Touching hearts & changing lives...

Hey everyone,
This is Taylor. Thank you for your patience. Sorry I haven't been writing in this as much as I had planned to, but our schedule is so packed all the time so it's hard to find the time.
Here's an overview of our ministry for the last one & a half weeks-

A lot has happened in Davao so far, it's been such a rewarding experience. We took over a youth ministry with over 300 people and did the "Everything" skit and Kaitlin did an amazing job with her testimony, the crowd was really responsive and they enjoyed it.
We also did a prostitute ministry and that was really intense, it was good to reach out to them and I definitely think we planted some seeds but to that first hand was so difficult for all of us. It was so devastating to see these girls as young as 16 selling their bodies for money. We prayed over them and afterwards 2 of them gave me their phone number so hopefully we'll be able to help them.
We went to Agdao, which is a really poor slum area in Davao. They have a youth night and so before the ministry time we went out and invited young people to come and watch. About 30 people came and we did the "Everything" skit which had a really huge impact on them. Britton & Rangi shared their testimonies and you could tell a lot of the people could relate to it. After all of that we had small groups and it was awesome how open all of them were, they really shared their hearts with us and we left there feeling like we had accomplished a lot and helped shape a better view of God for them.
We went to a home for physically and sexually abused girls, it was so touching. The moment we walked in we could feel the Holy Spirit and good vibes in the room. The girls were between the ages of 4-18 and they were all so beautiful and full of life. When we walked in they sang a christmas song to us, and I went to the front and shared a short testimony of my life and sang them a song. Saila also gave a short testimony of her life and spoke encouragement and wisdom over them. Kaitlin went up to the front and just told them how beautiful they all were. Kaitlin and I had baked cookies for the girls the night before so we handed those out, and then we had small groups. It hurt my heart to hear their stories and to hear about their abusers and the difficult things they have been through at such a young age. After that we asked them what they want for Christmas and then when we left we bought them Christmas presents. We go back tomorrow for their family day and to give them the gifts.
We also took over a youth ministry for supported teens. Tristan and I led worship and it was awesome, we all really felt the Holy Spirit while we were worshiping and everyone knew most of the songs. So Jin, Britton, and I shared our testimonies, it's tough because we have a translator while we're speaking, but I believe that each of our testimonies really touched someones their hearts. We did the "Everything" skit and after that Zach shared an overview of his testimony and did an altercall and everyone came up to the front! There were about 20 people between the ages of 14-19. God gave me a specific word for this one girl before I even talked to her, and I felt like I should ask about her mom. She said that her mom is an alcoholic and treats her really badly, I was able to pray over her and she gave me her phone number afterwards. It was a really powerful and impacting time of ministry.
There's many other ministries we've done this week but I just spoke on the ones that stuck out to me the most. Other people will contribute to the blog as well so you'll be able to get different perspectives of what we're doing.
We have all enjoyed having Josh with us this week, he brings such unity and we all have a lot of fun together. We'll miss him but we're glad for the Manila team to have him for a few days.

Favorite thing from this week: mango shake, having a generous heart, making children smile
Least favorite thing from this week: Josh leaving :(

Davao ministry

Time flies... we've been here for almost a week now. Visiting different ministries with children and youth mainly, schools, churches and streets. The base is very hospitable and the facility old but good. We have some geckos running around and girls had rats in their room, but by the grace of God all things just cause us to grow. Tonight we went to do our drama and testimonies at a big youth meeting, around 350 people. It was really powerful! Afterwards we went ope-air-evangelizing, just spoke with different people in a park and the Lord moved, the one who is mighty to save! 10 young people; 8 guys and 2 girls came to Christ after we spoke with this group who were all dancers ages 15-17. It was one of those unreal moments when you just realize we are dealing with supernatural things... what would cause a bunch of teenagers listen to story about virgin birth of Jesus, actually all the way from creation because they didn't know much, to the cross and the Holy Spirit? If it wasn't for God and eternity in their hearts. They all prayed for forgiveness of their sin and it's so awesome to think about teh fact that God just uses us even if we are not feeling like what we say makes sence. All glory to the faithful one! I'm so proud of this team, I'm sure there are a lot more testimonies with other team members and one day in heaven we will know the full story. :-) prayers make all the difference.

Arriving in Manilla..

Sunday, November 30

After a full day of travel with 3 different flights, the last one being 10 hours long we finally arrived in Manilla on Thursday around 10 p.m. We arrived at the YWAM base in Manilla and all passed out right away. We woke up at 6 a.m. the next day and found that we only had 2 showers to be shared between 17 people, and the only water temperature we get is cold.

We have breakfast at 7 a.m. every morning, so we ate breakfast and then proceeded to orientation. Mitch & Fidel de Castro gave us some basic information and tips for living in the Philippines. We were then split into teams for the Amazing Race, the teams were:

Saila, Rangi, Zach, Kaitlin, Alana

Michelle, Brittany, Bryan, Ahruem

Taylor, Britton, Tristan, So Jin

Kelly, Gram, Rene, Jordan

We were all given Filipino guides & we left promptly at 9 a.m. to begin the adventure. We had to take a jeepney, which is the most popular means of transportation in the Philippines. We traveled all over the Philippines, seeing some of the richer areas as well as the poorer places. It's insane how they have the slums right next to the wealthy areas.

Today we went to church, and ironically the pastor is from Austin, Texas. We also went to the most hectic & busy mall I've ever seen. It had 4 levels and we all got lost in it quite a few times. You would think they were having a dance party because the music is so loud. Luckily, they had the best comfort of home: Starbucks  :). The sizes are very different here, and most of us have to wear at least XL to fit into the clothes. The weather is very humid and hot, it rains once a day so that helps to cool it off a bit. 

Our whole team is bonding so much here, and we're all sad to split when our group goes to Davao and the other stays in Manilla. The people are very friendly and hospitable here. The food is pretty good too, today we ate fish with the heads still on them but they were delicious. We also have rice at every meal including breakfast, this morning was eggs & rice. 

Tomorrow we'll be practicing dramas & skits for the ministry.

More later...

God bless,

Taylor