Missions and Outreach

Our partner in ministry Faith Tabernacle Church, Cebu City, Philippines conducts a feeding program that serves local slum areas and seven remote islands close to the province of Cebu.  They currently pass out an average of 30 bags of rice weighting 50 kilos (110 lbs) each month.  Pastor Ken Tagud shared:

“Through this kind of ministry many have come to know our Lord Jesus Christ.”

If you would like information on this ministry, please fill out the contact form.

50 Kilo Bags of Rice

Distributing food to remote islands.

Rice ministry recipients.

We will resume feeding the homeless at the Haven for Hope on October 15th! We are partnering with the Society of St. Vincent de Paul to serve our hot meals to the residents of the Prospects Courtyard. This is going to be exciting! What some thought was an end to the ministry to the homeless of San Antonio is rather the beginning of a new era. We’ll be serving inside with the comfort of air conditioning…no more wind and rain to stifle our plans. We’ll be increasing the number of plates to about 250. But we will continue to offer some of the best food and ministry available.

Please pass the word to those who want to reach out to these people. They aren’t necessarily on the streets, but they still don’t enjoy the permanency of a home. They don’t have a lot of possessions, but they will be offered the love, prayers, and concerns we can offer to them.

We have a vision greater than just serving a meal. We want to be “Jesus with skin on” to those trying to get their lives back in order. It’s a great time for us to put feet to the “Reboot” series Sean is teaching on.

Thanks,
Jerry

• Feeding the Homeless happens every 1st and 3rd Friday of the month at Haven for Hope. Volunteers should arrive by 6:15pm so serving can begin at 6:30pm.

• Click here to download a PDF containing directions to Haven for Hope and information about volunteering to bring food.

This post is from Bo Bowman who is a Life Group Director and Missions Trip Facilitator here at River City. Read about how the Philippines April 2010 trip went below!

I promised the folks at Faith Tabernacle I would share their greetings with folks at RCCC.

I was so blessed to be part of the team that included our pastors Sean Azzaro, Willy Mayfield, and our mission’s coordinator Daniel Espinoza. What I’m really excited about is that Sean and Willy have caught a vision of how our two churches might partner together. This has been my prayer from our first trip in 2007.

What made my week were when different pastors came up and shared how they took the small group(SG) teaching during the 2007 and 2009 conferences our short term mission teams lead and applied it to their church, I’ll start with Hazel. Hazel and her husband are co-pastors of a church in the province of Cebu. Hazel attended both our 2007 & 2009 conferences. She was one of our interpreters in 2007. She came up to me and asked about the different team members and then shared how her and her husband have used our SG model to grow their church. The joy on her face as she shared was something I’ll remember for a long time.

Lera, a former nun, shared how she applied our SG teaching with some modification to fit their culture and her church environment. What really blew me away was when she said she wrote each one of our short term mission team members name down and she prays for each of us while she is going though her fasting time.  She was praying for our senior pastor to come to the Philippines even before Pastor Ken Tagud invited Sean to come.
Joseway, the pastor from a church in Valencia, shared how their SG are helping needy families in each of their specific groups. His eyes lit up when he shared about how much a difference SG have made in his church.

Gig-gig the young man from the island of Cuaming asked about Christi Newby and Brittany Bowman from our 2007 team. He now has a church that he pastors. He shared how he learned the basics about SG in 2007 and then during the seminar in 2009 he was more fully able to understand how to implement SG in his church. You should have heard the excitement in his voice and hope on his face.

Oriel Jr an orthodontist, the son of a pastor of a church in Mindanao was at the conference and asked about the members on the 2009 team. Oriel traveled with our team in 2009 to the islands. Pastor Ken is planning to take Orel with them on some of their mission trips into the mountains to offer basic dental care for the folks they visit.

I also have to share about Pastor Jessie. He interpreted for me a number of times during each of our trips. I’ve grown to appreciate Jessie’s love of Lord and his passion for teaching young leaders. He’s one of the main teachers at the bible school housed at Faith Tabernacle Church. Jessie came up to me at the close of the conference and said that all 3 conferences were very helpful to him and to his teaching at the bible school. He’s incorporated SG teaching in the bible school curriculum He said he really appreciated our openness about sharing what didn’t work and the mistakes we made along the way.

Lots of folks came up to me asked about Danny Thompson and his guitar. Sean took a guitar along and played some songs for them till his voice gave out. Danny, donated a set of wireless mikes that were immediately put to use.

Thanks everyone for your prayers and support during this trip!
- Bo Bowman

Given the great size of San Antonio, there are over 5,000 confirmed victims of child abuse every year. To make a difference in the lives of these precious children, River City Community Church has been privileged to sponsor a Royal Family Kids Camp every summer since 2008. The appreciative smiles on those children’s faces are truly unforgettable.

Our 2010 camp is from June 22 to June 26th. If you’re interested in applying to serve as resident staff, we’re still seeking 2 female and 6 male staff positions. Applications are found at the church office.

Ways to serve:
1. Resident Staff – Come and serve as Counselors, Activities Leaders, Teachers, Singers, Registered Nurses or Security. All resident staff must attend training on the afternoon of Sunday May 23 and the evening of Monday June 21st.

2. Registration – Help each camper get registered for camp Tuesday morning, June 22nd in the church parking lot. We need about 15 helpful volunteers.

3. Birthday Party – Come out to camp for an evening of celebration. Some of these kids live in group homes and don’t ever have a “special” day for their birthday. We need about 15 volunteers to help “Bring the Party” to camp! Volunteers need to be available on Thursday, June 24th for the afternoon and evening.

4. Welcome Home Dinner – Once everybody returns from camp we say “good-bye” to the campers, the entire staff meets for a time of sharing (and feasting). We need volunteers to help serve this meal the afternoon of Saturday, June 26th. The added bonus of serving this meal is that you get to hear so many of the life-changing stories that just happened at camp!

For more information about RFKC of San Antonio, TX, please contact
Kim Low
210-273-6719 or rfkc@reallife.org

Today we rode a pump boat to three small islands where Faith Tabernacle has established churches. Here are some images from the day:

Cuaming Island

Today we had the opportunity to celebrate with the brothers and sisters at Faith Tabernacle.  Both Sean and Willy shared words from the Lord with the congregation and in the evening Sean shared an encouraging word with the graduates of the Faith School of Ministry – the bible school run on location at Faith Tabernacle.  The students of the school live on-site for two years while they complete their education.  There were also 90+ graduates of the extended off-site program that can be completed by non-traditional students.

The day was encouraging in that we as a team got to see and be part of two ministries at which Faith Tabernacle excels:
1. The fellowship of believers in the local congregation

2. Training disciples to go out into the world to continue the work of the Kingdom.

For me, the most encouraging part of today came after the graduation ceremony. We were invited by one of the families of the congregation to pray over and bless their daughter who had just graduated from nursing school.  This was also a dinner and celebration.  When we arrived at their home, I recognized the graduate as Marnilie, who had been a dance team member when our first team was here in 2007. It was exciting to celebrate with her family on her accomplishment.

Marnilie in 2007

The Graduate

It also brought to mind one of our goals as a short-term missions team.  We choose our trip locations not by the most exotic or beautiful destination, but by where there are missionaries or ministries that River City is already partnering with financially and prayerfully.  We see in-person support as an extension of our prayer and financial support.  In this way we seek long-term partnerships where we can foster ongoing friendships and relationships.  Being here to celebrate a graduation, or talking with Jeffery (the doorman of our hotel) about how his children are growing reminds me that there is something to having a long-term vision of short-term trips.

-posted by Daniel

After four flights and 31 hours of overall travel we landed at Cebu Mactan airport at 11:30.  Once we cleared customs and baggage claim we were greeted by Pastor Ben, Pastor Ken, and Ken’s son Kevin.  Sean made the comment that Kevin was the spitting image of his father and that he could identify the family resemblance in a crowded room.

During the 45 minute drive from the airport to our hotel we had a chance to visit with the Tagud’s, and take in the scenery.  Previous teams landed during the evening or at night, so arriving at noon allowed Sean and Willy to take in the city.   Although we traveled through three “cities” to get to the hotel, it’s difficult to know that since there are not clear delineations or city limit signs.   We wouldn’t have known that had Ken not been pointing out the transitions.

There is an election soon so it seems that every open piece of fence, concrete, signage, telephone poles, power poles, vehicle, and building facades were covered with the seemingly standard bust portrait of the candidate with their name in colored text underneath.

Tonight is a welcome dinner with the Tagud’s and tomorrow Willy and Sean will be preaching at all four of Faith Tabernacle’s Sunday services.

- posted by Daniel

- Photo: Daniel, Pastor Willy, Pastor Sean, and Bo at the San Antonio International Airport

Pastor Sean, Pastor Willy, Bo, and Daniel head to Cebu City, Phillippines this week. They will be speaking at a Pastor’s Conference and encouraging the local Christians at Faith Tabernacle. Stay tuned to this blog for updates and videos from their trip!

It is amazing that they get to go spread the word to the ends of the earth, but where exactly are they going?

Cebu City, is on the island of Cebu in the Philippines.

Let’s break it down. The Philippines is East of Vietnam and South of China.

Now we are in the Philippines which is made up of over 7,000 islands. The island of Cebu is sort of in the middle.

Cebu City is a metropolitan city with a population of about 798,809 people.

In this map you can see where the airport is on the island of Lapu-Lapu. They will travel through Mandaue City to get to Cebu City.

And here is one glimpse of the city surrounded by hills.

Now you know where Cebu City is! Stay tuned for more on Pastor Sean, Pastor Willy, Bo, and Daniel’s trip to the Philippines! Daniel will be sharing videos and posts about their trip.

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