Rest in me

Day 3 and 4

Marcelo has given us a schedule of activities that we will do with His ministry.  We are overjoyed that there is so much to be done, and that we can be a part of it, yet we are heavy laden because of the full day of ministry each day.

Gary and I have been growing in our relationship, sharing our folly of pride and weaknesses with each other last night.  During the flight to the Philippines, we considered 14 prayers that we would petition our Father with, and pray 2 prayers per day.  One of these prayers is that we would grow closer to one another in love.  Another is that we will grow in humility, and 'see how big God is, and how small we are'.  These prayers are being answered faster than we can pray for them!

To share a funny story:  Gary was preaching and sharing his testimony to the street children, as part of the 'feeding' ministry.  First the gospel would be shared, songs sung of Jesus, then they would receive soup and bread.  As Gary talked about his love for soccer, he said that he used to score a lot of goals, to impress people.  I am learning Tagalog at a fast rate and heard the translator say 'babae' which means "Girls".  I laughed my head off - the Filipino's looked a bit confused, and to top it off, Gary said at the end that now he scores girls (kiwi = goals) for Jesus!!

I must carry on with one more story, Gary woke up last night at 3am in the morning to prepare today's sermon for the afternoon services at the Church.  I wondered why he was working from 3am to 4.30am, and then found out in the morning that he woke up at 3am and saw his NZ cellphone time at '7pm' - Whoops - You guys (NZ) are 4 hours ahead of us.  These are joyous times, and we need much laughter to keep us well spirited here.

We are also learning to 'rest in Jesus' because we were so overwhelmed by the fact that we would preach and teach and run bible studies every day!  So this lesson is a must.  We have learnt more that our work is not to do a 'new' work - but to point others to the three nails that represent Christ Jesus' finished work.  Our rest is found when we accept that we cannot add to his wounds ourselves, but we can show others His wounds.

Matthew 11v28 seems such a household verse, but this is so necessary for us.

I however, am struggling to find much laughter at this time.  I have become ill and my illness is in my head (dizzyness).  However the Father saw fit to use me still today; I was able to share the gospel with our security guard at our location.  Though I am weary and could not preach at Church this afternoon, the Lord still uses me!

Please pray as we go about the campuses, community leaders, street children, prisoners, and policemen, that we would overflow with joy and love for our Lord, the same Lord worshipped in New Zealand, and in the Philippines.

Pray also for my health - for Our Father has the power to heal

Give thanks that we have been able to wisely invest our money into the ministries here, and please give thanks that the Church here is so welcoming of us and desiring us (already) to return and work on the campus full time!!

In Christ I will rest tonight, with my brother Gary, for there is no other rest to be found in such a setting.

Chris (and Gary)

P.S. please encourage others to use this blog if they want to follow our ministry - Gary and I are choosing to place our energy here for sharing all the Lord is doing