Hey everyone, it’s Austin Simpson. You may remember me from the airport update at the beginning of the summer, but in case you didn't read that, I am a senior business management major from Georgia College. For those that do not know me, I love hip hop. Not rap, but that is a completely different conversation. My favorite artist is a rapper by the name of Kendrick Lamar, and while there are many reasons as to why he is my favorite for the purpose of this blog I will give you the biggest: his lyrics. Never has an artist made me think, teach me something, say something I can connect with, or do all three on such a consistent basis. The reason I bring this up is because I was listening to one of his songs, and I heard a line that I realized could pretty much wrap up my entire summer into one short statement. The line is: And I’m gon’ shine like I’m supposed to antisocial, extrovert. Let’s break it down.
I am going to begin with the last two words in the line “antisocial” and “extrovert” starting with the latter. Extroverts are people that draw energy from being around large groups of people and are generally very outgoing and personable. They are able to have a conversation with anyone at anytime about anything. You know the kind. Well, that is not me. Not one bit. In fact, I am the complete opposite. I would be classified as an introvert. Being around people is generally very draining for me, but it is not that I don’t like people. I love people. I would be willing to do just about anything for those that I care about. It is just that sometimes I would rather be on my couch playing video games or watching a movie than hanging out. Unfortunately or maybe fortunately, that wasn't really an option this summer. Besides doing a Bible study in the morning and maybe a few minutes of listening to music at night, I am constantly around people, whether it be in training meetings in the morning or the five hours on campus in the afternoon. In short, I had to deny my nature, which is sinful by the way, and become an extrovert, and it was not just me. Each and every one of us on the team had to, in some way, deny ourselves in some way, shape, or form and put aside our pride, so that we may strive to make Christ known among those that we interacted with on campus. This is what Christ is talking about in Luke 9:23 when he says, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” Now let’s look at the word antisocial. Antisocial is defined as: not sociable; not wanting the companies of others. As I mentioned earlier, my nature is to draw away from big crowds after a while. In short, being antisocial is part of who I am. And as I also mentioned earlier, that was not an option here. We only had so much to be able to spend on campus, and even though I was tired, I wanted to engage with students and continue to have conversations with the goal of both learning about them and their culture but also hoping to be able to talk about the gospel and spiritual things. The crazy thing is that this is the same struggle I face at Georgia College. For a multitude of reasons, evangelism has never been my strong point. That being said, the biggest hindrance to my evangelism efforts is my sin. There is no sugarcoating it. Whether it is here in the Philippines or at Georgia College, my lack of evangelism efforts have been caused by me choosing to be comfortable over sharing the gospel, or it is me doubting my own abilities rather than God’s ability to use me for His glory. Just as the words “antisocial” and “extrovert” conflict in the song, who I am and what I am called to be conflicted when doing ministry on campus, which is where we pick up with the first part of the bar. And I’m gon’ shine like I’m supposed to. Looking at Matthew 28:18-20, we see that evangelism is not merely a suggestion but a command. When we look at Matthew 5:14-16, we can see that we are called to be a light to the world. We are called to shine! As for me, I often find that I would rather cover my light instead of letting it shine so that others may see. The crazy thing is that while it was still a struggle that I faced constantly here just like in the states, it was a struggle I was able to overcome. Whether it was being able to continue to be active in participate in conversations and bible studies or explaining the gospel to students, I was able to overcome the temptation of pulling back, and instead I was able to push forward, and the this is where the joy comes in. The joy in all this is that I would not have been able to do that by my own power. I was able to overcome my struggle when I stopped trying to do everything on my own, and instead, I relied on God for strength. If I had to rely on my own strength to push through the temptation of being antisocial, then I know I would have failed within the first week because I can look back at past evangelism experiences. Past experience has removed any doubt in my mind about this. The joy was being able to accept my own weakness and rely on God to give me the ability to able to continue on in ministry. We are studying 2 Corinthians this summer as a team, and in chapter 12 verse 10, Paul says, “For when I am weak, then I am strong.” For me this summer, I was weak in the fact that I was tempted to give up in ministry early and often, but strong in the fact that while I did not have the strength to continue, God does and able to get me through those times, which lead to even more joys. One of my biggest joys from this summer and one of the ways God was able to give me strength was my ministry team at Leyte Normal University. Our team consisted of Andrew Martinez, Becca Frick, and Georgie Latremouille (as well as Harley Grafton, but he is on staff with the Manila team and doesn’t technically count). I absolutely love this team and would do anything for any one of them at a drop of a dime. But over the course of the summer, whenever I would be getting tired I would be talking to one of them or see them at the campus, and even though they were tired as well or had a rough conversation earlier, they would continue to press on with their evangelism efforts and have gospel conversations. Or they would be telling us of a conversation they had earlier that day and hearing how God was working in the hearts of others would both encourage and energize me. Another joy of pushing on would be the students themselves. Whether it was chilling with the crew in the canteen or playing volleyball with the guys at the end of the day before we headed back to the hotel, the students at LNU are an amazing group of people. The conversations, bible studies, jam sessions, volleyball matches, and everything else we did with them this summer was worth every minute of struggling and so much more. It was incredible to see how God was working on the campus while we were there, and I cannot wait to hear how He will continue to work there now that we are gone. This is just one of my struggles from this summer. I could easily write a couple more just for me. I know that each of us over here have things that we have been struggling with this summer as well. The point being that while y’all see all the cool stuff we do on Facebook, what you do not see is the struggles that we are going through while over here, but those same struggles often lead to the most life changing growth. This has been the most amazing summer of my life both spiritually and personally without a doubt, but it certainly was not easy, and I wanted y’all to see that. I wanted to give y’all a brief glimpse into the joys of an antisocial extrovert.
0 Comments
Hi everyone, my name is Drew and I am senior marketing major at Georgia College. I get the privilege to share with you what has been going on over here in the Philippines and how we have seen God working in the past week. I am on the campus of EVSU with my ministry partner Adam Barton and we are paired with Christine Hammond and Kymberlee Sines and we are led by Kaitlin Mason who is on staff with CO Manila. Experiencing God work on the campus of EVSU this past week has been one of the coolest things I have ever been a part of and I am excited to share with you.
Ministry started off slow this week with guys at EVSU. In previous weeks Adam and I had gotten close to two guys in particular, Clark and Emannuel. As we looked forward to continuing our bible studies with these two guys we were not able to meet up with either one of them this whole week. Clark was busy all week with school and Emannuel got sick and went back to his hometown. Adam and I knew a few other guys but had gone far deeper with these two so these circumstances pushed us to meet new students hoping to not see a week of ministry wasted. On Tuesday, we went to the IT building hoping for fruitful conversation and Adam met a guy named Elkana. Turns out that Elkana is not only a christian but he is also an editor for the school journalism club. He brought Adam, Danny, and I to his journalism room where we met most of his friends. Finding students who speak good English is tough but all Elkana’s friends speak English very fluently and were genuinely interested in getting to know us. We felt as if we had struck gold with this group of students and we have grown very close to some of them over the course of a few days. While this was happening, God was working in equally incredible ways in the girl’s ministry at EVSU. Christine and Kymberlee had developed a relationship with a girl named Gwen. They had been praying for Gwen to come to saving faith in Jesus Christ through a bible study they had been doing with her and on Thursday afternoon God answered this prayer. During the bible study God changed Gwen’s heart and she felt the reality of her sins and the grace offered in Jesus for the first time. Gwen is now a sister in Christ and is abounding in hope through her new relationship with her Lord and savior. God worked through Christine and Kymberlee’s ministry to Gwen and it has caused our whole team to praise God and has served as an encouragement to all our hearts. Though God changed Gwen’s heart he was not done working through us at EVSU. Adam and I were able to develop deeper relationships with two of Elkana’s friends, Nino and Raymand. We have shared the gospel with both of them and studied the bible with both of them on Friday. After the bible study I got a text from Raymand, “Thanks for the day! It’s cool talking to people who make LOTS of sense!”. God used the bible study to speak the truth of the gospel clearly to Raymand. We ask that you pray that the gospel would grip Raymand on a heart level and change his life. Nino had previously opened up to us about struggling with depression. He said his parents fight constantly and he hears them yelling at each other as he is trying to go to sleep. He and I got dinner after the bible study on Friday and I asked him if anything had changed over the course of the past few days. He responded, “Yes, I have a newfound hope”. God used his word to cause Nino to abound in hope as he looks to his heavenly family and not his earthly family for his source of hope. All these things happened on Friday when school was cancelled because of an earthquake the day before. We had faith that God had special things in plan for us on Friday even as it seemed that Satan was doing all he could from going to campus and being with students. What the earthquake actually did was free up the students to spend all day with us. “And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” -Romans 8:28. God uses all things for good, no matter how dark or hopeless the situation might look. A verse that I have come across recently is Romans 15:13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peach in believing, so that by the power of the holy spirit you may abound in hope.” This verse applies so clearly to what we have experienced as a whole this week on EVSU. God has filled the hearts of multiple students with hope and they are now abounding in it. He has also pushed our team forward in hope for all our campuses. We have three days left on campus and our prayer is that God would fill more Filipino’s hearts with hope. Thank you for your unwavering support and prayer for us this summer. We pray that you would continue in prayer for us as we share the gospel trusting in God’s faithfulness. Hello world, my name is Kyle Grinnell, and I am a senior Communications major at Augusta University. We have been in the Philippines for roughly one month now, and as a team we have seen God do a lot. Most striking to me after being here for about a month is how God is sovereign through a "change of plans." I think often, our initial reaction to a "change of plans" is negative. It bothers us-- I know it bothers me. Rarely is my initial reaction to a dramatic change of plan to say to myself, "God is sovereign." Instead, usually the reaction is to question God's plan and become uncertain. So a little back story: our team was originally scheduled to go to Dumaguete, Philippines. Due to the recent conflicts in Mindanao, our team relocated to Tacloban. Again, my initial reaction to this change of plan was negative. Months of planning, training, and praying for Dumaguete, and it was taken away. It brought uncertainty, and I didn't like it. I was questioning God's plan. Another back story, after we relocated to Tacloban, myself Angel, Kennedy, and Rebecca were assigned to University of Philippines - Tacloban (UP). Our first day on campus at UP, we quickly found that the students were on summer break. Here we are in Tacloban, trying to do college ministry on a campus with no students. So again, we had a change of plans. And again, my reaction was not to praise God in his sovereignty; it was to doubt his plan. It was a struggle not to be discouraged, but prayerfully, God provided (as He always does). Through of couple days of investigating other schools and praying, we found another school (St. Paul). St. Paul has been incredible. It is a smaller private school which prides itself on their superiority of its accounting program. Being there over a week now, we have already seen Bible studies starting up, great favor with students, and the gospel being personally shared between all of us over 10 times. God is working, even through our change of plans. After being here for almost a month, I now see the beauty in a change of plans. What I failed to realize was that, after months of praying for God to give myself and the team and amazing summer, and months of praying for God to influence the lives of many students in the Philippines, God was actually answering prayers. Being in Tacloban now, I have come to realize that God was at work months before we got here. God's plan for our incredible, life-changing summer was always for Tacloban. He answered our prayers. In his sovereignty he has allowed us to be here. We have a great church connection, with a great pastor, we are surrounded by college students, and have been influences at three different schools. Tim Keller says that prayer is our artillery to change the current circumstances of the world. If prayer is begging God to change current circumstances, then why is my initial reaction to always doubt God when plans or circumstances change? I feel like this is continual truth to the Christian life. I may have a plan, or may draw out in my head what my next course of action will look like, but the reality is God can and will change plans at any given moment, and who are we to doubt that? Change of plans is beautiful, because it displays God's sovereignty. This week in Tacloban has been pretty hectic. It's festival week, and a celebration of "Tacloban Day." This created some challenges for ministry, but the Lord provided. I will ask that you pray for our team to make the most of our days on campus, to not waste a moment of the opportunity in front of us. Also a BIG prayer request is our uncertainty at St. Paul, it is up in the air if we will be allowed back next week. So PLEASE pray that we can continue to do ministry there, or that, regardless, we can rest in the fact that God is sovereign, and any change of plans is only for his Glory. Thank You, Kyle Grinnell Filipino students were kind enough to show us a few sights of Tacloban, one was the General MacArthur statue. This is our campus team from left to right (Kennedy, Me, Taylor, Sophie, Rebecca, Angel) and our Filipino friends in their school uniforms.
Hi everyone! My name is Kennedy Godwin and I'm a senior Nursing major at Georgia College. It has been so cool to see the Lord move and work in not only the team's but also the student's hearts that we have met here in Tacloban. The two biggest things that I have personally been able to grow in are evangelism and prayer. Before I get into some of the stories from the week, I wanted to share a revelation that I had this morning before church. Today Christine, Kyle, Becca Frick, and I helped lead worship at Heroes Church. The practices that we had for it were slightly stressful (maybe because we hyped ourselves up a little too much on our musical abilities), but as we were running through the songs this morning and beginning to get a little frustrated with ourselves the Pastor/Worship leader Fort reminded us to not overthink it and to just sing with all of our hearts. It may have just been me but on the very next song we were "jamming" and "grooving" so hard and just allowing ourselves to worship God even through our practice. We were just thinking too much about trying to be perfect and not trying to be worshipful that it took the joy out of it for a little bit. And I think that is what we do for ministry sometimes too. I came into this trip wanting to gain the "skills" needed to effectively evangelize back home when I return. But this week I was able to realize that evangelizing is not about us nor the person that we are evangelizing to. It is ONLY about being able to bring God more GLORY. Evangelism is only about bringing God more glory through sharing the gospel so that the other person through believing can bring God more glory. The glory that he so rightly deserves. Too often I focus on the little things or tangible skills that I can do. However, that easily leads to leads to me forgetting that the ability to convert people or even less to be able to share and speak the gospel to others does NOT come from myself but only from CHRIST. I am so greatful that God has begun to answer my prayer from March throughout this past week. The prayer to give me a heart for evangelism and to thereby give me the confidence to be bold in sharing his gospel with those in my life. This past week of ministry has been filled with so many blessings and answered prayers, not just personally but for the entire team. Those of the team who are on LNU's campus had a specific prayer request at the beginning of the week to be approved and allowed to be on campus. We prayed one morning before going onto our campuses and that VERY SAME DAY our prayer was answered and they were allowed to be on campus due to a recently new rule that allowed religious organizations to be on campus (WOW GOD). Another really cool prayer request that was answered is related to the campus that me, Kyle, Angel, and Becca Richardson are on. Last week we were on UP's campus, but Monday was their final day of classes until August. So while we were on campus Monday two of the staff, Sophie & Brenden, searched Tacloban for another campus that would be suitable both for ministry and hopefully CO in the future. Around 2:30 or 3:00 our team stopped to pray for them to be able to find a campus that we would be able to call our home for the next few weeks. At that time Sophie and Brenden were on their way to the last school. It was a private school that we weren't sure would be open to having us on their campus. But God answered our prayer (within the hour!) and opened a door for us and the school opened us with open arms! We have found so much favor with the faculty and student leaders there at Saint Paul's and it has been incredible! This week God has truly proven to me the power of prayer. On every campus we have had students show interest in learning more about God and starting a Q&A bible study. So, please continue to pray for the students that we all have been able to meet and begin relationships with on the campuses of LNU, EVSU, and Saint Pauls. God promises to answer us when we pray boldly to him and that has never been more evident to me than this week. T H A N K Y O U ! Above are just a few of the students that we were able to meet on our first day on campus at Saint Pauls. :)
Whats up ya'll, my name is Andrew Martinez. I am a Senior business management major from Georgia College. We have been in the Philippines exactly one week and it definitly has been a crazy one. We have experienced many new things since being here I would would say that the way of transportation and food are definitely on the top of that list. The most bizarre thing that we have eaten would have been Balut. It is a chicken fetus that has been developed for 18 days. I can honestly say that it wasn't horrible and wouldn't mind eating it again. We have had many small adventures, but the trip to the Baseco slum was the most impactful for me.
The slum has roughly 100,000 residents over roughly 3 square miles. It truly was an eye opening experience to see the conditions that some of these people live in. There where families living in small man made huts out of anything they could find, many looked like they could topple over any minute. Residents there did not have basic needs like clean water, or a meal everyday. But at the same time they had SO much Joy. While we were there, I noticed a group of children playing among the garbage on a old boat. They were completely naked wearing nothing but smiles, and clothed in laughter. We were greeted by smiles and waves from among the residents. They did not have a care in the world it seemed. Different from in the states, we feel like our life is over when we do not have internet, or when there is no Cook-Out in the town. It broke my heart how much we take advantage of what we have. I wake up every morning knowing that I have a home, a roof over my head, a full wardrobe. and three meals a day plus midnight Taco Bell runs. The scenes I saw will follow me forever. On top of this visit, we were able to hang out with many of the students that have gotten involved with CO manilla. They are are so kind and genuine. Their love for the Lord is so evident. They would ask us hard questions, and about other experiences we have had doing ministry. It was really dope to see that there were students sharing the same gospel that we share in the states. Also, with the students, and the staff, we were able to go to the church in Manilla. The church has adopted CO Manilla fully as one of there outreach missions, and supports them in there ministry. When we were at church, for the first time I truly felt my heart see what world missions was all about. There were Filipinos praising, and worshiping our Lord, it was beautiful. I felt as if I had been submerged in Revelations 7:9. I had to sit down it was so powerful. We have left Manila, and have been in Tacloban for a full day. We start full time ministry tomorrow, and I cannot be more excited. If you can be praying for students here, and that they would see Christ that would be greatly appreatiated. Glory be to God. Hi friends! It's insane how much could honestly be said about our first two days here in Manila. The most important thing that has become evident over the past (approximately) 48 hours is that God has so clearly been at work here, and He has incredible plans for the future of CO Manila. It is such a unique and amazing feeling to be even a tiny part of the expansion of Campus Outreach in the Philippines, and the students who have come to know Christ through this ministry are nothing short of wonderful.
That being said (and the most important fact mentioned) I want to describe just a few physical and cultural experiences that we have had since arriving at the airport. From the moment we stepped off the plane, our hair immediately grew ten times in volume, and somehow our clothes were simultaneously weighed down with sweat. That is pretty much the common condition of Americans visiting the Philippines (and we won't complain!) This is just to give you a simulation of being in Manila here with us. Team member Kyle Grinnell has invented a brand new word, which is the only way to stress the entity that is Manila traffic. "If I had to describe Manila traffic in one word," states Kyle, "I would have to say 'sporatignacity.'" The rules of the road are entirely optional, everyone is trying to get somewhere at once, and honking is more of a suggestion that an American "get out of the way." The modes of transportation include crowded, public jeepnes, taxis, trains, and our personal favorite--the trike. On our way the the University of the Philippines Town Center mall, we (inexplicably) crammed five individuals into a tiny compartment attached to the side of a motorized bicycle, and it was lit!!! The view of the horizons which have so far been offered in "the pearl of the orient" is unparalleled. Manila, the most densely populated per square mile city in the world, has many vantage points over which we have been able to see virtually the entire metropolitan area. This has truly been an experience, to say the least! Lastly, the people... I haven't enough words to describe the hospitality with which passersby shout "Hello!" or "Good morning!" or the relational nature of each of the students which we have gotten to meet and briefly interact with! I want to mention Jane, Josh, Jason, Mikey, Danny, Darrell, Wrens--and I know there are more--as UP students which have already been so kind and welcoming to us as a team! Though we will be venturing out in the middle of next week to the provincial area of Tacloban in order to investigate and do ministry on the college campuses there, the time which we have in Manila has gotten me so excited for the prospective future and the country of the Philippines! Know that God is doing great things amongst the Filipino people. It is beyond evident that He has a plan for the nation which is far greater than anything we could ever ask or think (Ephesians 3:20). I have a verse which has been my theme for CCP since making the decision to come to the Philippines. That verse is Revelation 7:9-10. "After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, "Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!" I am convicted that my worldview has been too small. Seeing the heart of God for the Philippines, and Filipinos who are already dedicated to worshipping the Lamb Who Was Slain, and knowing that in God's faithfulness and for His glory He will only continue to expand the ministry of the Philippines is such a glorious picture of the true Heaven--where we will all, from every tribe and tongue and nation, be united in worshipping the King! Praise God for His work here! Praise God for the people! We have been blessed beyond measure--and it is only day 2. Christine Hey everyone! This is Austin Simpson. For those that don't know me, I am a senior at Georgia College. I am just letting y'all know that we are currently sitting in Hartsfield-Jackson waiting to board our first flight of the day. We will have a long 23 hours and 35 minutes of travel time on the way to Manila, but the team is excited and looking forward to using that time to continue to bond and build team chemistry. We will keep y'all updated as best we can, but as for now, we should be boarding in the next 30 minutes. Next stop Detroit!
Also, big news.. the team in Manila found us housing in Tacloban! Hi! This is Taylor, and I will be giving our first update. We are three days out from our flight to the Philippines. You may or may not have heard yet, but we have rerouted our trip from Dumaguete City, Philippines to Tacloban City, Philippines. There has been political unrest in the southern region of the Philippines for the last week, and for the safety of our team, we will be moving farther north. As you could imagine, this has been an interesting transition for our team. We have been in contact with our missionary staff on the ground in Manila, and they have been changing and making new plans for us. We are excited for the new opportunities this city can bring us, and we are looking forward to seeing God work in and through us, even as we transition our plans.
Prayer Requests:
Thank you so much for your prayers and support! We are excited for the days to come and cannot wait to be on a plane to the Philippines. |