Blogging for Christ - Sheldon Traver's mission adventures: So where do you put the body...

So where do I begin??
My apologies for not writing. I've spent the past week in Leyte and East/West Samar and trying to piece together what I have learned from so many pastors in this region. For those that don't know, I've been working with Jim and Allene Latzko, missionaries with New Life Baptist Missions in Tacloban, Leyte.

Allene and Jim Latzko

More than 25 years ago, they planted a new church in this city and since that time have grown to more than 20 churches across the region.
The pastors they are training and sending out are incredible trailblazers in so many ways. They move into small accomodations, often with their families, and work to bring people to God in areas that are rife with poverty. One pastor has tithes of 4,000 pesos per month to run the church. That is less than $100. Others have significantly less. One lost a battle with the Roman Catholic Church, who uses the public cemetery it operates to keep people from leaving. How? If you aren't a Roman Catholic, you can't be buried in the buranguy cemetery! This leaves Christians with the very high expense of taking the body to another buranguy for burial.

However, despite confrontations with the Catholic church, poverty, gambling, illness and other serious issues faced by the people in their communities, the pastors are still bringing people to Christ.
Today I met with Pastor Arnold, who is gifted with the ability to delegate church functions to members who are growing in their relationships with Jesus. With the support of the local health workers, his church is giving away free medications to community members with prescriptions. He has church members who are witnessing to family members high in the mountains where he is unable to go.
While some new church buildings are being built, others would be considered sheds in the United States. However, these "sheds" are filled with Bibles, music, art and people filling its walls each Sunday. Bible studies are being held in people's home and the work of God is being done.

My job over the next few months is to digest everything I have learned and turn it into tools that New Life Baptist Missions can use to promote its efforts to others, including future missionaries.
As I sit here listening to the barking dogs, watching the geckos and packing my bag, it's amazing and sad to believe I'm leaving the Philippines tomorrow. I've made many new friends and have a newfound love for a country that one year ago I really wasn't that interested in coming to. Now I can't imagine not coming back.
The hospitality of Jim and Allene, both Western Baptist Bible College/Corban University graduates, has been awesome. My thanks to Allene who accepted my U.S. dollars and gave me pesos( I ran out) so I could buy some sweet Islander flip flops (yes, I guess I'm a true Filipino now). I resisted buying copies of the new Pirates of the Caribbean and Cars 2 movies on BluRay for $1 and Ray Ban or Oakley sunglasses for $2 so I hope I'll get a great discount from the real manufacturers when I get back for being so honest!
Once again, I would like to express my thanks for your support, love and prayers during these two missions. My hope is that I have been able to play a role in God's grand plan and that all of you will consider your own roles in His plan too.
God bless and I hope to see you all when I get home this weekend.
Sheldon