Outreach update

Hello, dear ones!

In a quick catch-up chat with Katie this week, I offered to write a guest post on the blog to update you on how things are going. The outreach team landed in Manila and took a few days to orient themselves, recover from the flight, adjust to the time zone, exchange money, and prepare for the next steps. After a grueling twelve-hour bus ride from Manila to Naga City, they arrived in Naga City, where they would spend most of their time in ministry while in the Philippines.

For context, Naga City is famously known as the Heart of the Bicol region. In October and November this past year, tropical storms battered this region in the Philippines, causing unimaginable destruction. The typhoons affected over 15 million people across 17 regions, displacing people in the hard-hit provinces of Bicol, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, and Ilocos. Agriculture, housing, and infrastructure damage amounted to over PHP 21 billion (US$367 million).

In Naga City, the team Katie is staffing with will hold open-air evangelistic presentations frequently. These special times include songs, skits, and a Gospel presentation. Hundreds of Filipinos attend these gatherings, where the team shares personal testimonies translated into Tagalog. There are always a lot of children at these events. The team has also been able to visit elementary schools to bring snacks and meals and are typically asked to put on mini-presentations. As you can imagine, this work is exhausting, and as the outreach continues week after week, team morale can fluctuate, sickness occurs, and team cohesion can become challenging. Many of the students this year have never been out of the country, and all these experiences are new to them.

This coming week (1/13/25 – 1/16/25), they will be visiting a local school and given the responsibility of holding lessons for the entire school body. Katie will be staffing and organizing part of her team and will personally be responsible for the 1^st to 3^rd graders and coming up with lesson plans for these classes. She is explicitly asking for prayer these days.

On 1/18 – 1/21, she will be a part of a small team that will travel to a remote part of the Philippines that is only accessible by a small boat. She was a part of the team that visited this location last year when they were there. Please pray for the team; for protection and responsiveness to the Holy Spirit and that the contacts they made there last year would be excited to see them and hear more about the Gospel message.

Thank you for your prayers! Philippians 4:6-7 exhorts us to pray about everything. “Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus.”  What encouragement this offers us as believers! When we don’t know what to do, God lets us know what we should do. In everything, by prayer and petition, present our requests to Him. Glory!

Peace be with you,

Angie (Katie’s momma)