Why Do the Innocent Suffer?

I have been teaching my students the book of Job. The question this book raises is "Why do the innocent suffer?" After going through a whirlwind of suffering, Job never finds out why (though his 'friends' try to tell him it is his sin or for discipline). God only speaks to him out of the storm and puts Job in his place. God really assures Job that he has not been abandoned and that He is sovereign over everything. All Job needs to do is trust God in faith.

I read the list of things Paul suffers in 2 Corinthians 6: beatings, imprisonments, riots, hard work, sleepless nights, hunger, poverty.... I asked myself and God, "If I truly experienced all this and more for a long period of time would I be able to persevere in my faith?" I know other people like Jospeh, Job and Jesus have gone before me and have persevered, but how do I know I will stand firm until the end?

God encouraged me that through suffering I can focus not on the circumstances but on His character. I can focus on the glory to come. I pray that I will remain faithful to the end, and I pray for those Christians who are suffering all over the world right now. Let us remember: 2 Cor. 4.17-18 "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen. For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal."

Carnival Sponge Booth

Today was the carnival at school. This year Rachel and I were in charge of the 6th grade booth. We decided to keep up the annual tradition and recreate the sponge throwing booth. Last night some students stayed after school to help paint our backdrop (don't you love to see Carol's painting position?).

From 1-3pm I managed the 6th grade workers while people paid their tickets to see their favorite teachers and peers get shot at with a wet sponge. I was glad I had the "excuse" that I was working so I didn't have to get put behind the pullory. Unfortunately some of our teachers, students and even the principal were not so lucky!

Now I am taking an internet break because the continuation of the carnival is to have a middle school lock-in. Why do young people think it is so fun to stay up all night? (I know when I was in 6th grade I did the same thing with Cara!). Well, it is a great opportunity to show love to the students and to get to know them better.

Nate is supervising with the other teachers while I am catching my breath from all the fun of the day: Carnival, clean-up, blob tag, group games inside, cheering at the high school basketball game, eating pizza and hanging out. I better get back before they wonder if I fell asleep!

A Taste of Canada

The day after we were back from OE (two weekends ago) we met up with our other co-leaders (also middle school teachers with us) for a wonderful buffett at a nice local hotel. This is the fanciest place I have eaten since I have been in the Philippines. It was extravagant, and almost too much so. There was a grand variety of food, especially tuna, blue marlin, and many local fish specialties caught that day in the ocean. I also enjoyed just dining quietly with our friends so we could exchange stories about the week.

It was great to show up to the restaurant on the third floor of the hotel and to see this huge Canadian map! I love Canada, and it just so happened to be Canada theme week. We even met some Canadians in the restaurant who were visiting our city. The food was far from Canadian, but the decor was lovely. I thought you would enjoy these photos of our evening! "O Canada, our home and native land..."

Who Is On the Throne?

After teaching the book of Ezra today in my 9th grade class I revisited some questions of my own. After the exile who would be Israel's king? What happened to the line of ancestors after King Jehoiachin and Zedekiah? What did the people in Jesus' time think of when they were waiting for a Messiah, an Anointed One (King?)?

Did I lose you with those questions? I hope not! These questions are only part of the amazing connections I was trying to make in my brain between the people of God in the OT and the Christ in the NT. These questions lead us to our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Messiah!* Here are some pretty amazing verses God showed me today.

Jeremiah 22
24 "As surely as I live," declares the LORD, "even if you, Jehoiachin son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, were a signet ring on my right hand, I would still pull you off. 25 I will hand you over to those who seek your life, those you fear—to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and to the Babylonians. 26 I will hurl you and the mother who gave you birth into another country, where neither of you was born, and there you both will die. 27 You will never come back to the land you long to return to."

28 Is this man Jehoiachin a despised, broken pot,
an object no one wants?
Why will he and his children be hurled out,
cast into a land they do not know?

29 O land, land, land,
hear the word of the LORD!

30 This is what the LORD says:
"Record this man as if childless,
a man who will not prosper in his lifetime,
for none of his offspring will prosper,
none will sit on the throne of David
or rule anymore in Judah."

God was patient with His people but the kings continued to do evil in the eyes of the Lord. Finally he had to fulfill the consequences of Levitics 26 and Deuteronomy 28. This verse 30 is why the line of kings did not continue after exile. The prophet spoke God's word, "None of his offspring...will sit on the throne of David or rule..."

So what did the prophet say right after that? Where was the people's hope? A beautiful passage follows.

Jeremiah 23
5 "The days are coming," declares the LORD,
"when I will raise up to David a righteous Branch,
a King who will reign wisely
and do what is just and right in the land."

This righteous Branch, traced in Matthew 1 through David's line, including the failed kings Jehoiachin and his ancestors, is JESUS! He is the King of all kings! He will reign wisely and justly. He will not fail like the kings before have failed. He is the awaited one we worship.

"So Pilate asked Jesus, 'Are you the king of the Jews?'
'Yes, it is as you say,' Jesus replied."--Luke 23.3

*Messiah [Hebrew]=Christ [Greek]=Anointed One[English]--from 1 Samuel 9.16 "anointed" usually refers to the king (NIV study Bible footnote)

Therefore We Will Not Fear

Psalm 46 NIV

1 God is our refuge and strength,
an ever-present help in trouble.

2 Therefore we will not fear, though the earth give way
and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea,

3 though its waters roar and foam
and the mountains quake with their surging.
Selah

4 There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,
the holy place where the Most High dwells.

5 God is within her, she will not fall;
God will help her at break of day.

6 Nations are in uproar, kingdoms fall;
he lifts his voice, the earth melts.

7 The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah

8 Come and see the works of the LORD,
the desolations he has brought on the earth.

9 He makes wars cease to the ends of the earth;
he breaks the bow and shatters the spear,
he burns the shields [b] with fire.

10 "Be still, and know that I am God;
I will be exalted among the nations,
I will be exalted in the earth."

11 The LORD Almighty is with us;
the God of Jacob is our fortress.
Selah

Where We Went---Subic Bay Luzon

We thought we would give you a few days to catch up on our blog before writing again. I want to show you a map of where we went on Luzon island. Luzon is the big island where we flew to the city of Manila. Then we took busses and went to Subic Bay, which is that little nook on the West of Luzon island.

Subic bay used to be a U.S. military base, so our base camp nights were spent in the former soldier bunks. It was incredible that the guides who took us through the jungle survival training were the same guys who trained the U.S. soldiers to survive during the Vietnam war.

One of my favorite things that I learned was that the airstrip you see on the map, which was built by the U.S. military, is now the FedEx Hub for Asia South Pacific. We slept on the beach right by that airstrip, and all day I was excitedly teling people that I had finally seen the place where the packages my mom sends me travels through. When tracking her packages online I see it goes to Subic Bay, PH. "Where is that?" I used to wonder. Now I do not have to ponder because all night as we tried to sleep outside the sky filled with light and sound as the FedEx planes landed to sort and deliver packages. What a system! Enjoy the maps...I wish you could have experienced it all with us.

Supper in the Jungle

We had a great time cooking and eating supper in the jungle. We learned how to make a fire, and Jessica was able to start it for us! What a gal!

We all brought uncooked rice with us and then cooked it it bamboo sticks (rice cookers) over the fire. We also cooked vegetables and meat in the bamboo sticks.

Earlier in the day, we collected several bamboo bats to save them for supper. Bamboo bats live in bamboo (as you might have guessed) and are tiny creatures.


When we had our supper, we saved the bamboo bats for desert! We cooked them by trapping them inside the bamboo stick alive and then barbecuing them over the fire. Then, when they were cooked, we finally were able to eat what we had been looking forward too--they tasted like chicken nuggets. Yum!



The night in the jungle, Thursday night, was our last night on OE (Outdoor Education) with our students and was very special. In our evening session around the camp fire, we were challenged to be RAW for the Lord like a machete is raw for the jungle--we were taught to be Real, Authentic, and Whole (spells RAW). Afterwards, our sqaud of 9 students prayed and shared how God had really worked in their lives that week. That is what this week was all about, drawing closer to God and learning to surrender all to Him. Thank you Jesus!

A Bamboo Set of Kitchen Supplies

Before long in the Jungle, we learned that a person can make a hundred and one things out of bamboo. Our guide Jun was handy with his machete (they call it a bolo here in the Philippines) and could make almost anything with that tool!


After lunch, we went back into the jungle to make all of our cooking utensils. Jun showed us how to make everything out of bamboo: cups, plates, spoons and knives, a stove, rice cookers, as well as many other things.


We were then expected to make those things ourselves, but our bolos (machetes) were very dull, plus we were not very skilled at this stuff, so Jun ended up making 11 cups, spoons, knives, and plates, as well as 4 rice cookers, for all of us!!!

Hiking in the Jungle

Thursday was a favorite day for many of us. This was the day our traveling squad hiked through the Philippine Jungle!

Our guide's name was Jun, and he was really experienced and funny! Some of the other guides who were elderly had trained the American soldiers to survive in the Vietnam Jungle prior to and during the Vietnam War in the 1960's!

Our guide showed us everything. He showed us the plants that were poisonous as well as the plants that were medicine. Jessica and I thought this was funny because we couldn't tell the difference between the plants. If we were in the Jungle alone, we would probably grab what we thought was a medicine plant but in reality was poison ivy!

Our guide also showed us plants that stored 100% pure water in them. The water was declicious!

We made bracelets from rope/string that we could make from a tree. There is also a "Tea Tree"--the whole tree is tea! We all grabbed some bark and saved it for later to put in a hot cup of water :)

Our guide also made some instruments (sort of like recorders) from the plants in the jungle. Before long, we had our own band session!

I was also able to swim and slide down a natural water slide (it was a small water fall that was carved perfectly for a person's body to slide down on!)--this was absolutely terrific!

One of our favorite parts of our hike was learning about a plant that makes shampoo. It was seriously a 5 in 1 deal!: Shampoo, Mosquito repellent, works against dandruff as well as lice, and is also great soap!

Lord, You are the One who created all these things in the Jungle! How majestic is Your Name in all the earth!

Sand-Building Contest!

Later, on Wednesday, our traveling squad went to the beach and did a variety of activities. One of those activities was a Sand-Building contest. Each squad had 50 minutes to design a sand structure of their choice. The squads were being judged based on two criteria: creativity and completion.

Our squad decided to build a very long snake. Other squads created little mermaids, sharks, big hearts, Sponge Bob, and other creative constructions!

That evening, we had an incredible life-changing worship service by the beach. Most of our students went forward when an "altar call" was given. And, after talking to all of them one-on-one after the service, Jessica and I felt that many of the students were sincere in their decisions for Christ and growth in His love! He is indeed alive and working in the hearts of youth all over the world!

Loving Kids at a School!

On Wednesday morning, we went to a local Philippino school to minister to elementary kids. We spent 30 minutes in two different classrooms, one of which was 2nd grade and the other was 3rd grade.

It was really neat for Jessica and I to see our own students break off into small groups with the elementary kids and interact with them. Some of our students asked good questions and talked about themselves; others played fun games with the kids. No matter what they did, they demontrated love to these kids through their eyes and smiles!

Some of our students told us later that they were glad we went to this school even if it was out of their comfort zones! One of our students even expressed that being at that school caused her to want to be a missionary when she gets older!

I hope we never get too old to reach out and try new things even if it is uncomfortable! As a friend of mine says, we are here on earth to "comfort the disturbed and disturb the comfortable"!

Monkeys and Bats

On Tuesday evening, after Supper, we had the pleasure of seeing some monkeys and bats! The monkeys were so adorable--we just didn't want to get too close to them in case they would bite!

Then, as it was getting dark, we saw literally thousands of bats fly right over our heads for 20 consecutive minutes! We heard that this is an dailyt occurance for these bats. Since bats are nocturnal animals, they are awake when it gets dark. So, since this was the beginning of the "day" for them, they must have been doing their morning exercise!


Jessica and I sat there under those flying bats in awe of God's creation. Why did he create so many creatures that flew together in great multitudes? This must be an example of Him enjoying His creation and displaying His glory! Praise the Lord for His majesty!!!

High Ropes and Free Falling!

On Tuesday, the same day, we were also able to do some high ropes! Most of us did the cat walk (you go up 30 feet and walk across a log), but some chose other options.

I was reminded how much your perspective changes when you are the one up on the log 30 feet above the ground! I went up there and wasn't sure if I could even do it! But then, I just kept telling myself to take it one step at a time (I assure you, they were very small steps!) and that it would feel real good when I was finished! Sure enough, it was an incredible feeling when I touched the ground again!


Since I did it myself, I was also able to relate well with the students who did it too. Isn't that also true in life?! When we go through difficult challenges and then see others experience those same challenges, we can encourage them and comfort them at a whole different level, can't we?!

We also had the awesome opportunity to do the "Trust Fall". One person would stand on an elevated platform and then fall backwards into the group's hands. After this activity, we discussed the principles of trust as well as being trust-worthy ourselves. Here's a question for you; are YOU trustworthy when someone is falling and depending on YOU to catch him or her?

Team-Building Activities

On Tuesday, our squad stayed at the base camp (Subic Bay Military Base) and did a ropes course. Much of the day was doing team-building activities with our squad.

I was really proud of our students and saw some growth in how they worked together! Some of the activities were stretching and challenging for the students, but they all tried to do their best.

On one of the activities, one of our girls in our squad was having a difficult time staying on the movable log. Yet, it was neat to see all the students encourage her. Later that day, she surprised all of us by doing the extraordinary things!

One of the last activities of the day was me (Nate) having to guide my students from point A to point B without touching them as they were all blind-folded!

We learned lessons such as patience, working well together, leadership and followership, and the importance of every single person! Thank you, Lord, for these hands-on experiences and lessons!

Dolphins, Killer Whales, and Sea Lions

On Monday, we met up with all of the Faith Manila middle schoolers and everyone else, so there were about 260 of us altogether. We road buses for four hours and arrived at Ocean Adventure.

It was here that we all were able to see the coolest Dolphin and Killer Whale show! The dolphins were doing crazy flips in the air and could skid backwards on water, like Michael Jackson doing the moon walk. The killer whales would take their trainers on fun swims and also do huge jumps in the air.

Later that day, a few of us went to a Sea Lion show. For those of you who do not know what Sea Lions are, they are like Seals but can walk much better. These creatures were very smart and imitated their trainers in every activity--we had some good laughs!

Later that day, all of us guys had some fun wrestling in the water at the beach. I ended with a few scrapes and scratches, as you can imagine!

We ended the day at the base camp at Subic Bay, which is an old U.S. military base--it was used a lot during World War II and the Vietnam war. But, it is now occupied by the Philippines instead of the U.S. government. The students had fun giving creating "Squad" introductions to each other!

Fun times in the airport for eight hours!

Last Sunday morning, July 5th, we started our crazy Outdoor Education adventures with our 38 middle schoolers! Jessica and I were both able to buy some nice hiking gear the night before thanks to the wonderful birthday gifts I received!

It was great seeing everybody at the airport in our new color-coated Faith Davao Outdoor Ed. t-shirts. Our squad (Jessica and I led a group, or "squad" of 9 middle schoolers) wore the yellow shirts.


Our flight was scheduled to depart at 12:20 early afternoon, so we all arrived extra early at 10:20am on Sunday to make sure we would be okay for the flight. Well, for some reason there were some major problems with the plane engine, so we had to de-plane twice. That's right folks; we had to deplane once; then we waited a while and got on the plane again; but once again, we had to de-plane! The airport staff then rescheduled us for another flight. So, we ended up staying in the airport for a total of 8 hours--we finally took off into the air at 6:20 that evening!

Our extra delays gave us all some good bonding time in the airport lounge: we sang songs, played games, card games, and took fun group pictures! But, we were very thankful when we arrived in Manila. And, we finally got to bed for a good night sleep in the Faith Manila classrooms at midnight! Thank you, Lord, for protecting us during that crazy first day and keeping us all safe!

Crazy Middle School Adventures Ahead

As you probably have heard, we are going to be on a middle school adventure this week as leaders on outdoor education. We will be doing crazy things like making a fire with no matches, cooking rice in bamboo, catching bats to eat, teaching teamwork on a ropes course, and I don't know what all else is in store for us.

Please remember to pray for us as you read this. We will be without the internet for a week, so if you happen to check the blog again and see this is still posted, remember to PRAY for us. Pray for our health, safety, unity as leaders and among the students, for our spiritual growth and the growth of the students. We will update you with great stories and photos upon our return!

Best Birthday Ever!

Wow! Yesterday was simply incredible! I loved it! Thanks to all of you who thought of me for my birthday, especially my most beloved wife!

It started out with Jessica getting up at 5am so she could decorate the house and make a scrumptious birthday breakfast (the best eggs ever!)

She told everyone to write me birthday cards and wish me happy birthday! All the middle schoolers sang Happy Birthday to me at lunch. One of my band students even played happy birthday on his saxophone (Thanks Tara--that was your Sax!) after we had our lesson!

Then, my Kindergarteners, 5th Graders, and 3rd graders surprised me by each writing a card for me and saying those things to me in front of the entire class--it was very special--I couldn't believe it, it encouraged me so much!!!

Then, we had a fantastic birthday dinner at home with 2 other people! Jessica went home at 1:30 so she could work hard at cooking dinner and making other preparations! The meal was more than delicious--I just ate it up!

And, then, afterwards, the 4 of us played our favorite game, "The Settlers of Catan",--we even wore special birthday Settlers hats!

The end of the day was also very nice--I got surprise birthday calls from my sister and parents! And, Jessica (my wife) and I were able to go on a nice walk to close out the evening!

Thank you, Lord, for special days, including birthdays!