Devotion on "Having A Servant's Heart" - A Heart Like Jesus-

Philippians 1:3-11
Thank You for Having A Servant's Heart!

Last weeks devotion was on "Willing Service". This week a short devotion on "Loving Service"

Loving Service

“For, brethren, ye have been called unto liberty; only use not liberty for an occasion to the flesh, but by love serve one another. For all the law is fulfilled in one word, even this; Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” Galatians 5:13-14

Luke 22:27
John 10:18

The difference between servitude and servant hood is the difference between have to and get to.
Servitude is imposed from the outside; servant hood grows from an inner identity, a core commitment to do what’s best for those I serve.
Jesus’ death on the cross illustrates true servant hood. Scripture tells us that He gave up His life for us “of his own accord.” The sinless Son of God freely laid down His life so that we could receive the gift of eternal life – life forever with Him.

Jesus loved. And in love, He served.
Jesus’ followers, in turn, served Him and one another with hearts inspired, hearts set ablaze by His love. They serve with a heart like Jesus’ own heart. Some led and some followed, but all did what they did with servant’s hearts.

May the Holy Spirit open your eyes to see Jesus’ love in all its splendour! And may that love inspire us in more loving service!

“As the Father hath loved me, so have I loved you: continue ye in my love.” John 15:9

"Come Walk With Me"

I would like to take this time to share with you about a woman I met with breast cancer.

Come walk with me down a path of a mother and wife who had no hope. While we were at Sagubo for the VBS Pastor Marlou told me of a woman with breast cancer and his prayer was that I could somehow reach her heart with my story of breast cancer and that would open the door to share with her the wonderful story of Jesus.

Her name is Juliann and she has a two year old daughter, Anita.

Two years ago the doctors removed a lump in her breast and told her it was cancer. She took one treatment of chemo and then had to stop because of infection in the surgery site. Then money became an issue. For two years the infection has remained and they have told her now it will never heal and she is awaiting death.

The first time I met her was at the church. She had heard of me and walked up to see me and see if her little girl could attend the VBS. (of course, no child is ever turned away in this ministry) I talked to her for a short while outside the church and promised her I would come to her place to talk more and pray with her. That afternoon late I asked my husband, Duane, to accompany me to Juilann's place. As we entered her home I could smell the infection in her body, something I did not notice outside the church. It smelt like rotton flesh, a horrible smell. For two years she has applied heat and keep it covered with bandages, just feeding the infection. And this has been going on for two years! And her doctor told her to do this! The infection is now all in her body to the point they say death could come any day.

The first thing we did was pray with her and then shared Jesus with her. She is now born again and Pastor Marlou is following up with her on discipleship.

The second thing was tell her how to clean the wound from the surgery. And explained to her about not applying heat and take the bandages off for a while. I also talked to my doctor and she has sent some antibiotics to her and instructions also. See, just going down to your local doctor is not an option with the people in the mountains. They do have clinics and small hosptals, but no doctor or medical supplies in available in most of them, if something serious happens the people are transported by jeepney down the mountain to the nearest hospital with better care.

The last I heard from Pastor Marlou was that she was doing some better and the infection was improving! To God be the glory!!

She is now my Sister in Christ and my sister in the battle of breast cancer. I shared with her my faith and the peace I have in the loving arms of my Savior. She can now face each day walking a new walk and facing death with peace and understanding. Pray for Juilann, her husband and precious little Anita.

Thank you for praying for me! Thank you for walking with me; holding me up; and lifting me up in prayer. Please, always remember to pray for Duane and our family.

Devotions on "Having a Servants Heart" - A Heart Like Jesus

Philippians 1:3-11

Each week I would like to share with you a short devotion on "Having a Servants Heart" - A Heart Like Jesus. Each Friday for several weeks I will post a new devotion.

Thank you for having a Servant's Heart!

“Even as the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many.”
Matthew 20:28

Thank You!
The Hearts you have touched.
The wisdom you have shared.
The support you have given.
The tears you have dried.
The love you have shown.

All of these reveal the ways the Lord Jesus has been at work in you, shaping and forming your heart so that it conforms more and more closely to the contours of His own heart.
Jesus served us by pouring out His life’s blood on the cross for our sins. His service frees us to childlike, self-forgetful joy in serving others.

We love because He loved.
We give because He gave.
We serve because He served.
Because He loved, served and gave Himself for us!

Willing Service

“And whatsoever ye do, do it heartily, as to the Lord, and not unto men; knowing that of the Lord ye shall receive the reward of the inheritance: for ye serve the Lord Christ.”
Colossians 3:23-24

When the Holy Spirit repeats Himself – three times – we do well to pay extra attention! Matthew, Mark and Luke – all three – include in their gospels the same snapshot from Jesus’ early ministry: Matthew 8:14-15; Mark 10:30-31; Luke 4:38-39.
Moved with compassion, Jesus takes the sufferer by the hand. His touch heals her. His touch stirs such love and faith in her heart that she, in turn, rises to serve both Christ and His followers.
Only the Savior’s spontaneous, willing care evoking a response of authentic, willing service.

May the Holy Spirit open our hearts to an ever-deepening touch of Jesus’ healing and compassion! And may we respond in ever more eager and joyful service.
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a an lay down his life for his friends. Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you. Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you. Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you." John 15:13-16

The Remarkable Bumblebee

BEE WINGS

I WANT TO SHARE A CONVERSATION BETWEEN A DAD AND HIS DAUGHTER. A GREAT LESSON ABOUT GOD’S CREATION AND A LESSON ON “NEVER QUESTION GOD”

“Dad, today I heard that science has proven that the bumblebee can’t fly! That sounds crazy! Look at all the bees flying around in our flower garden,” said Mary.
“I’ve heard that story, but what is the question I’ve always told you to ask?” asked Mr. Jones.
“What’s the evidence?”, or “How do they know?” said Mary.
“That’s right. In this case I found out that the story got started about 70 years ago in France when two scientists were looking at the large, heavy body and short wings of a bumblebee. Using mathematics, they showed that a tiny airplane, with a body and wings the size of a bee, moving as slowly as a bee, couldn’t fly.”
“But they were wrong, Dad!” “A bee does fly.”
“Mary, the scientists didn’t say that a bee couldn’t fly…what they actually did was that it would be impossible for a tiny airplane the size of a bee with stiff, immovable wings to fly. Many people misunderstood what was said, and so the false story began,” explained Mr. Jones.
“Wow, look how well they do fly! Look, Dad, that bee just flew backwards,” exclaimed Mary.
“Yes, Mary, they are wonderful flying machines. The bee flaps its wings in a figure eight design. By bending and twisting its wings as it flies, the bee can go in any direction – up, down, sideways, backwards, forwards, fly very slowly, or zoom forward at over six miles per hour. The bee can also hover before a flower as a hummingbird does,” said Mr. Jones.
“Why can’t I see their wings when they are flying, Dad?” asked Mary.
“That’s because the bee flaps its wings 200 to 240 times a second. Think of it…while you say, ‘1000 and 1’, the bee could have beaten his wings back and forth 240 times! That’s a fantastic 114,400 beats a minute; much faster than other flying insects the size of bees,” said Mr. Jones.

“Now watch closely, Mary. See that bumblebee by the big red flower? Watch, and I think you’ll understand why God made short wings on the bee.”
“Whoa! He climbed right into the flower, Dad!” shouted Mary.
“That’s right, Mary. You see God made the bee with four short, powerful wings. To get inside of the flower or hive, the bee folds the two wings on each side of its body over each other, laying them along its back. With long wings that stick out behind its body, the bee wouldn’t be able to turn around in tight spaces. If it has stiff and had wings like an airplane or a dragonfly, our little friend here, the bee, could not have crawled into that flower.”
“Dad, if I had four wings and flapped them around as fast as the bumblebee does, I’d get them all tangled up!” exclaimed Mary.
Mr. Jones chuckled. “Well Mary, God created another amazing design in bee wings. On the front of the back wing is a row of hooks and on the back edge of the front wing is a groove. As the wings unfold for flight the hooks automatically grab the groove and lock the two wings together into one large wing! Upon landing, the two wings unhook and fold over out of the way.”
“Wow, Dad, the bee is so cool!”
“That’s right, Mary. And the wing is only one small part of a bee. When you look at all the wonderful designs in the bumblebee, you are looking at a creature that never could have happened by chance and accident,” explained Mr. Jones. “The design in a bumblebee could only have been made by someone very smart. That somebody could only be God!”

Even in the smallness of the bee we should not question God. He purposed a plan for all, even a tiny little bee.
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.”
Romans 8:28

We Found Her!

We have been searching the mountain side for a young woman that is great with child and to deliver in July. Duane saw her walking one day when he was giving out tracts with Theeter, one of the young men from the Natonin mission that is here in our area working and training with Duane. I went back up with him to look for her and also give out maternity packs to other women in this new area we are working in and giving out tracts also. We had searched for a while for this young woman and finally a lady told us she thought she knew this family. So we following her down a trail to a little house and there she was with her whole family. We gave her the pack and explained the tract that Duane gave her and with tears flowing down she expressed her thanks for not only the gift but the kindness shown that we would come so far back in the jungle just to find one person. This one person may be the one to make a difference in this jungle village. She has two sisters and one brother in school and they have no school supplies. We will be going back next week to take the school supplies needed for this family. This will open the door for us to help others also and a Bible Study is already being planned at this house. To God be the glory! And thanks to all the church and individuals that supplied the things for the maturnity packs and school supply packs. Do you remember when I told some of you that we would be your hands, feet and eyes? Well, I meant that!

The Butterfly Story

Life’s a Struggle, or Is It?

I am about to share with you a simple story that has changed by perspective towards life. There was a science teacher who was teaching a group of students science lesson. In this lesson, the teacher placed a fully developed cocoon of a butterfly on the table in the science lab. He then instructed the students to crowd around the table to watch as the cocoon was about to hatch into a butterfly. As everyone was watching eagerly, the teacher’s mobile phone rang and before he went outside to answer his phone, he told his students that if the cocoon were to hatch, not to help the butterfly come out of the cocoon. Let it come out naturally and with that, he went outside to answer his phone call.

The cocoon then started to hatch and as the butterfly was slowly making it’s way out, it seems to have paused halfway as if it was stuck and could not fully come out the cocoon. This point in time, one of the students by the name of John took pity on the butterfly and decided to break open the cocoon with his fingers and helped the butterfly out. One out on the table, as the butterfly tries to spread it’s wings, it slowly died. Everyone was so angry at John and felt so sad for the butterfly.

The teacher returned into lab and asked who had helped the butterfly out of the cocoon? John admitted that he was the one and that he was sorry that he had unintentionally caused the butterfly’s death. He informed that he was merely trying to help it come out faster. The teacher then told the class the process of the butterfly coming out of the cocoon itself may be slow and painful but it is essential to the butterfly survival. This is because as the butterfly struggles to come out of the cocoon itself, if is pumping blood into it’s wings and this in turn helps strengthen the wings so that the butterfly is able to fly after coming out of the cocoon. If we were to help t he butterfly to come out, it will eventually die as it does not have the strength to fly or survive. There’s an old saying “If we give a man a fish, we feed him for a day. If we teach him how to fish, we feed him for a lifetime.”

If you truly understand the meaning behind this story and reflect on your own life, you will find that we are in fact very similar to the butterfly struggling to come out of our own cocoon. Life is full of ups and downs but sometimes it is the downs that helps drive us on.

But God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;

I Corinthians 1:27

Pics from Sagubo VBS

VBS in Sagubo

The last week of May was VBS in Sagubo. And what a way to end the month! A young man, Jonathan Smith, from our church was visiting us and helping in this VBS and a young woman, Hannah Senn, from the last church my husband was pastor was visiting also. They came at different times to visit but left the same day traveling back to the states together. Actually, Hannah was here during the VBS in Natonin also. Both were a great help and the children loved getting to know them both. I pray that their mission trip here with us was a life changing experience.

Sagubo is a very different place from Natonin. Even though both are in the mountains, Sagubo is different tribes of people. Their second language is Ilocano and their main language is Kankaneay. We have been working in Sagubo and with the people there longer than any other place so we are very close to the them there.

In the VBS we had a total of 89 children. What a blessing!! In the morning when we were getting ready and eating breakfast we could hear the children singing at the church two hours early waiting for us to arrive for VBS. Their voices were heard all over the valley. We had the same theme as in Natonin, F.R.O.G. "Fully Rely On God". VBS was a great success and the children are looking forward to next year and so am I. We visit this mission very often and the children are always reminding me how much they learned at VBS and are already asking "what are we going to learn about next year?" Pray for the children in Sagubo and that they will "fully rely on God". They told me that I needed to "fully rely on God" for my strength to return to Sagubo. They know about my breast cancer and they are aware that I may not be able to go there next year for VBS. But we are trusting and relying on God and if He wants me there He will make the way. The God I serve is in control of all things.

The people there know how I love Orchids and Sagubo is the best place to see all kinds of Orchids growing wild, so the last day of VBS they presented me with Orchids to bring home and put in my garden. They are so beautiful and blooming in my garden now.

VBS in Natonin

Well, another VBS successful in Natonin! Although it rained everyday this year and was much cooler the VBS was a great success. There was a concern that I would not be able to withstand the travel and the week of climbing up and down the mountain to get to the school where the VBS was held each day because the cancer has progressed, but God held my hand every step. The travel there is very hard, it takes about 15 hours to get there and two days, because we stop at Bontoc for the night and get up early and continue on to Natonin and arrive there about 5 hours later.

When we go to hold a VBS in the mountain villiages we take all supplies and lessons for the whole week and also our living supplies (bedding, clothes, food etc.). Kinda like camping with a twist. We have a house we stay at when we go there, three rooms total and the cr (comfort room - bathroom) is out back - out house - and that is the shower also. Oh, no hot water unless you heat it, and the mountain spring water is very cold so I heat mine but Duane is very brave and he just takes it cold, burrrrr! I look forward to the time we spend there, I love it so much. The people make the place - it is all about the people. I think my compassion for them grows more and more every day. My heart leaps when I get out of the van and see the faces that are waiting for us when we arrive. The relationship we have with the people there makes the trip down the 500 plus step mountain trail to the valley where the village is a great time of fellowship; but finally getting to the bottom - well, need I say more than just "praise the Lord". Then you look up where you have just come from and say "stairway to Heaven".

This year our theme was "F.R.O.G." Fully Rely On God - and the children had great fun with this. We taught about Jonah; Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego; Daniel and the Lions Den; and David and Goliath. All these men fully relied on God. Life is hard in this mountain villiage of Natonin and teaching them about these men in the Bible and also life lessons on having faith and fully relying on God, we pray that their faith will grow and they will learn to rely on God in any circumtance of their life. Pray for the people of Natonin and our mission there "Indenpendent Bible Baptist Mission" and Pastor Ambrocio Simeon and his family. And always pray for us!

Thank You for Your Patience

I would like to take this time to say "Thank You" for your patience with me on my blog. I know I am very far behind on posting and keeping you up to date. Over the next few post I will explain what has been happening with me and more important the women's ministry. I am getting ready for uploading on this blog several posts. And I am working on something new to start doing every week on the blog. I pray that you will visit me often and I promise to be the best I can be for you in information and pictures. Please in return send me comments so I know you are visiting with me. Thank you, Diane