The following is a copy of the letter my husband sent out today to our family and friends. I thought I should post it here too. I will be covering their mission so stay tuned ...
I am writing you to request your prayers during my two week outreach to the Philippines. I will be part of a five person team from Hope Chapel that will be working with Derek and Jenn Van Ryckeghem, with Hope For The Island. I will be leaving Maui on (date withheld by me – it’s for security purposes, it’s sometime in August).
Hope For The Island is an established ministry in the southern part of the Philippines, in Burgos on Siargao Island. They have a children’s ministry, youth ministry, discipleship training, livelihood training, medical mission clinic, a preschool, and a mercy ministry. Google “Hope For The Island” and check out their website.
This will be my eighth trip to the Philippines and my second to Hope For The Island. Last fall I was part of a team that focused on the youth. We conducted a sports camp, movie nights, art outreach, surfing outreach, surfer Bible study, Sunday Bible teaching for kids, and assisted with the ongoing ministries. This year we have a 5 member team that will be focusing on a sustainable agriculture project, an art school, and teaching the Bible.
During the last outreach we saw the need for a strong Biblical foundation among the people of Burgos. They love the Lord but did not have a strong foundation in the Word. I discussed this with Derek and decided to bring Hope Chapel’s School of the Bible curriculum down and to teach the first few classes. It is a comprehensive seven section, 52 week lecture course designed to give a strong biblical foundation to a person’s faith. I will bring down the teachers notes and sets of the student handouts for the staff. My goal is to share with them so that they can share with others. Where I stop teaching Derek or Jenn can easily continue – or the staff will be able to use the MP3 audio files that are included. I will also be helping on the on-going ministries and the other team ministries; art, agriculture, building, and just hanging out with the kids.
I would greatly appreciate your prayers from now until we return. Specifically that God will be preparing the hearts of those we’ll be meeting, for eyes to see the people as He does, and for me to walk in His strength and not my own. I know that at this time finance support may not be possible - but if you are able; please send any support to Hope Chapel.
To follow along during the outreach please go to my wife’s blog… she has promised to spend most of the time while I’m away on line (ha, ha…)
Bradley
I will be providing some links on this letter and will be adding a lot of photos after work today. Please come visit often and support this Philippines Mission. I will be back...
