Day 2 Mission Trip

Day 2 mission trip 17/9/16
It was a day of celebration and reflection, for Bukang Liwayway turn 20 this year.  It was started in 1996 by Dr Patrick Hobbs, a missionary who has the vision to start this holistic ministry in the slums of Philippines to help the poor to break through the cycle of poverty as well as to help them to come to know the Lord Jesus.
Pastor Fred shared a powerful message about the unfinished task of the Great Commission.  It has been 2000 years since Jesus came, yet there are still 40% of the world (3 billion) not reached by the gospel.  He shared that if every church in the Philippines plant a church in the local community, the 30% of the unreached communities in the Philippines would be reached.  Bukang Liwayway has a 20-year plan to reach 2036 families by 2036.  The unfinished task is to be fulfilled by us, the great potential lies within each of us to share this great responsibility.
Pastor Fred was one of the first students sponsored by the Bukang Liwayway scholarship program.  As I reflected on Pastor Fred, whom I met two years ago, when he was at a low point of his ministry, his widower mother was desperately ill with aplastic anaemia, yet an unbeliever.  He was financially ruined because of the medical bills and was deeply saddened by his mother’s refusal to come to faith.  Yet God did not disappoint him.  During our first medical mission, a final call to submit to the Lord was accepted by his mother, she became a believer of the Lord Jesus.  Today, pastor Fred is a different person, full of passion and vitality, wanting to take Bukang Liwayway to the next stage of faith development.  As Hudson Taylor says, “God uses men who are weak and feeble to lean on Him.”  “There are three stages in every great work of God: first it is impossible, then it is difficult, then it is done.”  Bukang Liwayway has come a long way with 800 people coming together from 6 different slum areas as one body, celebrating its 20th birthday.  One particular group came from an island Calapan.  They took the midnight slow ferry for 3 hours, then bus and arrived at 6 am in order to join the birthday celebration and avoid paying for accommodation.  Such commitment puts us to shame!  We met up with many familiar faces and enjoy catching up with their latest news.  We also got to know some new ones, like Beth Larson, a missionary doctor from the US, another mission team from Malaysia.  We even managed a corridor medical consultation!
As I reflected on today’s message, how many people do not yet know Jesus in our own community?  What is our role in bringing them into God’s kingdom?  We don’t know what part we would play in God’s grand plan.  The important thing is to seek to serve in his kingdom and God will reveal what He has in store for us.  It would be such a privilege to be able to bring people to faith through love.
The only thing that counts is faith expressing itself through love (Gal 5:6).
By Betty