gifts

God is the ultimate gift giver.

Even when I fall so far short I can't stand myself; He showers gifts on me.

He delights in being the Giver of Good things.  Reminding me constantly that He has a good plan for my life.

When I hesitated to settle my heart on the Philippines, because for some reason I had upon this heart the desire to serve a people who would be considered black (I know, that's odd, but He is in the details); He pointed us to the Ati people.  A negrito tribal group among the least reached people of the world.  A black people, in the Philippines.  Putting my heart at rest, assurance of directional correctness. 

The worship music at our church is above measure.  I knew that I would miss it greatly. But then came the news that our church had recorded a worship album, it comes out December 6th.   A gift just for me.

We have wondered about training.  For our family of 7 to attend training in Colorado at Mission Training Institute, the cost would be $12,000.  Not realistic, highly valuable I'm sure, but not in our budget. 

So I asked our friends at Launch 150 in North Carolina how they serve their neighborhood.  T sent me hundreds of pages of materials they use.  T4T, the Bible as story; how to reach people without written language with the Gospel - using storytelling. 

Now I've been told that a T4T trainer will be at a conference Man and I are attending.  Thus we know with confidence that T4T is the training choice for us = reassurance. 

Propaganda, a guy who's videos you can find on my blog (via youtube), is going to be at the same conference.  I just learned that on Monday.  So God put this guy in my line of site, drew my heart out, stretched it with Propaganda's challenges.  He of course knew all along that Propaganda would be performing at the same conference noted above.  Assurance that my connecting with this guy's message is correct. 

God works this way in  my life.  There are so many examples where I stepped out without having the answers up front, and then He put answers in my path, then provided confirmation, so I would know my faith was being put in the right place. 

But first I had to step out. 

This week's update on the Ati land purchase on the Island of Panay is good news.  The land has been paid for!  Yeah.  Now teams for construction are being sought.  Of course man will be working there on the planned buildings, but lots of help is needed.  This is from Tori:

The Ati people are a minority tribe living in poverty and isolation on the island of Panay in the Philippines.  They have dark skin and curly hair, and they are similar to the Aborigines living in Australia. Rejected by the majority of the population, four Ati clans live on a mountain side with no school, poor nutrition and health care, and little knowledge of Jesus Christ.   We were shocked when we found these Ati, who lived so geographically close to us, but were completely isolated from the larger society. 

Along with our Filipino co-workers we began to visit three times a week; to feed the Ati mothers and children with nutritious food, establish a relationship with them by telling them about Christ and the hope of Salvation.  From these visits a strong desire grew in our hearts to communicate the message of Jesus Christ to the Ati people not only in words but in action, so the Ati would have hope and a better way of life.  Now, we have already purchased land where the Ati live.  We will soon start constructing the first school building for the Ati children, a powerful symbol of God’s love and hope for their future.

We ask you to pray for the work amidst these people.  We are also asking for anyone with willing hearts and hands to come and help with a short term mission team to help with the construction of the school and orphanage or come to help with outreach to the Ati children. If you can not come, could you help by purchasing construction materials? 

If you can help let us know.