We were in Pampanga where my mom's family were raised. She got to see the little town of Masantol where the Lupisan family was raised. The old bakery named Opo Essa (my grandmother) is still being run by the family.
We are staying at my cousin Mele's home. Mele passed away and is now with the Lord, but her husband Noel is so gracious and has welcomed us to the home and we stayed there. Noel took over the grocery shop and is really over worked. He is an engineer by trade, but out of respect for Mele's mom (Auntie Benning) he has carried the torch for now.
We shared a lot of testimonies and scriptures with my mom's family. The workers in the bakery and grocery store are very interested in the bible as we present it in Tagolog language. We were able to encourage some of Noel and Mele's children of the things of God too. Many are teens or college students still hurting over the loss of their mom.
We went to Corregidor island, where my dad was held prisoner with the USA soldiers and other filipino guerillas who resisted the Japanese. We got to here about the history of World War 2. I was overwhelmed with gratitute towards America for defending the Filipino, and the entire world, really. We saw the ruins, General Macarthur's old home, the old barracks, the big cannons that were there since the 1900's.
We went to see my family's land in Quezon City, where there are squatters. We made steps of communication with the illegal squatters, and the ball is rolling now. The land is developing as a big SM Mall is constructed within short walking distance, and the famous filipino show Willie is broadcasted and filmed nearby. Please pray for cooperation and for my cousin Luz to handle these affairs well, and that God helps us by moving these people out with no trouble. Please pray for wisdom on how to peaceably deal with this.
Now we are in Cavite. Please pray for our schedule. We plan on being there in Ternate on Monday. We will see my cousin Jessie, who lives in Alabang, and who is a lawyer. Sunday we will be in his area, and we hope to enjoy time and discuss businesss of the land in Cavite also.
Rigth now we are in Bacoor (cavite). This is a place where the Phillippines Treaty was signed for independence/freedom from the Spanish. Our little apartment we are renting from our friend Adora Mendoza's aunt is right down the street from that special place where Bonifacio and General Aguinaldo signed the treaty. Wow! There goes that word again, FREEDOM.
Would you please pray for Adora, her companion Ralph, and their child Lance. Lance has some behavioral issues that psychologists would probably have a name for. We want to lead our friends through some prayers of breaking bondage/freedom from spiritual issues.. There's a lot of weird stuff going on here in Philippines. We saw a man screaming like an animal on the street as if he was being taken over by a demon. When we hopped on the bus, he stopped screaming like a beast, and just walked away like nothing happened. Like the Christian Bible Counselor Neil Anderson explained there are many manyh people suffering from bondage from previous generational curses, but the power of God and God's Word can break that.
We spent time in Pampanga with Mark our friend from USA. He's here visiting his dad. We haven't met his dad just yet. It was a great time of fellowship with him. We read through the steps to freedom with Mark, and he loved it. Many Christians still struggle with bondage to sin and addiction in an unhealthy manner. These prayers declaring our identity in Christ and declaring freedom from bondage with the authority Jesus has given us (as promised in the Bible) are powerful.
Saturday we will have a bbq at our place. We will also go to an impoverished area with Adora and her church Saturday. Please pray for protection and effectiveness as we go there.
Thank you!
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