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Made it back to Dallas safe and sound.

Almost home

Just landed in Seattle.

Walking home from church...

Half the team went to a church literally 2 houses down from the YMC where we are staying. It was a vibrant multi-cultural service with about 10 "countries" represented (Texas, Alabama, England, Hong Kong, Kenya, Zimbabwae, Singapore, Vietnam, and a couple others.) Larry got to bring the message this morning. He spoke from the book of Philippians about the joy we have in Christ. After the service we were walking home and there was a crowd of about 20-30 men in the street. We soon found out why once we saw the two roosters fighting. Jeff Long explained how many of the men in this community spend their time betting on cock fights with money they don't have while the women are at home or at their shops working. Part of Kids International Ministries (KIM) is to share Christ and educate the youth of this culture to give them the opportunity to change their future so they don't end up repeating the cycle of their fathers and grandfathers. As the street cleared and I walked by I could see the blood from the rooster on the ground. It was a visual reminder for me of the blood that Christ shed for these men who desperately need Him to change their lives. -Jeff Edmunds

Kid's International Ministries

Our "home" here in Manila has been with Kid's International Ministries (KIM). Jeff Long,the director of the ministry is a long time friend of Vince Burke. After morning church service at a local church, Jeff Long took us on a tour of the many ministries occurring in this neighborhood of 5,000 people called Cuatro. In addition to the large guest house(YMC)where we are staying, there is a Children's Center (orphanage) for children from age 0 to at least 15, a Christian School, and a home for 29 at risk girls. The goal of Kid's International Ministries is to begin in the womb to change the cycle of poverty and to share The Cross with everyone they assist. Though it breaks our hearts to see the orphans and the girls who's lives have been nearly destroyed, it is also amazing to see how Christ is transforming lives in this community. At the orphanage we played with a happy, smiling baby girl named Desirae. Her mother did not have the resources to take care of her, but for the last month that Desirae was in the womb her mother lived at the YMC and was able to give birth to Desirae in a safe, healthy environment rather than on the muddy floor of a squatter home. Though she does not have a mother or father, Desirae has been loved since her birth. KIM is involved with international and domestic adoptions and they have placed over a dozen children into international homes. All the families that the children go into are Christian families. At the home for the girls at risk, we walked in expecting to see timid, fearful girls, broken by those who harmed them. While I know they still have many years of healing ahead of them, what we found were smiling faces, welcoming us into their home and lives. They proudly showed us their rooms, each painted a different color with encouraging scripture verses and phrases painted on the walls of their bedrooms and throughout the house. Some of the girls played the piano and sang a worship song for us. The love and truth of Christ shared with these girls ages 9 - 16 has brought them hope and life. - Jennifer Edmunds

Saturday - July 28

Today was another full day in the Philippines! Instead of a relaxing day of shopping and sight seeing, the team chose to return to the church we visited on Tuesday. This was the church located on "Trash Mountain". When we visited on Tuesday, all we did was a medical clinic. Today we went back for the purpose of doing our Kids Club presentation. When we first arrived there were already several kids in the church, but after a walk through the village with some balloons we were able to fill the church with kids. We did coloring, skits, puppets, crafts, singing and the gospel. It was a great time with the kids. After the kids club, we met with the pastor's wife and presented her with money so that the church could replace their current tarp roof with a much needed new tin roof. We also left that church with a bunch of VBS supplies and a few medical items. The pastor's wife was brought to tears with her gratitude. Praise God for allowing us to be used by Him to bring His blessings to others. -Jeff

More Pictures

Picture Post

We saw God's hand at work again today at the medical clinic. Many people were going home with smiles on their faces after receiving glasses that improved their vision. Thanks be to God that we were able to distribute hundreds of glasses to people that would not have enough money to buy them. Having done two other eyeglass stations this week, our group has become quite efficient and more knowledgeable about what the people needed. Really, none of us are skilled eye doctors, even though some of the people had this thought. It is only by God's grace, answered prayer for quidance, and a little persistance that a lot of the needs were met. Especially rewarding for all of us were the smiles of children when the right pair of glasses was found. The CCF translators and helpers were such a blessing. What has been very encouraging for me on my first overseas mission trip is seeing our Filipino brothers and sisters in Christ doing the Lord's work right beside us. The CCF service tonight was particularly a blessing and uplifting for our team. We love to see the zeal and energy these people have for the Lord. Let us continue working together to build His kingdom! Nathan

CCF Floodway

Today our journey took us to CCF(Christ's Commission Fellowship) Floodway Church twice! From 8:00 a.m. until 4:00 p.m., we participated with CCF and volunteers in a medical clinic for the community. The Filipino volunteers are such a blessing to us! As soon as we arrived, we were greeted with warm smiles, handshakes, hugs and of course, water and food. Once set up, the people began to fill up the church to receive medical, dental, optical and spiritual help. My "task" for the day was to help with the children. Coloring pages, holding babies, Paul, Paul, Silas (aka Duck, Duck, Goose), crafts, games, gospel story and visiting with Filipino moms filled my day. We then returned to CCF for evening worship. Church members greeted us with "blessings" from the children (they put your hand to their forehead), handshakes and hugs from the adults. The people are so grateful for our presence and could not say thank you enough. Worship with the CCF band rocked! Such joy in their singing and playing. Vince challenged us with a message: Are we ready for Mission with the Messiah? The church members passed out bags of Green Apple marshmallow treats after the service and the hugs and handshakes continued. And of course, the picture-taking! Make sure to ask Kaitlen and Derek about that...To finish our evening, we stopped at Jollibee, which is the Filipino equivalent of McDonald's. We enjoyed peach mango fried pies, zesty cheese waffle fries, coke floats and sundaes. It really rained hard today and just started raining again. We are planning on going to Trash Mountain again in the morning to do the Jonah story with those very impoverished people. It involves driving on very muddy roads, so please pray for the rain to stop and for us to know whether or not we should attempt to drive there. Thank you for all your prayers and support. It's been awesome so far! God bless, Liz Thomas

Tent City was an amazing place for a number of reasons, but what struck me is what a happy group of people these seem to be despite deplorable conditions. That was also the case in the mountains on the first day and in the city during the urban medical clinic -- what a contrast to the attitude of our privileged US population that often seems to be dissatified regardless of the superior conditions there. We are blessed and should recognize that on a daily basis. steve

Tent City

Today we were privileged to be part of another feeding in a squater's village called Tent City. Two large tubs of rice porrage were delivered by our team. As we entered the city we invited the people to come. As the food was being served I walked around and chatted with the people. As I passed by one little girl, she lifted her bowl toward me and smiled. I stopped and asked her, "Is it good?" The little girl then did something that totally blew me away. She offered a bit of her food to me. She wanted to share. I took a tiny little bite and thanked her. I turned away quickly as the tears began to fall. This child was willing to share what little bit of food that she had. How long had it been since her tummy was full? How long would it be till it was filled again? Her generosity put me to shame. Am I that giving? Could I be that generous if I were starving? Probably not! Yes, the needs in this country are overwhelming. No, we are not satisfying that need. By God's grace we are extending a bit of Jesus' hope for this day. And, the people that we are serving are touching our lives...may we come home changed by the His matchless grace! susan

Thursday - July 26

Although we did not run a clinic today, we were blessed with the opportunity to visit a local school to do our skits and share the good news. One of my favorite parts of visiting the school was hearing them sing to us thanking us for being there and loving on them. I loved how while they were singing a cute special needs kid came to each of us and gave us hugs. We were able to spend a hour or so there doing our Jonah puppet skit, crafts, and playing with them. Being able to see the joy God has put in their hearts even in the conditions in which they live will forever warm my heart! After we left the school we had a feeding in a squatter village. A squatter village is basically an area of makeshift huts for people whose homes were destroyed in the flooding from typhoons. This was one of the hardest things for me to watch. As soon as we unloaded our giant tupperware buckets with soup out of our van, people came with any kind of container they could salvage to get food for their families. Every time I poured a ladle full of soup into a plastic container my heart would break a little from seeing each sick, hungry kid. After getting their food they would quickly eat it all and come back asking for more until we were literally scrapping the bottom. When all the food was gone we stayed a while making balloon animals and walking through the village. As we left I was sad we could not do more, but thankful that God was able to work through us to show his everlasting love. I can't wait to see how God works through me the rest of the trip and even after I come home! -Rachel Mull

Update from Tuesday

Update from Tuesday: We learned this afternoon that the little boy we visited on Tuesday, passed away today. The mom lost two sons within a week's time. Praying for hundreds of others who we fed today at a refugee camp for displaced families from a 2009 flood. -Larry Video from Wednesday: http://youtu.be/ezSKiCje5_0

Wednesday - July 25

Today God's love was shown all throughout the Philippine community. I was blessed today to serve with the Dentist for the first half of the clinic. Although I was faced with many challenges, such as being uncomfortable in the setting and unfamiliar with the equipment, I was soon able to adapt. The second part of the day is what God has forever touched my heart with. Unable to fully interact with kids while working with teeth, I was finally able to participate in leading a few kid games after lunch. At first it started off with shy, timid smiles and maybe a high-five here and there, but after a few rounds of Duck Duck Goose and Simon Says the Philippine children couldn't be separated from us. God's love had made a bond that could not be broken. Once the games had begun it was clear God was at work, the kids were inseparable from us; always holding our hands, attacking us with bear hugs (swarms of 50 kids at a time), teaching us words in Tagalog and ending with them fighting over a seat in our laps during sing time. Davie, A seven year old boy from the community will always have a special place in my life. From the start he was always sitting next to me resting his arm or head on my leg. He was all smile and giggles, truly the joy of the Lord. He followed me everywhere, asking me so many questions about my life back at home. The language barrier was a challenge but it was clear our friendship will continue once he said "We will celebrate together in Heaven." He will forever be my little Philippine boy! Leaving the clinic was one of the hardest things I have ever done. As we were driving away in our bus I was brought to tears as some of my Philippine girls followed the bus to continuously say goodbye to me. God has opened my eyes through this trip and I will forever be changed by what I have experienced this week. Thank you for your many prayers and encouragement. -Kaitlen

Blog Update

We had some internet outages on Tuesday so we were not able to update the blog. We may have an opportunity to do a live Skype of our ministry on Friday. If you would like to be a part of that, please leave your Skype username as a comment.

Tuesday - July 24

As we began our first day on the field in the Philippines, the contrasting sights, sounds, and smells immediately staggered us. The lush countryside and the beautiful people stood out against the intense poverty and significant malnutrition we immediately encountered in a more rural area to the northeast of Manila referred to as “trash mountain.” On the bus ride to the there, I visited with Rick, a local pastor’s son, from a church near the ministry place where we are staying. He shared his heart and compassion for people around him, but especially the poor of “trash mountain” who scavenged for anything they could eat or sell. “I’ve had many sleepless nights,” Rick said, “praying for God to help me know how I can help the children with their education or the adults with ways to provide for their families.” As we traveled up the mountainside, I asked him, “what keeps Filipinos from trusting Christ?” He explained what a struggle it is for many to trust God for eternity when they wrestle with trusting Him to provide food for today.

We experienced this struggle to trust God first hand when Steve Hoel, Teri Lehmann, and I visited a home near trash mountain that was, at best, a hodgepodge of tree branches, plastic tarps, and exposed rusty nails. Inside, the situation was even more disparaging. We found a destitute mom who was unable to care for her extremely malnourished son. In her own skin-and-bone condition, she was so weak that she couldn’t even walk. The boy’s father just a stone’s throw away on “trash mountain” foraging for anything that would be used for food. The boy appeared to be about nine months old, but we learned he closer to 3 years old. Adding to the heart wrenching condition of the circumstances, we discovered that his one-year old brother had died just a couple weeks earlier. We gave the son and his mother some food and water, but prayed that God would spare his life and his mother from even greater sorrow. It’s interesting to me that at home in the States, it’s most often our self-sufficiency that keeps us from trusting God. But for many of those we met on Tuesday – giving them food, treating their illnesses, and matching them with glasses – it’s God’s (perceived) insufficiency that causes them to doubt His faithfulness. The reality is that both our self-sufficiency and our perceived view of God’s insufficiency that causes us to starve spiritually. For today, I’m considering God’s promise to “supply all your needs according to His riches in glory in Christ Jesus” (Phil. 4:19) in a different light. Sometimes He uses others to meet my needs. At other times, He uses me to be the supply to meet the needs of others. At all times, He supplies my needs and according to His resources available freely, richly in Christ Jesus. What a staggering contrast to consider. What a great promise to believe. Larry

We Made It!!!

We are priasing our great God for getting us safely to Manila. We arrived last night ALONG WITH ALL OUR BAGS!!! After all our travels I consider it pretty miraculous to have all our bags arrive. We do have a great God indeed. Once we arrived we were taken to the YMC where most of the group will be staying. Right now it is 6:20 AM on Tuesday morning, and we are about to begin our first full day of ministry. Please pray for stamina as we adjust to this time zone. As part of today's ministry we will be doing a medical clinic at a city dump. Pray for us as we minister to a people in great need that we would be able to share the love of Christ. As we are bombarded with new sights, smells and an overwhelming poverty pray that we will be able to see the people as created in His image and loved so much by God that He sent His son to died for them. Stayed tuned for more information. -Jeff Edmunds PS - We learned from Vince Burke that we may be able to broadcast some of our ministry here via Skype. We will be posting the times when you can log in and see our team ministering at the clinic and doing other ministry.

Almost there

We made it to Guam. God graciously provided free hotel rooms compliments of united airlines at the marriott here in Guam. It has been nice to have a bed and a shower. We board our last flight to Manila tonight at 6:50. We will arrive in Manila tonight around 8:40. Please pray for safe travel with no complications on this last leg of the journey. God has been so gracious so far we can't wait to see what God has planned for us to come. -Jeff Edmunds

On our way

I am writing this from Tokyo, Japan. We are halfway through our journey. We go from here to Guam. After a 16 hour layover we will take our last flight to Manila. We arrive in Manilla on Monday at 8:45 pm. Please pray that we will continue to have smooth travel. We are all doing well, just a little tired. -Jeff Edmunds

I Timothy 6:15 (Phillips) tells us that God "is the blessed controller of all things, the King over all kings, and the Master of all masters." Today our team is trusting in this Truth after missing our flight to San Francisco and then facing obstacle after obstacle to get rebooked on flights departing tomorrow (7/21).

10 1/2 hours later, with many of those hours spent on the phone with ticketing agents, we finally have confirmation that everyone is re-ticked for a flight leaving tomorrow morning at 6am.

Why did we miss our flight? We arrived at the airport at 4:45am just as we had been instructed to do, and the ticket counter was packed! By the time we made it to the counter United could not get us onto the plane, nor could they get us on a flight to San Francisco today in time to catch our connection. All our prior plans and preperations did not matter today, all the prior calls we made with travel agents, airports, and airlines failed us this morning. Only our Lord remained faithful! From our limited point of view, we do not know if we were stopped by the hand of God or the efforts of our Great Foe. It was very evident that "unless the Lord builds the house, the laborers labor in vain."  

Please pray that everything will go smoothly as we try again tomorrow.  Please pray for clear communication and cooperation between United and Asiana Airlines.  Lord willing, we will be on our 6:00AM flight to San Francisco and connect on to Manila.

Praise God!

After months of praying and planning it’s almost time!  A team of people from PBC will board a plane and fly around the world to the Philippines!  Are we excited?  Yes!  Are we nervous?  Probably a little!  Are we anticipating God to do great things in our lives?  Definitely!  Do we expect God to make a difference in the lives of the Filipinos? Absolutely!

As I anticipate our trip I am also humbly overwhelmed as I think about the faithfulness of our Father and the generosity of His people here at the Chapel!  After 6 weeks of mission moments which culminated in the bazaar, $55,542 was raised for this service opportunity.  We might be a small number of people but we serve a huge God and He has provided abundantly!  What has been provided?  18 people are going because the body of Christ is sending.  And, they are going with at least 18 large suitcases of eyeglasses, medicines, children’s crafts and games, medical and dental supplies for the clinic, and personal hygiene items.  (See the attached pictures for just a sampling of items.)

So, yes, I am humbly overwhelmed by God’s faithfulness to provide through the generous hearts of His people!  Thank you so very much for partnering with the Philippine Missions Team and being the hands and feet of God!  Thank you for fulfilling the words of our Savior in Matthew 28…“Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

The body of believers at PBC has once again blessed my life richly!  THANK YOU!

Because we serve a risen Savior!  Susan and the team J

In just two weeks the 18 member team from Plano Bible Chapel will be boarding our plane to the Philippines.  As we anticipate the great things God will do in and through this amazing team, we first need to give thanks to our great God for making this trip a reality.  Due to God's grace and the generosity of many people, the team has raised over $53,000 for this trip.  This not only enables the team to get over to the Philippines but also allows us to bring ministry items, medical equipment, medicines, clothes, and much more.  Praise God for His provision.  With just two weeks left there are still things that are being done. During these final weeks please pray:

* God would continue to prepare the hearts of the team for the ministry.
* God would continue to prepare the hearts of the Filipinos.
* Wisdom and discernment regarding final preparations and packing.
* Safety and health of team.
* Organization of Filipino team and doctors.
* Safe travel for Vince Burke who heads to the Philippines on July 11th.
* Good communication between PBC, Vince and Christ Commission Fellowship (Filipino church)

We covet your prayers and will be updating frequently to keep you posted...


Grace and Peace,
Jeff Edmunds

Group Picture