Josiah Singing the Grace in the Orphanage

Is wee Josiah contemplating the mysteries of God ... or just plain hungry?????

MMmmmm.....

Touching Base!

Hi folks. Well, as promised, here is a few recent 'catch up' news items from Sefton Village.

* Visit of my family!
We had a great time with my family. Mum, Dad, Paul, Ashley, Nathan & Aaron all came to Sefton ... along with Monica Jack (my cousin's wife). We had a good mixture of mission/ministry along with some good old family time.

I am so proud of Paul & Ashley for bringing the boys here. They will never forget their trip I am sure. The boys made a great friendship with Pepito and it was a very sad day when they left.

Dad & Paul did a lot of preaching and sharing in the churches and at the Bible School. Monica sang every day I think ... in the churches, hospital, jail, Fire Centre etc. She went home hoarse ... but happy!

We loved having the gang here. It was great for Mary to have Mum, Ashley and Monica here. They enjoyed a good blether over a cup of tea on many occasion. We will never forget their visit.


* Visit of Dave & Madeline Russon from AoG World Ministries
The day we said goodbye to my family was the same day as we said 'Hi' to Dave & Madeline. We drove with them up to Sefton Village where they spent 6 great days with us. They spent individual time with all three families at Sefton ... and we ate so much along the way!

Dave and Madeline also ministered a lot - in the hospital, jail, st a Youth Camp and also at Cornerstone Utd. on the Sunday. Dave's message was spot on ... we need to sow our seed on fertile ground which the Lord will show us.

Their visit was a great blessing to us as a family. They encouraged us so much and we know that they are right behind us as a family and also the ministry at Sefton Village. Their counsel and advice was wise and we felt the benefit of their long journey here. Lydia and Josiah thought the world of them and Madeline was great with them. Madeline and Lydia still keep contact via text (and I'm not joking!)

* Visit of Gillian Saunders
Two weeks ago we had the blessing of having Gillian stay with us for 6 days. She is truly a friend of Sefton Village and she has visited us many times before. She has really helped Pastor Jun set up Powerhouse Kids Club and she was able to bring advice and wisdom to the team again.

It was good to see here again .., it was 2 years since we last saw each other. Unbelievable! Again we had lovely times of recollection as well as planning ahead. We took Gillian 3 times to the new Italian Restaurant in Santiago ... the owner is an Italian and he was amazed at the way Gillian spoke fluent Italian (without an English Accent!!) The food was authentic too by the way!

* The Pointon & Kerr families
Keith and Anne are doing well and have found their niche here at Sefton. Keith is doing a great work with the Cornerstone Pastors and runs a cell group for them every week. He is also very involved with the Bible School where he teaches various subjects, including English. He also preaches around the Cornerstone Churches every week and has a real burden for a German inmate at the local jail.

Anne is also doing great. She teaches English every day at the pre-school as well as teaching English once a week at the Bible School. She also is getting very involved in the Children's Home now and helping Mary a lot.

The Kerr family are adjusting to Filipino life .. not easy I can tell you! Their house is looking lovely and lots of their bits and pieces have arrived from UK. Madeline has been going to school for the last couple of months and is making some friends. Pray for her as it is not easy. She and Lydia are always together ... either best friends or best enemies! Usually you can find them dressing up, playing school, splashing in water somewhere or pasting on make up! Ariella is just beautiful and always has a smile for Uncle Mark.


Matthew is finding out what the Lord wants for him here. There are many avenues where he, and myself, feel he can really help us. He is going to take charge of all visitors and missions teams that come to Sefton Village. He will be in charge of Maintenance at Sefton and will be team leader to Heny, Jonathan & Edward. He will also be in charge of building projects in the future. He has a burden to help in the ministries in the Fire Centre and he will be responsible for the PE for the Bible Students every Wednesday afternoon. He will also be in charge of organising the Cornerstone pastors. Someone said that trying to organise pastors is like trying to herd cats! Matthew will also be helping is in the 'tecky' side, hopefully getting a website up and running at some point. So he will be a busy man!

Claire is finding her feet as a teacher in the pre-school. Things are a bit different here and it takes time to get behind life here. Claire has been spending a lot of time at KMGLC and has been getting to know the teachers. She will be responsible for the Christmas Program at the school this year and Mary says she has lot of good ideas! Mary and Claire are also spending time getting the plans and ideas for the new Elementary School organised. We are hoping to have grades 1-4 by June next year and there is much to do. Pray for them as they work out the way ahead.

Check out their blog for more news from Sefton - www.leekerr.co.uk

This blog is long enough already and my fingers are getting sore! I will blog about the following soon:

* Fantastic ministry opportunity at the hospital
* Nagassican feeding program for malnourished kids
* FEBC Update
* August Manio
* Great opportunities to minister to thousands in Santiago
* New kids in Children's Home

I am going to blog about the challenges of being good parents this week, so to bless you I have put a video of wee Josiah singing the grace this morning. He's a wee peep! Enjoy!

Tesco Is Cheaper! Asda Announcement

Hi folks ... well after the stresses and worries of typhoon MITAG, I thought that we all could do with a bit of a laugh!

The YouTube clip is hilarious and the 'Japanese Bank' was taken from my friend Stevie Roy's blog this morning. I loved it Stevie!

Here it is:

Following the problems in the lending market in America and
the run on Northern Rock BS in the UK, uncertainty has now hit Japan.

In the last 7 days Origami Bank has folded, Sumo Bank has gone belly up
and Bonsai Bank announced plans to cut some of its branches.

Yesterday, it was announced that Karaoke Bank is up for sale and will likely go for a song while today shares in Kamikaze Bank were suspended after they nose-dived.

Furthermore, 500 staff at Karate Bank got the chop and analysts report that there is something fishy going on at Sushi Bank where it is feared that staff may get a raw deal.

Sheltered in His Arms

Today, I am incredibly amazed at the grace and mercy of the Lord. Yesterday I preached at the SIL (Wycliffe) base in Bagabad, one hour south of here. I preached about the peace of God. When we left SIL, the winds were becoming stronger and there was an incredible amount of rain. Some parts of the road were flooded and very dangerous. I knew that a major typhoon was on its way ... and I was more than a bit anxious!

Every news and weather station - both locally, nationally and internationally - had plotted the typhoon 'MITAG' to pass through Isabela at around 2-3am. It looked like a monster! Winds were going to be from 160-210 km per hour and heavy rainfall was expected. In the Philippines, when you get wind AND rain during a typhoon... it's a killer.

They said that it was slow moving - only 2-13 km per hour, so we would have terrible storms all Sunday night and right through until Monday night. We were told it was best to only travel if in emergency.

So, like a good dad, I sat the kids down and said that it could get rough during the night. We let them sleep in our bed just for one night, so they wouldn't be scared. I slept on the couch because our old house is falling apart at the seems and there are so many leaks everywhere when it rains. I was prepared with my torch and a few basins! Man of faith!


I was going on what the professionals told us. I was going on what everyone else said was going to happen. What I didn't know was that many many people in Santiago were interceding before the Lord that He would change the course of this typhoon and postpone disaster. Pastor Marlou and all at Cornerstone Santiago had a time on the service when they got into groups and cried out to the Lord for His help. Marlou said that he felt a deep sense of assurance. They prayed again in the evening service and asked God to cover Santiago with His hand... and again they felt the peace of God.

But there I was in my house ... ready for whatever. I watched the football and tried to stay awake through the night. Every hour I went outside and checked the weather. Every time I found a light breeze with light rain. I saw every hour ... 1am, 2am, 3am ... but still no typhoon. At 4am I went out again. Same situation. I felt God speak into my heart ... "Go to sleep, it's OK." So I did. I left it with the Lord and abandoned my post!

I woke up this morning and rushed through to see the news on TV. I was amazed the TV was still on! Even more amazing .. the internet was still on! Usually, the slightest breeze would knock it off for days. I checked for news about Isabela ... we were on signal 3 (very severe storm) and we were warned of danger. I saw pictures of towns all around us who had been through a nightmare time with the typhoon. Roxas, Cauayan, Aurora, Dinapige ... all towns in Isabela who were 'hit'. Still no news about Santiago.

I had a Leaders meeting at Cornerstone Church followed by a Government Hearing about our land in Nagassican. When I drove to the church I was amazed! It was a beautiful day! In fact, it turned out to be the hottest and best day we have had for weeks! Check out this picture below... see the blue skies? And at that time we were under signal 3 ... severe stormy weather. All around us I could see the storm clouds in the mountains that surround us. But in Santiago we had fantastic weather.


Jonathan Batayan, our wonderful Maintenance Man, went out at 6am this morning to see 'the effects of the typhoon on Sefton Village." What he saw amazed him. He didn't see gray skies full of rain and great gusts of wind. He said the sky was a beautiful shade of yellows and orange and he felt the peace of God. The Bible says, "You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies." (Psalm 23) Today, the Lord put His hand over Santiago during a storm that was due to hit us hard; that's mercy. He actually changed the course of the typhoon so that it went north and ended up in the ocean ... that's grace.

No matter what we go through in our lives - whether physical storms, spiritual storms, emotional storms, financial storms, relationship storms .. there is always a place of rest and a dwelling of peace - even right in the centre of the storm. That is the place to be. I once read ... better the storm WITH Christ than calm waters WITHOUT him.

I leave you with the beautiful Psalm 91. I was going to cut and paste some parts of it out but I felt I needed to let you read the whole passage. This is our testimony of what the Lord has done for us in the last few days. Enjoy ...

Psalm 91

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.

I will say of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust."

Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare
and from the deadly pestilence.

He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,
nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.

A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.

You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.

If you make the Most High your dwelling—
even the LORD, who is my refuge-
then no harm will befall you,
no disaster will come near your tent.

For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;

They will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

"Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.

With long life will I satisfy him and show him my salvation."

Thank You for your Prayers and Concern. We Love You.

Good News from a Distant Land!

You guessed it ... internet trouble. This time for around a week. After calling them every day last week and being told that the engineers would come 'tomorrow', on Friday they came up with the best one yet. They said that our phone line had been 'chosen' to do a week long test to see how effective it is! What an honour! Pity they never told me until the last day of the test! Sometimes living in the Philippines has its challenges....

Never mind, we are online for the moment and that's good. So much has happened in the last few weeks and I must write them down here so I can remember to blog about them:

* Visit of my family! What a brilliant time.
* Visit of Dave & Madeline Russon from AoG World Ministries
* Visit of Gillian Saunders
* Fantastic ministry opportunity at the hospital
* Nagassican feeding program for malnourished kids
* The Pointon & Kerr families
* FEBC Update
* August Manio
* Great opportunities to minister to thousands in Santiago
* New kids in Children's Home


Well, I'm going to give you some great news ... Winston and Mary Jane have had a wee girl! Last Tuesday little Eunice Hope Bao-in made her way into the world ... and she was a whopping 3.9 kilos! She is absolutely beautiful and both parents were so relived that all went well after a hard pregnancy.

On the same day, one of our staff Hermie gave birth to a little boy - Othniel. Does anyone know what Othniel means or where he is found in teh Bible? Answers on a postcard! Imagine them being born on the same day! Winston was saying that maybe they could get together on the Nov 13th and save costs by having one party for two kids! We are so happy for both couples and pray that the Lord will bless their children in every way.

If you would like to pass on a message to either of the couples just write it in 'comments' below and I will print it off for them.

Got to go now. Please pray for us this weekend. There is a huge typhoon now entering the Philippines and they are even saying it will become a Super Typhoon .... now they are scary. It is possible that it could come north and pass through Isabela but no-one is sure yet.

Please pray for us all here at Sefton - and indeed all Filipinos wherever they are. As you look at some of their homes I wonder how on earth anyone survives these horrific typhoons.

Blog soon .... Phone company permitting!

P.s. - just to remind you to have a look at Mathew & Claire's blog as it will give you a lot more info of what is going on here through their eyes. Yesterday Matthew wrote a funny blog about life in the Philippines. Just go to www.leekerr.co.uk

Blogging from my Nokia

Hi folks! Well, Santiago has no internet right now so I am having to resort to desperate measures - i am using my mobile phone to blog! Amazing! I will blog soon with all our news. Suffice to say that we are all well and enjoying the visit of our good friend Gillian Saunders. If you have not signed our guest book we would appreciate it if you would take a few minnutes to do that. Better go, have a meeting now. Blessings, Mark.

Living in Peace

Looking back over the last 10 months since we came back to the Philippines I realise that there have been times when the enemy has tried his best to bring discouragement to me, Mary & our family. God has a plan for our lives; but so has the enemy. One is good, the other bad. One is the right path, the other the wrong. Jonah had two ships to choose from ... and so have we!

The enemy is always at it ... stealing, killing and destroying. He always wants to take the things that we need most in our lives. Cars, houses, computers ... all can be replaced by a decent insurance policy and within weeks or months we forget. These are generally not the things the enemy seeks to steal from us.

What he really wants is for us to lose our peace. Our joy. Our purpose. Our passion and probably most of all our hope. Living with out hope truly is hopelessness. The enemy hopes that stealing some of these precious God-given blessings will start a chain of events and thought processes that will even put our faith and salvation in jeopardy. He wants us to become discouraged, after a dose of discouragement maybe we could become full of self pity and feel like spiritual 'victims'. This could lead to compromise and loss of discipline that could in turn lead to us wearing a Sunday mask - look good at church but inside full of hurt, sadness and regret. Before we know it we have done something or said something in a moment of weakness and our whole lives are changed. So many people have fallen this way.

Bottom line: The devil knows if he steals your peace, joy and hope ... it could be a process that will lead to disaster.

We have to keep our peace. We have to cherish our hope. We have to live in joy. They are absolutely vital for a life of service to God. Without them we cannot live with purpose. Lose them and we are on a slope that could be disastrous.

How so we live in peace? Lets look at David. He almost lost it all. He is a classic example of what can happen to any of us. If a man with a 'heart after God' can fail, any of us can. He loved God ... lived with purpose and was great in every sense. But he became lazy and took the blessings of God for granted. When he should have been fighting and leading his men he stayed at home. Let someone else do it. I'm tired. I've been fighting for years. Anyway, we'll win 'coz God is with us!

When he should have been fighting he was relaxing, taking it easy and utterly unaware that this was exactly the climate that the enemy loves to attack us. The enemy loves Christians who 'take a break' or 'take time off themselves for a while'. Whilst strolling across the roof his eyes saw something that he could not resist ... a beautiful woman. All sense of Godliness left him. Spiritual purpose was evicted and passionate cravings ran through hos mind. The man after God's own heart became a man after a woman's beauty.

We know the rest. David committed indirect murder to get the object of his desire. everyone else thought that David was OK ... but God saw everything. And to every sin there is a consequence and David was like any other man - the product of the choices that he made.

When God blew the whistle at least David knew the score. He had to repent or he would lose everything. Already he was riddled with guilt, saddled by shame and lost his peace, joy and relationship with God. He had to change. Come before God.

This is where I want to bring you today - PSALM 51:10-13

Create in me a pure heart, O God,
and renew a steadfast spirit within me.

Do not cast me from your presence
or take your Holy Spirit from me.

Restore to me the joy of your salvation
and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.

Then I will teach transgressors your ways,
and sinners will turn back to you

How can we keep, or even restore, peace in our lives?

David, after his terrible sins, came to a point of repentance in Psalm 51. Here we can find the keys to peace, contentment and purpose in our lives.

1. A Clean Heart (v10)

2. A Right Spirit (v10)

3. A Desire for God's Presence (v11)

4. A Walk in the Holy Spirit (v11)

5. A Joy because of our Salvation (v12)

6. An Obedient Life (v12)

7. An Opportunity to Serve (v13)

I didn't plan to write about this today but I feel so strong that this is for many people. Please, today, examine your hearts and lives. Do you genuinely have a joy, a peace, a passion, a dream, a purpose and hope? Or are you hiding the real you behind a smile or 'I'm fine thanks'. Don't dwell in yesterday; don't live in guilt; don't walk with regret or shame.

The journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step. The devil knows it. And often his first step is to steal your peace. Maybe it's time to say, "No More" and draw close to God again.

Like David, you will find that God is forgiving, generous and His love knows no bounds. Before you go too far ... come back.

Your peace is waiting for you ...

Selah.

Black Trainers and a Word of Faith

I was so mega blessed last week. I met someone that I haven't seen in ages. Let me tell you this incredible true story ...

We arrived in May 2000 and in the August I got a phone call from a Pastor who asked if I would visit a boy from his town who was in a hospital in Santiago. I never knew the family, the boy .. or even the pastor! Anyway, Abby and I went there to find this 15 year old guy called Bracey Calimlim.

We went to the ward and found a young man who was in a coma and had tubes everywhere. He had been having 'pretend' fights with his 3 friends on the way to school and things got out of hand. His friends beat him out and tried to throw him in a river. On the way to the water a tree branch went right through his body, almost severing his kidneys.

When we saw him the family and Doctors had given up hope. In fact, they were taking the tubes out and preparing for him to die naturally. I asked the Doctor if there was any hope. He shook his head and used his hand to show the number 0. No hope. A tragic end to a young end.

When the family saw Abby & I they asked for us to pray that he would die in peace. We went up to the bed and I started to pray over this lifeless young man. As I prayed, I felt a huge surge of power go down my arm and I spoke a word of faith ... "Bracey, you will not die but live." I couldn't believe I said it because Abby was interpreting for the family!!! Amazingly, when I ended the prayer, Bracey opened his eyes and said in perfect English, "Thank you Pastor." Goosebumps!

Abby & I decided to commit ourselves to prayer. Almost every day we went to the hospital to pray for him. It was hard... one step forward and two steps back. But in that time Bracey accepted the Lord and began to be discipled. However, things took a turn for the worst into the second month and he looked like a skeleton. One good thing that happened at this time - and this was a key - he made a conscious decision to forgive the friends who had done this to him.

But one night, he looked at me and said, "I am ready to go home now. I am tired of fighting. Before I go Pastor Mark, will you kiss me goodbye on my cheek?" I was so upset. I could see he was upset by my reaction and so I bent down to kiss him on the cheek. When I did, I felt the power of God again! I said, "Bracey, it is not time to give up. It is time to fight. You have your life ahead of you ... you will survive, become strong, go back to school, get a job, get married, have children and serve the Lord. God is with you." He agreed to fight with us.

Next day, I went to the market and bought a pair of lovely black trainers and went to the hospital. I said, "Bracey, these are for you. One day you will come to the Fire Center and play basketball with me." He smiled and nodded.

In January (5 months after we first met!) we managed to get Bracey to see a specialist in Manila. He found that his kidneys were in bad shape and there was a huge lump there and it didn't look good. I prayed for him because I had to go back to Santiago.

Two weeks later, there was a knock on my door ... it was Bracey - wearing his trainers! I have never ever ever been so happy to see anyone at my door in my life. We played basketball. He told me that when the Doctor actually did the operation they discovered that the huge lump had completely disappeared and that his kidneys looked absolutely normal. Wow!

I haven't seen him for two years ... until a few weeks ago. We drew in for fuel and I heard a knock on my window, "Remember me Pastor Mark?" I was in tears. He was looking great and had put on so much weight. Guess what? He was married and his wife was going to have the first baby. And ... his wife has just become a member in one of our Cornerstone Churches! Bracey came to church last Sunday and wants to serve the Lord at Cornerstone. Amazing. Unbelievable. Fantastic. God.

Feel blessed? Here is some lessons from Bracey's story:

* We need the Gift of Faith and the courage to speak what God asks us to speak.

* We should not be led by feelings and emotion ... but by faith. Our eyes can lie to our spirit. Our emotions can be unreliable and disable faith.

* Forgiveness is a key to healing and restoration. Unforgiveness is a shortcut to misery, pain, bitterness and even sickness.

* Your faith may need feet .. or trainers! Put action to your words.

* God is a great healer. He can do in a moment what man would take years to achieve.

* What happens to someone after they are healed are more important than the healing itself. Healing is physical; discipleship and following the Lord is spiritual.

* Some battles are sealed in a day .. but some battles last for months or years. The important thing is to never give up. You may be at the edge of a miracle!

* God's word and promises are so powerful.

* 'No Hope' doesn't exist in the vocabulary of God. Impossible is nothing.

Selah ....

Where Have the Days Gone?

My goodness. Here we are again. Same old same old! Things have been ultra busy in the last few weeks with the visit of my family and now we have our World Ministries Director Dave Russon here with his wife Madeleine. We are having a great time with them ... and Lydia has really taken a shine to them - continually knocking on their door to see if they want to do something! Sweet.

Anyway, here are a few pictures and then a funny story. Hopefully, we will be having a 'normal' week next week ... although I have long since given up hope of even a normal day coming our way! In fact, an incident happened last week that really rocked us and was a horrible situation to go through. The timing of us going to Manila and then the Russons coming has been perfect. His grace IS sufficient....

Here is why our internet is a bit impossible ...

...makes BT and Scottish Power look good!

Last Sunday, we went to Victory Christian Centre in Manila and on the way out of the service I could not believe my eyes. This Filipino guy was walking out of Church with a Glasgow Celtic top on! I couldn't believe it ...

I stopped him in his tracks and asked him if he was a Celtic supporter. "Of course", was his answer. He had spent some time in Japan and was a big fan of a player called Nakamura - who plays for Celtic. Crazy world eh?

Mind you, best one ever was when I met a guy in Ghana with a Partick Thistle top (now that's something because I cannot recollect me even seeing anyone in Scotland wearing a Partick Thistle top!) Beat that!

Last up, a true story. Last week, when we were in a restaurant in Manila, wee Josiah started acting like a helicopter. His feet and hands were flapping around. After a few minutes he shouted, "I really need the toilet!". He was in his pram so I started off on our journey through the packed mall. When Josiah says that he needs the toilet, lets just say that he is at the point of no return.

So I walked fastly (or ran slowly!) all the way to the toilets. I rushed in, praying for a free cubicle. Wow, the last one was free! "Scuse me, scuse me, emergency!" I shouted as I traversed the packed toilets. I grabbed Josiah, threw him on the toilet and ... well, we JUST made it!

I was so hot as it had been a manic few minutes in the heat. Well, as I stood there like a proud father who had saved the day, Josiah singing songs as nature worked away, I heard a knock on the cubical door. And then again. Strange. Never had this before. I heard a little voice speaking, "Sir, you are in the ladies toilets!"

Aaaaggghh! I'm in the wrong toilets! I was so busy trying to get my boy to the bowl in time that I never took time to check out of I was in the right place! I got Josiah organised (took around 15 minutes!) and then I plucked up courage. "Coming out now", I shouted. Josiah was singing away as Daddy crept through the gathered throng of ladies at the mirror. I half closed my eyes and kept walking!

But I laughed all the way back to the restaurant.

What have I learned from this embarrassing experience? Well, at the end of the day, its better to be in the wrong place at the right time doing the right thing rather than being at the right place at the wrong time cleaning up an smelly mess!

Selah ...
Goodnight. Good to be back after another internet wilderness experience. Pray for our wire to be strong!