Wednesday, January 31, 2007
Pictures from the Philippines
Here are three photos: the first is me leading worship for a joint youth fellowship in Tabuk (where youth leaders and members from many different churches come together). After the worship, I spoke a message on healing the broken-hearted and the sick.The second picture is of the people that came out for the night meeting near Sacpil. It is a place in the mountains, in the wilderness almost, where you need a 4-wheel drive vehicle to get to via the bumpy dirt road. The people were really hungry for God!
And the third picture is of me preaching in that church near Sacpil, with Pastor Robin translating. Right now, I am having a good time in Baguio. Had a powerful meeting last night! Praise the Lord.
Monday, January 29, 2007
Safe arrival in Baguio
Yesterday evening I got into the city of Baguio safely. Rod drove and we got here around 6 pm, in time for a youth worship devotion gathering, with my friend David Mayyam and his pastor friends. It was a good meeting and I trust that the Lord stirred up some new things in the listener's hearts. I'll be in Baguio with Rod until Friday, and ministering with David and his worship friends. Then Rod will drive me back down to Manila Friday night for my flight to Taiwan Saturday morning. I am hoping to relax and wind down more during the rest of my time here in the Philippines. This past weekend was a great time of ministry for me, as it was my last few days in Tabuk before I came here to Baguio. I have to say that my time in Tabuk was extremely fruitful, both in ministering to the people and building relationships. God is wonderful!
An update on Pastor Robin's health. He is feeling much better now when I left Tabuk. He could get up and walk around and talk normally now. But it was obvious that his strength was not completely back yet, and so he still needs to rest much this week. Cheryl did got him some medicine to take. Thank you for all your prayers, and please continue to keep him in prayer. Also thank you for praying for me as well, and keep praying for me so I can finish strong here in the Philippines. Taiwan will be another ministry challenge, but I know God is in control. Praise Him!
An update on Pastor Robin's health. He is feeling much better now when I left Tabuk. He could get up and walk around and talk normally now. But it was obvious that his strength was not completely back yet, and so he still needs to rest much this week. Cheryl did got him some medicine to take. Thank you for all your prayers, and please continue to keep him in prayer. Also thank you for praying for me as well, and keep praying for me so I can finish strong here in the Philippines. Taiwan will be another ministry challenge, but I know God is in control. Praise Him!
Friday, January 26, 2007
Urgent prayer needed for Pastor Robin!
I have an urgent prayer request here in the Philippines for Pastor
Robin. We think he had a heart attack in the house last night. He
woke up in the middle of the night with chest pains and could hardly
breathe. Rod, Cheryl and others prayed through the night for him and
he is feeling a little bit better now. Still he could barely talk to
us right now, and is resting. I had some healing soaking prayer mp3s
with me on my computer and he listened to it this morning. Please
pray for Pastor Robin's healing and recovery. I believe that he will
be healed! Rod and Cheryl told me that a few years ago he had a heart
attack and it was also through prayer that he recovered. His older
brother Pastor Pepe also has had heart problems, so this seems to be a
generational ailment in the family. Please pray that this condition
will be completely broken in this family, and that only fullness of
health will be passed on to future generations.
It is sobering for me to think that Pastor Robin could have died last
night....I just speak life into him right now in Jesus' name. Amen!
on another note, I'm doing well here in the Philippines, my health is
good. I'll be preaching thissunday, and on Monday we'll be heading to Baguio to meet up with David Mayyam.
Robin. We think he had a heart attack in the house last night. He
woke up in the middle of the night with chest pains and could hardly
breathe. Rod, Cheryl and others prayed through the night for him and
he is feeling a little bit better now. Still he could barely talk to
us right now, and is resting. I had some healing soaking prayer mp3s
with me on my computer and he listened to it this morning. Please
pray for Pastor Robin's healing and recovery. I believe that he will
be healed! Rod and Cheryl told me that a few years ago he had a heart
attack and it was also through prayer that he recovered. His older
brother Pastor Pepe also has had heart problems, so this seems to be a
generational ailment in the family. Please pray that this condition
will be completely broken in this family, and that only fullness of
health will be passed on to future generations.
It is sobering for me to think that Pastor Robin could have died last
night....I just speak life into him right now in Jesus' name. Amen!
on another note, I'm doing well here in the Philippines, my health is
good. I'll be preaching thissunday, and on Monday we'll be heading to Baguio to meet up with David Mayyam.
Thursday, January 25, 2007
finally, 1st post in the Philippines
Hi, I was having trouble posting earlier this week at the internet "cafe" here in the Philippines, because one of the computer couldn't run blogger.com on it's old internet browser. I'm at a different computer now with the Firefo browser so I can post!
I just got back from Sacpil earlier today. We were at a church near Sacpil, which is sort of like in the middle of a tropical jungle in the mountains. the only access is a dirt road that turns to mud in the rain. we were there for a couple nights doing crusade meetings at night and worship and prayer seminar in the day time. It was a great experience! I did lots of worship on the violin, and sang a couple of my own songs on guitar! We also did the Hug song. Yay! I also preached both nights of the crusade and twice in the daytime seminar. Pastor Robin also preached in the seminar. the turnout was really good and people were touched by the Lord. I'll write more about it later!
tomorrow will be a rest day...and then I'll be getting ready for the ministry this weekend. thanks for all your prayers! and please continue praying for me still. I need it very much! I'll try to post again soon. My health is good. Praise God.
I just got back from Sacpil earlier today. We were at a church near Sacpil, which is sort of like in the middle of a tropical jungle in the mountains. the only access is a dirt road that turns to mud in the rain. we were there for a couple nights doing crusade meetings at night and worship and prayer seminar in the day time. It was a great experience! I did lots of worship on the violin, and sang a couple of my own songs on guitar! We also did the Hug song. Yay! I also preached both nights of the crusade and twice in the daytime seminar. Pastor Robin also preached in the seminar. the turnout was really good and people were touched by the Lord. I'll write more about it later!
tomorrow will be a rest day...and then I'll be getting ready for the ministry this weekend. thanks for all your prayers! and please continue praying for me still. I need it very much! I'll try to post again soon. My health is good. Praise God.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Ready to fly!
I'm only hours away from flying towards the Philippines on my mission trip. I'll fly first to LA, and meet up with my mom for dinner at the airport, before transfering to China Airlines for my flight to Taipei, and then, I'll board another flight from Taipei to Manila. You can pray for me for safe and smooth travels, with all luggages transferring nicely along with me on every flight. Thanks! Hopefully, I'll be able to blog a post on here once I arrive safely in the Philippines. Stay tuned.
(If you haven't read my Philippines / Taiwan missions prayer letter yet, you can view it by clicking here)
(If you haven't read my Philippines / Taiwan missions prayer letter yet, you can view it by clicking here)
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Miraculous protection from accident this weekend!
Below is the email that I sent out to my friends and family last night, detailing the incident that occurred earlier that day.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear friends and family,
God did a miracle for us today! (by "us" I mean me and my friend Lindsay) We are just so incredibly thankful to be alive and well, because we had an incident on the highway around noon today that was just "scary."
Here is my account of what happened...
I was driving on the freeway today with my friend Lindsay and the roads were a bit slick, due to the snowstorm we had a couple days ago. but the main routes were mostly fine (because of the heavy traffic on the weekdays). But what happened was that a car suddenly swerved into my lane, as I was right next to it. Lindsay gasped and I immediately swerved left so my car wouldn't be hit. As I swerved left my car started to spin and I didn't have control of the vehicle anymore. it was spinning towards the left median wall and I turned the steering wheel to the right, the car then swerved to the right and spun that way...I still couldn't get control of the car on the steering wheel, so I turned the steering wheel again to the left and the car slid to a
complete stop in the middle of the freeway, perpendicular to the flow of traffic.
Both Lindsay and I were stunned by the turn of event, and we were totally surprised that we didn't hit anything or get hit by another car. The cars behind us saw us spinning and they all stopped on the
freeway.
Snapping out of my shock, I stepped on the gas pedal to see if my car is still working and driveable. It was. I slowly turned the steering wheel to face the right direction, and picked up speed. The car was
totally fine, and we both breathed a sigh of relief and praised God for this miracle. The cars behind us saw that we were ok, and they started to move again as we moved. It was totally supernatural
protection from God!
Strangely enough, I can testify to that while we were spinning on the freeway, and bracing for possible impact, I had a supernatural peace about me, and I didn't panic and slam on the brake at all. If I had
stepped on the brake while the car was out of control, the cars behind us would probably had hit us, and we might even have flipped over, because the momentum of the car was so strong. The car stopped by
itself as it was going sideways, and I never did once step on the brakes.
It was incredible to think, in hindsight, that how both of us could have been seriously injured, even unto death, if we had collided with the center "wall" or another vehicle. (and the passengers in the other vehicle might have gotten hurt as well) Even if we did not suffer injury my car could have been damaged severely. And then you can think of all the implications with the parademics coming, the police cars coming, and the insurance company stuff, which would have caused lots of issues, with me planning to leave for the Philippines in a few days. Praise God that none of it happened, and that both us and the car came away totally fine. Praise Jesus!
Right before we started driving, I had said a quick prayer for protection before we left my driveway. (it had been my habit to say a quick prayer before every drive, since I had a serious accident in California years ago) We all knew that most residential roads were icy but the main roads were fine. So I was praying more for protection on the residential roads, but I did pray for overall safety and protection as we drove, and God send his angels to keep us out of harm's way.
I have also been meditating on Psalm 91 this past year, and this was definitely a Psalm 91 moment for me!
So this was truly a miracle, a testimony of God's supernatural protection. Praise the Lord!
feel free to forward this testimony to others as well,
God bless!
~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dear friends and family,
God did a miracle for us today! (by "us" I mean me and my friend Lindsay) We are just so incredibly thankful to be alive and well, because we had an incident on the highway around noon today that was just "scary."
Here is my account of what happened...
I was driving on the freeway today with my friend Lindsay and the roads were a bit slick, due to the snowstorm we had a couple days ago. but the main routes were mostly fine (because of the heavy traffic on the weekdays). But what happened was that a car suddenly swerved into my lane, as I was right next to it. Lindsay gasped and I immediately swerved left so my car wouldn't be hit. As I swerved left my car started to spin and I didn't have control of the vehicle anymore. it was spinning towards the left median wall and I turned the steering wheel to the right, the car then swerved to the right and spun that way...I still couldn't get control of the car on the steering wheel, so I turned the steering wheel again to the left and the car slid to a
complete stop in the middle of the freeway, perpendicular to the flow of traffic.
Both Lindsay and I were stunned by the turn of event, and we were totally surprised that we didn't hit anything or get hit by another car. The cars behind us saw us spinning and they all stopped on the
freeway.
Snapping out of my shock, I stepped on the gas pedal to see if my car is still working and driveable. It was. I slowly turned the steering wheel to face the right direction, and picked up speed. The car was
totally fine, and we both breathed a sigh of relief and praised God for this miracle. The cars behind us saw that we were ok, and they started to move again as we moved. It was totally supernatural
protection from God!
Strangely enough, I can testify to that while we were spinning on the freeway, and bracing for possible impact, I had a supernatural peace about me, and I didn't panic and slam on the brake at all. If I had
stepped on the brake while the car was out of control, the cars behind us would probably had hit us, and we might even have flipped over, because the momentum of the car was so strong. The car stopped by
itself as it was going sideways, and I never did once step on the brakes.
It was incredible to think, in hindsight, that how both of us could have been seriously injured, even unto death, if we had collided with the center "wall" or another vehicle. (and the passengers in the other vehicle might have gotten hurt as well) Even if we did not suffer injury my car could have been damaged severely. And then you can think of all the implications with the parademics coming, the police cars coming, and the insurance company stuff, which would have caused lots of issues, with me planning to leave for the Philippines in a few days. Praise God that none of it happened, and that both us and the car came away totally fine. Praise Jesus!
Right before we started driving, I had said a quick prayer for protection before we left my driveway. (it had been my habit to say a quick prayer before every drive, since I had a serious accident in California years ago) We all knew that most residential roads were icy but the main roads were fine. So I was praying more for protection on the residential roads, but I did pray for overall safety and protection as we drove, and God send his angels to keep us out of harm's way.
I have also been meditating on Psalm 91 this past year, and this was definitely a Psalm 91 moment for me!
So this was truly a miracle, a testimony of God's supernatural protection. Praise the Lord!
feel free to forward this testimony to others as well,
God bless!
Friday, January 12, 2007
24/7 worship & prayer this week in Seattle
Earlier today I went to "Deep calls unto deep," a prayer and worship initiative sponsored by the Circle of Worship ministry, held at St. Luke's church. It is 7 straight days of 24 hours seeking the Lord. Let's pray for a mighty spiritual breakthrough in Seattle this year!
Friday, January 05, 2007
Philippines / Tw mission prayer letter
I'll be heading off to the Philippines in 2 weeks for ministry. You can read all the detailed info in my prayer letter, by clicking on the title link above.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
Photos from Crystal Cathedral
Here are a few pictures from Crystal Cathedral on Christmas day, 2006, where my family went to hang out in Orange County, California. Though most of us have been there before, my brother Gideon's wife Julia hasn't. The building is still impressive to look at, as you can see in these shots. The people in the second picture are Gid, Julia (holding hands), my mom, and my dad. And the last picture is a nice view of water fountains (I'm always fascinated by fountains!)
I've added more new pictures to my "Photo Gallery," which you can access by clicking the link above. It has new photos of Yosemite and Monterey Bay. Enjoy!
Monday, January 01, 2007
Happy New Year 2007!
I just got back from California yesterday, on New Year's Eve. This past week was pretty packed. From spending Christmas with family and friends, to going on a road trip to Yosemite and Monterey Bay, hanging out with my old worship buddy Dave Byron in San Bruno, and ending up in Palo Alto for my old roommate Kenneth's wedding. Finally, I'm back in Bellevue, WA, with a day of rest on New Year's day, spending some time with the Lord, and reflecting on the past year, and looking forward into the future. Thank God for His faithfulness, and all His blessings!
I'll be heading to the Philippines in a couple weeks for my first ministry trip of the year. Please keep me in your prayers. Thanks!
I'll be heading to the Philippines in a couple weeks for my first ministry trip of the year. Please keep me in your prayers. Thanks!
