24 Pics from Cebuano Ladies' Retreat

It's time for the first-ever Cebuano Ladies Retreat! They're all ready to go! (Mrs. S, I put this one in there for you...what do you notice about this picture?)

The ladies are excited and ready to board the ferry!

The theme is "Awit Sa Kalipay", the Song of the Happy/Rejoicing One. Ladies will learn that it is not we who sing only to God, but He sings His love to us (Zeph. 3.17).

At the retreat center, Weng-Weng gets the journals and gifts ready on each person's bed.

Look at that smile!! SO HAPPY! The ladies had a make-up night called "Fruity Mama" (some pics were excluded here--silliness!). It was some of their first time to wear make-up or own it, and some of them felt like this: "I dreamed to be a beauty queen--now it is my dream come true!" They encouraged one another that they were made in the image of God, and we can celebrate what He has made--beautiful sisters in Christ!

(This make-up was a gift from one of our supporters. Look at all that came about just because of that gift--thank you!)

Emi leads in prayer. I couldn't do anything without her!

Early morning--Dawn Prayer. Sisters went down the pier to pray together at sunrise over the ocean. Most peaceful and beautiful experience ever!

Here are the sisters praying together and lifting their hearts to the Lord!

Unity, love, and joy. Thank you, Lord, for these ladies, and for hearing their prayers.

My camera went with me on Friday, but I came later with Luke on Saturday. I had my first Cebuano sermon ever in my purple bag (Sarah will notice) and my mandolin (Micah will notice). I hopped off the passenger ferry and grabbed a motorcycle (Daniel and Erin will recognize--I thought of you; last time I was here it was with you!). I felt like a real missionary--bringing music and God's word to the people in their own language on an island in a foreign country!

Luke had a lot of other friends too; 5 babies were there with their nursing mothers too.

God graciously gave me my first song in Cebuano--straight from Zephaniah 3.17 "Ang Ginoo nga inyong Dios, anaa uban kaninyo..." It was so fun to hear the ladies singing it together!

Here I am preaching my first sermon in Cebuano. It was amazing how God gave me such understanding, a fluent tongue and eyes to read my notes. The ladies laughed and cried with me, and I really feel it was a supernatural gift of ability in language just at that moment. Praise the Lord for that. May His Word bear fruit in their lives! (Thanks also to Ate Bebe for translating my sermon and recording it for me so I could practice!).

Here's the lovely ladies, the chosen ones. One woman, who normally sells vegetables in the mountain, said "This is the best thing I have ever done in my life!"

Another woman said, "I'm a new Christian, the only one in my family and in my neighborhood community, and this is the most refreshing time for me. It feels like a family for me of sisters in Christ!"

Here is Ruen on her "Date with God." Emi and I wrote a Bible study for the time after my sermon so ladies could read for themselves what God says to them about His great love for them! It was their first time for that! (Beckie and my Canadian sisters, I put this one up for you!)

One woman said of her date with God: "It really was a date with God, because He paid for everything!"

Ladies really felt the love of God with all the special gifts and experiences they had. Praise God for that!

Here's God's Word: "The Lord your God is with you, He is mighty to save. He will take great delight in you. He will quiet you with His love. He will rejoice over you with singing." Zephaniah 3.17. It is the first time for them to learn that God is singing over them!

All the food was provided for. Ladies said it was the first time they didn't have to worry about what is the food they will eat and they don't have to prepare it. Just enjoy! What a gift--a true retreat.

Ruen is jumping for joy! She prayed for a long time for "rubber shoes." Our partner in the U.S. found a whole box full of them, and now she is wearing them at last! God answers prayers!

That afternoon my friends, Jeralyn and Louise, came to join us and share in the crafts. They taught the ladies jewelry-making and card-making. It was a "smash hit", as my sister and I would say. They just kept making more things and having fun and fellowship!

Hard at work--very creative!

They made me feel so loved, but I put this pic up for all those who helped me make this retreat possible, as though I were the representative receiving the boquet for each one of you. You know who you are!! And Emi, I could never do anything without you!

My lovely friends came to join me in the joy of giving! The Canadian, the American and the Irish woman...what a trio!

And here we are saying good-bye! Luke is a little missionary already! His name means "light," and indeed he has been shining the light of God in the Philippines!

The ladies wished it was longer! Also their husbands said, "What about us?!" So if anyone wants to take this up as a project feel free to pray about that! I always have more ideas! =)