Pray for Sunshine

We have spent the last few days helping friends clean up their homes. School has been canceled for the week. The whole city is a mess (imagine overturned cars everywhere, and muddy debris and garbage hanging from trees). The relief centers are overwhelmed with the volume of people needing help. If you want to see photos, this is one of the best sites I have found.

Today is nice and sunny, but the weather report says another typhoon is heading our way. Please join us in asking God to protect this battered city from another hit. Already about 250 are confirmed dead and nearly half a million are homeless.

It has been encouraging to see so many people helping each other, and to see those who have lost much still trusting God. This morning I read Proverbs 10:25 in the New Living Translation:

When the storms of life come, the wicked are whirled away, but the godly have a strong foundation.

Typhoon Ondoy

The word "typhoon" is Chinese for "great wind" (I'm told) and that's what I usually think of when I think of a typhoon. Our storm last Saturday was not windy. . . just an incredible amount of water. Wonder what's the Chinese term for "great water"? They said 455 mm of water fell in one day, producing the worst flooding in Manila in 40 years. (Normally we get 350 mm of rain in the whole month of September.) The news today said 75 people died and more than 300,000 are displaced. I suspect both numbers will go higher. Tons and tons of water, more than the dams could hold.

Our house is in a high place, so we did not have any problems. We did not even lose our electricity, although we lost internet service for two days. The dorms at IGSL had a few inches of water on the first floor, but nothing too serious.

Some members of our faculty team suffered more losses. We spent the whole day yesterday (Sunday) helping our dear colleagues, Eric and Michelle Agustin, clean up the mud from their house. The waters reached waist high. A huge mess, but the family is safe.

Eric and Michelle were out with their oldest son when the waters started rising. Water was everywhere and the traffic was a mess. They made it to a friend's house and stayed there, but couldn't get home. Meanwhile, their two younger sons (age 8 and 5) were still at home and water was already knee deep there. They called Cynthia, another colleague of ours, who lives nearby. She and her driver waded over to Agustin's house, and carried the two little boys (piggy-back) back to Cynthia's house. I thought the kids would be terribly traumatized by all this, but you know what their comment was? "That was the best day of our whole lives!" Little boys love this stuff!

Meanwhile, Jeff and Gerri, some of our other colleagues, missed all of this. They were at a retreat outside of Manila. They only got home last night and found that their house was flooded to the ceiling of the first floor!!! Second floor is okay. First floor includes Jeff's office - - books, computers, etc. all lost. We are mobilizing teams today to start cleaning up there, while others continue to help Eric and Michelle.

Looks like the coming days in Manila will be days of grieving, comforting, recovering, cleaning and listening to stories.

Rain, rain, rain, rain ...

It has been raining for about the past 16 hours, non-stop, very heavily for the past 8 hours. This is our front yard!

The gutters can't cope with the volume of water coming down!

And here's the back yard!

I checked the weather forecast. It says there is a 60% chance of rain today. Hahahaha! But tomorrow there is a 90% chance. Hmmmm. Not sure how to interpret that. And 60% chance again on Monday. I can hear the frogs outside, making a joyful noise. I have a feeling classes will be canceled on Monday.

My Iron Sharpening Group

I want to introduce you to my Iron-Sharpening Group. These ladies are very dear to me, and a lot of my efforts each week are poured into them. Two are third-year students, two are second-year, and one is a first year student.

On the right is Romela from Pakistan. She and her husband both come from Christian families, and are Campus Crusade staff. They will graduate and go home in December. Romela is the "rock" of our group, steady and mature. She loves God and wants to serve him faithfully with her whole life. Pakistan is not a safe place to live and work. Every week we hear of bombings. But 99% of Pakistanis don't know Jesus, and Romela is eager to see more disciples raised up there.

On the left is Kalpana from Nepal. She and her husband both come from Hindu families. Kalpana is the "baby" of our group -- she is the youngest and the newest mom, so everyone else gives her advice all the time! She's the mother of my sweet baby Suyog--we bonded deeply during her labor and delivery. I love this girl! She has such a passion to see Nepali Hindus understand the Gospel, and she literally lies awake at night thinking of ways she can share His message with them.

This is Eti from Bangladesh. She is a very affectionate and loving lady. She comes from a Christian family with strong roots -- her grandfather was baptized by William Carey himself! When she was in high school, she signed up one of her Muslim classmates for a Bible correspondence course. He eventually became a believer, and later, became her husband! Eti works for a well-known NGO in Bangladesh, and wants to use this in the future as a platform to build relationships and share the Gospel.

This is Boby, also from Bangladesh. She's a smart lady, a geologist, and a journalist, and a translator, and probably could be anything else she set her mind to. She is tiny but she dreams big dreams. She and her husband are some of the most hospitable people I know. I can't begin to count the meals and cups of tea I have had in their house!

Our newest member is Saradha from India. You met her a few months ago when I told you about her son Sam, who broke his leg twice in the same month. Saradha has a beautiful smile and a beautiful heart. She comes from a Hindu background, and became a believer when a friend invited her to a campus prayer meeting. She is a brilliant lady -- she's a software engineer, and could be earning a handsome salary in that industry. Instead, she and her husband are staff of Campus Crusade for Christ. Her passion is to learn to be more effective in making disciples.

These are my precious ISG ladies. I am so honored that I have been entrusted with the opportunity to help them grow. Please pray for me for wisdom and discernment as I lead them.

Many Cultures, Many Cures

I often take our IGSL international students to the doctor, or give them advice about their illnesses, or pray with them when they are sick. Having this role through the years has given me the opportunity to hear about a wide variety of treatments for a wide variety of illnesses. It's one of the perks of living in an international community. Some would make my doctor friends shudder, like the time family members vigorously massaged the abdomen of a lady with an infected gall bladder, or when another lady used a large coin to scrape the back of a friend with a severe stomach ache. Neither treatment was effective, but I can't afford to be haughty here, because my advice doesn't always work either!

One important lesson I have learned is that I need to always remember to pray first, whenever someone comes to me with any kind of illness, rather than as a last resort when everything else has failed. The book of James tells us clearly, "Is anyone sick? Let him pray!" I am learning that.

Last week, I was hit with a very severe throat infection that kept me in bed for a week. So, I got to be on the receiving end of the advice this time. I was gifted with a big pot of rasam (Indian pepper soup), a jug of Tibetan ginger tea, a paper packet with a piece of fresh ginger and individually wrapped portions of of Nepalese herbs (pictured above). There was a steady stream of text messages with suggestions like: Drink a cup of hot milk with a teaspoon of pepper and a teaspoon of turmeric! And at the same time, a steady stream of text messages reminding me they were praying.

Not one person suggested chicken soup. But I felt comforted anyway. My life is rich.

Laguna Ministry Week

I hope you enjoyed reading James' update about their ministry week in Laguna. Here are a few photos to give you a glimpse of their week.

James with two of his ISG members from Nepal, Satya and Kumar.

These are some of the church members who worked closely with them in reaching out to the community.

Kairos Course

The past two months, I have been part of an unusual evening class at IGSL. We had ten students who needed a missions class to graduate, and they couldn't fit into the schedule of our regular IGSL curriculum. We were able to arrange for a Kairos Course, which is an adaptation of the Perspectives/Condensed World Missions Course. It is designed for church members, so it's not your typical seminary class. We had music, food, videos, costumes -- lots of fun every week. The reason I joined the class is that I want to be certified as a Kairos trainer, so it was sort of an internship for me. I found myself really looking forward to it each Tuesday, even though I am very familiar with the class content. I loved it because it was so much fun to see their perspectives changed.

One of the goals of the Condensed World Missions Course, which was developed about 25 years ago, is to help believers look beyond their own world. It opens their eyes to the history of world missions, and to the unfinished task of bringing the Gospel to the "Last Frontier" -- thousands of unreached people groups that still do not have a viable church within their population. The class points out that even if every Christian on earth were faithful to share the Gospel with his friends and neighbors, the Great Commission would NOT be fulfilled, because they would not be penetrating the unreached areas.

The amazing thing about this class is that most of the students are from countries that are only about 1% Christian. Many of them come from Hindu, Muslim, or Buddhist backgrounds themselves. Some have experienced severe persecution. They are committed to bringing the Gospel to their own people--that's why they are studying at IGSL. But they never realized they have to look beyond their own people, and find ways to reach the last frontier. It was so exciting to see their eyes opened. I loved it.

Still Alive

Six weeks with no blogs! I'm ashamed of myself. I've gotten out of the habit, and I miss it! I often think of things I want to tell you about. Somehow, when I sit at the computer, there are other things I need to work on.

And then, I have spent the last 5 days in bed, sick with flu and a sore throat. Not fun. I keep thinking it will get better by tomorrow. This morning I am finally going to see a doctor.

I spent the 5 days before I got sick living on campus with my students. Our husbands were all out of the city for IGSL Ministry Week, where they go to other towns to work with churches. I got to spend individual time with each lady in my discipleship group, sometimes for several hours at a stretch. It was a wonderful time of knowing them better, understanding their worlds, and praising God for the incredible changes He has made in them. I love my ministry!

And I am counting down the days till my grandma-hood begins. I will be winging my way to Texas in less than three months. Yehey!