Easter Celebration at Alibang

We celebrated Easter in Alibang last month! John Santos (more about John later in the blog) preached a great sermon sharing the GOOD NEWS of Jesus Christ to 90 men and women who knew little or nothing about the Lord. Our new intern Sarah, and team member Alycia, also went with us to minister to the people of Alibang. The worship was led by Emily, one of the owners of the property where the chapel was built. The people in this area are so sweet and love to worship! ALL came forward for the altar call, many to receive Christ and others for various prayer needs.



It was also so rewarding to observe John and see what the Lord has done in his life. We met John in 2008 when he was an inmate and attending the men's bible study in jail. He grew quickly and began to assist Pastor Mar leading the study with 35 other inmates. Released last year, John helps Pastor Mar four days a week with bible studies in Barangay Pag-Asa and the jail. He also teams with Sonny on Saturdays for the Project Life Men's bible study and has been teaching the men about addiction and recovery. We are amazed to see how Christ has transformed this man! God is so good!

Isaiah 61:4 Livelihood receives Certificate of Appreciation from the City Office of Disaster Management

The Isaiah 61:4 Livelihood program workers were recently awarded a certificate of appreciation by the City's Disaster Management Office for creating large zippered bags for disaster preparedness supplies. The office purchased 330 custom bags for a project they were doing in collaboration with USAID.

They are also busy designing and creating new bags for various vendors. Here's a look at some new products: Left to right- Liezl models the new Beach bag, Emy shows off the new Bagz with Bows, Angie is holding a bayong with the new GREEN color.

APRIL

There’s so much happening here since Leslie returned from the USA!

We sent Cathy and Connie, our children’s ministry leaders, to Southern Luzon for a training for children’s workers. The four day event included training in child evangelism, VBS, puppet making and ventriloquism, and much more! They are so excited about what they have learned and will now share that info with all the children’s bible study volunteers. They are planning a 5 day Vacation Bible School on 12th St. in May. (The school summer vacation here is April-May.) They will also plan a VBS in the new Alibang area. Please continue to pray for Connie and Cathy as they continue to develop their programs to be more effective in reaching out to the children.

Last Friday we held a dental clinic with our friends from Lotus Foundation. Dr. Karl Ampt from Germany and his team saw over 50 patients at the Project Life Center. Our 12th St. residents appreciate Dr. Karl so much. Besides helping them with their dental problems he has also funded a water storage project and donated two sewing machines to the livelihood program. Dr. Karl is also a former basketball player with the German Olympic team and has made quite an impression on all the basketball fans here!

Anthony Agones, Connie’s son and one of our youth leaders, has just completed his YWAM DTS lecture phase and is preparing to go on outreach for 12 weeks. He has learned so much and we are looking forward to him returning in June and helping John Ry with the youth group. Thanks to all of you who have helped support him with this training!

Good news with the DSWD (Dept of Social Welfare). Leslie has submitted all necessary papers, forms, manual of operations, etc, and we are awaiting the next step in being recognized and approved by their office. At some point in the future we will be required to hire a social worker to comply with new rules and regs of the DSWD. I’m sure as we grow we will see the benefit of having a social worker on staff, but we aren’t there yet!

Last week I (Leslie) was invited to a function for local NGO’s hosted by the DSWD. It was held at city hall and we heard from the Secretary of DSWD and others about the importance of government and private groups working together. (The speeches were in Tagalog, but I did understand 80% and hopefully got the correct info, hahahaha). I was so impressed to see the commitment the social workers have to improving their services and the heart they have for the people they serve. We are looking forward to more involvement with them in the future. Well, that’s all for now. Thanks again for all you do to help us do our work here!