WELCOME
Welcome to the website of Ministries Without Borders in the Philippines!
MERRY CHRISTMAS & A HAPPY NEW YEAR
News from November
We are so blessed to see the kingdom of God being proclaimed in many different ways. God has spoken to us about reaching children, and we are doing that in varying ways. Lately we had the joy of hosting the Dove training program for children workers. We had training at our center in Mindoro with the bible school students being part of the training and in Ozamiz in Mindanao. 165 teachers have been trained to teach children the good news of Jesus Christ. Looking at the facts that half of the population in the Philippines is children, we understand the strategy of the Holy Spirit, telling us to reach the children.
In Pigcawayan with Eddie and Ruth, we have started to build a multipurpose house on our new lot there. They have many carpenters in the church and are able to do the work themselves. We purchased the land and provide much of the materials for the house. It is fantastic to witness how they are influencing the whole community by teaching moral formation in the high school using “A purpose driven life” as text book for the fourth year. We are also helping the 80 people with disabilities and their testimony is that meeting Jesus has given them dignity. They feel seen and loved by what the church do for them. What a joy to see the love of Jesus changing people.
This last month Justin left us with his new family from Holland. He seemed to warm quickly to his new parents and was happy to leave with them. We are grateful for every child that comes to a good and loving home. It is a special time when the rest of the children and the staff say good bye. We feel joy for his new family and sorrow for not seeing him again. The rest of the children are doing well and we give thanks to God for each one of them.
We are now looking forward to the Christmas season here in the Philippines. It is another great opportunity to show the love of Jesus Christ to people around us. We hope also this year to be able to bring Christmas baskets to poor families together with the good news of the savior that became one of us to save us and give us a total new life.
News from September
At our centre at Core in the Philippines we have just finished a three days leadership training for the Mangyans. 150 leaders and wives enjoyed the word of God and the presence of God as they were equipped to serve God better in their villages. It is third time we have this kind of conference, and this time we had more people than before. God is moving in the hearts of the people and it is a great joy to see how well the trainings center functions for this kind of gatherings.
Our new jeepny has now arrived in Core. It is a big van only used in the Philippines and functions very well. Our training center is built in native Filipino stile and a homemade jeepney just makes it perfect. The van is a great blessing in the work. We use it with our rapid response unit to bring the tents and other emergency equipment out in the villages when needed. We were all surprised at the capacity of the jeepney, when Lasse Tretteteig was able to bring more than 100 people in on trip for the conference.
The Bible to Everyone
Lasse Tretteteig has started the project of reading the Bible into mp3 players for illiterate people to be able to listen to the Bible for themselves. Some young Mangyans are here getting ready to read the NT into mp3 players. People will be helped and blessed by listening to God´s word in their native language. This will be a great blessing to people that never have been able to “read” for themselves.
Report from Elvie Ortiz
Elvie Ortiz is reporting: We are so blessed with our brethren in the village of Balisawan today. We had a good fellowship with them and so grateful for God´s wonderful word that was shared with one our volunteers. They are so thankful for the words they heard, it really touched them. After our fellowship we gave them clothes and medicines from MWPBI. They say "thank you so much for these blessing". God is so faithful all the time.
The story of Rubina
Rubina has a wonderful testimony of the saving and healing power of God. From being a street child from the age of 6, she met Jesus at the age of 15 and was totally changed by the risen savior. She had no ear drums and was for a long time struggling with bad hearing, but Jesus healed her and gave her perfect hearing. She was "adopted" by JoJo and Helen Alvarez. Through the school program she got education and finished collage. She is in the age of 21 leading the work for the street children in Ozamiz. Also she has reached out to a village in the mountains, and seen a church born there. Now she wants to serve the Lord and share His love with others. She will be in the first group at our Bible school at Core this year. God is rising up some wonderful young people to serve him.
NEWS FROM JULY
In the Philippines we are now in the rainy season and even drying the cloths are a challenge some weeks. The typhoons teach us to be very flexible because some days there are no ferries due to the weather.
Eddie Santiago led the 30 Persons With Disabilities (PWD's) from Pigcawayan for the 33rd national convention for people with disabilities.The PWD's is so thankful to the Lord for the effort of MWBPI that helped them for food and transportation to be able to attend the meeting for the first time. They said "it has never happened before that somebody give us care and attention, but thanks once again to MWBPI who reached out and extended to us the love of Jesus and to Pastor Eddie and Ruth who guide us spiritually and taught many things from the Bible". To God be the glory!
Eddie Santiago led the 30 Persons With Disabilities (PWD's) from Pigcawayan for the 33rd national convention for people with disabilities.The PWD's is so thankful to the Lord for the effort of MWBPI that helped them for food and transportation to be able to attend the meeting for the first time. They said "it has never happened before that somebody give us care and attention, but thanks once again to MWBPI who reached out and extended to us the love of Jesus and to Pastor Eddie and Ruth who guide us spiritually and taught many things from the Bible". To God be the glory!
NEWS FROM THE BEGINNING OF MAY
April and May is school holiday in the Philippines and a busy time for all of us in MWBPI. It is time for VBS (vacation bible schools), youth camps, practical training of bible school teams from Norway, distribution of school supplies for the poor, and many other ways of showing the love of God as we are preaching the good news about Jesus Christ. Already more than 800 children have enjoyed the VBS in different places.
We are in the process of building up our emergency unit in Mindoro so we can respond to disasters and bring relevant help to the people in the communities in Mindoro. Already we have done two relief operations the last two weeks responding to the need of villages burned down. There was great joy as the people from the village listened to the good news about the love of God helping us through calamities and problems. The word of God gave them hope and the comfort of the Holy Spirit was right there among us.
NEWS FROM THE BEGINING OF APRIL
We are giving
praise to the Lord for his goodness and protection to all of our workers in the
Philippines. Johnny is faithfully doing the work in the jail in Oroqueta. On
our last visit a few weeks ago, four more prisoners received Jesus as their
Lord and savior (some of them were murderers). Johnny now turning 66 years old
sent me this news about the Lord´s protection: On March 12 I was going to jail
and my motorbike and me went into a banana plant in Aloran. And I'm so
very thankful to God, because I saw His presence and glory who protected and
covered me and also my motorbike and I am okay and nothing happened to me.
Hallelujah!
Every time we visit the village of Camurong, we meet the “Miracle boy” with his mother and father. His mother had six miscarriages (in the seventh month every time) and could not get children. It was a great sorrow to them, but the Lord intervened. As we prayed for her in the name of Jesus and brought a prophetic word to her, she gave birth to this handsome boy. The whole family as well as the whole village witnessed the miracle of God and gave all the glory to God. And they gave the baby the nickname “Miracle boy”. The boy will start in our daycare this June and he is turning five years old this year.
The last week we had graduation in all six schools (day cares) we are running. It is a great privilege to be able to lift people from poverty and give them dignity, as they are given an education the parents are not able to pay for. We have met hundreds of grateful children and parent this week, giving thanks to the Lord for his provision.
We are now buying all the school supplies to help the less fortunate children to have an education. Many children are hindered to go to school because they can’t afford the school material needed. We are planning to help at least 6000 children this year. Education is one way to lift them up and give them dignity.
We are now buying all the school supplies to help the less fortunate children to have an education. Many children are hindered to go to school because they can’t afford the school material needed. We are planning to help at least 6000 children this year. Education is one way to lift them up and give them dignity.
