Mission Almost Accomplished!

Hi everyone! Sorry for the lack of blogging recently. Been so so busy with the team from Scotland being here. There are 16 of them and the programme is full. Morning until night stuff! I am presently trying to find time to phone my mum and dad in between the busyness!

We are having a great time. So many things are happening on so many levels. Schools, Feeding programmes, medical missions, Electrical work, Bible School teaching, hospital ministry, leadership seminars, etc.etc. We also had a short visit from our ex-director Mike Dixon and his friend Dr. Graham Rideal. We packed so much into 24 hrs! Graham is excellent at saxophone and we were able to go around every prison cell to minister to the inmates. They loved it! Graham was playing some pretty cool stuff ... but almost played 'Jailhouse Rock' and 'Please Release me!" MMMmm ....


When they first arrived, in true Steve Ritchie fashion, a typhoon arrived - Typhoon Helen. Problem was that for two days the schools were all off, which affected our feeding programmes and school ministry. Never mind, as Mary's mum told me once, necessity is the mother of invention!

After those first few days, the weather became even hotter than usual. I mean ... super hot! Yesterday, my air con and fans were on all day and my house was still 32 degrees! Outside in the shade, it read 42 degrees. Melting. Even the Filipinos are complaining. These poor Scots ... Anyway, if you want to catch up on what the team are doing, then go to their blog. They are trying to do one every day by different members of the team. So check it out. The web address is: www.qrfseftonmission.blogspot.com

The team leave on Sunday and will fly on Tuesday. Matthew and I are going to a Cornerstone Leaders Summit in Malaysia on Monday. Please pray for us as we go there. Pray that we will be blessed, but also be a blessing. Pray too for Mary as she tries to minister and also look after the kids whilst dad is away.

Pray too for the Visa applications of four of our Pastors whom I am planning to bring to the UK with me in September - Winston, Marlou, James Aquino & August. If they are accepted, all I have to do is find finances for two of their flights! But I cannot move on until we have the Visas. They have been to the interviews and are awaiting news of their application. They should know this week. Please pray they are successful as I really want to bring them to UK for exposure, relationship building and just to help me!

Will blog soon ...

Here's Lookin' at You kid

Yesterday we celebrated the 6th Birthday of my beautiful daughter Lydia. She has been talking about her birthday for months ... so it was wonderful when the great day arrived! We thank the Lord for our children every day. They are our most precious greatest gift and our greatest treasures.

She was so happy. She got up bright and early with a huge smile on her face. She opened her presents from her family and friends. She was so blessed ... she got a PINK little digital camera which she loves from one granny and granda. her other granny and granda had given her lots of things for her new room. Mummy and daddy gave her a small CD player because she is in the Cornerstone dance group now and Kirsty our spy found out that they don't have a CD player to practice with! So now they have and Lydia is over the moon!

Off she went to school to meet her classmates. At 9:30, mum and dad went down to give out the cake and juice at break time. The cake went everywhere ...the kids' faces were covered with blue icing! So funny. After school, it was change of clothes and off to the Children's Home to celebrate with them! Another lovely 'Disney Princess' Cake for all the children and staff. Mmmmm..... thus birthday deal is great!

At 5:30pm we were off again ... for Lydia to take all her best friends to McDonalds for her party. All the dance Group was there, kids from Sefton Village and other wee people. Of course, lots of big people were there too. The kids had a great party ... and every one of them were given balloons, tons of toys...and of course McDonalds grub! So good. And of course ... cake ... her third one (given by the big chicken!)

Biggest surprise was still to come! I went to pay the bill and the staff told me that the party was free! They said that they saw that I was always the one blessing others ... so today it was my family's time to be blessed! What a day!

Last thing ... all the kids came back to our house. I put up the big screen and projector and we all watched the Bee movie. Popcorn provided. All the kids loved it - none of them have ever been to a cinema -so this was the best thing ever!

They all went home so happy, full and thankful. Lydia was tucked up in bed - next to all her new stuff - a contented and happy wee girl. And mummy & daddy were so happy that the day had gone so well. We went to bed ... shattered!

At 5:15am this morning, a little boy ran through to our bedroom and shouted "Wake up, wake up ... It's my birthday today!" I thought I was having a nightmare! "Another two weeks son, another two weeks ..."

Give us strength Lord!

Build the Ship while at Sea

These last few weeks have been hard for many people here in the Philippines. Typhoon 'Frank' hit the southern part of the nation hard and many hundreds lost their lives. The storm came on so quickly and many were caught unaware. Around 22 sea vessels sank on that terrible night. The worst disaster was the capsizing of one of the Philippines' largest passenger liner, the Princess of the Stars'.

What a tragic story. Around 800 people boarded the ship fully expecting to arrive in Cebu the next day. There was a storm signal number 1 given at the place they were departing from ... very normal in the Philippines. Signal 1 is rain and slight wind. They got clearance from the coastguard and away they sailed. Typhoon Frank was far away in the South East and was heading north. They should not be troubled by the storm.

As they headed south, Typhoon Frank completely changed direction and went East. It was headed straight for the ferry. The Captain tried to sail for a safe haven but the typhoon hit them first. Within 15 minutes the ship capsized. At this time, only 30-40 people are known to have survived ... over 700 are still missing, presumed dead. So many bodies have been washed up on shore but there are 20 other vessels that sank that night. Tragedy.

I am beginning to realise that 'without faith it is IMPOSSIBLE to please God." I can try many ways to please God but if there is no element of faith invollved, they are nothing. I am learning how to fully trust God even though everything else around me shouts out the opposite. Faith ... Failing All I Trust Him. It is so easy to have safety nets around my life .. but do I really trust God ... completely?

Mary was reading me a quote the other day. It was about the beginnings of the Salvation Army and William Booth's son Bramwell uses an interesting quote - "We had to build the ship while we were at sea!" He was stating that the Salvation Army developed as they worked and ministered. They followed a progressive vision whilst they were setting up a movement that would touch millions.

I think that Sefton Village is a bit like that! looking back, to 8 years ago and even to more recent times, we have had to build the boat while we are at sea. We did not sit down and plan everything when we came in 2000 ... we have had to listen constantly. We have had to think and pray on our feet. As we are sailing, we have had to listen to the Lord for direction and guidance. Very often, in the midst of the storm, we have heard a 'still small voice' that has changed everything.

It's not east to build whist at sea. There are many storms! In the last month we have had so,me very serious issues to address and it seems as if the enemy is trying to undermine and destroy the plans of God. Sometimes it is easy to make a hasty decision when we see the icebergs ahead. Sometimes human logic prevails over simple faith. And sometimes we have got it wrong.

first few years here I led consistently in various settings. I was made praise and worship director for was happening at that point - we were developing For example, when I came to the Philippines one of my giftings and things I loved to do was lead worship. In Scotland I regularly led worship and in thethethe AoG in this area. But in 2003 I felt God say, step back and train up these young guys to lead the worship. So muchthe Bible School, building the Fire Centre etc. So I did. I trained up some people at Sefton to take on the worship.

That was 5 years ago. At the beginning of last year I felt the Lord say to me that He never wanted me to step back, He wanted me to step to the side and minister WITH these young guys. Looking back, in the midst of the storms, I laid down my guitar and mis-heard God's voice. We now have some great worship leaders at Cornerstone ... but I was left with a feeling of 'I've missed it ... no way back now."

But there is! I really decided to invest in a new guitar and start to strum away again. I said, "Lord, I am not going to force my way back into leading worship (like some old out of date blues singer!) ... Someone needs to ask me." Well, last week in our leaders meeting the Cornerstone guys said that the Pastors should be the back up singers and that Pastor Mark should lead the worship! Gulp!


So we had a so called practice on Friday and last Sunday morning I led the worship and all the 13 Pastors were my back uppers (as they call them in the Philippines!) You know, I loved it. I felt as though I had come home. I felt as if this was part of my life puzzle that was a missing piece! I felt that same anointing again and most importantly I felt the presence of God. I don't know where it goes from here, coz I'm building my boat whilst I am at sea.

Many Christians never leave the harbour. Many talk about the journey, dream about the destination, are fearful of impending storms and are not prepared to leave comfort behind. They never reach the open seas. They never fulfil potential. They never have the joy of arriving or the thrill of overcoming. They never really trust the 'pilot'.

A few months ago, I received a very unexpected email from a Pastor who used to teach me at Bible School. His name is George Ridley and I hadn't heard of him for years. He informed me of the amazing work he is involved in and said that he had just stumbled across my blog. At the end of his message he wrote something that really challenged me. And I pray it will challenge you also:

"Be encouraged and keep the dreams alive!
Some talk about GOING, others think about GOING but you WENT.
Good on you ... cos it's the start that stops most people."

Don't dither in the shallows, pretending to be building a nice vessel for another day. Ask the Lord for direction. Ask Him for a dream. Launch out! He is with you. He loves faith. He loves trust. He loves adventure. Even if you have to build your life and ministry on the sea ... don't worry ... He who began a good work in you WILL be faithful to complete it! Don't let the starting stop you!

Be encouraged. Be challenged. Be changed. Be ready for adventure!

Selah ...

SBTC ... Alive and Kicking!

I am so excited about what God is doing - right now - in and through our Bible School. This September, SBTC is 10 years old! It was started before we arrived but I thank the Lord that what is happening now at SBTC has been accomplished by a step by step progressive vision. We have been in a process - from an 8 month basic Church Planting course into a two year School of Ministry.

The last two years have been tough, I must admit. The sudden death of Pastor Abe really knocked us all .. particularly me! And when I came back in 2007 things were just not the same without my friend and co-worker around. I found it hard to put my heart back into the Bible School. We set up a temporary dean - Pastor James Bastian. We all took extra responsibilities to get us through but James is the guy I need to thank the Lord for. How he help everything together -along with his ministry at Cornerstone AND being the Administrator AND starting a family - is beyond me. But he did!

Last year, my co-director Pastor Angel and I identified a Pastor to be our new Dean of students. He was from Pastor Angel's church originally but had left to go to Bible School years ago. He married a lovely lady called Joy and they were ministering in the AoG's biggest Bible School in the Philippines - Bethel Bible School in Manila. Pastor Lorenz was the Dean of students and joy ran their Nursery School as well as being the Dean of Women! When we approached them, they said they would pray about it. But they could not come last year due to responsibilities and commitments.

To cut a long story short, I went down to visit them in Manila and preached in their Bible School. Unbeknown to me, the things that I said in my message were exactly the words that Lorenz had challenged God about that week. Gos is amazing. If He wants to tell you something ... you had better be ready! So they handed in their resignation and followed the call. They arrived here in the first week of May.

They are our new neighbours and they have two great kids - Rohama (4) and Aaron (2). They have made a huge difference to SBTC and are using all their skills and giftings to bring new ideas to our Bible School. best thing is ... they are so passionate about what God has called them to do. It is infectious! I have rekindled the love for these students and for the amazing vision of our Bible School. I am so excited! Joy is also working part-time in teh afternoons at the Nursery School and is really helping Mary.

We started enrollment at the end of May and I am delighted to tell you that we have 24 first year full time students and 13 full time second year students! So we have 37 full time students at SBTC and around 5 or 6 that are day students. There is a new buzz around the place! Can you spot me in the top picture?

I am especially delighted to tell you that we have eight full-time students from our Cornerstone Churches (see pic below)! Wow! They are the next generation of church planters and leaders that have come through our church. We are beginning to see some fruit of our labour at Cornerstone!

There are many Leaders in the AoG District here that really want us to reach out and do extension seminars in various places. Please pray for this new possibility. It opens up doors for us to train even more people fro the ministry from around Northern Luzon.

Pray also for our transport situation. We have a large Jeepney van, but it is very unsafe and I am really worried about it. We have so many students now that we need either another multi cab plus get our one fixed or we need to trade in the old banger and use any money towards buying two multi cabs. I am praying we can do this by September when the students start to go out on evangelism and church networking. We have been challenged to plant a church directly from our Bible School, so pray we can do it! In the AoG here now, you cannot apply for credentials unless you have planted a church!

Please pray for us at SBTC. The first few weeks can be difficult for the new students and we have found that many of them feel under so much pressure to go home. Pray for the Salazar family as they adjust to life at Sefton Village. Pray for that God would continue to give us a progressive vision that we will be able to understand and follow.

Catch you later ...

Mark