Everytime I’m in Ho Chi Minh (formerly Saigon),Vietnam, my first stop is always the famous streetside banh xeo (Vietnamese pancakes) restaurant.  I have now added a new stop to my Ho Chi Minh routine – Cua Dong.  Cua Dong is quite possibly one of the best restaurants in all of Vietnam.

The owner/manager/chief cook/waiter and man behind the restaurant is none other than our friend Hugh.  Hugh has been to the Philippines a few times in the past and is now the proud owner of the hottest restaurant in the city.  His place is always packed full of customers during lunch and dinner.  He frequently has to turn customers away for lack of space.  

What sets Cua Dong apart is that all the dishes are flavored with field crab (“talangka” in Filipino).  It’s incredibly good.  The best seller is the soup which includes field crab meat, noodles, veggies, and a lot of other stuff (see photo on right).  Everything we tried was excellent – spring rolls, chili crab, beef, soup, veggies, etc.  Hugh found a niche when he opened his restaurant which serves northern Vietnamese country food.  No other restaurant in the city offers his delicacies.  Check Cua Dong's multiply site here and see photos of the menu.

Hugh has always been a good cook and had this dream of opening a restaurant.  Two years ago, he happened to share his idea with a Japanese client/friend who recognized the potential.  Hugh gave him a taste test and the Japanese immediately provided the capital.  Since opening two years ago, Hugh and his restaurant has been regularly featured on local tv and newspapers.  He rented a stall on a busy street and just expanded last week by renting the adjoining stall (he will move across the street in Feb '09).  Famous local celebrities are a common sight in Cua Dong.

The next time you are in Ho Chi Minh, make sure you drop by Cua Dong and share in the success of our good friend Hugh.  Be treated to a delicious and authentic Vietnamese experience.


Cua Dong
"Everything is crab"
18A/5 Nguyen Thi Minh Khai
P. Dakao Q1
Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam
tel. 8246825 or 6124245

Spent the day yesterday with some of our best leaders on the field – Jack and his wife, and Dan.  Jack and Dan labor in two of the most restricted nations in the world and have done an incredible job in reaching and discipling local students.

Jack is the senior pastor of a church in a restricted atheist country.  He is from that nation and grew up with no knowledge of God.  A few years ago, as a university student, he took shelter under a shed in front of the university library during a sudden downpour.  Taking cover under the same shed was a short term outreach team of Filipinos from Victory.  Jack heard them speaking in English and asked them if they would help him with his English by conversing with him.  Our team was pleasantly surprised and gladly taught him English and shared the Gospel.  Jack was delighted.  When he got home that day, he grabbed a dictionary and looked up the words “God” and “Jesus.”  He had never heard of those words before!  Our team connected him with our Filipino missionary who discipled him, mentored him, and eventually turned the church over to him.

Jack is now a husband and a father.  It is with great joy that I have seen him grow and mature from a student, to a pastor, then a husband, and now a new father.  It is an honor to call him a friend and a co-laborer.  He is one of the finest pastors in all of Every Nation.

Dan is a Filipino missionary in a radically Muslim nation.  His story is inspiring and worth retelling. Dan worked as a finance assistant for a large organization a few years ago.  At the time, we were in the process of putting together a team to send to a closed Muslim nation where we were given a rare open door.  Pastor Steve bumped into him one afternoon and asked him if he would be open to going as a missionary to this dangerous country.  He only had a few hours to decide as we had a deadline to meet.  He needed only a few minutes.

Dan eventually became the team leader.  They established a work in the most prestogious university of that nation and gained the favor of the Muslim chancellor.  At one point, Dan's team was literally running the university!  Eventually, a door opened for him to work in one of the government ministries through an international NGO.  He was not qualified to do what he was doing (he is an engineer and minister by training) but because of his spirit of excellence, integrity, work ethic, and character, his Westerner boss was released and the position given to Dan by the NGO.  His job today entrusts him with the management of millions of dollars on a daily basis because they know he is incorruptible and a man of God.

Dan is one of the finest, most reliable and responsible leaders I have had the privilege of working with.  I am overjoyed everytime I think about his success because he fully deserves it after years of faithful labor. 

I thank God that I get to work with men like Jack and Dan everyday.  Somebody once said something like "find a job that you love and you will never have to work a single day in your life."  If that is true, then call me a bum.  I haven't worked a single day in the last 16 years.

Just got back from an extended trip to the US.  Had the honor of officiating Ryan and Barbara (formerly Hales) Ritenour's (REET-NA-WER; no relation to Lee) wonderful wedding.  From there, had a few more missions related meetings then had a memorable family vacation.  Thanks to Northwest WorldPerks' no expiry mileage program, I was able to use miles we had saved from as far back as our Russia days to bring my whole family to the US!  Northwest was at the brink of closing down a couple of years ago so I thought I was going to lose all my miles but thanks to the US government, they were able to salvage the airline as well as my accrued miles!

The wedding was awesome.  The presence of God was all over the ceremony.  Ryan and Barbara look beautiful together.  You can't help but imagine how wonderful for both of them the rest of their lives will be.  Barbara is of course well loved and cherished by all those who have had a chance to get to know and work with her in the Philippines.  Ryan is quite a character and can win anyone over in 5 minutes.  He is passionate about God and intensely sincere.

Ryan and Barbara have known each other from as far back as their high school days and grew up in the same small town in Oregon.  So their families and friends all know each other which lent an atmosphere of a big happy reunion to the wedding.  Everyone was glad to see each other.

The wedding took place at a hundred year old Methodist church in a beautiful area of Seattle.  It is actually where our EN Seattle church meets every Sunday.  Also had the great opportunity of preaching at our EN church the day after the wedding.  The reception was in downtown Seattle next to the newly(?) built Music Museum and close to the Space Needle.  One of the highlights of the reception was a video prepared by the single women from Barbara's small group in Victory Quezon City.  It was a surprise gift that Barbara only found out the moment it was shown.  It was a beutiful expression of how much she is missed and loved and the influence she has had on so many lives back here.  Many were sniffing while the video was showing.

Unfortunately, my camera broke the day before the wedding so I don't have a single photo of the day.  Please click here to link to Amy Burton's site who was the official photographer/organizer/coordinator/manager/administrator of the wedding.

I also attended Mars Hill that Sunday to see Mark Driscoll preach live.  I felt like an 8 year old walking into Disneyland for the first time!  He preached for well over an hour (par for the course for him) on how each of the Old Testament covenants compares with the New Covenant.  True to form, he expounded on each Old Testament covenant including 6 points per covenant.  But the guy attracts lost people!  I don't know how he does it, but thousands of formerly unchurched people pack his church to hear his over-an-hour-better-suited-to-a- seminary-lecture sermons.  I love the guy.

I never realized Seattle is so beautiful.  I always thought it was just another big city, concrete jungle type of place.  Within five minutes of arriving, Pia and I easily fell in love with the city.  Downtown Seattle is quite manageable and the key sights are within walking distance of each other.  Seattle folk have a very artsy and casual character.  Very interesting to note how many revolutionary corporations and trends originated or are based here - Boeing, Microsoft (revolutionary in terms of of propagating the dark side), Starbucks, Amazon, grunge music, Nirvana, Jimmi Hendrix and of course, saving the best for last, the late great Bruce Lee.  Pike's Place (where the original Starbucks store is) is a must see if you are ever in the area.  It is then surrounded by residential areas that are full of trees with plenty of lakes to go around.  Just beautiful.  Meg Ryan said it rains all year in Seattle but it only rained once when we were there.  The weather was perfect (translation: cold).

I'm back in Manila now and eager to jump back into the fray.  Sssoooo MANY things happened while I was away.  I can't believe all that took place in the few weeks I was gone - Myanmar cyclone, arrest of one of our leaders in a restricted nation, realignments, reorganizations, and redeployments.

Home sweet home.

Thank you for all of those who are praying for our church in Myanmar and asking how they can be of help.  The good news is they are all fine.  But the situation is difficult.  Below is an email I got from one of our leaders.

"_______  is the township where we live and where our church is. As you know, people in this area live in the 7th or 8th floor-tall apartment buildings. The storm cut off power lines and no water because we use power for water pump. No restaurant can operate since there is no water - no tea-shop, no noodle shop. All prices go up more than 500%. One egg use to be only 70- 80 kyats now it is about 300 kyats – in downtown it is 800 kyats!! The most difficult thing is not having water. There is a long queue just in front of some water purifier factory. Other prices are dramatically rocketing. Gasoline use to be about 2500 kyats and last year it was increased to 5000 kyats per/gallon. Now it is 10, 000 kyats and only the lucky one get it. Every supply has run out. Food supply run out. Kan-kong (water cress leave) used to be just 30 kyats and now is 200 kyats. Every time, trucks loaded with food arrived, people quickly swam and buy everything. Food supply has run out. Rice, cooking oil, bean and charcoal are not only expensive but unavailable in many places. Another reason is shop owners are also afraid of burglary and robbery.
 
Since almost every roof has been blown away, the price of metal roof has increased more than 500%. One kilo of nail for roofing is 10, 000kyats from merely 1500kyatw! And there is no enough supply. If one is lucky, he could get a few pieces.
 
Transportation is difficult. The public transportation fare up radically. Many of our church members have a very difficult time coming to church.
 
Most trees have been falling down. Many of these threes are almost a hundred years old. It will take years to regain what the city used to be."

We are trying to find out if there is an opportunity for us to be of practical help.  As you may have read in the papers, the military regime is making it difficult for outside help to reach the locals.  I will keep you posted once we are able to find a way.  Please keep our members and leaders in your prayers.
 

 

Most of you would have heard by now that a cyclone hit the city of Yangon in Maynmar where we have a church.  Thousands have reportedly died but information is very general as the authorities are preventing information from getting out.  We do know that hundreds perished, and thousands are homeless and without water.  The good news is that the government has allowed foreign aid.  We have been trying to contact our leaders and members there but all communication lines are down.  Please keep our leaders, members, and the Burmese people in prayer.  Will post an update once I get specific information.

The Burj Al Arab in Dubai is one of the most opulent hotels in the world.  It is rated seven stars and guests have the choice of being picked up at the airport by either a Rolls Royce or a helicopter (I choose the Rolls).  Bathroom fixtures are said to be gold and rooms cost anywhere from $7,000 to 10,000 a night.  It has the tallest atrium in the world and has an underwater restaurant.  Roger Federer and Andre Agassi even once played tennis on its helipad.  It is widely considered today as Dubai's most recognizable landmark.

However, it is becoming more known for a not so small controversy.  Right or wrong, many hyper Christians and upset Muslim residents insist that it is the largest cross in the world (the hotel stands 321 meters).  The facade certainly forms a cross but it is debatable whether it was intentional or not.  Its British designer has remained silent on the subject furthering suspicions.  During the design phase, the architect explained that the structure represents a sail (the hotel looks over the Persian Gulf).  Those unconvinced refer to a story that the designer is a Christian who had a dream to somehow exert Christian influence over the Muslim country and so devised a way to construct the world's biggest cross under his clients noses.  It allegedly faces Mecca.

True or not, the Dubai authorities issued a license plate in 2001 bearing the image of the hotel.  After all the conspiracy theories started circulating, the license plate was hastily withdrawn in 2004 without any explanation.  Some even claim that cars with the old license plates are not allowed into Saudi Arabia.

Urban legend or fact?

Wild imagination or truth?

Believe it or not.

One of the most inspiring sights in Yangon is the Unaw (pronounced “Uno”) Memorial Baptist Church building which stands at the heart of the city.  The church was founded in 1816 by one of Adoniram Judson’s first disciples.  Almost 200 years later, it still alive and thriving.  It is a testament to the legacy of Adoniram Judson, the power of discipleship, and the significance of the church.  

May the churches we have planted and will plant last for generations.  May they continue to stand strong centuries from now, in the center of disciple making and cultural transformation in the cities and countries where they stand.

Warning: this blog is not for the faint of heart.  This stunt was performed by a trained professional under supervised conditions.  Do not try this at home.

In 1Corinthians 9:22, in his heart to reach the lost, Paul said "I have become all things to all men so that by all possible means I might save some.” 

Paul meant that we should be willing to step out of our comfort zones and be flexible and adaptable so as to reach out to other people.  Pastor Hugh took this challenge to a whole new level on a recent trip to Vietnam to attend a wedding.  The parents of the couple were so honored by his presence that they offered him a special delicacy commemorating 2008 as the Year of the Rat – a plate of barbecued rat!  See actual photo on left if you dare (or if you can manage to do so without throwing up).  So as not to offend his gracious hosts, Ptr Hugh had no choice but to partake of this “exotic” (to put it mildly) meal.

Hugh is quick to point out that they served him the field mice variety.  This breed is supposed to be cleaner compared to your regular sewer dwelling rodent.  Yeah, right.  They may serve me Mickey Mouse himself in a tux and I’m NOT going to bite.  To me, a rat is a rat!  They’re all the same.  

He further builds his case by adding that it only cost US $2.70 per piece.  What?!  You had more than one?!

I’ve had my share of stomach turning native specialties in my own mission trips but this is hands down the most incredible, Fear Factor worthy, missions culinary feat.  And for this display of uncommon valor on the mission field, we award Hugh with the prestigious “Every Nation’s Most Incredible Missions Feat” certificate of merit.  His story will go down in the colorful annals of EN missionary stories.  Congratulations Hugh, well done.  You deserve it!

Note to self: Don’t visit Vietnam in 2016 - it’s the year of the monkey.  Send Hugh.

It’s 6am here in Nashville.  In two hours, I leave for the airport as I head back to Manila. Can’t wait to see my family!  But first, I need to pass by Sonic’s to get my plane food.  Was here for a week to observe how Pastor Paul Barker runs the EN School of Campus Ministry to see what we can bring back with us for our training schools in Manila.  Also here are Pastors Marc Constantino, Winston Reyes, LA Mumar, Joseph Bonifacio, and Ryan Tan.  We learned a lot and are excited to apply them as we reformat our schools in Manila.  It’ll be an exciting new schoolyear!

Was wonderfully hosted by Ermin (Victory Makati) and Carmina Rodriguez (Victory Galleria) who now reside in Nashville and were married in Manila two days after EN’07 (now, that’s commitment!). Ermin is part of the EN staff here in Nashville.  Thank you guys.

The Filipino pastors had a very interesting experience yesterday when we attended the 9:30am Sunday service at Cumberland Church which is a partner of Andy Stanley’s North Point Community Church (NPCC) in Atlanta, Georgia.  We wanted to experience and see what we could learn from this fast growing network of churches.

I easily settled in the moment we entered as the greeters were very warm and the atmosphere was very casual but excellent.  The auditorium can seat about 200 people and it was near full.  There was free flowing coffee and donuts in the back which quickly became Pastor Marc’s favorite corner of the church.  The worship team had a band feel to it, which was cool. You are never short of talented singers and musicians in Nashville.

Then Andy Stanley came on.  That’s right, Andy Stanley himself.  Well, not the live version but the video version.  Every Sunday, NPCC satellite churches show a video sermon of Andy Stanley in place of actual preaching.  Andy Stanley was his awesome self, he’s one of the top communicators in the world today, and I was very blessed.  But to be honest, I can’t imagine going to church every Sunday to watch and listen to a video sermon.  Maybe it’s just me, but I need to see my pastors in the flesh.

Respected pastors and preachers have even developed lengthy theses as to why we need to go the video route.  I know I’m old school and the world is going high tech but there is no replacement for a live preacher.  I’ll take a live raw preacher any day over a video of a polished preacher.  More importantly, I stand by our philosophy of raising as many leaders as possible and giving them all the opportunity to preach instead of just showing a weekly video of the best preacher.  

If I’m going to watch a video anyway, might as well plug in Pastor Nacho Libre.  Now, that’s a communicator!

Was just in Hong Kong to minister and encourage our team along with Pastor Scott Douma.  Pastor Sam and Nancy Webb were also in town the same week. KC Liu was also there for a couple of days so we were all able to connect and get together.  Had a great time with Pastor Sam and Esther Ng who are doing a great job. 

Pastor Scott and I spent two whole days with Pastor Sam and Esther Ng (including Benaiah and Abrianna who were both so well behaved) and Tiffany Chin.  It was a great two days of praying and strategizing together.  Pastor Sam has some great plans for EN Hong Kong (EN HK) this year.  They are going to focus much of the early part of the year engaging locals.  Doors are opening for them among university students and young couples.

Arrived just in time to attend Lucia Woo’s wedding reception.  Lucia served on staff in EN HK for several years before she met Jay on Eharmony.  Jay is from Colombia and moved to the US when he was a teenager.  They are now happily married and settled in Louisiana.  Congratulations Lucia and Jay.  Thank you Lucia for your faithful and fruitful labor in EN HK all these years.  You will be missed but we are all very happy for you as you move into this new chapter in your life.

An exciting development is that our HK church is moving to a new location. Our church now meets at 10am, at the Champs restaurant which is located at the Charter House, 209 - 219 Wanchai Road, Hong Kong (Causeway Bay metro station, exit Times Square).  It’s a cool place to have church and is literally taking the Gospel to where the people are.  The only downside of Champs is that all they show on the tv monitors are soccer games and very little NBA, if at all.

Stand in faith and prayer with our HK church.  Hong Kong is such a strategic and important city.  It is critical that we build a strong church here as a base.  Pray for more workers to help bring the harvest in.

I love Hong Kong for the following reasons:
1. There is an energy about the city that I love.  For me, it is the New York of Asia (sorry Shanghai).
2. It’s modern, efficient, and clean but not artificial. The British influence is obvious but still very Chinese and has a local flavor of its own.
3. It's history in the making.  This "one government, two systems" policy that Communist China is trying to pull off is a great social experiment happening in our lifetime.  It's smooth on the surface with a lot of undercurrents and unpredictable results.
4. Most of all, it gave the world Bruce Lee.

If you think you have it bad, pause for a moment and thank God you are not living in Zimbabwe right now.  Reeling from hyperinflation, the central bank of this southern African country decided to issue a 10 million Zimbabwe dollar note!

The funny, and sad, fact is that this $10 million note won’t even buy you a hamburger in Harare (the capital).  An ordinary burger will set you back 15 million Zimbabwe dollars in the city.  Better think twice about that extra cheese or ordering fries to go with your burger.  This $10 million note is actually the equivalent of less than US $4.

This was done to help address the cash shortage and long, chaotic lines at banks and ATM machines.  While typical Manila ATMs have a maximum daily withdrawal limit of P20,000 ($500), the maximum withdrawable amount in Zimbabwe is 500 million Zimbabwe dollars!!!  Better bring your suitcase.  The picture on the right shows how much cash you need to shell out just to buy a loaf of bread.

The official inflation rate of Zimbabwe is over 25,000% a year (in comparison, the Philippines has an average annual inflation rate of 6%).  However, independent financial institutions say a more realistic estimate is 150,000%.

Ever the optimist, Zimbabwe’s embattled central bank governor, Gideon Gono, offered this reassurance, "As monetary authorities, we once again assure the nation that we are in full control of the currency situation."

He at least gets my vote for quote of the year.

Just got back from Hong Kong where the South China Morning Post ran a very intriguing report called “Small mercies” on how the Communist Party of China may be shifting away from their policy of persecuting Christian churches.

It reports how Ma Chao and three other Christian pastors were suddenly released on January 11 without warning.  Two weeks later, three female pastors were pardoned as well.  Details are sketchy on other releases but it is possible that a total of eleven Christian pastors have been prematurely released to date.  This is a rare occurrence.  

The reason seems to be that the authorities have come to the conclusion that their policy of severe persecution against Christian churches over the last sixty years has failed in curbing the growth of Christianity.  

Much of the talk around this policy shift centers around a Politburo session on religion on December 18, called by President Hu Jintao himself, which was the first of its kind.  Again, there is no telling what exactly was discussed and decided but it seems clear that there was a recognition of the rapid growth of Christianity, and the underground churches in particular, despite all the authorities have tried to do to stop it.  It was reported sometime last year that, Ye Xiaowen, Director of China’s State Administration for Religious Affairs (SARA), claimed behind closed doors in 2006 that the combined total of Christians in China is close to130 million. 

On the other hand, 270 Chinese pastors were arrested in December, one of the most extensive crackdowns in recent years.  That means it is too early to celebrate or to arrive at conclusions.

Interestingly, Chinese underground pastors are not very eager about the prospect of persecution ending in China.  They believe persecution is actually one of the factors which spur growth citing the book of Acts.  They don’t want outsiders praying for the persecution to stop.  They ask that other Christians pray for grace and faithfulness in the midst of repression.

Click here to see the South China Morning Post article (you may have to register for a free trial period of 7 days to read the whole article).

Please pray for one of our workers as he is scheduled to return to Kabul, Afghanistan any day next week.  After coming back to Manila late last year for a short vacation, he was unable to return to Kabul when the Philippine government suddenly declared a total ban on Filipino workers and travelers to Afghanistan due to a recent series of deaths of  Filipino workers in the country.  This ban left our worker stuck in Manila uncertain of when he would be able to return and his contract in jeopardy.

This week, he was employed by a multinational NGO with operations in Kabul who has the authority to supercede the ban.  Once the papers are ready next week, he will board the first flight out. Please pray that he would be able to return to Kabul with no problems with Philippine Immigration to oversee our work.

A sad bit of news is that the Filipina, Zennia Aguilan, who was among the victims of the Taliban attack on Serena hotel in Kabul was a very good friend of our workers.  The unexpected suicide attack occurred on January 14 and was allegedly aimed at the Norwegian ambassador who was spared but claimed many innocent victims including Zennia.  Zennia got together with our workers weekly and she would even join them on medical missions.  She was the spa supervisor at the hotel.  Our workers shared the Gospel with her many times but, tragically, she never prayed to receive.

This once again highlights the urgency for us to hold the ropes for all our workers who labor faithfully for the Gospel.

A Happy and Victorious New Year to all!

Got back last week from a wonderful family trip to Palawan which I will blog about soon.  My Palawan high quickly evaporated as soon as I awoke this morning to shouts coming from my neighbor’s house, loud car and jeepney horns out on the street, and when I realized I woke up too late and had to make a mad dash to get the kids to school and myself to work on time.  Quite a change from remote and idyllic Palwan.  Back to Manila, back to reality.

But what an exciting reality it is!  I’m excited about the new year and everything God has in store for me, my family, and Victory.  I’m more than ready to dive back into rush hour, hectic Manila, crowds of people, and get right into the middle of God’s will for me this year!  

Had dinner last night with some of the core leaders of our singles ministry at Victory QC (not the best way to ease into a fast).  As we took turns recounting the past year, it occurred to me that everyone’s “high” (best moments) for 2007 was bigger and greater than they had imagined at the beginning of the year, and each one’s “low” (worst moments), though unexpected and disappointing, was redemptive.  Overall, everything worked out for our good.  That’s the wonderful thing about serving God.  Everything serves as a building block towards you becoming the person God has called you to be.

There’s no better way to start a year than with our annual week of prayer and fasting.  I’m primed and pumped.  I stand with all of you in faith and prayer as you follow after God with greater passion and joy.

May this year be your greatest year yet!

Pastor Andy Jang of Victory QC organized a Christmas party for the international students of the University of the Philippines right in their dormitory.  We have an ongoing outreach among these students and thought a Christmas party would bless them.

When we first approached the dormitory council, Ava, the Indian dorm secretary was very opposed to the idea of having a church come into the dorm.  She said we could only do 2 songs and that only 20 would be allowed to attend.  When we got there, there were close to 100 in attendance and Ava was very excited and accommodating!  On her right is Jerry from Bahrain.

Edwin, the council president, is from Liberia.  I chatted with him for a few minutes before the program and talked about church, Every Nation, and what I do as a pastor.  He works for the Ministry of Economic Development in Liberia.  He is one of those sent by the government to represent the country in meetings with IMF and the World Bank.  Edwin is not a Christian but when we asked him to give the opening remarks, he did all the preaching for us!  He talked about the meaning of Christmas and the importance of church!  We were careful not to be preachy because of the icy reception we got from the council so Pastor Andy and I were laughing in the car after the program at how Edwin did the preaching for us!

Along with other Victory QC volunteers, we sang Christmas carols, showed a Mr Bean Christmas video, had a video greeting from news journalist Cito Beltran, did a song number, I gave a quick explanation of Filipino Christmas, and of course had plenty of food!


I met many very interesting students…

On the right is Kay is from Myanmar.  She has been in Manila for 2 years but has never met a fellow Burmese.  When I told her that we currently have 4 Burmese in church (John & Esther, Veronica, and Nwei Nwei), she was so excited!  I called Mang Gwapo on the spot and arranged for them to meet that Sunday.  She is currently being followed up.  At her left is teacher Jean, one of our volunteers with a heart for internationals.

On the left is Francisco from Chile.  In the center is Bashir from... Iraq!!!  Can you believe it?!  An Iraqi studying in UP!  On the right is Peter from Kenya.  Also a government scholar.  He has been to church every Sunday since the Christmas party.

The world is right at our doorstep when we reach international students.  Please help us reach them while they are in our backyard.

It should have been the perfect night.  I was going to drive my kids home to Quezon City from ballet class at the Fort, and turn right back to make it in time for a dinner honoring over twenty leaders who led short term mission teams in October last year and the past summer.  I was looking forward to the fellowship, sure-to-be-great mission testimonies, food, and honoring the leaders for a job well done and their involvement and commitment to our short term missions program.

That is, until I came home to a flood.  My evening plans were dashed in a second upon arriving home and seeing my son’s bedroom and bathroom flooded in Legoland proportions of Evan Almighty (thankfully our domestic flood was not an act of judgment by God – I hope!).  Turns out that the genius of a plumber we hired “fixed” the bathroom plumbing only to make the problem worse by installing a plastic pipe which burst soon after he left.  Water gushed out of the pipe full force anywhere from 1 to 3 hours.  So instead of enjoying the evening with fellow missions addicts, I was forced to stay home in the company of a pail and wet rags for most of the evening.

Nevertheless, Pastor Mel Calingo, short term missions director, told me the evening was a huge success.  These twenty two leaders led teams to twenty two nations.  There were teams composed of students, singles, couples, all mothers, even all children teams, and everything in between.

There was plenty of food (the ENLI staff helped us finish it), spoof awards (an insecticide for Dane who “screamed like a girl” when he encountered a spider in Laos), inspiring testimonies, a time of honoring, and lots of fun.

A couple of the stories shared:
• Doc Joey Castro shared how three students who are Real Life scholars were able to raise the required finances to join the mission trip.  Most, if not all, of these scholars can barely afford their daily jeep fare, let alone go on an overseas trip.  It was lifechanging for them to see God provide and a lifelong lesson on the goodness of God and his ability to provide for what they need to fulfill their call in life.
• Pastor Mark Tusoy who led a team of seven children, ages 10 to 12 yrs old, in a restricted nation shared how blessed the church members were when the children prophesied over the members.  The words they gave turned out to be accurate and greatly encouraging.  Not only that, they kids taught the adults how to do kid church!

It’s stories like these and changed lives that make mission trips worth all the effort.  It takes a lot of work, faith, organization, and logistics to put together mission trips.  But the end result is always over and beyond all the labor that goes into it.

Although I couldn’t make it, I want to honor all the short term mission team leaders.  You are the backbone of this program.  Thank you for taking time out from your busy lives to lead teams and help fulfill the Great Commission.  We are a small part of what God is doing throughout the world, but a significant part nevertheless.  The important thing is that we are doing our best to reach every nation in our generation.

Mission trips for summer 2008 will be to the nations of India, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Laos, Nepal, Mongolia, Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam.  Training will begin on Saturday, November 24.

Finally, we are inviting everyone who has ever been part of a Victory short term missions team to a Celebration Night on Thursday, November 29, 6:30 to 9pm at Victory Pioneer.  For more information, please call 817-1212 and look for Jonas Esguerra at the Missions Office.  We will relive our missions trips for the past three years.

I’ll be there for sure this time.  We’re getting a new plumber.

Just got back from APEC 2007.  APEC (Asian Pastors Equipping Conference) is our annual Every Nation training conference for pastors, leaders and missionaries in the region of Asia.  Every year is always the best ever and this year was definitely no exception.  There were over a hundred leaders and pastors this year from 22 nations.

Pastor Kevin York, executive director of Every Nation Churches, led us through the process of values based church planting.  It was powerful and thought provoking.  Every one of us left each session thinking and wondering how we can plant and build churches better.  Not a few bubbles were popped.

Pastor Kevin will come to Manila early next year to take the Metro Manila pastors through the same process.  Expect some radical, but necessary and healthy, changes to the way we build churches to help us reach the lost in a more effective manner.

As always it was exciting to hear what God is doing in several nations in the regions of Asia, Africa, Europe and North America.  Always a delight to see, fellowship and be with our EN leaders from all over the world.  Always a special moment.

Another exciting update is that there are over fifty ongoing Every Nation church plants throughout the world!  An existing churchplant means there are at least missionaries on the ground or small groups already in place.  There’s too many to list each one but there are 22 ongoing churchplants in Africa, 18 in Asia, 7 in the Middle East, 6 in Europe, 4 in the Pacific Islands, 4 in North America, and 3 in Latin America.

An Every Nation church plant is coming soon to a nation near you!

Just got off the phone with two of our local pastors in Myanmar.  It was only a few days ago that internet access and calls from outside were restored.  The good news is that things have quieted down temporarily and everyone from our church is safe.  The demonstrations have stopped as people have elected to wait for the results of the United Nation’s intervention.  The curfew is back to 11pm to 4am.

Not that all is well.  In a certain sense, it is scarier and more dangerous now as opposition members, monks, and those who participated in rallies are being “snatched” under the cloak of darkness.  The military government has empowered local officials to point out ordinary citizens who participated in the demonstrations.

They said it got really scary three Sundays ago when as the church was meeting, gunshots were heard down the street.   They immediately had to stop the meeting and shut the lights out.   One of the main gathering points for the rallies is just a few hundred meters from our center.  They had to cancel one Sunday service and a couple of midweek meetings at the height of the chaos but the meetings have resumed since Sunday.  Only half of our members were present as most parents do not allow their children back outside.  They don’t use instruments or the microphone for now so as not to attract unwanted attention.

Our pastors know their meetings are being watched as they suspected a visitor during one of the midweek meetings.  They approached him after the meeting and the visitor openly identified himself as intelligence.  He was respectful and was just making sure it wasn’t an anti-government gathering.  Our pastors explained who they are and what they do and the intelligence agent was appreciative.  He was perfectly fine with our church meeting and even told them that he would inform them if and when they need to temporarily halt the services for security reasons.  The issue is political not religious so there is no problem with churches continuing to meet.

EN Myanmar is officially registered as a church.  It is not illegal to have a church in Myanmar but it is highly restricted.  The government has been known to close churches with no advance notice for little or no reason.  However, God has given our pastors favor with the local officials who they regularly visit and are aware of our activities.  Interestingly, we had just turned the church over to local leadership in May this year.  Within a few months, their leadership capacity is already being tested.  They have done a great job in speaking faith, peace, and hope to our members.

Our local leaders are currently encouraging the members to continue meeting in small groups outside church.  This is no doubt the best strategy to meet under the circumstances.

They specifically ask us from the outside to pray for the following:
1. Strength of our disciples.  Many locals are fleeing abroad having lost all hope.  Our local pastors are preaching faith to our members.  That they would see this as a divine opportunity for change and to allow God to use them in this historic moment.
2. For continued favor with the local officials.  That their hearts would always be favorably disposed towards our pastors and church members.
3. Continued protection over and safety of all of our church members.
4. Wisdom and grace for the local leaders.
5. Quick resolution to this crisis.

It is hard to see how this will be quickly resolved in the natural.  The military generals will hold on as long as they can as they know that their only other options would be either imprisonment, exile, or even death.  It will take an act of God to resolve this crisis.  He’s done it before in the Philippines.  Let’s pray for another miracle in Myanmar.  That this would pave the way for the unrestricted preaching of the Gospel throughout this nation.

North Korea is considered the most restricted nation in the world.  Not only do they persecute Christians within their borders, but they send secret agents out to other nations to target Christian leaders who are involved in taking the Gospel into their hermit kingdom.

I came across a very interesting Newsweek article which features the testimony of a government insider who converted to Christianity and a brief history and update of the Church in North Korea.  Click here to read the article on Newsweek's website.

Shown at left is a satellite photo of Korea taken at night.  At the bottom is South Korea with lights, activity, and life.  On top is North Korea with nothing but darkness.

It is becoming evident that even in a land as dark as North Korea, God's kingdom is advancing.  Let's continue to stand with the North Korean Church in prayer.  It is reported that thousands of South Korean Christians are ready at a moment's notice to move north.  They are preparing themselves for the eventuality that the walls will come down one day.  Once it does, they are ready within twenty-four hours to fan out all over North Korea in pre-designated locations to preach the Gospel, plant churches, and take the Gospel throughout the peninsula.

That's the Kingdom of God in action.  It is this passion, commitment and dedication that has made Christianity the greatest force the world has ever seen.

The demonstrations in Myanmar have escalated into the most open defiance of the military junta the nation has seen in over two decades.  It is reported that 100,000 buddhist monks and citizens have participated in the demonstrations which is huge for a small city like Yangon.  Some have already been shot at and killed by the military.  The situation is getting more tense by the minute.  Observers are anxiously watching if the junta will crack down hard on the rallyists or risk being toppled by a popular peaceful revolution.

A lot of wild rumors have circulated about what is transpiring but one of our Filipino tentmakers in the nation has sent word that what is happening in reality is far worse than what is being reported in the news.  We have a church of over a hundred locals plus two Filipina tentmakers.  Curfew has been declared from 6pm to 5am.  Communication has generally been cut off from email to international calls but we are able to receive word from our members there every now and then.  Attendance has been down at our weekly meetings and Sunday services. 

Please uphold our church and work there in your prayers.  They are counting on us to stand in the gap for them in their time of need.

UPDATE: The Myanmar military government has banned meetings with more than 5 people.  Please pray for wisdom for our leaders in EN Myanmar as they process its effect and implications on our church.