Our time here in the Philippines has been bittersweet for me. I have fallen in love with the people here. The staff, the people, and yes, even the children (haha). But, on the other hand,  my heart broke for them because of the suffering I saw them living in. I asked for God to break  my heart for what breaks His,  and to give me His heart for these people. Mistakeningly, I didn’t think He would. He did, and it hurts, but it’s … incredible. I see exactly why God loves the people of the Philippines. How could He not? Not only did He create them, but He gave them such a uniqueness about them.

Tomorrow, we leave to go back to Romania and it feels like it was just yesterday we arrived. It feels like just yesterday we first experienced the Manila heat, and it feels like just yesterday we took our first jeepney ride and experienced the way of the tricycle Oh … the many random things of the Philippines!

Well, I finished my Christmas shopping today .. so now I’m going to pack and attempt to fit everything in my bag! God bless you all Thank you for your prayers!

In Him,

Melissa

Romans 11:36

Titus went back to the State yesterday morning because of his health problem. The Serbia outreach team down to 6 people now. We tried to pass the news to the Philippines team but as they are on the outreach at the villages, seems that they still haven’t got our update. I could imagine how sad they will be. But I believe separation just bought us together.

Sun is shining bright in Uzice!

We had English Club, 2 sessions, with the high school dorm students. They are wonderful kids. Very smart, open, full of dream and passion of their own nation. I love them!

Last night, half of the team went to have a kids’ programme with the orphan. They are special needs kids and we had to use extra strength and patient. While we were doing the kids’ programme, the reminding team was preparing for the concert! Yes, we have a band!! Far From Home is the name!! Woo! See you poster on the street of Uzice! Concert at the cafe, try to reach out to the local. And it went so well! We made some new friends and some youth that we met on the street came to support us.

Ministries here in Uzice are all in the beginning. That’s a new experience for me. On one hand, I feel like I am not doing anything. Most of the time is just hanging out, try to make friends with local. But on the other hand, I value this experience. Cos I believe this is the real situation working in mission. Start from scratch.

This morning, the team heading to Sarajevo, Bosnia. I couldn’t get the visa, so I stay with other missionaries at our mission house. They will be back this Sunday evening and I wondering how I should make good use of these 3 days… Walking out of the house, again, this wonderful view is in front of me. The mission house is located at Bela Zemlja, mean the White Land. Such a beautiful place. And Serbia is such a beautiful nation. May God bless this place and the people here. May they see the beauty of the Lord, the glory of His kingdom. Amen.

We arrived in the Philippines after traveling with a bus for 10 hours to Istanbul, Turkey and then a 13 hour flight to Manila! We left Sunday afternoon and arrived on Tuesday. We were pretty tired but thankful to finally be in the Philippines! The heat hit us like a wall when we got off the plane. This is a world like I have never seen before. The traffic goes everywhere. Scooters and bikes weave in between cars and jeepneys (their public transport that look like home made buses). The YWAM base here is very nice! It is a huge building with 4 floors. There are around 27 YWAM staff that live on the base and they eat all their meals together. The community is great and I am enjoying getting to know all of these beautiful people.

Joy In The Midst of Poverty

During our first day of ministry, half of the team went to YWAM’s Day Care Center for malnourished babies and the other half of the team went to visit families with TB. I went with the team to visit TB families. We brought a bag of rice and a few eggs to each family. These families live in small apartments with around 10-18 people in each unit. The government built these apartments after they shut down the old Smokey Mountain garbage dumpsite. There is no running water and the conditions are not good but better than still living in the temporary housing. The temporary housing is basically shacks built on top of shacks made with cardboard, scrap wood and whatever they can find.

One of the families we visited had a son with extreme cerebal palsey. He was laying on the floor when we walked into their apartment. He looked really frail, just skin and bones. I thought that he was maybe 2 or 4 years old. I asked the mother how old he was and she said 20 years old. I couldn’t believe my ears! This boy laying in front of me with a diaper on was 20 years old. His mother is a widow with 8 children and 6 living with her. She sat in front of me rocking her small frail son. We prayed for her, encouraged her and gaver her some food. I walked away feeling a bit helpless and overwhelmed by her situation. She is a woman of strength that’s for sure.

The Garbage Dumpsite “Smokey Mountain”

Today I went to the TB Bible Study at the garbage dumpsite of Smokey Mountain. There were 6 adults who came and many children. Ana one of the DTS students shared about the Kingdom of God and we sang some songs with them. Next to where we had the Bible study about 20 feet away men were picking through garbage and a group of boys were playing basketball. I still don’t understand how people can live amongst all the garbage at this dumpsite. I see the joy of the Lord on their faces and am encouraged to see that these people have hope even amongst their circumstances.

The 26th of Oct, our team left the YWAM base at 3pm. We took the bus, a 3.5 hours ride, to Bucharest. After a sandwich dinner at the train station platform and we got on the overnight train to Belgrade, Serbia. We could see the difference between Romania and Serbia once we cross the border. And at around 9:30am, we arrived Belgrade and it was raining. I love the country once I stepped out of the station. I didn’t really understand why, maybe it was because of the streets setting, or the trams and the people. We ate a quick + big breakfast then we took the van and heading to Sombor, our first destination of the outreach, a beautiful, green, bicycle friendly city. I love it so much!!!!!!!!!

The place that we are staying is a tiny lovely house with only 1 room. So the 4 girls sleep take the room and the 3 boys sleep in the living room. Well, to be more specific, it is a living room + kitchen + meeting room + boys’ room. The host family is wonderful. Food, home-made soda water, coffee, non-stop wood for the fire…. everything!

Since last Wednesday, we have English Club and Cafe ministries near every night. The church that we work with has a cafe.  We have been so excited as people are so open and nice. The second day that we arrived, we spent sometime wondering around the town center. We handed out leaflets to promote about the Kid’s Club, English Club and Cafe things that would happen. People really stopped, talked to us, gave us a smile. Even they were not really interested, they just make me feel peace. This is totally out of my expectation.

More exciting is there are new people coming to the English Club + Cafe. Totally new to the church. And they keep coming after the first evening. People are open, funny, kind, direct and interesting. I really fell in love with them, not only with their city.

About kid’s club, again, amazing. All the kids are sweet. It is very interesting to see how different the kids could be when they are from different countries or culture. Even Romania is geographically next to Serbia, everything is  so different.

On Sunday, 1 Nov, it was a date that people go to clean up grave and light a candle there. After the Cafe ministry, our new friends bought us to the graveyard. It was so cold but my heart was warm by their kindness. A memorable night. Tomorrow will be our last full day in Sombor. Friends that we met at the cafe invited us to have a pizza lunch. That will be an emotional time that I could imagine.

The most unexpected thing was the softball + baseball training. Vicky told me that she help in training the teenager team in Sombor. I am so excited to hear that, same as Titus. We joined the training on weekend. As I have limited skills, basically, I was there playing with the girls and chat with them. The coach has so much passion on baseball even he is not a professional. Titus was once a baseball player so he taught the kids more skills and all the kids were grateful. That 2 mornings, I ride on Jennifer’s, another girl working at the church, bike. I have no word to describe how joyful I was. To live in a place that I could ride my bike around town is one of my dream. And when I got to the field, seeing all the teenagers running around, have so much passion on what they are doing, it touched my heart deeply. I never though that I love to work with teenagers. I wonder God is telling me something that 2 days on the big field.

One last thing, and most important thing, before I go to sleep…

Titus is sick, very sick. And he need to do a lot of test to make sure what is happening to his body. Doctor from the hospital here suggested him to go back to the state for the test and treatment as it might be very expensive for him to things here. He thinks that it will only be the last option for him to go back. And are trying to gather more information about his insurance and also find better hospital, maybe in Belgrade for him to do the test. Please pray for him and our team.

Amen

The base became so quiet after half of the students left. Dinner, fried chicken, was amazing as usual. Thanks Kristen and Denali for cooking!! We played RISK after and it was just a relaxing evening.

Tomorrow, we are leaving for Serbia. Taking a bus to Bucharest and get on the overnight train to Serbia. After we leave, the base will be so empty. Couldn’t imagine I am going to leave this house soon. How will the following 6 weeks be like? How is the other team going? I guess they are now sleeping on the bus to Istanbul. Miss them already, on this silent night.

The team going to the Philippines includes Sarah (staff), Ana, Robert, Leah, Natalie, Emiliya, George, and myself. Four nations, eight people, and a new country and culture that none of us have ever been in before. It’s unbelievable the things God can do for us! We leave on October 25 from Constanta on a bus that goes down through Bulgaria and arrives in Istanbul, Turkey sometime very early in the morning on the 26th. We are then taking a flight from Istanbul, Turkey to Doha, United Arab Emirates – then after a short layover, we fly to Manila, Philippines! My whole team is so excited and there are several people who have never been on an airplane before

On Monday, my team went to Bucharesti to pick up some VISA’s and apply for more. It was a long day of driving and visiting embassies. We were out the door at 6 am and we made it home a little before 9 pm that evening. It was definitely a long day and we hit a few bumps with the VISA’s, but it just causes us to rely on God even more! We know He will provide for us and He always has the best thing planned for us. All things work together for good for those who love the Lord.

So far, this week we have been spending the class time as team time. We split into our teams after worship or intercession and we are busy until lunch time. Today, my team worked on games for teenagers and we all decided to pick a topic and share it with the teenager groups we will be working with. Just a short 15-20 minute message. We are using material from the lecture phase of the DTS. I think our meetings are going well. Actually, I think we have an absolutely wonderful team.

So, this week has been pretty busy. We are all trying to cram everything we have to do into our waking hours. We are finishing book reports, team time, outreach preparation, small groups, one on ones, packing, cleaning, work duties, preparing messages, teaching and devotionals, and amidst this chaos, we are still managing to find time to eat, sleep and enjoy each other’s company. It’s a little nuts, but that’s what makes it so great My favorite part about this last week so far is that no matter what everyones schedules are or how busy everything gets, we all still get together at the dinner table every night. It’s nice to just slow everything down and just talk over a warm meal.

It’s still so hard for me sometimes to wrap my head around what is really going on right now. I wake up some mornings and think “I can’t believe I’m waking up in Romania, learning about God and I’m getting ready to go to the Philippines to share God!” Maybe it sounds ridiculous, but I just really can’t count the blessings God has poured upon me in my time here. He has really been so good to me and I am so thankful for everything. Praise Him!

And all God’s people said ….. Amen!

Only By His Grace,

Melissa

Last Friday, it was heavy rain in the city. When I looked out of the window, I saw the half flooded sidewalk outside of the base building. It reminded me the first day that I arrived. It was the 11th of July, a rainy day. Me and Denali arrived on the same night. Natalie was the student that came before us. The 3 of us and some staff had nice dinner in the living room. And then the storm got stronger. The power was off, we started to light up some candle. That was a wonderful evening.

And 3 months after, same living room, same base building. There are totally 12 students and 1 staff living together. Oh yes, we have been living together for 3 months and I love them more than ever. Still remember July and August, we always went to the beach together. Sometime after dinner, sometime during weekend. We use to had dinner at the balcony, enjoy some fresh air and the sun. And now, winter has came. No more outdoor dinner but the meal stay amazing.

In a week time, we will be going on our outreach. Are we ready? For me, I really not sure. Many things need to be taking care of before the journey. But I am sure once I got on the bus, I will be 100% ready.

Our team arrived on a Saturday. After a long day of travelling, we got settled in, walked around the town a little bit and then had dinner. When the excited chatter from all the rooms finally died down, we got some sleep

That Sunday, we split into 3 smaller groups. Titus, Martin 2, Ana and I went to a small church about an hour away from Draganesti. We sang a couple of songs in Romanian, I shared my testimony and Titus shared an encouraging message. What stood out to me so much about that morning, was how much each one of us was depending on eachother. None of us could have done it without the other. None of us could have been there without Ana to translate. We couldn’t have sang without Martin leading us. We wouldn’t of had a message if it weren’t for Titus, and there would have been no testimony shared if it weren’t for myself. All of us played an important part in making that morning go so well.

For the other groups, one went to Hope Church (the church that we were working with throughout the week) and another small group went to a house church that afternoon. There were so many opportunities to meet new people that all of us got to do something new and go somewhere and share the love of God.

Monday met us with a whole new set of challenges and experiences. Some of us did kids club at the base we were staying at and the rest of us went out to do street evangelism. I have never done this before, so I was a little nervous about doing this. Usually, this method is really frowned upon in the states, but I was quickly reminded that the cultures are completely different, because the people we met, for the most part, really welcomed us.

We packed bags full of New Testaments, the Gospel according to Luke, and a childrens book and we were on our way! I was paired up with Sarah (one of the staff here) and she and I went back and forth across the road to peoples houses and placed these books on their fences. A lot of people came out to see what we were doing and we actually got into a couple of really nice conversations with people. We got to pray for a few people and really just got to hear about their lives and found that a lot of people had the right idea, and they were seeking God, they just weren’t sure where to look.

Monday evening, after dinner and team time, all 15 of us went out on the main street in the town to do some more evangelism. We broke up into teams of 3 and 4 and handed people books and even got a few to take some surveys. We were working with the people of Hope Church again, which was helpful because we had more translators and people who were familiar with the area. A few hours later, we all met back at the house and shared our experiences from the day and went to bed.

The entire week was full of evangelism, kids clubs, visiting widows, cleaned the streets, and helped with maintenence at the church. It was stretching for a lot of us. New experiences, new people, not always knowing what is going on and feeling like we were being pulled in 10 different directions. But, we know that God pulled us through it all. And the best part is, He brought us all through it together. As a team. As one.

Now, as we are all preparing for our long outreach where some of us are going to Serbia and others to the Philippines, we know more what to expect. From ourselves and from eachother. We have the experience of being together and hopefully we can use the things that stretched us before to make us stronger this time around.

Please keep us in your prayers. For unity, safety and growing in Christ’s love. Thank you and God bless.

Only By His Grace,

Melissa