This is the vehicle that most of the team and all our luggage rode in to go to and from various towns all over Palawan, Philippines. While riding it, sometimes we arranged luggage and other items in the middle so a couple of us could rest along the bench seats. One of our first trips, I was leaning on some luggage while stretched across a bench, with an arm hanging out the window. At some point in time I took my headband off so it wouldn't slide off my head and lose it, and I wrapped it around my arm. Then I fell asleep. Without paying attention to which arm was hanging out, or even the fact that I was sleeping on the side of the vehicle the sun was shining in. Here is the result:
For those who heard we were raising money to buy a new vehicle for Pastor Jun, we did. We helped him pick up the vehicle within the first few days on the island. And this is it:
Remember last time I left, I got some old song stuck in my head, but with new words applicable to my trip ahead? Well the last couple days I've got that old Wizard of Oz song in my head, two lines, and it goes like this:
I'm off to the Philippines,
To see the wonderful Filipin's, all...
Yeah, it's a good thing that's all the song I know, or I'd be driving us all crazy with more lines then that! Whole verses of them! LOL! (By the way, that last word is supposed to be abbreviated form of the word Filipinos, in case anyone is wondering!)
Pray for us, and y'all have great three weeks while we're gone!
Christ's Blessings to y'all,
<>< HJ
Besides the last post, not much has happened in the last week. However, I know y'all will want to hear from me before I leave, so I'm writing a quick note...
Fred & Deb will get back from the conference Debby is doing in Canada tomorrow, though probably more like Monday considering the hour. My wonderful friend from Avon will come tomorrow sometime too, but in the afternoon-ish. Of course Bill and Cathy are around for the weekend but I hear they'll be popping in and out; they however, aren't going to the Philippines this year. Emily & Michelle will show up Monday, hopefully early enough to help with the packing/sorting/weighing/etc we do to our suitcases before we leave. (It's gonna be partly a medical team/trip this time, so we gotta divide up medicine, check weight of our bags, figure in the second bags we each have if we need, etc). Starting tomorrow night, we probably won't get much sleep. After all, we have to be packed and ready to leave for the Buffalo airport at 2AM. But what with a 16+ HR flight and several hour layovers between shorter flights (it takes nearly two days to get to Manila, and three total till we get that last flight to Puerto Princesa from Manila; don't forget we lose 12hrs flying across the International Dateline) hopefully we'll catch up on our sleep and rest well!
Anyway, we leave for the Buffalo Airport at 2AM Tuesday, arrive there a couple hours later, fly out a couple more hours later. We fly to JFK airport in NYC, where we then have a several hour layover before taking the long flight to Hong Kong, where we then have a couple hour layover, a short flight to Manila and a place to rest for a short time. Then a day of shopping, picking up our tickets to Puerto Princessa, and eventually flying there at another "un-Godly" hour in the morning...probably.
You have to remember that missions trip are ALWAYS subject to change, and unless otherwise noted Deb and Christina Dunk (a friend from NH) will be the main speakers though we will all have our turn sharing, but here is the tentative schedule as Debby wrote it:
Friday, Oct 31, Arrive in Puerto Princesa
Saturday, Nov 1, Fishing Village
Church Service as night
Sunday, Nov 2, Puerto Princesa
Pastor Jun's church all day
(Grace, Pastor Jun's daughter, leads Street Kids Ministry afternoon, we'll be ready to sing & preach)
Sunday night church service
Monday, Nov 3 Evening-Tuesday, Nov 4, Puerto Princesa
Seminar & Medical clinic
Wednesday, Nov 5, Aborlan & Princess Urduja
Aborlan: Morning & Afternoon services
Princes Urduja: Evening Service with Pastor Jonathan
Thursday, Nov 6, Nara
Bible School teaching all day
(Pastor Jonathan is the leader of the collage)
Friday, Nov 7 - Saturday, Nov 8, Quezon
Morning & Evening services, Medical Clinic @ local Tribal church
Sunday, Nov 9, Quezon & Puerto Princesa
Quezon: Sunday morning service
LOOOONGG drive back to Puerto Princesa
Monday, Nov 10, San Miguel & Roxas
San Miguel: visit/do morning service?
Roxas: evening service
Tuesday, Nov 11, Dumaran
Drive to and do Evening service
Wednesday, Nov 12-Thursday, Nov 13, El Nido
Drive to and do Evening service
All day seminar & medical clinic
Friday, Nov 13, Puerto Princesa
Drive back to Puerto Princesa
Saturday, Nov 14, Manila
Fly back to Manila
PHILIPPINES 2007:
Her name was Kim (with a Spanish “I,” like Keem). She lived in a remote town on the little island of Busuanga, part of the Palawan cluster of islands in the Philippines and a twelve hour boat ride from Puerto Princessa, Palawan. Like some of the Filipinos who attended the small church in Chey (pronounced chew-y) during the time the missionaries where there holding conferences, Kim was there to help out. She wanted to enjoy the free food and did not want to be affected by the meetings; nor did she expect it.
My name is Hannah Davis, but my nickname is Haney-Pack as I am always giving out waist-level hugs! I was one of the team my Aunt Debby took to the Philippines last fall. We saw several people healed and delivered while we traveled across the islands and while we ministered at the churches. Though the whole trip was awesome, I was specifically affected by what happened during our week in Chey. Not only did God talk to us and give us new revelations while under the influence of the Holy Spirit, but He used us too! Even in ways we never knew of at the time it occurred!
He was about five years old and his name was Abel (pronounced Ah-bell). He was one of over eighty children at the orphanage in Benin, West Africa; the orphanage Pulcherie ran and the visiting missionary team tried to support. While several of the orphans were adoptable, Abel was not for his mother was still alive, though she resided indefinitely at an asylum for the mentally ill.
For the first week in Africa we held two ladies conferences in the morning and afternoons, and went to different churches in the evenings. We saw many people uplifted and delivered of various ailments and diseases; I saw one girl, who as I prayed for her to see, her eyes suddenly lined up and she looked right at me! While another young lady was delivered of a demon when a friend prayed for her!It's amazing to see what God does, how He worked and orchestrated things in my life and the people around me! How He answered prayers, how quickly things have been falling into place, and people brought together, "For such a time as this!" I mean, I....you know what, why don't I start at the beginning! (I can give more details, then you might care for, but hey...there's nothing like a good story, eh?)
It was the fall of 2006, and I was having a rough day. Wanted some time with just God and I. Normally I would not suggest anyone skip church--sometimes we need people when we are down, and the encouragement of Christ that fellowship with the Saints can bring--but that Sunday, that is exactly what I did! The night before, I had managed to talk Mom into letting me have the car in the morning so I could drive to church myself. But then that morning, all I wanted to do was be alone with God, in the most secluded place I knew (where I could sing and shout without annoying anyone!): in the car while driving. So, instead of going to church, I called my pastor and told him I wasn't going to be coming to church (so he wouldn't worry when I didn't show up, since his wife was usually my ride and she wasn't around that weekend). And I went on a drive...A long one. Out onto roads I've never been on--and hoping and praying I could find my way back since I'm quite directionally challenged! And during the drive I had a long talk with God. Some of it was about my wanting to do something significant; about wanting to go on a mission’s trip, though I understood that I was valued and needed here and nothing was more significant in the Kingdom then any other thing. Nonetheless, I still asked for it. And that somehow He would work it out with someone who knew me and my abilities (or lack there of) and would be all right working with me...He spoke too, but mostly He listened...
And He heard me!
Of course I did not know how much till later that day. I got home to hear my Aunt and Uncle and Cousin were coming over briefly so my Dad could look at some kind of electronic problem my Uncle could not figure out (they're both geeks, but I guess my Dad is more so then his brother). Well, as it happened, not but two seconds after they popped in, my Aunt Debby turns to me and asks if I want to go to the Philippians with her in November!
Oi! You bet I said "YES!" For without a doubt, it had come as the answer to my prayer! And quicker then I had thought! But it was well it was asked then, for I did not have long to raise support and get my finances in order to go.
I went to one of my Aunt's women's conferences in Olean, NY to familiarize myself with her teachings and how she operated in the ministry (I have no idea why I had never done so before!). Then a couple weeks later I stayed at their house for a couple days before flying out of Buffalo. This all helped me familiarize myself with a couple of people that would be on our team, as well. And later, I would see what else it worked into (isn't God amazing how He works, sometimes? What seems so insignificant can mean so much in the long run!).
The Philippians was an awesome trip! The flight was LONG (16hours for one flight alone, not to mention all the connections) and we skipped about 12hrs through all the time changes and the International Date Line. But once we were there, we did several conferences. Went to several churches and did multiple services. And traveled all over the island to do so....I experienced for the first time, what it was like to have God "knock people out" when little me laid hands on them! God used me! How cool was that?! ...But I also learned a lot on the trip. Having been sheltered and homeschooled most of my life, learning how to work as a team and as a friend (and talk in a way that made sense and didn't hurt people) was all still new to me. But through it all, I learned what a source of wisdom and understanding Aunt Deb was--which would also be valuable later on--and built a great friendship/mother-daughter relationship with her as well as a good friendship with the others!
I had gone on the trip, planning for quite some time before to try and move out of my parents' home and get my own place. And at least a couple hours away. But I used up every penny I had to go on the trip. So during the trip, I learned how to trust God in a newer way: let go. Whenever my hope to be able to move out would arise while on the trip, followed by a thought of how impossible that would be since I had almost nothing to live on, I would turn it back over to God and shove it aside. Verbally, when Deb would ask how I was doing, I would (in faith) tell her that "Somehow God'll work it out, and when I get back it will just fall into place!" (I had told God, more then once, that I did not want to be home much longer after the holidays, and the sooner the better!)
Well of course, once again, GOD HEARD ME!
On the flight back from the Philippines, Deb and I got to talking. She and Fred were in need of help to keep their growing ministry running...I still don't remember how or when exactly it came about, but the next thing I knew I had grabbed my stuff from their house, and was back at my parents' home planning on moving out shortly after Christmas! AND in with Deb, Fred, and my wonderful cousin Marie-Louise! ...I had less then a week, before I moved some of my stuff their house and helped Fred send out their mailings (I had always loved to do bulk mailings! so simple!). Then I went home, had Christmas and went to church to tell my beloved church family "hello" and "goodbye" in one turn (I miss them so!). And was back two days before New Years, moving the last of my stuff into what used to be Fred's office (they did some shuffling over the Holidays; so sweet!) and then had a night all to myself (I had arrived to an empty house, and would not expect them back from late Christmas celebrations till the next evening)....
SEE how important it was that I had been at their house before and after the trip? I was now familiar with the surroundings and how the house worked! ...what's more, one of the other woman on the trip, who had been at the house before and after the trip too, is someone I discovered came up every weekend (Cathy Hoffman) with her husband to go to church with Fred and Deb since they consider that church their home church and are still trying to move up here! Good thing I connected, eh? 'Cuz I got her for another mom now, in case I need another one. And I had connected with the church during the conference earlier. And now they are my new church family!
And that is just the beginning!
A large team of six, consisting of Bill & Cathy Hoffman, Debby Davis, Tim Wright (Cathy's son, the soon-to-be widely renown musician and worship leader!), Emily Ingole, and of course ME! But in the middle of that team was another team God wove into a tight knit unit of young people; Tim, Emily, and I were not coincidently thrown together nor did we "just happen to be" the same ages (all within three months), but God brought us together. And from it--you guessed it--I got two wonderful friends!
God not only made a team for the Philippines 2006 trip, but He graciously wove two friends and gave me three close (sometimes too close) weeks with them to get to know them better and grow in a stronger, more clear, friendship (if I had thought I had known Tim before that, it was just an image of who I thought he was--he, like Emily, really began to show his "True colors" in the Philippines.)
Of course, God did a lot of work in each of us in the Philippines (I learned to trust God to a newer level, which had me either on the floor or drunk with the Holy Spirit, almost as much as I wasn't!). Emily and Tim also fell under the power of the Holy Spirit. And we all saw miraculous signs and wonders, through us and/or around us! One young lady was delivered from lesbianism, although not a word was spoken or even prayed on that issue! And many others were touched in other ways. At the end of the first week in the remote island in the Palawan District of islands in a little town called Chey (pronounced Chew-y), we heard several testimonies of people who had come to the meetings (some just for the free food we provided) intent on not falling out under the power of the HS (if they even had heard about it, before!) crawling out of the church long after the service was over! Since we have been back in the States, we have heard from our guide, friend, and interpreter, Pastor Jun (who has to be one of the funniest people you will ever meet!) that the pastor of that church has said, since we left there, they have been having meetings every night at the church and they're still feeling the Power of God moving in their midst!
We also saw many awesome things happen back at the largest island of Palawan (where we had been the year before). Had an awesome, and spontaneous, long dancing services for one of our last meetings at a Bible School; during it one of the girls jumped so far and back she ripped a Christmas banner!
On the way to and from Chey, and to and from the Philippines, we met with several oppositions and delays. But we also saw miracles and had the opportunity to pray for several people! One lady got on the bus-truck we took to Chey with Mastitis that had left her so weak she could not hold her head up and needed help to climb into the vehicle. We prayed for her and Emily gave her some medication. By the time she got off at her home, she was proudly holding her head up as she smiled and waved at us till we were out of site--there is no doubt God had healed her already!)
So, God heard me and gave me another friend. He heard Deb, and provided a wonderful addition to our team. And He kept the birthing of the revival kindled in a small group of people's hearts during a long road trip in the middle of a highway on the way to a meeting--where we usually think God-things start: a building--and kept it overflowing and growing. Into OH, NY, NH, and then all the way to, there, and from the Philippines! (I can't say how many times we had revelations and God-times on the airplanes and in the airports! I even got drunk with laughter on an airplane for about half-hour!)
And yet, like I said a couple posts back, He wasn't done yet! Not with the team (which had more to come, still!) and not with our hearts! Praise God! He's still moving on this earth today. And He's still using us, ordinary human beings, to do His extraordinary work! It's like John the Baptist said, "He must increase, but I must decrease." (John 3:30) Why else would God use us? Unless we were willing to die to our flesh, to be simple human beings limited by our means, But to allow Him to work beyond our limitations and, therefore, we will become instruments to bring glory to His Name!
