House church?

We had eleven people eating breakfast on the patio this morning. We have become a 'community!' Sometimes the number varies by one or two, but the patio dining room is usually full and we have a worship time out there every night. I use the word 'we' loosely, because we, Dad and I, do not usually take part. We sit in the house and enjoy the singing. Since Pastor Julie has been here, they have devotions almost every night. Each member of the group takes turns (a different one each evening) sharing from the word, and then they have a time of prayer. Our role seems to be to be around and share advice and counsel from the word as various subjects come up. It is like a 'summer camp' experience for them, only it has been going on for months now! Recently we have had Richard, Julie's cousin, who was his watcher in Davao, and Richard's brother-in-law (Pastor Jody) and Richard's brother (a back-slider who has quit smoking since his arrival) here building the little bathroom out back. They sleep on hammocks outside.

Caryl has really grown spiritually! She and Peter (her boy friend) now share prayer requests and pray for each other and encourage each other spiritually. Recently she got mad at Peter because he didn't call when she had told him to call. She gave him a lot of grief and then was very upset. Bebeng counseled her and said, "Is this how you are to him, and he is just your boyfriend? This is not good, Caryl." She repented and told him she was wrong. Later, we were all talking in the kitchen and we talked more about how a wife treats her husband, if she is obedient to the Lord. This is such a contrast with what Caryl has grown up with! I almost think that she thinks fighting is a part of love and marriage, but she is realizing that it isn't. We talked about love and respect and I told her that, surely, in all the time she has lived with us, there have been time when she was irratated or irked by something either of us had done or said... she smiled and nodded slightly... but how had she handled it? She had either assumed the best about us and let it go, or she had approached us and asked if there was a problem, or told us how she was feeling. And because we love her, it has always turned out right. She treats us with love and respect, and we treat her with love and respect. I encouraged her to treat Peter the way she treats us, and she could really see it!

Richard is a really great guy! He is kind, fun, hard working and loves the Lord. He quit college to work and put his younger sister through school. She just graduated. He is 26 years old. Sunday he asked Marylan if he could court her, and then later in the day asked Ed, if he could court Marylan. We don't feel she could do much better, but we do want her to finish her two more years of college, so Ed asked him to postpone courting for a while and just get to know each other for a while. Dad was very encouraging to Richard, and Richard was very responsive to all Dad had to say. Marylan says she is afraid of getting into a relationship at this point, and was happy with the way 'Kuya' handled it.

A couple months ago, Gaga found herself falling for a non-believer. He had a girlfriend who had broken up with him a month before the wedding, and Gaga was sympathetic and easy to talk to. He thought Gaga was sure nicer than his old girlfriend, and of course she was! I mostly counseled her by telling Marylan what I thought Gaga should know... that the Evil one wanted her to get into a difficult situation, but the Lord wanted to use this as a test of her obedience and confidence in the goodness of God. I have been praying for her husband, and His timing is always good. Marylan said there was a pastor she (Gaga) really thought was a fine man, and she had prayed for him for a almost a year, but he didn't seem to notice her. She had given up praying for him. I suggested she should begin praying for him again, that he would wake up and see her! Just last month he woke up and talked to her. She found out that he had begun praying for her a month before she had begun praying for him! So all three of my girls will probably marry godly Filipino men! What a blessing!!!!! The girls and I have been speculating about who the Lord will send to us next!

In the meantime, I have spent a lot of time talking to Bebeng, and sometime Julie, about parenting. Bebeng is so sweet and loving, but she was SO hard on their oldest son, Jumer. She just barked at him all the time, and everything was No!, Don't! or Stop that!. He told his grandma that he didn't want to stay with him Moma because she always was beating him and yelling at him. To make a long story short, if Julie's injury was for nothing else, it has been wonderful to see her learning to love her son and make him feel loved! She now smiles at him, and praises him when he does something right. She holds him and snuggles with him, and is pleased with him. He is changing! He smiles more, speaks up, and acts like a happy 6 year old kid! What a blessing!

So, it seems like the Lord heard me when I said that I missed being involved in ministry to Filipinos since we moved from Gingoog! I love it!