of every Church plant led by these local pastors, 7 to be exact. The villages that they are in are so impoverished that it is not uncommon to have only 1 of 15 huts have fire going to cook food. In fact, the last time my friend saw this, he found out that the only hut with fire was a place with 3 men roasting 2 sparrows they caught. That was it.
We will be bringing 100 lbs sacks of RICE, Chicken, Pigs (for Christmas celebration and gifts to the villages), and clothes and supplies. Basically, we'll be feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and sharing the love of Jesus Christ with these people. We'll be encouraging the brothers and sisters who are persevering in the faith. The other exciting thing is that my friend and his family will be announcing that they will be moving back to the Philippines permanently to live among the Kili tribe in remote area of the northern Philippines. The Christians there have been praying for years to have more Christian pastor come and train their people so this will be an answer to their prayers!
Would you Partner with Me?
There are a couple ways you can partner with me.
1) Prayer Partners - I covet your prayers.
- Please pray for Spiritual Guidance and Covering - That we may be led by the Holy Spirit is all that we do; for Spiritual Authority - warfare and power encounters is common place in these areas; and whenever we do the work of God, we can anticipate the enemy that wars against us.
- Please pray for Life Protection - A couple of the locations we will be going to is run by the NPA Terrorist organization.
- Please pray for Health - We will be hiking 6-8 hrs on some days; also the food will be very "indigenous" (ant eggs, wild boar, balut, etc.), safe water is not easily accesible.
- Please pray for Travel Mercies - Many days we will be driving, rafting, hiking, flying to remote locations, and it will take a toll physically.
2) Financial Partners - We will be the physical extension of your gift. You generosity is guaranteed to change lives of many. This time, I did not feel led to directly raise support for myself. If you would like to give more specifically, here's what we need that will directly bless the villages and people:
- (7) Rice Sack - 100 lbs , $35 each = $245
- (70) Chickens - $1 per Chicken = $70
- (2) Pig - $125 each = $250
- (150) Can Sardines - $2 each $300
There are other things we doing as well - Building a Church ($2k), Starting a Goat Breeding Business ($200), as well as having the flexibility to do what the Lord leads us to (last year, a man had an eye transplant that cured him of blindness. Another infant girl almost died from pneumonia but was saved by a generous donation.) God is moving! Be a part of his Kingdom work!
If you would like to Pledge a certain amount, I simply ask that you email, message, or call me. Buy a Sack of Rice (the cost of a steak meal can feed 15 families for a couple months), or get some friends together and sponsor a pig that could literally bring Christmas joy to an entire village. (* A pledge is a simple commitment to donate a specific amount. I can pick it up before I leave or when I return from my trip.)
If you would like to know more about this mission endeavor, I'd love to send you a detailed mission newsletter and also talk about it with you. Your prayer support is what I need the most. I look forward to sharing with you all that God has and is doing in the beautiful land of the Philippines.
LOVE * PHILIPPINES.
Your friend,
Daniel Ra
danielra@gmail.com
P.S. Please feel free to pass this on to anybody that you think would be interested.
P.S.S. I leave next Friday, 12/12
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| | Posted 12/8/2008 1:56 AM - 19 Views - 2 eProps - 1 Comment
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