About 4 am Saturday morning, two SEAMIST trainees, one SEAMIST staffer, and I all left for Negros Island to deliver about half a ton of rice to the Aeta Negritos in the churches we started there three years ago.  The annual drought this year has been unusually long, and there simply is not enough food or money there for everyone to eat!

Several SEAMIST supporters responded with funds to buy rice, and we were all pretty excited to be going and to be delivering such a big blessing.  In fact, we were only going to deliver about 40% of the blessing this trip, praise God!

The first hour and a half of the trip was smooth going and we dropped off a young woman at her parents place about one fourth of the way to Negros.  However, just a few more miles down the road, the fuel pump gave out.  I had asked our "mechanic" three to change the pump in fact, each time he said the pump was ok.  It was my first test of patience for the day.

Over the next six hours we would be tried with several mechanical and fuel problems due to clogged filters and dirt in the fuel tank as well as overheating when one of the plugs in the engine started leaking water.  Even the brakes (serviced three days ago by our faithful "mechanic" gave out 90%!  But, by God's grace, we finally were buying sacks of rice by 4 PM in Mabinay, near to the Aeta churches.

It was fun to watch the trainees as we crawled up the mountain on a pretty bad road.  It is one of those roads where you pass a section and say, "Well, at least it can't get any worse than that!" and then it DOES!  The four miles up the mountain on the sugar cane truck roads is quite a challenge for most.

However, when you there and these wonderful loving people come out to hug you and cry on you and thank you for coming, it is sure worth the ride.  Pastor Rostom, the first of the Aeta leaders, was so happy I thought he was going to cry, and best of all, he was not happy to see the rice, but he was genuinely happy to see us.  Now, THAT is blessing!

After a short while of unloading we settled down to an evening of peaceful eating simple noodles and rice, and fellowship so sweet we do not need a common language.  My Cebuano is so little that you could put it all on one small page, and their English is only equal to that.  But you can say a lot with a smile, a nod, a hug, and a few words.  The night was very dark and so quiet you could hear bugs crawling around!  And cool!  The altitude is about 4000 feet I think.

In the morning, we had church and the rice was bagged up and passed out to those nearby.  The smiles and tears here and there said thank you in a way I rarely see.  We took a little video to say thank you to the givers, but there was one bigger blessing to come.  (The video is here: rice.wmv)

We asked the Aeta if they wanted to send a message to Sister Edah Cordova, the wife of Pastor Rodel Cordova who was the one who really brought Jesus to the Aeta.  Pastor Rodel, aged 31, died in July, 2008 of liver cancer and his wife Edah and their two sons have gone on to become missionaries to the Shan in Thailand.  What I saw in those minutes when the Aeta sent their love to Edah for the sacrifice she and Rodel made to bring them Jesus made me cry.

In fact, there were tears everywhere.  They miss her, they love her, they wish she could see them and they could see her.  However they understand that God called her to go on to another tribe like theirs and the other tribes need Jesus too.  The Aeta themselves hear God calling them to preach the gospel to other tribes, so they just sent their love and prayers and promises not to forget her and the boys and assuring Edah that they pray for her all the time.

Now that is what missions is all about.  It made my day and it made all that car trouble we had and all that we would have over the next 8 hours worth it.  To see Jesus manifest in a tribe many people thought was useless and "just a bunch of nasty violent people" is amazing.  Love never fails, and Jesus never fails.  Pray for a hundred more tribes to accept Christ and enjoy the transformation that the Aeta have experienced!  To God be the glory!

It is always a joyful time when trainees are nearby.  June and I are so blessed to watch these new trainees and young people who may well be "the future" of the ministry of South East Asia Mission Teams.

This year we have one couple with five years of ministry experience that, God willing, will go to Thailand soon.  There are several other young men and women who will go someday, most of them confess a call to a specific place or people.  A surprising number of them are from "ministry families", two of them are grandchildren to one of the first men I led to Christ here in the Philippines in 1991!

All of the trainees are eager to learn and to prepare for their future work expanding God's kingdom.  We know from experience that the path they have chosen is a very difficult one and there will be much opposition.  Our hope is that all of them will one day plant churches in un-reached people groups.  This is an exciting time for SEAMIST as we prepare another generation of workers.

Thank you for your prayer for Eleazer, Genesis, Ken, Ginalyn, Elaiza, Syraby, and James.  May God grant them the grace and power to finish the plan He has for their lives!

Aeta Pastor Johnny Lindayo and many dozens of Aeta Christians celebrated the faithfulness of God March 15 during their first church anniversary. Only one year ago they were just a handful of new believers exploring the joys of their new life in Christ. God is really blessing Alambihoran and His children! Today things have changed.

Poverty, drunkenness, and despair were the most common characteristics in their village in the past, but today everything is changing. Now there is hope and the future is bright. Not everyone in the village is a believer yet, and there is in fact much persecution, but those who are following Jesus are not dismayed, they are filled with joy and happiness!

Their new church building was completed a few months ago, and it is already overflowing every service. The Aeta here have received healings, deliverances, and salvation even though they have no "professional pastors" or priest, no bible school graduates, and no missionary to do the work of the ministry. Instead, they have learned that they have the authority as believers to use the Name of Jesus to experience the Power of God to help them against the enemies of their souls and of their God.

Western missionaries who have visited the Aeta Tribal Churches in the area have been amazed that the people have learned so quickly to practice their faith so effectively. The churches planted in this formerly unreached people group are all self-governing, self-supporting, and self-propagating. The three pastors and 20 elders do not receive salaries, and they are the decision makers. Outside assistance has been in the form of roofing materials, teaching leaders, and monthly visits to encourage the disciples.

Three more pastors and several new elders will be ordained and appointed in April. Pray for the Aeta Negritos of Negros Island as they continue to grow in the knowledge and mercy of God. Many of them have learned to read the Bible now, and their lives keep getting better and better as God answers their prayers!

What happens when the people of God are exposed to the heart of God for the LOST? Pastor Vic Abalos, who pastors both the Mactan Community Christian Church in Lapu Lapu City, Philippines and the Filipino Bible Church in Anchorage, Alaska can tell you... they want to do more for missions!

Seven Filipinos who live and work in Anchorage will be coming back to the Philippines for a brief short term missions trip to the Bukidnon people of Canlaon City. They studied the Condensed World Missions Course in 2008, and decided to do something more than pray and send money... they decided to GO!

The outreach will be on March 3, 4, and 5. The outreach will feature medical help, food and clothing distribution, and sharing the good news about the Kingdom of God. Terry and Pat Hamilton will be facilitating the trip, and SEAMIST workers Edah Cordova, Dick Omaguing, and Eleazer Capablanca will be accompanying the short term missionaries while they are in Negros Island.

Please pray that the Lord will go before them and prepare the hearts of the Bukidnon for the gospel, and that He would prepare the hearts of the short-term missionaries to love these people as the Lord loves them. Pray also for all the SEAMIST workers who will host and help this group. Pray that the entire trip will be a big success for the Bukidnon, for the missionaries, and for the SEAMIST helpers!

The church in Alaska hopes to become more involved in pioneer missions and especially in church planting. We at SEAMIST hope they will sense the Lord’s concern for the least reached peoples and invest resources and people to extend the kingdom of God to the neediest of peoples in South East Asia!

Thank you for your prayers! You are an important part of this and every effort of SEAMIST. God bless you!

Link: http://www.seamist.org/weblogs/blog7.php

Davelyn Fans!  Good News... Davelyn has started her own blog, so you will want to check to see what she writes.  Her thoughts and ideas come from a perspective you will not often hear.

We invite you to share your thoughts with Davelyn as well, that is what "blogging" is all about.  Please take a moment to encourage her a bit!