A boy healed in front of the doctor

I never get tired of saying God likes to show off. It’s like the shampoo bottle that says “wash and repeat,” but I hear it as “watch and repeat.”

We’ve been blessed to partner with a medical team offering their professional services to people in need in the Philippines. For a solid week, they went to each of the Assemblies of God churches on the east side of Mindoro, giving free dental care, glasses, checkups, and medicine. It was amazing to join them for a couple of days, though I had a mandatory meeting to attend in Manila. Anyone can use the God-given gifts they’ve received to glorify our Savior Jesus Christ!

While they gave their professional services to the people, the veteran missionaries translated, and I attempted to as well! Learning and speaking another language is no joke, but I know many were blessed by my efforts.

During the medical missions, I was also on the lookout for people with incurable sicknesses. The first woman I found was at high risk of having TB in her lungs. After we spent time praying together, she no longer had any restriction in her lungs. Still, just as the doctor recommended, I also encouraged her to visit the local hospital. I don’t believe prayer is the only thing we should do. We should do everything we can to get well. Something as serious as that needs to be dealt with right away!

During that time I saw headaches, heartache, and eye problems all get healed. But the one that really stood out to me was a young boy at the end of the second day. He told me about the back pain he’d had for a year. The only thing the nurse could do for him was offer some painkillers to numb the pain for a while.

I asked him to rate his pain from 10 to 1, with 10 being the most pain in his life and 1 being just a little. He said he was at an 8, nearly the most pain he’d ever experienced. After I prayed with him briefly, he said it went down to about a 5. Then I prayed one last time with this young fellow and asked him to stand up. As he stood, I asked him to try to “find the pain.” He couldn’t. He was healed by the living God! Jesus is not on the cross anymore, and He’s not in the grave. Jesus is alive!

I have a few quick updates to share, because God has been so good to me! After the New Year, I got emails from two different couples I had prayed for. They told me how God had listened to our prayers, and each couple had a healthy baby, even though the doctors had given them a slim-to-none chance!

God’s favor has continued to shine. I’ve been given the honor of speaking at a Christian elementary school every week, and I was also invited as a guest to give a graduation speech. My ultimate goal is to help the pastors connect with this school and reach out to the parents, many of whom haven’t yet heard that they can know Jesus personally. There’s also an orphanage nearby that has opened its doors for me to lead devotions at their staff meetings. The kids there are so precious. Even though they have so little, they never stop giving smiles and hugs!

For the next three weeks, I’ll be in the trenches helping to plant a church in Bicol, Philippines. I’m guessing the trip there will take most of the day. Last year’s SOS (Summer of Service) church plants here in Mindoro were a great success. Those two churches are still doing well, and many people who are passionate for the Lord are being discipled.

My favorite story from last year’s SOS was when God helped us lead a folk healer and his apprentice to the Lord. A few days after his conversion, he told us he’d quit his practice and become a fisherman. To this day, he is fulfilling his dream as a fisherman in the Visayas region.