12 Baptized--"I Have Decided To Follow Jesus"

Today we joined the celebration of 12 Cebuano members getting baptized on family day at the local pool. Here is the group--the family of God!

Pastor Brian spoke and confirmed the faith declaration of each person. Then the one who helped to lead them to Christ would also assist in the baptism. Here you can see my great friend, Emi, helping to baptize her disciple!

Submerged "In the name of the Father, of the Son and the Holy Spirit" (it was spoken in Cebuano).

"We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life." Romans 6.4

Men following Christ...After each of the 12 were baptized the whole group clapped and sang "I have decided to follow Jesus...no turning back, no turning back."

Elijah really touched my heart when I saw him sit on the front step of the pool and, with a serious and attentive expression you can see here, he listened and watched the whole celebration. I saw him singing along "I have decided to follow Jesus." At the end he went in as though he wanted to get baptized right then. I took him aside to explain to him about trusting Jesus and getting baptized.

He said, "I want to do that. I want to get baptized and follow Jesus." Precious! Pray that this little boy will follow Jesus all his days and lead many others to faith in Him too. I was only 3, just like him, when I remember praying with my sister to receive Christ. God accepts the faith of a child!

This picture gives you a feel of being there too...

Here is Weng-Weng with one of her disciples. I wrote about her in a post below and shared that she has the gift of evangelism. Praise God for this lady in her Bible study who turned her life over to Christ. Pray that God will continue to use Weng-Weng to bring many people to the Lord Jesus.

At the end, the 12 who were baptized joined hands and then the whole body of Christ prayed for them.

Here are the 12--pray for them that they will stay true to the Lord and grow in their faith. Pray that they will be lights to many people as they live for Jesus.

We believe baptism is an "outward sign of an inward grace." We believe salvation is through faith alone in Jesus Christ, and that baptism is a symbol or public sign of our commitment to Him in the death of our old self and the new life in Christ.

End of Year Ceremonies

Friday night were the end of the year ceremonies for the school. Nate's high school jazz class played the prelude music. I love hearing how far they have come. They really sounded sharp! Nate had so many responsibilities musically with accompanying for the various elements of the program. I was so glad the baby was still inside for that night so I could watch and so he didn't have to duck out for the birth of his son!

Here's the elementary kids singing the Philippine national anthem--you can see the flag there in the back. What great kids, and a wonderful school. Thank you, Lord!

Here is our principal, Alan, and his wife, Dee. They have served here since 1999 and have done so much for the school and for the people. It's hard to recount it all, but at the ceremony many things were listed and shared. They were honored that night in many ways. I know I wouldn't be the teacher I am today if it weren't for Alan! He has invested so much in me and in Nate, we just praise God for him, and for his wife, Dee, who has also impacted me and the community much!

Here's the 8th grade class at their "graduation". This night is a big night for them, so they were all dressed nicely as you can see!

The Becker couple! Me holding the pink flowers that a student gave to Mr. Becker, and also you can see the baby clearly still inside! Very fun!

I'm Ready Now

Compare this photo of the baby's bed to the one in a post below. Ah, that is much better. I'm organized finally and I am now ready. The baby book my mom got me is there and is updated already! It is ready for the story to be written. The boys are excited and accidentally (Elijah) opened one of the presents already!

Some of my closest ladies came to give me a "prayer shower". It was so special to have them praying for me in the room where hopefully he will be born or will soon after sleep. Thank you, sisters in Christ!

The morning of the prayer shower 2 ladies dropped off 5 balloons. As you can see, they were the highlight of the boys' morning! We gave them each one, and then there are 3 in the baby's bed. One for each Becker member!

Malachi's face is just precious in this one. He is so full of "bliss" as my mom would say, and full of joy. I should have a video for how much he was squealing with delight and dancing his little excited feet!

Lots of love shown to us by special people. Thank you, Lord! (Elijah has never posed this nicely for a picture before...hands folded down and serious face---haha!).

One more photo for the fam to see---later that night Nate came to find the precious moments with the 2 older brothers. I love reading to my boys, and now Malachi is old enough to sit and participate and learn. I love these lads!!

Riches 2 Rags--Musical

Last night I enjoyed watching "Riches 2 Rags", the musical based on the Biblical book of Job that Nate and all have been working hard to prepare this semester.

Here is the modern-day Job--Riches....

2 Rags....

Ian is his real name. This guy is in 11th grade, but was once my 6th grade student. It is so special to me to see him all grown and serving the Lord with drama and music. God has been at work in his life, and it was such a great message for him to proclaim through drama--Praise God in the good times or the bad.

"The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised." Job. 1.21

You can see Mr. Becker there conducting his small group of high school students. The music was live and I was so proud of Nate! Wow, this is a great group.

I like this one because Nate is smiling at me while I am trying to peek around the curtain to see my handsome conductor!

Here's a fun shot from the opening scene. It was like a broadway type song with a grand intro to the character of Job--the rich CEO.

Here's most of the full cast--involving elementary, middle and high school students. It was our first school-wide performance like this one--a musical. Nate had the desire and dream to do something like this for many years, so it was great this year to have a good script and a good team of teachers to put it all together.

May the Lord use this production and the message to help many people to praise Him no matter what "rains" may come in our lives.

Here's some Filipino youth that we were able to invite. They had never seen a show like this and enjoyed it very much!

Here's the "buntis" (pregnant lady as they say), that's me--along with Ate Bebe, at intermission. I was nervous the baby would start to come out while I was there, but thankfully Nate has finished his second performance as I type and the baby is still in there. God has a plan and a time that is in His hands. Thanks for praying for us!

Weng-Weng's House

This is a picture of one half of Weng-Weng's house. Since the photo, the roof has been repaired and there has been an addition to the left side, but there are still many improvements that need to be made. You can see the blue material they use to keep the neighbor's pigs out!

Here is Weng-Weng, a great sister in the Lord and servant. She leads Bible studies in different neighborhoods, and has a gift of evangelism as well. They have 4 kids, and since a life-threatening situation her husband has turned to the Lord and has renounced his old way of life. I would love to see the Lord provide to fix her house. It is my prayer and I ask you to join me.

Here is the "laundry room" and "shower". We could use some new walls and a floor here, among other things I can envision.

Here is the "kitchen". When it rains Weng-Weng cannot cook because the rain blows into the side of the wall. There is no cement for the floor, so that would be a huge blessing if we could lay cement.

Here we are touring the upstairs (Amor and Malachi pictured). I can say the stairs were scary to climb, and they have four small kids. They have fallen down 3 times, and this floor has holes that I almost stepped through. I envision a stronger floor, safe stairs, and they want to raise the level so that downstairs they don't have to duck their heads to walk under it.

Kids' Bible Club

Here is as many kids as I could fit into the picture of the recent Kids' Bible Club held this week at Emi's house. The Lord provided for this outreach through one of our American Sisters.

Not only that, the Lord provided to build this porch as an addition to the library that we built more than a year ago. This is a great place for hospitality and for outreach and Bible study (and for prayer meetings too!). Praise God for that and thank you, sister!

Inside the library Emi shows the crafts the kids did so far this week. She is so resourceful. They cut old milk cans in half and decorated them with the Bible verses. Then the other ones are used tin cans (like soup cans) and they put paper around them and decorated them and then will make paper flowers and put the Bible verse. So creative! (and isn't Emi so beautiful!).

Malachi was so curious to meet the kids. This is Emi's fifth, Eunice Marilyn, named for my mom and for Eunice from the NT book of Timothy. Very cute!!!

Here's the kids working on some coloring. I got to hear some of them quote their verse from Ephesians 2.8. I am so glad they are learning it in Cebuano so they understand the meaning. Pray that many kids will put their faith in Jesus as the only way to salvation!

Where is Malachi in this picture? This is another shot of the kids club, about 35 came regularly and today they had to say all their Bible verses from the week to get a prize (like school supplies of pencils or notebook).

Here's the 3 sisters again, along with my 2 boys and my helper Amor. Priceless people in one picture (I post this also for a view of the bench on the porch---a great place to meet and gather!).

Ruen's Smile--Before & After

This week I had a really special outing with three of my Filipina sisters. These three are all leaders in the church--they praise God that 10 ladies in their groups were saved and will be baptized in one week! Each one has a different gift--Emi is good at organizing people and hospitality, Weng-Weng is gifted in evangelism, and Ruen is gifted in training leaders. I was so blessed to share their first coffee date ever with them, and to hear all that God is doing in their lives.

Here is Ruen "Before" her Canadian sponsors sent money to fix her teeth. Of course you cannot see in the back either, but she had to have several extractions, fillings, and get new teeth. This is a special gift and she would never otherwise get to have dental care! Thank you to the Canadian sisters!!!

Here is Ruen's smile after the teeth are all done. Beautiful woman! She prays so faithfully every day and teaches her kids to pray. She has such faith in God and serves so humbly.

This is Weng-Weng--the actual sister of Ruen. They are next-door neighbors! I will post something in the next entry about her specifically, but here I want to praise God for her testimony of faith also and for how God saved her husband 2 years ago through a near-death incident. He is now walking with the Lord and they are so thankful to God!

Me and Ruen--notice the prego belly. Haha!

Camera Phone Random May Moments

This is the baby's bed. I'm not ready yet!

Malachi had fun with stickers.

What a cute patient---Malachi getting immunizations from our doctor. Brave boy!

This guy is so cute--growing to a man. I can picture him as a high school guy mowing my dad's grass in this same outfit (only bigger size!).

Malachi loves "La-La" (umbrella).

The best day for us is a rainy day. The boys are playing as best friends in the puddles here. Mama just sits on a bench and enjoys her boys running and jumping and splashing!

This is the boys' version of planting--sand in cups. Working together!