Here Am I, Ministries

We Moved

2010-04-16T14:16:00.000-07:00

Here Am I, Ministries has moved to www.hereamiphilippines.com Please follow our new blog at the website listed above.

We're Back

2009-06-20T21:21:00.000-07:00

Hey everybody sorry for such a long time between posts. Despite our two month absence from school, we have some how managed not to forget everything. Slowly but surely we are making progress in our Tagalog studies. Currently we have class three times per week. We are grateful for amazing teachers who encourage us even when we feel like we're moving backwards. We would greatly appreciate your prayers as we continue to study the language.

The study at our condo continues every Tuesday and the group is finally starting to grow. A few older children from our building started attending two weeks ago. Erin is currently teaching through the book of Exodus.

Depending upon the weather we also teach the study for the homeless at Luneta Park. When it rains there's no where to hide, so unfortunately we have to cancel on rainy days. We are plugging away at the book of Matthew. Also please remember to pray for our dear friends and fellow workers Rowell and Joy as they move to the province to pastor a church. Rowell is a great friend and also our translator for the Luneta study. God has called him and his family to pastor a church in Montalban, and though we are sad to see him go, we know that the Lord has a plan for them at their new church. Also please continue to pray that the hearts of the people would be open to the message of Christ.

Last but not least we are grateful to the Lord for our new friends, Mike, Susanna, and little Max, who recently moved to the Philippines from the U.S. They are missionaries working with Pioneers. This week we have been helping them paint and move into their new home. It is great some have new friends.

God has continued to prove faithful, and we are privileged to be here serving him in the Philippines. We would again like to thank you our faithful friends, prayer warriors and financial supporters, who make this work possible.

In His Service,

Justin and Erin McDonald

Home At Last

2009-05-17T19:16:00.000-07:00

After fifteen hours of travel we arrived in the Philippines in the early evening. Our friends were waiting with the church van and we packed in our boxes and luggage and headed for home. Nothing had changed the humidity was still 1000% and the traffic as crazy as usual, nonetheless it was good to be back. We began to unpack a few things before heading to bed, we would be leaving the following night for the island. After little sleep we woke up continued unpacking and then tried to sleep again. We were about to endure a ten hour bus ride, and needed all the rest we could get. The would be ten hour ride turned into fifteen, and we were ready for more sleep. Not sure if it was jet or bus lag, but we were drained. As luck would have it, the rain was coming down in buckets just in time for or hour long boat ride to the island. We would spend the next two weeks on the island working both kids camp and youth camp. We mostly helped out with, the preparation and decorations for Children’s Camp. The teachers were some of the youth, that would be attending next weeks camp. The youth did an amazing job, the boys did most of the set up and goofing around, and the girls did all of the teaching and devotions. Praise God for such devoted youth.

For youth camp we had the opportunity to be camp counselors. We had a great time with our groups sharing about our Giants. The theme of the camp was “Facing the Giants”. I also had the opportunity to teach a session on The Conquest of Jericho, where God through the faith of the people pulled down the Giant wall. It was amazing as we sat and listened while the youth shared about the giants they were facing. Many of them have been facing persecution from their Catholic teachers, their neighbors and even their families. I thought for a while about persecution, and realized how blessed we are in the U.S. to be virtually free from persecution. Aside from the occasional snide remark, when was the last time any of us encountered anything like this. One man even tried to light a Sunday School room on fire, that was filled with 80 children. I was encouraged to pray for them and lift them up to the Lord as they struggle not only with the common struggles that youth face, but with the harsh reality that the enemy does not want to see them succeed. We were unable to stay for the entire camp, because we had to travel back to Manila to renew our Visas, but praise God for the opportunity he gave us to serve him and the children over the past two weeks.

Now we are back on Manila, and back to the daily grind. We will resume our Tagalog classes this afternoon, and are anxious to continue learning this new language. Please pray for us as we continue to study the language, and as we continue to live our lives to his Glory, making the most of the opportunities he presents us with.

In His Service,

Justin and Erin McDonald

Honey We're Home

2009-03-02T07:23:00.000-08:00

We finally made it home this past Saturday night at around 8:30pm. After 16 hours and 45 minutes of travelling we were ready to see those gleaming lights of LAX our the window. Though it seemed to take forever for our bags to arrive at the baggage claim, we had finally made it. It is nice to be cold again and the heated showers are amazing. Oh how a trip overseas changes your perspective. We are so blessed to live in the United States, and though it surely has it's problems it always nice to be home. Heaven though will be so much greater. Before leaving I shared a devotion with my bible study in the park about the trials and hardship we face in this world, but that we have a hope in Christ that one day we will be together with him. Philippians 3:21+21 says: "For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself." Though it is nice to be back to spend time with our family and friends, we rejoice in the fact that though this may be our earthly home, Our heavenly home will be so much better. We hope to see many of you while we are here in the states and would like to thank you all for the opportunity that you afford us to serve the Lord full time in the Philippines.

In His Service,
Justin and Erin McDonald

Happy New Year

2009-01-26T23:56:00.000-08:00

We rang in the New Year on the roof deck of our 22 story condo, and though the fireworks roared both near and far they could hardly be seen do to all the smoke. Manila seemed to be a war zone. It reminded me of the ongoing spiritual battle that we don’t always see but always hear the roar and feel the effects of. But we can find comfort in the Lord that though the world seems out of control, he is in control and he has a purpose for you and for me amidst the chaos. John 16:33 says: "These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace, In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world." We would like to urge you as we start the New Year, to seek out the Lords will for you and your family and to serve him diligently. "For I know the plans that I have for you, declares the LORD, plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” Jeremiah 29:11. It has been both a tremendous adventure and a trying time as we have spent the last ten months here in the Philippines. Everyday we are learning more about the grace of the Lord. He is truly gracious to continue to meet and surpass our needs as we minister and attend language school here in Manila.

Language school has really been a spring board for both Erin and I. We have learned so much thanks in part to our amazing teachers and mostly to the Lord for giving us clear minds to acquire a new language. It is much harder the older you get, and though we are not old, we haven’t used this part of our brain in quite some time. But our teachers are patient and diligent, and we continue to make improvements every week. Praise God that we both passed our first evaluation, Erin with flying colors and me with a number of misspellings. Please continue to pray for us, as learning Tagalog will provide us with the ability to communicate the Gospel in their native language. Surprisingly many missionaries never take the time to learn Tagalog since so many people know English. We hope that learning the language will be further confirmation of our desire to reach the Filipino people for Christ.

We are excited that this March we will be able to share with many of you face to face about what the Lord is doing in and through us here in the Philippines. We are planning a short trip of only one month in the states before returning for the Philippines. Please pray as our schedule will be hectic. We have many errands to take care in a short time, but are trying not to take too much time off from language school. We will be arriving Feb 28th at 8:00 p.m. and have no definite departure, though we are trying not to stay in the states much longer than a month. We hope that we will be able to get together with many of you to share about the ministry that you our supporters so graciously allow us to partake in. We are equally excited to hear about what the Lord is doing in your lives. After all we are all missionaries we just so happen to serve the Lord here in the Philippines.

“Flying to the mission field, we often forget that we are flying over the mission field.”

Love in Christ,
Justin and Erin McDonald

Merry Christmas

2008-12-23T19:52:00.000-08:00

I was reminded tonight while sitting down to watch some of the girls open their presents of the greatest gift of all time. The birth of our Lord is truly the greatest gift anyone could hope for. Though we may have long wish lists this Christmas, let’s not lose sight of the true reason we celebrate this day. I was also reminded of how thankful we should be even when we don’t get exactly what we want. God never promises to give us what we want, but he will always give us what we need.

This Christmas even though we are far away we are most thankful for the friends and family God has brought into our lives. We hope you have a Merry Christmas as you gather with friends and family, and just want to let you know how much we love and appreciate you. You are in our thoughts and prayers this Christmas.

In the Love of Christ,

Justin and Erin McDonald

You Want to Wish You a Merry Christmas

2008-12-19T06:20:00.001-08:00

Luneta Park Christmas Party

2008-12-16T22:48:00.000-08:00

Since starting the study back in July, God has continued to bless the study and our small group of five or six had grown to an average of fifty people every Thursday. Last week we had our Christmas Party, and after sharing a short devotion invited them to join us at Jolly Bee for lunch. We really enjoy the time that God allows us to share with these precious brothers and sisters. But the good news is that we were not only able to feed them, we were able to buy them Bibles. After we had all eaten, Erin and I sat down with each person wishing them a Merry Christmas and presenting them with their very own bible. We sat with each person and talked about the importance of Gods word and wrote their names in the front. We hope that they will treasure them. We would like to thank you our supporters for making this possible. With all the economic crisis in the world, we would like to deeply thank those of you who make the sacrifices each month, that allow us to minister here in the Philippines.

May God Richly Bless You Our Beloved,
Justin and Erin McDonald

Our Newer Home

2008-11-30T02:15:00.000-08:00

As I am sure you have all heard by now, Erin and I had to move out of our condo, because our landlord was selling it to pay for cancer treatment. But God is faithful and we were not left out on the street. Our former landlord actually arranged for us to view another unit in the same building just one floor below us. We followed her down stairs and thought we'd at least take a look at the new place. It turned out to be a two bedroom, three bathroom mansion, compared to out nice little studio. After a quick talk Erin and I decided we would try talk them down a little bit so as to stay within our budget. We were able to negotiate a nice discount and get the owner to pay for the association dues, the only problem now was what to do with all this space. We are going for a minimalist approach in the decorating approach, and yet we still have one room completely empty. We know that God works all things together for the good to those that love him, and it is our prayer that we will be able to glorify him with the extra space. So for anyone planning to visit, we have an extra master bedroom with bath and two balconies waiting for you. Please continue to pray for our former landlord, her name is Cora Laguisma and she has Leukemia. God bless.

In His Service,
Justin and Erin

What is God doing in your part of the world?

2008-11-23T04:46:00.000-08:00

We are excited everytime we check our blog and see a new dot on the map, but we would like to get to know you. Let us know what God is doing in your life, and let us know how we can be praying for you. Please feel free to leave comments or messages on the message board. God has been so good to us and we would like to see what he is doing in other parts of the world. God Bless.

Workers Confrence, Baguio

2008-11-19T05:47:00.000-08:00

As Justin said October seemed to fly by with so many activities. I am going to share with you about our trip to Baguio for the church workers conference. We took a bus ride with Dave Matthews and the group he brought up from Bicol. There were eight of us total. Baguio is a mountain city and with the elevation came cool weather!! We were excited to feel the cool breeze and see pine trees! As we arrived at the conference center we were greeted by strawberry fields! We of course bought some sweet and cheap strawberries! They were delicious!

We checked in and as we were getting our room assignment many others were coming to do the same. I was waiting by our bags when I saw a failure face. I had not seen this man in eight years. His name is Julius, and I had met him in Dumaguette while he was attending Bible College. When we had first met he could speak only a few English words and I of course could speak no Tagalog. I immediately asked "are you Julius?" He said yes and I told him who I was and it jogged his memory. I was encouraged to hear that he was now married with two children and was a pastor of a small but growing church! We also met up with our friend Renan. Who is now pastoring a church in Lucena. God had brought so many pastors and workers from all over the northern region of the Philippines. We also were able to meet a few new Pastors and missionaries. One couple in particular, Anthony and Beth have been in the Philippines for the past three years and are now back in AZ. They started a church in Pampanga and were turning it over to a Filipino couple who are strangely from the US and don't speak any Tagalog. To make our small world even smaller Justin was talking with one missionary named Chet who is from San Bernardino and come to find out knows Justin's mom and people he grew up with. Praise God for these new found friends and for the old friendships rekindled.
The topic of the seminar was Preparing the Bride. We are in the last days and we as believers need to be ready for the Lords return. We need to be preaching the Gospel, sharing the truth of Jesus to the lost in the world. Some other points made were how we as true followers of Christ are to be set apart from this world. Lights in the darkness, salt in the world. We were encouraged as we heard testimony of God's faithfulness and of His provisions to our fellow workers in the Ministry.

We also had sweet fellowship! In the evenings we taught our new friends Dutch Blitz, Spoons and Scum, card games. We had a great time playing and laughing with them.
We are so privileged to be here and to be able to see the awesome work of God here in the Philippines first hand. Our classes are going well and we are getting closer to our goal of having good understanding of the Filipino language. This trip to Baguio was a time of Refreshment, as well as a energizing. We are encouraged to live each day as if it were our last.

Shem Adonai Christian Language School

2008-11-14T19:21:00.001-08:00

Praise God for sold cars and anonymous donations. Thanks to the fact that we were finally able to sell my Civic, and thanks to the amazing people in Hawaii who were so gracious in their giving, we were able to enroll in formal language school last week. The school is a Christian language school that focuses on equipping missionaries with the tools and practice necessary to learn Tagalog. For now we are only able to attend two days per week, but are praying that we will be able to move to five days per week after the New Year. After only two lessons, we have been encouraged to see our understanding and ability to put together simple sentences start to blossom. Please continue to pray for us as we study the language and as we continue to minister to those we come in contact with. We are getting excited to come home and visit in March and tell you all about what the Lord has been doing in and through us here in the Philippines. Again we would like to thank you our faithful supporters for giving us the privilege and opportunity to serve the Lord full time in the Philippines.

In His Service,
Justin and Erin McDonald

Back to Manila

2008-11-06T22:28:00.001-08:00

The remainder or our time on the Island was mostly spent on or around the mission base. Dad and I were able to go into town a few times to help run some errands and do a little sight seeing. But as always the fun must come to an end and we had to return to Manila for the Last half of Dads visit. Erin stayed at the island in order for Dad and I to have a little man time. After returning to Manila we did a bit more sight seeing, and I brought Dad to the bible study I teach every Thursday. We were actually able to take 45 of them out to lunch, and it was a great time of food and fellowship with the group. It was a blessing to have my Dad come and see us in the Philippines. We were excited to show him what we are doing here and how the Lord is using us. I was sad to see him go, but grateful for the time God had allowed us to spend together.

Fishing Filipino Style

2008-11-06T22:26:00.000-08:00

After deciding we had worn him out enough, we decided to go out fishing one day. Fishing however is something entirely in the Philippines than in America. The typical rod and reel, and tackle box were no where to be found. Instead we were armed with little more that weed-eater string, hooks, a few small bait fish, and a sack full of softball sized rocks. This was surely going to be an interesting fishing trip. After arriving at the first stop we tied off to a buoy and began fishing. We watched in amazement as they tied hooks on to the nylon string, then wrapped the bait fish around one of the rocks and dropped it into the water and waited for a bite. This went on for some time to no avail, until Minmin got a bite. It was amusing to watch him scramble from on side of the boat to the other slowly pulling in his catch by hand. After a ten minute struggle there on the end of his line was the first and biggest catch of the day. It was a beautiful bluish, yellow, 10 kilo Mahi-mahi, which after lighting the barbeque (on our wooden boat) they proceeded to cook, and serve with the always popular rice.

We proceeded to fish through out the day and navigated from buoy to buoy. Around three or four we finally found a place where the fish were biting. Though they were small fish they were fish nonetheless. After several failed attempts we finally started to catch some fish. Though out Filipino companions insisted we were doing it too slow and wrong, we were able to catch 14 fish between the two of us. No need to go into detail about who caught more. When the fish quit biting we set our sails for home. It was a long somewhat rough trip back to the island, yet our captain tired from a long day of fishing could hardly keep his eyes open. It is always comforting to look back at the person driving the boat to find their eyes closed. But we made it home safely and had an awesome time learning to fish Filipino style.

Let's Take Dad to Bicol

2008-11-06T22:14:00.000-08:00

Sorry for the long time between posts, but October was here and gone before we realized. After much waiting and anticipation my Dad finally arrived on October 5th. He arrived late Sunday night and upon his arrival we had to take him to our favorite restaurant, JT's, which just so happens to be open till one in the morning. We ordered our regular 1/4 chicken and garlic rice, but my dad who had come to the Philippines with a sense of adventure, was quick to ask for something exotic. So on top of our regular order we added one stick of barbequed chicken anus. What a way to start a trip to the Philippines. We spent the next few days hanging around Manila before heading down to the island.

We spent the next week in Bicol on Cagraray Island, at the mission base of Faith In Action, the same place we have visited countless times before. We dragged my Dad all over the island to and from Bible studies, up and down stairs, and even to a few Bible studies on nearby San Miguel Island. He was a trooper and though we kicked his butt day after day, he was all to willing to get up the next day and do it all over again.

I SEE THE LIGHT INDUSTRIES

2008-09-22T20:48:00.000-07:00

A Hard Core Christian clothing line founded by a group of believers from different congregations to promote the same love they share in their heart, the love of our savior. We came together united as one, to uplift the name of Jesus Christ, the Light of the World. We are currently working with ministries all over the world. For more information please contact us.

Kids Bible Study

2008-09-22T04:04:00.000-07:00

As the pictures show we have a lot of fun at Bible study! We usually start out with dinner or a merienda which is a snack or desert.
We then settle down for some serous digging into the Word. At first I wasn’t sure how things would go but they are really excited about it so much so that they always ask “Can we have Bible studies every day?” During the study they are always asking questions and are very attentive for being six year old boys.
I decided to start in the beginning. They were very interested in the creation story and then also Noah. Now we are getting into the “hard stuff” the genealogy but I encouraged them that Abram and Sari are next week and they have very interesting lives. We are encouraged as we have a consistent five kids who attend and about five others who show up every once in a while.
Justin has made friends with one of the boys, Richmond who is 12. They play video games and go to the mall and just hang out all the time. We are often visited by the kids at our place. We are finding that they are mostly left to play and do what ever they want.
What they are really hungry for is their parent’s attention. Most of the families that live here are very well off and a lot of the parents travel for their jobs leaving the kids at home for hours or weeks at a time with a yaya as they call it here, they are house keepers and baby sitters. The kids seem very disrespectful to these ladies and to their parents for that matter. Justin and I are always working with them on manners and using God’s word to rebuke them. They respond well to us when we set boundaries. We have been focusing a lot on saying sorry to each other and forgiving one another. A funny story, Justin came down stairs to go to buy bread and found one of the boys crying while sitting on top of holding down one of the other boys; he was saying “You have to forgive me! Why won’t you forgive me?” Justin had to pull him off the boy and explain that you can’t force some one to forgive you and that holding him down like that was probably not going to help. Another day we were at the pool and one of the boys pushed another boy in the pool and we told him that he should not have done that and he stared to cry and said “You all hate me now! How will you forgive me?” We had to explain that we love him and that just because we correct him doesn’t mean we hate him and that of course we could forgive him. We always are very serious with them but as soon as we get home we can’t help crack up laughing.
We are honored and privileged to have this opportunity to teach these kids and be a part of their lives. We are always praying for their hearts and for God to revel his Spirit to these kids. As a closing I would like to share the prayer requests of the children.
• For my studies that I would do good in all my classes
• For my family to have long life
• For sick family members
• For good grades on their tests
• For God to help them to be good

We are amazed at what God is doing in the lives of these kids. This is all possible because God called us and used people like you to send us. Thank you for all your prayers and support. We are blessed with family and friends who are continually encouraging us and praying for us! Thank you for checking up on us and responding to our posts! To God be the Glory forever and ever!

Jolly Bee Merienda

2008-09-11T03:27:00.000-07:00

A special thanks to our supporters, for helping us minister to our brothers and sisters in the Lord at Luneta Park. We are studying verse by verse through the book of Matthew, and it has been a blessing to lead the study and fellowship with our new friends. Today we had the pleasure of taking 21 of them to Jolly Bee for lunch. Please pray as we not only feed them physically, but also spiritually that the Lord would be working in their lives. Many of them have never had a home, yet they have joy despite their circumstances. They are a constant reminder to me, not to take the blessings of God for granted. Justin and Erin

A Catholic a Muslim and two Baptists walk into Persian Restaurant

2008-09-02T07:32:00.000-07:00

I know it sounds like the first line of a joke, but it was one of our most memorable evenings since we have been in the Philippines. Two days ago while checking our e-mail we ran in to Alex the Catholic; Persian, Israeli, and Farshid the Muslim; Persian, Italian. We got to talking about what we were doing here in the Philippines. When we told them we were missionaries they were a bit baffled. Eventually we got the point across that we were here to spread the Gospel and tell people about Jesus. It was then that we learned Farshid is Muslim, and Alex (unable to do the Muslim thing) is Catholic. The two of them are here studying Dentistry, as it is much more affordable in the Philippines than in Iran.

We made plans for dinner the next night; they recommended the Persian restaurant very close to our condo. It was comforting to see a Filipina in the kitchen of the Persian restaurant. Truly this was going to be an authentic meal, I said to myself as I peered through the window into the kitchen. Luckily there was a Persian gentleman, if you could call him that, which showed us to our table, and exchanged a few pleasantries with our new friend Farshid, who had obviously been there before. We looked at the menu and Farshid recommended the beef kabob, it would have to be hard to mess up a kabob, so what the heck. Erin ordered chicken kabob, though she would eventually not get what she ordered. Farshid also ensured me that I had to try Dugh, a spiced milky yogurt drink, which would complement the kabob. He suggested that I try the sweet version, but he and Erin ordered the salty version. So our waitress came and took or order and got it wrong, so we repeated our order and she got it wrong again, luckily the third time was the charm. To be sure part of the problem was that Farshid speaks poor English and even poorer Tagolog, but being our gracious host wanted to do all of the ordering. It was a Persian restaurant after all, and he is Persian.

A few minutes later our waitress showed up with three cokes, a funny thing since we ordered three dughs. I should have kept the cokes, because the sweet version of dugh turned out to be not that sweet. It was kind of like a glass of iced ranch dressing, which I have missed dearly, but not in beverage form. Erin seemed to like it however and Farshid, said that it might be a taste you have to get used to. That was the understatement of the century.

The next thing you know Alex shows up out of breath and sweating like a pig. He had to meet his father before dinner, and apparently had a hard time getting a Jeepney, and once we had able to find one, realized he was very near the restaurant. Nothing like a jog to get you hungry for some dinner, luckily he wasn’t too hungry because it took for ever for his order to come, but I’m getting ahead of myself. Farshid and my food arrived after a long wait and everything was great. Erin’s food however was not exactly what she ordered. Her chicken kabob with rice, changed to half chicken, half beef and no rice. But the pita bread was great as was the dipping sauce. We prayed before eating and the three of us dug in. Alex assured us that he would be fine and not to wait for his food. Who knows how long it might take he added. The kabob was great and Erin loved her chicken.
When we had finished eating the conversation shifted from table talk to more serious matters. We talked a little about politics, a little about how we perceive each other’s culture and of course religion. Though we did not get too in depth about religion at the dinner table we exchanged questions about our beliefs and doctrines. It was really a time that God was allowing us just to get to know each other a little bit, and I think God was priming them and us for the Gospel message. After leaving the restaurant we bought some ice cream and decided to go back home to eat it. We sat down on the pool deck and as we ate ice cream started to explain what we believe. The conversation started out with the difference between the Jewish people and Christianity. We talked about how the Jewish people rejected Jesus as their messiah and rejected his message of repentance. From there we moved on to the difference between a relationship with Christ and religion; which binds men to a morale code and traditions rather than exposing him to the loving God, who sent his son to die for their sins. It was a wonderful evening of sharing what God has done and is doing in this world. We are amazed at how God is using us here to minister to different people. We had a wonderful time sharing the truth about our God with the two of them. Please pray for our new friends Farshid and Alex; that the Holy Spirit would be speaking to their hearts, and that God would use us to minister to them however he sees fit.

In His Service,
Justin and Erin McDonald

Your The God of This City

2008-08-31T18:01:00.000-07:00

Every week I lead a small Bible study at Luneta Park, deep in the heart of Manila. Two weeks ago as I walked to the study, I noticed a stage being set up at Ocean Park Stadium, very close to where we hold our study. My friend explained to me that is was being built for a huge concert to be put on by one of the many false teaching groups here in Manila. They were preparing for a huge crowd, and a huge offering to be sure. It got me thinking, what could be done to draw a crowd of this scale, simply to worship and praise our God, and how might God want to use us to do this.

Manila is one of the most populous cities in the world, and it is our will that the name of Jesus would be lifted up here, higher than ever before. The Passion tour recently came through Manila, and it was a tremendous blessing to see nearly 7000 cram in to the Ultra Arena, to praise our Saviour. A special thanks to Louie Giglio and the crew for putting on the event. But, I think we can do better. We are starting from scratch with nothing but a vision and an "Unexpendable God". If you are interested in joining this new venture please contact us at: hereamiphilippines@gmail.com

In His Service, Justin and Erin McDonald

Luneta Park Study

2008-08-20T00:27:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday I once again had the privilege of leading the study at Luneta Park. God has opened the door to reach out to our homeless brothers and sisters in the Lord. The study started in typical fashion,with a few people trickling in after we started the study. But when I had finished the study I realized that that trickle was more like a flood. We went from 6 to 16 people, in the period of fifteen minutes. Praise God for growing our group. We will continue to be faithful to Gods calling, whether in few or many.

We also had the blessing of treating all 16 of them to lunch at Jolly Bee, kind of like the Philippine version of McDonald's. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and refreshment. Few if any of them are able to sit at a table and eat dinner, especially in an air conditioned restaurant. As we sat there, it was nice to see so many smiles around the table. The same lunch that I take for granted myself, was truly a blessing to them.

A special thanks to our supporters who have allowed us to serve here in the Philippines. Also praise that one of our supporters has generously donated funds specifically for the feeding of this ministry.

Please Pray: that God would continue to bless this ministry as we attend not only to the Physical needs of our brothers and sisters, but their Spiritual needs. There are many feeding ministries for the poor in Manila, but very few give them what they really need. In Matthew Chapter 4 Jesus said: "It is written, ' MAN SHALL NOT LIVE ON BREAD ALONE, BUT ON EVERY WORD THAT PROCEEDS OUT OF THE MOUTH OF GOD.'"

A Long Time Coming Part 2

2008-08-09T05:23:00.003-07:00

On the island nearly every bible study starts with a boat ride, followed by a long hike. This day was no different. We boarded the boat, prayed for a safe trip and set out across the short channel to start our hike. We found out later that there was a much shorter way to the bible study, but our fearless leader was not exactly sure where the bible study was going to be held until we got about half way across the island. Nonetheless it makes for a good story. Truly God was directing our paths, as we came upon the house of one of the elders whose mom had passed away that morning. We were able to spend a few minutes with the family praying for them and encouraging them. She had died just hours before we arrived, and her husband sat sadly by her side staring deeply at the face of the woman he loved. Though we thought our goal was to get to bible study, I fell God took us the long way specifically to minister to this hurting family.

After praying for them we left for the bible study and picked up a few people on the way as we passed by their houses. And after what seemed like an eternity of walking, at least for Tom, we arrived at the house where we would hold the study. The house was the quintessentially island style with bamboo walls, palapa roof and dirt floors. One funny thing is that just as we started to pray I looked down and between my feet sat a little chicken. A chicken at bible study, it was quite a sight to behold. The study was great and though my Tagalog is far from perfect, I understood nearly the whole thing.

As we wrapped up the study, we were surprised to see Erin and Dori walk through the door. They had just arrived by boat, and took the short cut which turned out to be just a fifteen minute walk. We enjoyed a great time of fellowship before leaving and setting out for home. As we sat down to dinner that night Tom repeatedly talked about how was awestruck by the beauty of the islands. Though the islands are beautiful, the people on the islands make them magnificent.

We were blessed to spend three days down on the island with Tom and Dori, and our great friends there on San Miguel and Cagraray Islands.

A Long Time Coming

2008-08-06T19:21:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the long wait for this update, but due to the fact of a sudden sickness, I have been lying low for the past few days. Praise God, after four days of experiencing nearly every ailment Pepto Bismal treats, I am finally felling better.

We had awesome time down on the island, visiting our friends both on San Miguel and Cagraray Island. Our friends Tom and Dori from the states were able to come with us, and it was great to watch them experience the island through fresh eyes. It had been two months since our last visit and we were longing for some Island life. It is a wonderful respite to get out of the crowds and pollution of Manila and into the beautiful splendor of Gods creation. But a trip to the island is never really a vacation. After the twelve hour bus ride, we ran a few errands in Bacacay and then got on the boat for the thirty minute ride to the mission base. After lunch Tom, Rowell and I took a boat to the nearby Island of San Miguel and set out on the trek of a lifetime for bible study. To be continued....

Our Outrigger Island

2008-08-05T21:21:00.001-07:00

Bicol Here We Come

2008-07-29T01:02:00.000-07:00

Praise God both Tom and Dori arrived safely last night. If fact we just found out the night before last that Tom was coming. We will be travelling down to the island tonight, via a twelve hour bus ride. Please pray that we will be able to be a blessing and encouragement to the mission staff, and that we would have a safe trip to and from the island. God bless we will fill you in with all the details once we return to Manila.

In His Service, Justin and Erin

Sorry for the Inconvenience

2008-07-22T02:10:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the inconvenience we were under destruction. We have made some changes to the layout and font of our blog, that should make it much easier to read. Check back soon, as we will be updating the blog regularly. Again sorry for any inconvenience. Thank you for your continued prayers and support.

In His Service,
Justin and Erin McDonald

Basketball Fellowship

2008-06-26T22:21:00.001-07:00

Magandang Araw Po

2008-06-24T18:34:00.000-07:00

Praise God, we are finally starting to make a little head way with our new language. Luckily for me Tagalog shares many common words to Spanish. Erin though has had the luxury of emersion, which I have not had until now. But praise God, we can now put together a few simple sentences and are constantly learning new vocabulary. So far some of the hardest words we have come across are: mapagpakumbaba which means humble or the equally difficult: panampalataya which means faith. Some times we think our teacher is just making them up. Also, we are continuing to use our Rosetta Stone computer program. Please pray that we would continue to be diligent, as our studies will only get harder. We meet three times per week for two hours per session. Though emersion is the best way to learn a language, English is so pervasive here that few people want to speak Tagalog. It is in many ways a dieing language, especially in Manila. However, the Lord has called us to the province where few people speak English and Tagalog will be our mainstay. Thank you for all of your prayers and support. We are praying for you as well, and would like to thank you for allowing us the privilege to serve God full time here in the Philippines.

Maraming Salamat, thank you very much…
Justin and Erin McDonald

But as for me and my house...

2008-06-11T21:32:00.000-07:00

Praise God, we are finally in our new home, moved in and unpacked. Our new home is truly a blessing, as we now have a place to call our own, and to sit down and relax. We are grateful to Calvary Chapel and the many friends who allowed us to stay with them during our first month in the Philippines. We were able to find a nice little studio condo just ten minutes walk from the church. It is perfect, for just the two of us. The first time we saw it we were a bit overwhelmed, seeing that the walls were neon green and the ceiling and trim peachy orange. But, that was nothing a couple gallons of paint wouldn’t fix. Amazingly enough we (mainly with the help of our dear friend Anthony) were able to negotiate with the owner, to provide a refrigerator and a hot plate. The place also came with a small sofa, a small Filipino washing machine, and the ever important air conditioner. The owner also agreed to $100 off per month, provided of course we paid for the year in advance. So after three long days of painting and cleaning, the house was done. We were also able to go to the local department store and buy some basic furnishings. Take a look and see how perfectly the Lord provided for us a place to live. It is our prayer that we will be able to bring glory to God through this house. Thank you for your continued prayer and support. We really couldn’t do this without you. We thank God for those who have decided to step out in faith with us, as we prepare for the ministry he has for us here in the Philippines.

“But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:15

After one day of painting only the ceiling and trim had been completed. I have to admit that I contemplated leaving the walls green at this point. But of course I could not and the next day two coats of blue paint covered the green and the place started to look more and more like home.

The Official Tour

Praise God for a nice comfortable bed. After nearly one month on the air mattress we were very blessed to be able to find a nice, new, and affordable mattress. We were warned repeatedly about second hand mattresses and the bed bugs they probably have. Neither of us have ever seen bed bugs, but we will take their word for it.

The kitchen is small but is perfect for the two of us. The ref is on the other side of the wall to make space for the shelves I built for extra counter space and storage.

This cabinet desk also came with the condo and has proved to be not only great for storage, but also a desk and dinner table. Plus we can pull it away from the wall and sit on either side when we have guests over.

This set of built in shelves is awesome. It not only holds our books and pictures, but works perfectly as a pantry and game storage. For the kids of course.

We have a great view out of our eighth story window. The window is nearly the full width of the condo and allows us to catch a breeze every so often. Also the air is much better up here.

The condo also came with a nice little couch, we added a bench and rug and brought a little division between the living room and bedroom space. Of course in a studio thats not really possible, but we like just the same. Thanks for taking the grand tour. We would be glad to show you in person. If you are ever in Manila give us a call, or better yet just stop bye.

Justin and Erin

Kids Camp III

2008-05-23T23:17:00.000-07:00

Praise God for the nearly sixty kids that attended the camp. It was for many of them the first time they were presented the Gospel. Several of these children prayed to recieve Christ on thse second day of camp.

These girls are the reason Kids camp was such an awesome success. On top of teaching the lessons, and eating breakfast, lunch, and dinner with the kids, they also camped out with the kids. Their hearts to serve God was an encouragement to both Erin and I.

Erin and her long lost friend Michelle. They first met nine years ago and became the best of friends despite not speaking eachothers language. But God saw fit to reunite them at this camp. Michele now speaks fluent english so she and Erin were able to reconnect.

What Kids Camp would be complete with out crafts? Even the biggest kids loved the crafts, myself included. Here they were making door hangers with foam crosses and sticky letters. The joy on their faces brought joy to my heart as they held up their crosses, which read I Love Jesus. Me too I thought, me too.

Both 123 American Eagle and the obstacle course pictured here proved to be injurious. The first wave of players resulted in several skinned knees, bruised eogs and crying girls. Just seconds after taking this picture, Edwin fell off the bridge, knocked himself out and had to be pulled out of the lily pond. Praise God that he was okay, no children were seriously injured in the making of this picture documentary.

These crazy boys also did a ton of work. They did everyything from climbing a 20 foot coconut tree to tie up the tarp, to gutting the fish and cleaning dishes. Just like the girls, their faithfulness was very encouraging.

Of course what kids camp would be respectable without a emcee? On the left is Chona, her smile was contagious and she was a joy to ba around. To the right is our fearless director Richele, she spent countless days and weeks preparing for the camp. And in the middle is Dave Matthews, the pastor and overseeer of the camp site and mission base.

Praise God for the opportunity to serve him.

justin and erin

Honey We're Home

2008-05-02T21:46:00.000-07:00

After a 14 and a half hour flight to Hong Kong and an hour and a half flight to Manila we finally arrived. (Under sniper of course, joking only.) The air was thick with humidity and hotter than I remembered. Nonetheless we were glad to arrive at our new home. We were warmly welcomed by our friends from Calvary Chapel Manila. Saying our hellos we got our stuff in the van and headed off into the crowed streets for the church. Soon we arrived at the church, unpacked our stuff and began to settle in. From time to time Erin has talked about our home back in the states. I have to remind her that this is our home now. Please lift us up in prayer as we continue to adjust to the jet lag, the climate and the culture. Sunday night we will be heading down to San Miguel Island, to help with Kid’s camp, May 6^th through May 10th. We would greatly appreciate your prayers both for the children attending the camp and for the workers. We will update the blog again after returning from Kid’s Camp.

In His Service Justin and Erin

Erin's first post!

2008-04-22T11:01:00.000-07:00

Although I have helped Justin with editing the posts I have never done my own so how exciting for me ! I hope you like it!
One week left! April 30 is creeping upon us. I felt that this day would never be here and now I am so excited to see how God has orchestrated it all in his perfect timing! We know that our Lord is in control because every time we make plans he changes them and by His most amazing Grace He showers us beyond our wildest dreams with His mercies. We had planed to leave in January but He changed that to April, We had planed to be in Manila for the first month or so but now we will be heading down to Bicol our final destination right away to work at the kids camp for three weeks! So many things we can testify of God's perfect timing and we are blessed to be in the midst of it all. We hope that by reading about our lives and stories that you will take a better look around you own lives and see what He is doing in you.We want encourage you to testify of His Awesome Power! We serve a mighty God! I want to give Him all the glory for this adventure! He amazes me every day! Thank you for your prayers and for keeping in touch with us, we will miss all our family and friends greatly! God Bless
In Christ's Care, erin:)

Now Departing for the Philippines

2008-03-20T18:09:00.000-07:00

Praise God for his perfect timing. We purchased tickets last week and will be leaving for the Philippines April 30, 2008 and returning to the states February 28, 2009. Our plan is to attend language academy in Manila for a year, and Lord willing to move to Bicol to work with Pastor Dave Matthews, an American missionary who has lived in the Philippines for the past ten years and has planted and pastored San Miguel Christian Fellowship.

Since God has given us both a love for children, we are hoping to help start a full-fledged youth and Sunday school program. Many children currently attend the services and the many Bible studies throughout the island and surrounding area. Yet, there is no program designed specifically for them. With the help of God and you, our supporters, we hope to develop this program and train up native missionaries to run these ministries.

We would greatly appreciate your prayers as we prepare for and embark on this venture in faith. Remember that this is God’s ministry and all of us have a vital role in this step of faith. It is our fervent prayer that you would partner with us and take ownership of this ministry. Please do not get the idea that this is Justin and Erin’s mission. We are simply availing ourselves to God and allowing him to guide and direct our paths.

Jon "On-On" Villamor

2008-03-20T17:42:00.000-07:00

Sorry for the time it has taken to update the blog, but after three weeks of hosting we were mentally and physically drained. Of course Christmas and New Year ran upon on us quickly and here we are updating the blog nearly 5 months later. Again I apologize. After prayerfully weighing our options, we feel that God is leading us away from an adoption with Jon at this point. It is bitter sweet, as we truly love this little guy, but God has a perfect plan for us and for Jon. We praise God for the opportunity he gave us to minister to Jon and the time we had to show him the love of God. It is our hope and prayer that as we move to the Philippines we will continue to be an encouragement to him as well as the other children in his orphanage. Lord willing we will be able to go and visit a few times a month. Please pray for these precious children, that God would comfort them and give them peace as they wait for a family of their own.

Welcome Home

2007-10-31T07:15:00.000-07:00

Early this month Erin and I were given a flyer from a friend that read International Christian Adoptions; Welcome Home Program, and was plastered with pictures of orphans from the Philippines. Seeing that it mentioned the Philippines, we were immediately interested. Upon calling the number on the flyer, we received an application in the mail and had started an avalanche of new emotions and fears we had never expected.

The Welcome Home program is designed to get the word out about the thousands of children across the world that need to be adopted. This program is different than most in that you are given the opportunity not only to hear about orphans, but to actually have an orphan live in your home. After attending a short orientation meeting, we were even more eager to proceed with the program, and see how the Lord might use us. We were also a little apprehensive upon hearing that 70 percent of families that host eventually adopt. It is our hope and prayer to find this little guy a Christian home. Hopefully ours, if the Lord wills. We left this meeting with a mountain of paperwork to fill out and a seemingly insurmountable task of 32 hours of parent training, to be completed in the next two weeks. Yet as we filled out the paperwork and worked on all the parent training, it seemed like a little price to pay for the opportunity to share three weeks with Jon, and the possible adoption that could happen in the future. By God’s grace we were able to fill out all the paperwork, and are nearly done with the parent training.

The more we learn about adoption and the whole process, the more we fall in love with this little boy named Jon V. We realize more and more every day that he needs a loving home, but more importantly, he needs the love of Christ. We are anxiously awaiting his arrival. He will be arriving on Saturday November 3, and staying at our house until November 26. We have many plans for him, which include a camping trip, a trip to Disneyland, and also to spend Thanksgiving with him and our family. We would greatly appreciate your prayers and support as we prepare for Jon to come to our home, and that God would be working in our hearts and the heart of this young boy. Also that he would see the love we have for the Lord and want to experience that as well.

Tagalog 101

2007-09-26T20:54:00.000-07:00

As with any thing, good communication is always important. Even so will be our need to learn and speak the language of the Philippines. With a working knowledge of the language, we will be enabled to reach more people with the Gospel.

We have purchased a computer based Tagalog program from Rosetta Stone, and have been working through the lessons. They have been very helpful in getting us to learn vocabulary and some sentence structure. Computer lessons though are no replacement for the language and cultural immersion we will encounter when we move to Manila.

The first leg of this adventure will be language acquisition, and for the first year or so of our trip will be spent in school. We hope that this will be a time to really focus on this invaluable ministry tool. Our move to the Philippines is fast approaching and we will be starting language school next spring. The older you get the harder it gets to learn new concepts, languages are especially hard to learn. We praise God that he will never give us anything that we are not capable of. Please remember us in your prayers as we embark on this new adventure.

Expendability

2007-08-20T07:44:00.000-07:00

After watching the movie End of the Spear last year, I was eager to learn more about the life of Nate Saint, the pilot who the story follows. I purchased the book Jungle Pilot by Russell T. Hitt, which chronicles the life of Nate Saint, martyred missionary to Ecuador. After a plane crash nearly killed him Nate recorded this message as he reflected on the accident. The following is a portion of the original broadcast:

“A fact that is mixed in a very important way with our work is the thing that became commonly known during the last war (WWII) as expendability.

We know that there is only one answer when our country demands that we share in the price of freedom, yet when the Lord Jesus asks us to pay the price for evangelization, we often answer without a word. We cannot go. We say it costs too much.

Missionaries constantly face expendability. And people who do not know the Lord ask why in the world we waste our lives as missionaries. They forget that they too are expending their lives. They forget that when their lives are spent and the bubble has burst they will have nothing of eternal significance to show for the years they have wasted.” - Nate Saint

I leave you with this encouraging quote: “Expendable people are free to throw themselves recklessly into the service of their un-expendable God.” -Unknown

Ministry Opportunity in Bicol

2007-08-18T12:07:00.000-07:00

Praise God for the time of rest we have had following Vacation Bible School. We have since fully recovered, and are starting to prepare for our move with more focus and energy. We will most likely be leaving the third week of January, seeing that our lease expires on January 15, 2008. We are excited to see how God is going to use us. We are also excited about our first ministry opportunity in the Philippines. Pastor Dave Matthews, of San Miguel Christian Fellowship, recently contacted us, and asked us to prepare some short bible stories, for the children whose parents are attending the Bible studies. It is awesome that God can use us on the opposite side of the world to minister to the people of the Philippines. We thank you for all of your prayers and support.

VBS A Week In Review

2007-07-29T20:25:00.000-07:00

Thanks to the many helpers and hard work, this years vacation bible school was an overwhelming success. On Thursday, Pastor Stan delivered the gospel message, which was warmly received by the children. We had 22 children raise their hands this year, to make commitments to Christ. God truly blessed our efforts this year. Praise God, that he allows to be a part of his work.

The fund raiser for our move to the Philippines, was also a huge success. The children brought in $349.72 in spare change, with the help of a few helpers of course. We give God all the glory, for this was his VBS, and we could have done none of this without his power.

Vacation Bible School 2007

2007-07-25T16:46:00.000-07:00

Erin and I are currently in the middle of VBS at Emmanuel Baptist Church, Fallbrook. We are grateful to the Lord for all of the help we have had this year. Many hours have been spent preparing and decorating for this week. Erin is the director this year, and also wrote the entire curriculum. God's Garden is our theme, and the kids are learning about the Fruit of the Spirit, found in Galatians 5:22-23. I am the co-director, taxi driver and the whatever needs to happen man. Every year we collect change to help support missionaries, and this year our pastor has decided to give it to two out bound missionaries to the Philippines. Praise God for our very first supporters. We are grateful to God for the opportunity to serve our community through VBS.

Manila in January, June 26, 2007

2007-06-26T12:47:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends and family for the last five years Erin and I have been praying about the possibility of becoming full time missionaries to the Philippines. We are pleased to announce that this coming January we will be moving to the Philippines. We will be attending language academy in the capital city Manila, for a year or so, then moving down south to work with Dave Matthews. He is the founder and pastor of San Miguel Christian Fellowship. Please pray for us as we prepare for this move.