Mindanao , Self Sustaining , Mission Team
Firstly, I want to thank you for the generous donations we received leading up to, and a short time after, Christmas. Whether it's an encouraging email, a prayer, phone call, or a financial donation, we are always grateful for those who are thinking of, and partnering with us. As Helen Keller once said, "Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much."
Mindanao Mission
On Friday 16th December Joe finished his exams and on the 17th we started the journey to Mindanao. We arrived late Sunday and spent the following day food shopping and buying gifts for the children. On Tuesday we headed to the first of seven locations. It's always a joy and privilege to catch up with familiar faces, pray for people, see the Holy Spirit move, bring joy to the kids and see the growth in the team members. Our team, preached, prayed, taught kids and served in many other ways.
Though there were many highlights I would like to mention two. Firstly, our driver. He responded to an altar call early on in the trip and from that moment he was everywhere, helping cook, assisting people, loading and unloading the truck and getting prayed for. He even invited us to his house to pray for his sick daughter, which, we made time to do.
The driver was an example of, as Heidi Baker says, "loving the one in front of us". It doesn't matter where we are, Mindanao, New Zealand or some other place, we can all make a difference in the lives of the individuals God places before us. Secondly, seeing two pastors continue to celebrate for close to 40 minutes after one of the meetings had finished. They were so touched by the presence and joy of the Holy Spirit they just couldn't stop singing and let's just say, it was contagious.
More locations have opened up for us in 2019 which means we will be spending a bit more time in Mindanao. Click here to view a few photos.
Hands of Hope Faith Academy (HOHFA)
Classes recommenced on Thursday last week with a nice surprise for the students. One of Principal Elsa's many contacts sponsored a party at the school. This included a mascot and food. These sorts of special events always bring huge amounts of joy to the kids. This week we welcome Diane, a teacher from Tauranga, to the Philippines. Diane will be with us for around 4 weeks and the majority of the time will be spending one on one time with HOHFA students.
Focus Project - Sustainability
Though we are not close to becoming self-sustainable we have started the journey. Around 24 months ago we started purchasing agricultural land and to date we have (not including our school) 19000sq meters. Part of the land (4000sq meters) has been earmarked for future development of HOHFA and the remaining has been used for planting rice. The rice was planted around 10 weeks ago and it's looking healthy and should be ready for harvest at the end of this month.
We have also bought other equipment for preparing fields and harvesting rice which can be hired out to other rice growers. This year we would like to buy additional land to plant more rice and purchase a portable rice mill. The rice mill will also provide extra income as we will lease it out to local growers. It will save them time and money on transporting their product to fixed mills. Click here for more information.
That's about it for now so wishing you a happy and prosperous 2019. If you are on facebook or skype please add us as we would love to keep in touch.
Love and Blessings
Duane, Jenny & Joe