Matibayong Bags in Royal Market!

The Isaiah 61:4 Livelihood products are now on sale at the Royal Market in Subic Bay Freeport! Cindy, Emmy and Leslie delivered the displays and products that will be sold on consignment. There was quite a bit of interest as even shop managers and customers began reaching for the bags before we could get them hung up on the display racks! It took months of planning and patience to reach this goal. We thank those at Royal who helped us through the process, Ma'am Shirley, Eden, Sir Oscar and many more who have a heart to make a difference in their community.

The next step for the livelihood is the purchase of a computer and then training workers to use Quickbooks, Word and Publisher so they can more efficiently run their livelihood program. They will also be establishing a seamstress training program in response to requests from various groups around the city.

We have outgrown the space we are using on Gordon Avenue and are now looking for a rental in the nearby barangays. Ideally we need a house where the various ministries can take place downstairs and the livelihood could be upstairs. Our dream is to have ALL Project Life activities under one roof in the future.

Community Worship and Movie Night on 12th St.!

Big thanks to our intern, Sammi, who organized this big event on 12th St.! Over 110 adults and children worshipped together then watched the Jesus film in Tagalog. This was the first outdoor film showing in this neighborhood and the film drew both Christians and many non believers too. The Project Life Youth led worship, the women provided snacks and the children helped set up the chairs. We're looking forward to many more film nights as a way to draw the community closer to each other and God. Maraming, maraming salamat Sammi!

Last week was very fruitful and BUSY! We started out with a Community Development Seminar, taught by Alycia Wiebe from YWAM’s Foundations in Community Development School. Over 50 missionaries, pastors and city workers attended. We held the seminar at Church of the Risen Christ as our Project Life Center was too small to accommodate that many people. We learned about a biblical view of poverty, the 5 stages of development, and how to help without hurting. There’s a lot of data that proves many missionaries have good intentions, but many keep the nationals dependent on them, not God. Our goal should be to raise up Godly leaders in the communities and empower them to change their neighborhoods. We want all projects to be self sustaining and able to multiply. We gathered our 12th St. leaders that attended the seminar to discuss and assess how well we apply these principles to what we do at Project Life. We’re happy to report that we have been doing ok in developing the community in a healthy way for the most part! Our next step is to take a deeper look at areas we might want to change so that we can strengthen the ministry even more.

We also hosted a mini DTS (Discipleship Training Week) at the project Life Center that was attended by 20+ Project Life leaders and youth. Our visiting YWAM team from Perth, Australia taught on topics such as “The nature and character of God”, “Evangelism”, and “Destiny and Purpose”. It was so exciting to not only learn (head knowledge) about these subjects, but to experience moments of deep understanding (heart knowledge) as God moved in our midst. It was a special time for our leaders and youth as we grasped some of the biblical principles and gained a deeper understanding of Christ and how to share that knowledge.
The team also led a sports camp in the afternoon and our interns and visitors helped with that. They had a fun time reaching out to the community!

We also partnered on Wednesday with our friends at Mercy In Action and an American pediatrician and held a medical outreach at the 12th St. lot. Over 90 patients were treated and prayed for that day in the extremely humid, hot weather. Our visiting team blessed everyone with treats of water and bananas and there were smiles and grateful hearts all around!!

Week-long Vacation Bible School on 12th St.!

Project Life held our first VBS on 12th St April 25-29. Fifty five children were enrolled and participated in this well planned event! Cathy and Connie had the help of their trained, volunteer workers. The week's program was capped with a beautiful graduation ceremony attended by parents and other family members. The children dressed in their finest clothes (many wore their school uniforms) and the graduation was held in an orderly fashion (highly unusual behavior here at 12th St.!!), including the march of graduates, awards and picture taking. The theme was "the lost world" a jurrassic park type theme complete with a 6 foot tall dinosaur, courtesy of Church of the Risen Christ!

Vacation Bible School at Alibang

Our 12th St. leaders and youth, plus Alycia and Sarah, helped Connie and Cathy in providing a Vacation Bible School in the rural area of Alibang. The people there are sweet and gentle and the surroundings are so peaceful.
Children ages 4-11 gathered for the day to pray, sing, play games and learn about the bible and the One who loves them. There was much laughter and singing! Tina opened in prayer, the youth led worship and taught the children songs with lots of hand motions and dance, then Cathy and Connie and volunteer helpers separated the kids by age and taught lessons and activities.

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.