The last week

Hi from Samar, from Jayce, Lee, Pip, Jeremy, Hyewon, Jessica & Grace. This half of the big team.

It's the first time some of us have been together at all on outreach as a team.. (I'm not counting COR in Hong Kong... months ago)... but post HK, Pip & myself havent been with Jeremy & Jessica as our team leaders... or Hyewon or visa versa... so it's a week ahead we're all looking forward too... I think?! :-) It's sound for me to be back with Jayce again in a team... he's a solid... & grounded geeza of God!

...and... its arrived... the last few days of our last week of outreach ... I've not got much time in this internet cafe but realy wanted to stick a couple of pics up for now...

YWAMCalabayog... Samar, they have been awesome... they are seriously hospitable, like they are so servant hearted all of them... welcoming us all, making us literally at home, and putting on a welcome party the eve we arrived with awesome food! The next day... orientation... its usually predictably dull but necessary, no disrespect to any base yet... but these ladies... they're just full of mischief... they split us in half (not accurately, to prevent serious injury to one poor team member) & sent us out in 2 teams on a treasure hunt thing in their town, following written clues etc... it was pouring with rain... we got drenched... who cares, we were all loving the freedom & the fun... and to top it all off... it ended... (as perhaps all respectable orientations should)... in a local coffee shop for a minimum of 2 hours to enable them to prep the evening meal for us... like I said... they're good...

We arrived... in the torrential rain. The big old ferry that took us the 13 hours from Cebu to Samar, parked up... way out in the ocean... and to our amusement a small wooden boat came out to meet us. I guess the waters too shallow for the ferry? Anyway... the instructions came, someone shouting into the communal dorm... "disembark passengers!"... "OK... where's the passenger exit?" a small door... high level... it's gonna take some time to empty but... where's this door... guys, just go with the flow of other passengers... ......... no small door... every ones heading down... hang on this is the cargo deck... hello... that's the cargo door... that's the ocean... just 2ft lower & lapping against the floor of the ferry - mid ocean we boarded the small wooden boat... we waited until it had ferried 1 previous load of passengers to shore, a 30 odd minute journey, and then we staggered aboard via the highly stable 12" scaffold plank... sorry "walk way" over the middle of the ocean... made us smile.... we love Asia.

So our arrival went pretty sweet... no drownings... no swamped ferries... no dropped & therefore "sunk forever" bags or most importantly no loss of balance on "The Plank"! Jenean you would have loved it... perhaps you're having your own pirate-esque adventure?

Had we lost our balance...............






............ we might all have looked like this... ...

...zero luggage... lost clothing - from the possible shark frenzy ...and crowned in weed... some might say "a good day out!"

anyway...

...the next few days brought more adventure, another small boat trip to a remote island to see the local community there... to perform the skits... dances... songs.. and bring the good news to a village on the shore of a huge coconut tree clad hill... that best describes the island. It was a great boat ride... with "Pastor Meads" the boat captain on the right and his friend who is the Pastor for the islanders... he was once a street kid with leprosy... God healed him of that though.
Both really sound guys... to the point it's worth pointing out as a special note!
Half way across and the rain came.... I think God had been saving this one up for us all... did it rain! For me, and for Pastor Meads with a similar love for creation, & our WILD Creator, it was a gift! All views vanished, the islands vanished from sight... heck no one could see further than 20 feet out to sea... It was awesome!... lasted about 20 Min's, and then the sun, for once, came out to brighten things up a lot... for those of us who were sitting on the front deck bit & not under the tarpaulin roof shelter on the boat... the fishing net "pit" made a good but amusingly ineffective squall shelter... to be honest, I'd been wrestling with some God stuff & still was... I'd had a huge life revelation just a few days before and I was excited to see God in His Wildness and Raw-ness... and His un-tamed creation turn up... speaking for myself... I had no intention of hiding from that experience ... His rain literally washed some more rubbish away in my soul that day... & lifted me... that's for sure... thank you Jesus for your storms... another small way you restore me!

We enjoyed some games with the kids and the adults there as an ice breaker... we split into teams and did "The great race" basically running around this strange island village doing tasks at check points and following clue like instructions for the next place to find... tricky when you've never been there before! :-) it involved things like carrying bags of sand, shooting basket ball hoops... and my favorite (not!) stripping the husk off of an old brown coconut with our teeth... and they were strict... you HAD to do it and complete it... with your teeth before you could move on.... & it flippin' hurts! That eve we visited the island church... got involved in the CRAZY praise and worship... they jump, dance, shout, sing, clap, scream, trip over, fall over chairs... they really loose themselves in worship... we loved it! Then later Grace was asked to bring God's word for the service and delivered an awesome Holy Spirit led message...

check out our sun set that eve...

...and the next morning we woke up to this view at the village edge...

Spot Pip :-) among some kids in the village... Jeremy and Jayce looking hot after the race...

...we traveled back the next day and prepared for the rest of the day with ministry in the evening...

Our week (now only a day left to go) here has been challenging but awesome... a mix of street ministry, with kids, teenagers and adults... open airs ...church meets... sometimes us running programs once or twice a day for around an hour followed by free for all prayer... we've seen many people young and old make commitments of faith and it's been a real privilege in our last week to be a part of that and to pray with these guys for their needs... a few days ago, in a real poor & broken community, many children who right there and then, "believe", will minutes later will be laying hands on their friends and family and asking Jesus for healings... this season in all our lives is a privilege not a costly sacrifice.

I'm out of time... this has taken me a ridiculous 187 minutes and my eyes are stinging! ...I'm in a roasting hot Internet cafe... with a random guy sitting next to me ...no nearly on me... talking out loud to himself at full volume... in a language I can't understand... while he uses his terminal... random kids staring over my shoulder for minutes at a time to see what I'm up to and it's STILL pouring with rain outside... so, I have to go... enjoy some pics... we're all doing well on this half of the team... bye from Me, Pip, Hyewon, Jayce, Grace, Jess & Jeremy.

Man they smile when the food comes after some programs... it's great to see!

Jayce improvises at the drop of a hat on someone else's electric guitar, to Grace singing with her incredible voice... amazing guys!

Jayce and knives... not a combination that comes to mind readily... but look at the grin... I think he likes! We were both sure this shop will never been robbed... neither would you seek refuge here in a hurricane.

Jeremy takes drama seriously... he's getting into character well before we act out the "David and Goliath" story... even others around look impressed... nice one mate...

...meanwhile... Jess, Pip and Grace warm up the Philistine hoards on the opposite hill to the Israeli army to the left... a fine body of... err... random kids...

aah... here he goes... did some one warn Jayce that Jeremy really looses it...
... naa ... I guess not?

...that was either the time someone caught me on photo at a very bad time... just before I lost it... having been told to solo dance again 'cos it wasn't good enough the first time and the kids are complaining and refusing to clap....
or...
...it's just an awkward photo of a very innocent moment in the "Stinky Blob" skit... where I have to pretend to fart on the childrens heads repeatedly trying to make them my friend...before Jesus came and accepted me for who I am .... either way ... I think the face could be excused...


This half of the team for the last week or so of outreach... with Pastor Meds, his family and church friends on the island...

"Archie" with Pip after praying in the rain... some of the team had prayed with Archie
and he felt God's Holy Spirit touch him... he was wobbling and smiling and crying ...and just enjoying the experience I think! :-)

Ahh... Nokia, connecting people... smile Jayce...

...80 years old... hard life... and today he chooses to believe!


Hyewon... praying with some girls in a suburb of Calabayog... Samar... she has a real gift just be-friending people... and she's great with these kids, if you know Hyewon... you may know what I mean.. she's awesome!

...it's 25 - 30 degrees, but the dressing gown helps with Frances' rhemitism ... its raining loads here and he's feeling the cold...

YWAM Balut - we're in the Phillipines!

Nathan was excited to feel the effect of a pedestal fan on his hand...

Arrival...

Well, we've arrived in Balut... and with some culture shock thrown in as well for good measure... I think in reality, most of us would have felt some culture shock arriving, but for some it was visible on faces & in quiet reflective body language... The journey here by air went smoothly... (To wilbys and my dissapointment!) 2 hours or so from Hong Kong... and then another 2 Hours, some in the base mini van and some in a Jeepnee... the local taxi cab here. Lucy, Jake, THE Canadian - Ben, me, Pip, Hye Won & Nathan were in the crazy old Jeepnee with the baggage for the team and all the others... Virmz, Jayce, Ashley, Carolyn, Jessica, Jeremy, Naomi, Richard, Miriam & Ben followed in salubrious transport to the rear... (by that I just mean it had closing windows and AC :-) ... Jenean was still in Hong Kong!... all alone... no doubt pining for us all... YEAH RIGHT... she'd stayed back to get her passport officially added to... blank pages wise... we all advised her against the "un-officially" option...

Our 2 hour journey in the Jeepnee was kinda cool, pretty un-comfy, seriously noisy... holding onto bags so they didn't spill out the truck sides mid corner... and within 20 mins, each of us dripping with sweat and with sore butts, headaches and watering eyes... The streets here are hot, humid & manic... full of trucks, the odd horse cart and loads'a Jeepnee's and our taxi was belching out some thick ...chewable black smoke... even with the side canvas' rolled up to get some air in and blow some smoke out - we were pretty much sitting in a diesel gas tent... "...fancy some carbon monoxide sir...? ...any opportunity for a quick swig of outside air and oxygen was gratefully and humorously received... it was poring with rain, adding to the visual experience as we drove along... from families living in tin shacks on the roadside... to teenage truck mechanics laying in mud & ankle deep black water... welding on the roadside... it was a visual and nasal overload and slowly sinking in... at one point 3 beautiful young girls ran to the rear door of our taxi and climbed on in some bad traffic... they were so sweet but had come from playing in a roadside sewage ditch and it was all over their arms... for all I'm sure except Virmz & Richard, that this was gonna be a whole lot different for the next 6 weeks!

Arriving at YWAM Balut, we were welcomed and settled in fast before, that evening, they laid on some full on entertainment with cultural dances and" have a go" challenges + a full on "Pig roast" for us and a few other visitors here... seriously it was GOOD FOOD and good fun!...and a welcome break from all the culture shock for a few hours... just looking around at our faces, some of us were wrestling with it that day... Gods call has brought us to what "looks like" a hard & intimidating environment... but... is it really?


He who is in charge knows what we're stepping into & what's to come for each of us... none of which is too much for any of us to deal with if we lean on Him... all the teaching... all the character development, everything before now is being drawn on... but daily we need His strength... sounds nice... heard it said uncountable times... but in these environments, thin rubber hitting pot holed dirty road... while nearly every day God touches another nerve in our own growth... it becomes a REALity, not an optional extra if we can remember to or feel like it... it's the first thing on our minds as we open our eyes in the morning, as we step into the mini bus, as we stand in front of hundreds of hardened souls on the streets of a poverty driven community... as we do things daily we've perhaps never done or prepared for before... as we stare into the eyes of the broken hearted and later hold children crippled by deformity and brain abnormalities... if we weren't getting His help we'd be a good example of "foolish"... apart from Him, we can do nothing... it's in the Bible somewhere! It's not just a good read... its REAL.


We split into two teams for ministry over the next 14 or so days... and we... (Jenean, Naomi, me, Pip, Nathan, Lucy & Ashley accompanied by the Lowe family) stayed here in Balut... while Ben, Jayce, Jeremy, Carolyn, Hye Won, Jess & Grace prepared to go to Cavite... Jenean joined us the following eve before we all split with her own cool stories from her arrival...
-"When I left the airport terminal I couldn't see Virmz... so after a little bit of time passing I thought - Oh CROW... now what do I do? ...LORD help me find Virmz! So I went to call him on the phone... well... they only took Pesos! So I asked a lady at the tourist info place where I can get some cash for the phone... she said "go back inside the airport upstairs to the exchange." On my way to do that 2 guards stopped me and asked me why I was going back that way - so I told them what I was up to... then they just said "you don't need to" and one of them gave me the money and even made sure the call worked for me and everything! It made me wonder if anyone else in other countries would do that? Hmm... I don't know!

Day 2

Were all good... and really close working as a team... quiet times are scarce here because of the schedule but we're all looking forward to what God has in store here... most days, looking ahead for us here in Balut, have 6 or 7 hour ministry each day with worship and team time laced in between. Quiet reflection time is becoming precious to each of us... and hard to keep among the distractions

Orientation took us out and about... into the housing development here on The Smokey Mountain and to the new dump site... the base is a stones throw from the duump. We'd heard about it... been briefed about it... nothing helped to swallow the sight of it... or the smell... or the reality of children working on it... it's just alien to even our imaginations!


Families live on here... and its BAD! Years of garbage... of every kind... makes up the floor and in some parts, its so deep, it's the walls as well! People just search all day... and all night for rubbish they can sell on to who ever... its re-cycling at it cruedest and saddest form.
Sobering to think people live, sleep and work here, it stinks as you'd expect...

Christmas Outreach Purple Team!

We were split into two teams for Christmas outreach so here is an overview of the purple team, including Carolyn (me), Lucy, Ashley, Jenean, Naomi, Ben, Jayce, Virmz and David. We were cast into different roles for the dramas and dances.




The first drama was called Love of the King, it was a really moving portrayal of God creating the Earth, Angels and Humans, Satan rebelling, man falling, Jesus dying and rising from the dead and then giving men who responding clean hearts. Ben was cast into the role of the King Jesus, he was amazing at it, he made me cry a few times which is an accomplishment in itself! Lucy and Nay were cast into roles of a Philippino and Chinese girl respectively, they were also top at their roles, I played the role of an angel, it was amazing to be a part of the whole thing, my role was a door for 16 out of 17 of the minutes though!

Then we had the dance "Joy to the World", it was a Christmasy fun dance and Ashley and I were in that.











We had a dance called "Streets" which was a hip hop dance, Ashley was in that, alot of the young people at the schools enjoyed this as its very modern.








Lastly we had the clown dance 'I Love Ya', Jayce was a clown, along with our new New Zealand friend Tim, then Jenean and David were dancers in it too. It was the favorite in all the schools, even the high schools which was a big difference to back in England if you tried to do a clown dance in a school!




Apart from that there was testimonies, we all got a go during the outreach of doing a 2 minute testimony which was a good experience, and a new one working with translaters.















Our team also included alot of the Amsterdam team which was here for Christmas Outreach too so it was really good fun working with them. There were lots of stories about people accepting Jesus into thier hearts and alot of pictures and word that came out beforehand in intercession were being seen come to light at the particular outreach which was amazing. But mainly most of us were obedient to God, we spoke to people and helped them along thier journey, only God rreally knows where they were at and how he used us. One thing that really shocked me was the openess of people, the amount of people who had never even heard of Jesus, its very different to the West, and there was a large number of children who responded when they heard of Jesus. That was really cool to see.

We had Christmas day off and we enjoyed a meal together which included food from all over the world, they tried to represent every nation that was here. We had a lovely time together and had two secret santas so we had a couple of presents too! Overall Christmas outreach has been a good experience, its a fabulous thing they put on here every year that anyone can come too, it was a good introduction to Asia.

More in 3 weeks ...................................................... Carolyn

Stories from the Thailand team...

drawn into the thick dust on the bonnet of our 4x4 pick up...
- including a personal message to Jesus.

Lei Hao... or... Hi, from Hong Kong!
Well, were back from our Thailand experience... and what a privilege it was... but it's been hard to settle back in at the Hong Kong base, but 3 days on and I think we've all managed to at last... and Christmas outreach has begun (check out "ywamhongkong.org" for COR pics) with our first day of ministry being yesterday the 17th, it went really well for us all, although were split between 2 of the 3 outreach teams, so we're not seeing one another as much as we'd like. It's been great to re-join the Carlisle team as a whole again, we've really missed each other, for chats, prayer and reflection with friends. Time apart really drives home the unity of our team... the 13 weeks back in Carlisle really have grounded us all as a family in faith.

The team.

Those of us who went to Thailand were Richard, Miriam, Jake, Ben, David, Jayce, Jenean, Pip & myself and we landed back in Hong Kong on the morning of the 15th... at 2:30am after a straight 17 hour journey back from Chaing Mai in Thailand... on virtually all types of transport available to man, which was after a bone crunching, neck cricking, head butting of windows & each other... 12 Hour 4x4 journey the day before to get back to civilisation from the refugee camp we had made our home with the help of the "Karen" people for 5 days.
I have to say... the journey was awesome through the Thai mountains, speaking for myself, I half loved it & half hated it... others just loved it full stop as a one off experience... but then they had doors and electrically operated "opening windows"... and "normal" seats... leather ones at that!
For 3 of us however, 12 hours on a modestly padded bench seat with leg room for a small crippled monkey and no opening window or door was... character building!
Pins and needles and zero blood flow past the buttocks was the order of the day for myself, Jake and Ben at least. Richard joined us in the front suffering from dust ingestion! :-)





Hey at least I got a window seat.. thus ensuring a spectacular view of the dust clouds from the 2 trucks in front of us... and close painful proximity to the reinforcement bar against the upper arm and perfect distance for testing the tempered glass with my skull... repeatedly. The glass passed as strong... and made the comical sound of a frying pan each time. Thank God for humour.



Nothing could really have prepared any of us for what we were to experience from the Karen people in their temporary housing in "Mae La Oon" Refugee camp... What amazing people.

Their hospitality and genuine friendliness was really moving... we were there to support a medical team from "Partners" who oversee the care of many children in the camp who are orphaned in some way due to the conflict in their home country, Myanmar... while they were checking every one of the 360 children from about 6 years old up to late teens in school No.2... and administering medicine and advice, we were able to bless them with games, activities, simple teaching of the gospel and encouragement that God is looking out for them despite their circumstances in the camp. There was a strong message of identity and hope in Jesus, and we spent time driving home Isiah 49:16 to the children and young adults, assuring them God is working to bring all things together for good, and that as God works (with His hands) He sees their name written there on His palms and works with them in mind. They all drew around their own hands onto card and wrote their names in the middle with the verse... they seemed to love it.

To all of us, the camp and the rugged, jungle clad mountain terrain it's all precariously perched in, was simply beautiful and inspiring... the work and skill to build these so called temporary bamboo houses on hillsides of nothing but mud at a near 45 degree angle is incredible... (the rainy season brings mud slides and danger to the camp we did not see as its dry season now) but for the Karen, it's not their home, its a make shift no mans land... where they exist as a displaced community and a small part of a persecuted people group, but it's safer than the alternative... on the run, starving & just surviving in the mountains with no food or possessions that they did not carry out with them as they were shot at by the Burmese army! 16 thousand we were told live in this 1 camp alone, although that's the official number... the reality we were sure is a far greater number. In the pic to the right here you can see the football pitch & some idea of the scale... School No.2 is the 1st building to its top left corner... pic taken on a HOT hike up the mountain slope opposite our guest house front door...

And every evening as the sun set in the camp we were blessed with a beautiful sound in the hills... the Karen love to sing... and at dusk, continuing for hours into the evening, young and old would group together and just sing, and sing... and sing. It was awesome and a treasured memory for us all. Candle lit "Karen" carol singing for Christmas!



Among so many blessings and inspiring sights, this was among the most impacting... another day dawned, pretty cold and with the normal beautiful mountain mist, life started every day at about 5am... but by 7am... it was unusually busy out side our guest house doorway... loads of people, children and adults with disabilities and prosthetic limbs running past with a helper...
...there was a competition day starting for all these guys hurt and maimed by the conflict, men and children with only one leg, people blinded... people crippled... either running or being carried by their carer... man it was really moving... these guys just love life... every one of them was grinning and determined!


It's one thing that stands out, it's their strong identity as a people. The Karen (pronounced Koran) are an ancient people with history pre dating the Jews... and a story telling culture passed down the generations by a trusted few, usually by song. The stories tell of a one true God, Y'wa! ...and stories not dissimilar to Genesis Chapter 1 to 3! Incredible being as the ancient Karen never had a bible! God is not limited! Richard, talking to an older man in the community here journaled this powerful statement from him... "I am not Burmese, I am not Thai... I am Karen!" It was who he is... it inspired me and I'm sure others among us to be able to one day say
"I am disciple of Christ" with the same conviction. That is who I am! What a strong identity in their culture and as a people. I felt I have much to learn.



I wish I could write more on behalf of each of us on the team, we all saw so much and were impacted differently, I don't feel I can do their experiences justice in this short account, but I hope to give a flavour of our time there and leave you wanting to ask questions of us when you get the chance... remember to ask us about the FBR's.

the last day saw us loading up early, surrounded constantly by children playing with the baloons we'd brought along with us...





We we all saddened to be leaving these people, especially the children and teenagers we'd spent some time with. But it's clear, The Lord has His hand on all.









Our last night in Chaing Mai... we found ourselves compelled to re-visit the "night Bazaar"...

hmm... however it proved comical... I was greeted by an in your face, manic - "Hello how are you I am fine do you want to buy something?" with no pauses... I was left in helpless laughter as were the others, Jenean, Jayce and David... Then came the watch buying challenge for Pip's birthday gift... her battery had gone flat on her watch, and being a loving husband and a romantic I figured it would be easier to buy a new watch from a lookie lookie man. We corporately & carefully selected our watch dealer with Godly discernment... and approached with the unique boldness of a small pack of tourists... while I carefully inspected the cheap "tat" before me with great interest and well hidden disbelief... David was in for the kill (a Barrister in training) ...

DAVID "are any of these any good!?" WATCH MAN "yes, yes all good..." DAVID "these are good!?" (YEAH RIGHT! passing through his mind and hiding his grin) WATCH MAN "oh no no no... these are bad" (perhaps a misunderstanding had occurred?) DAVID "just to check... so these are bad... " WATCH MAN "ummm yes" DAVID "what about these... are any of them good quality?" (sweeping his hand accurately over the more expensive looking tat to the rear of the stand with Pips high quality gift on his mind) WATCH MAN "Umm... no no... all bad." (a small grin appears across his face) (laughing seemed to be the order of the moment for all involved...) (I was trying hard to stay reasonably focused on my important task at hand... and choose one that looked un-broken before I touched it! I'd already pulled one nob off) (Jayce and Jenean were well involved in the conversation by this time...) DAVID "so, how much is this one?" (out of morbid interest and curiosity) WATCH MAN "1500 Bat" DAVID "what... why?" (a sound question I'm sure we were all thinking) WATCH MAN "but it's OMEGA!" (huge grin comes across his face as we all simply loose it!) ALL of US "BUT THEY'RE ALL FAKE!" (in disbelief and laughter) WATCH MAN "well, no... these are... same, but not the same!" (He's just laughing along with us all now) (time passes as we gather our thoughts and our breath... I had found one that looked promising, I had it in hand, amazingly it was still ticking... and it was pink!) LEE "How much?" (firm negotiator's look across my brow... or "you try it on mate and I'll walk..." Biblical shrewdness in mind) WATCH MAN "some ridiculous number..." (he didn't literally say that!) (witty negotiation ensued... it was a wonder to behold.. for all who know me, i excelled myself...) Meanwhile Jenean asks... "are you Karen?" (out of the blue!...) what made her ask that... everyone looks the same. WATCH MAN "Yes... I am" answering in surprise. JENEAN "wow... cool... are you a Christian?" WATCH MAN "Yes I am..." (stunned silence hits the other 3 of us... then the laughter hits again, clearly the Godly discernment all landed on Jenean...) DAVID "we thought you were strangely honest!" :-) LEE "man I'll pay you just for the comedy factor!" "forget the watch!" :-) "I offered a final price... it was... err, modest) WATCH MAN "let me ask my boss" (all of us unaware he wasn't the boss in the first place!... he was right behind him though... (awkward knowing all we'd said) JAYCE "That's your boss!?" (in a Floridian accent... ) (oops) :-) WATCH MAN "yes yes... its fine..." ALL of US "so he doesn't speak English then!?" WATCH MAN "NO... he has no English!" (Laughing loudly with us) "OK... PRICE IS FINE" LEE "cool... £6 ish... (£600 if Pip's reading! :-) dare I ask how long will this last?" (not expecting a serious answer I just wondered what he'd say) WATCH MAN "I don't know... I didn't make it!" (laughing with us again) So we left... watch in a quality "zip seal bag" and all those involved satisfied, financially... and with our senses of humour filled to the max... or... if I was David... "enjoying the warm glow of a good workout"

We were all shattered and landed back here into the thick of "pre - Christmas Outreach preparation on the 15th... Pip's 31st birthday!

Oh, and she loved the watch... :-)
Literally only a few hours after arriving back we were learning dances and doing work duties & the lucky ones among us all got to become dancing clowns!

What a contrast to the last 10 days!

Thus proving The Lord has sense of humour!

I (Lee) was one of the lucky ones... along with Jayce... pray for us!
That's Nathan and I above in our quality act though...

Pip, Jenean & David are also in the clown dance after Thailand... they escaped the costume! :-)

Praise Jesus.

More to follow next week... on behalf of all... Lee.