Missions and Outreach

From Brian Birdy (Team Member)…

Tuesday evening the team gathered on the Hotel lobby all dressed up and excited about being part of the worship service at Faith Tabernacle Church.  When we arrived I noticed the banner hanging above the front doors announcing the Church Growth Seminar with Guest speakers from River City Community Church Texas, USA.  We were greeted with warm smiles and handshakes from everyone.  As we took our places in the front row, the service started with Fe Tagud leading the praise team.  I was surprised as our quiet host Fe took command of the stage and in a powerful voice led the praise and worship time.  It was a very moving time of worship as the Spirit moved through the open air church, the attendees, and our team.  Pastor Ken Tagud introduced Bo and each member of the team had an opportunity to introduce themselves and share their testimony.  This was the first time I had worked with a translator and it took some getting used to,  having to pause and listen to the translation and the audience reaction and then continue with the sentence or thought.   It was a great beginning as we each shared our very different walks with the Lord.   The service ended with Danny Thompson leading worship and introducing them to a few new songs.

 Ken Tagud took us out to dinner, being such a good host and worried about our withdraws from American food, at Checker Taxi Pizza.  There was something strange about sitting in a little pizza parlor in the middle of Cebu City, Philippines, with photos of New York City all over the walls.  We were exhausted and still adjusting to the time change so back to the hotel and bed since we had an early start in the morning.

Wednesday was the beginning of our teaching time at the conference.  Bo Bowman started things off with an overview of Small Group Ministry and the structure of Small Group Ministry.  I followed with a discussion on Small Group Leadership.  My translator and I were dressed in the same color so we looked like twin brothers from two different countries.  The crowd was very attentive and trying to take notes on everything we said.  Working with the translator was a little easier this time.  We got thru everything and amazingly stay on time.  They broke the crowd into 6 small groups, one for each member of the team.  My group had 24 people in it, so it wasn’t such a small group.  My translator was also in my group and continued in that role. We attempted at an ice breaker, but I found it hard to get the discussion moving with the translation and the size of the group.  We worked thru it and were able to have a good discussion about the characteristic of a good leader. 

We had a lunch break at a Pilipino Restaurant and got to try some new dishes.  We had a short rest break at the hotel and then back for the afternoon session.  Jacob Gin led the afternoon session on The Apprentice.  He did a great job in getting their attention and not letting the after lunch coma set in.  When we broke out into small groups I birthed my group into 2, a great model of what we were teaching, and made my apprentice from the morning session the leader of the other group.  I chose a new apprentice, Elmer, and we had a much better small group time now that we were a group of 12.  We had a great discussion about The Apprentice, Leadership, and small groups in general. 

After a short rest break back at the hotel we headed back for the evening service.  Robin Schroeder lead the Word from the Lord during service.  The praise and worship time was great again.  Robin had Ben Tagud as her interpreter and she was as animated as usual, as was Ben, which had the crowd laughing and really taking in the message.  Danny closed us with a wonderful new song.  The team was called up front to pray for all of those who come forward; I got to experience “Slain in the Spirit” for the first time.  A long day, but a very uplifting and Spirit filled day.