Fertile Soil

Ministry back with YWAM has been an encouraging experience for me these past couple of days. It was such a good training ground for me when I was 18 and 19 as well as when I went to college at their university. The ministry is full of people who are living on faith. That provides some pretty good soil for the Lord to work with, and He does.

The work that this YWAM base is doing in Cagayan de Oro is nothing short of amazing. Yesterday we visited the squatter area near the base. The YWAMers started a ministry here by introducing themselves to the parents in this neighborhood and inviting their children to a Bible Study. They started with seven kids. As the children went home with their Bible stories and values training they started to have an impact on their parents. In one case a little girl kept kindly correcting her dad every time he swore. The father went to the YWAMers and told them he needed Jesus. A few of the moms also approached the YWAM team and asked why only the children got to have the Bible studies, so separate meetings were scheduled for men, women and teens.

Today the ministry has grown. Sponsorships have been developed for the children that helps cover education, clothing, medical and some nutritional needs. The sponsorships cost just $80 per child for a year. The children write their sponsors twice a year and the base provides pictures and updates so the sponsors can keep up with the progress of their sponsored child. More than 70 children now attend the Bible study each week. A good portion of them are in the sponsorship program; others are still waiting.

There are also 70 teens attending their meeting, 40 women and 40 men attending their classes as well. It really is the making of a church with 230 members already in existence. But here is the rub, YWAM isn’t a denomination and doesn’t plant churches. This base has done an incredible job working with the local churches and pastors, in fact my friend Rudy sits on the ministerial board here in the city. A group of at least 12 pastors every morning meet at city hall to pray over the city. However, none of them have stepped up to plant a church in this neighborhood yet and these people don’t have the resources to travel very far to a church. They need one close enough to walk to. I feel like Joshua, spying out the land. There is no Vineyard in Cagayan, but there so easily could be.

We spent the evening in the city market place. First we did a prayer walk, praying for the upcoming elections, for the city officials, for justice, for the children and the prostitutes. We then went to the night market that is open from 5pm Friday night till 5am Sunday morning each weekend. Here we met the street kids that YWAM is working with. They feed about 25 of them every day, having rented out an office space where the children can sleep during the heat of the day, get a meal, a shower and some Bible training. Six of these kids have been sponsored to go to school. Even though they live on the street they are doing extremely well with their education and the teachers say they are working hard. One young man that we met is now 19 years old. He is now getting ready to start the 6th grade. That he is older than all of the other students is not an issue to him. He is so excited to get a chance to learn he is making the most of the opportunity. His face lit up last night when he saw our team from the US so he could try his English out on us.

Today we are going to a boys home and this afternoon to a fourth area where this base has established a ministry among the needy. The gospel is flourishing in this soil and it is a privilege for us to watch it grow.

The students are doing well. It worked out for us to spend Thursday morning on the beach before we traveled to Cagayan. We took a short boat trip to get to the beautiful vacation spot for the Filipinos called Paradise Beach.


Everyone had a blast! However, the only thing I asked the students was not to get sun burned, which was the very direction they neglected to follow. Their exposure to the sun left them dehydrated, hot and irritable and when I stuffed them into a van for a eight hour ride across the middle of the Island they were none to happy. By the time we arrived at the base they literally sprawled out on the cool tile floor in the large meeting room while the YWAM staff prepared some rooms for us. We looked nothing short of Ugly Americans with bright red skin.

After a full night of sleep, some sunburn ointment and lots of water they students made their way to the breakfast table and then to our team gathering. We had what we call a “Come to Jesus Meeting,” which means there is some repenting to do. They took responsibility of their selfishness and pride and we raised the character bar again. I am proud to say the remainder of the day looked much, much different as they focused their attention on others, made new friends, and participated in the ministry opportunities that were given to them.

Personally, I am having the time of my life catching up with Rudy. He rode in our van with us part of the way to Cagayan from Davao. We sat for hours in a little, white van cutting across this Island of Mindanao talking about the glory days of doing similar travel, in a similar vehicle, over 20 years ago. This road across the middle of the island didn’t exist in its present form then, it was more of a dirt path. Now it is a great, two-lane highway over the mountains. It was one of the most beautiful mountain passes I have ever driven over.

Rudy’s wife and family are beautiful, two boys (2 & 11) and a girl that is Kona’s age. They have been blessed with a home near the YWAM base and it is the location of all the Bible studies for the neighborhood. His wife, Nitz, is an amazing leader herself. She led us through the squatter area yesterday and it is obvious that she has been given favor here and is spending it appropriately for the Kingdom. I had asked her in an email before we left Boise if there was anything I could bring her from our place. She told me that she loves good coffee and wondered if I could bring some. When I gave her the two pounds from Dawson Taylor she smiled like it was Christmas. I know exactly how she feels. This visit to see Rudy and Nitz is a gift.