On the fifth summer morning of our mission trip to the Philippines, the day started as normal as the previous four days; with instant coffee, mangos and scrambled eggs. I had actually began to get a taste for the coffee, though nothing compares to the coffee my wife makes me every morning. A quick washing of the face, a quick shave and then up to the fourth floor where our team of ten would begin to prepare our hearts and minds to take on privileged calling of evangelism. This was a mission adventure to the people that lived on the Island of Mindanao in the Philippines. Though not unfamiliar with evangelistic mission trips, I was unaware of what God had planned for me that morning and I’m glad I didn’t know, otherwise I may have tried to put my two cents in to the equation and messed up what God had already prepared, you know how we can be…
Mike Keyes, the founder of the Mike Keyes Ministry International had prepared a great morning bible study that in hindsight got me ready for what God had in store for the day. “Be ready for God to go big” Was what I remember. I had no idea of what I was in for that day, but I do know that it changes my Christian walk in ways I can’t even describe.
Our normal method of sharing the gospel with the indigenous people on the Island was to go in groups of three into the small villages, where the homes were often smaller than a child’s bedroom, offer prayer and invite them to an afternoon crusade where we would give testimonies, share the gospel and call them forward to make a decision for Christ. That was the plan, but God had a few ideas of His own which affected all of us even to this day.
An hour into my travels through a group of villages myself, Christy and a young man from the Mike Keyes Ministry came upon a large rice patty about the size of four football fields placed side by side. Sitting on the far side was a group of tiny huts, 9-10 of them in a line along the back side of the rice patty. At first I was going to pass on given that the only way to get to the villages was to cross the fields by walking on a narrow strip of dirt about 12 inches wide or just step into the shallow patty and start walking. As I fixed my eyes on the far side, I told the two students that joined me “We got to go across, I feel God has something waiting there for us.” The two students couldn’t help hide their displeasure with my decision, but none-the-less, said “OK, let’s go.” So, off we went.
The Mystery of Ki Ling continues in two weeks…
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