Our House Almost Caught on FIRE!

The flames can been seen rising above our townhouse building.

The flames can been seen rising above our townhouse building.

Just two days after helping the victims of the Isla Verde fire, we almost became fire victims ourselves. We were suddenly disturbed to hear our neighbors pounding on our door. There was a big fire raging just ten feet behind our house! The fire had completed consumed the two houses behind us and was quickly approaching our rented townhouse.  I stayed behind to rescue some electronics, and see if we could do anything to stop the fire. I rebuked the fire and prayed, “Fire, you cannot touch our house in the Name of JESUS.” Our unsaved neighbor later told me the fire was raging right for our townhouse and the wind suddenly changed.

This was the view from our back window after the Fire Department got the fire under control.

This was the view from our back window after the Fire Department finally got the fire under control.

The fire was so close that Elijah’s bedroom windows and my office windows were too hot to touch. During the commotion, one of our brilliant friends broke the main water pipe behind our house and sprayed it towards the fire which held it at bay until eleven fire trucks responded and put out the fire. It was an absolute miracle our house didn’t catch on fire!

Elijah was so happy to see 11 fire trucks respond to our neighborhood. I was excited too!

Elijah was so excited to see eleven fire trucks respond to the fire. I was excited too!

When Elijah finally came back, he was so excited that the fire trucks came to visit our house. He exclaimed, “Fire Truck, Daddy, Fire Truck!” I suppose I was excited to see the fire trucks too, but in a different way. Thank God for his protection, miracles, friends, and fire trucks!

A fireman extinguishing the fire on top of our neighbor's house that was sadly gutted by the fire.

A fireman extinguishing the fire on top of our neighbor’s house that was sadly gutted by the fire. The tall roof in the background is our townhouse building.

The Isla Verde Fire

The wasteland once known as "Isla Verde."

The wasteland once known as “Isla Verde.”

There was a huge tragic fire that ravaged Isla Verde, a squatter area here in Davao City. It destroyed hundreds of homes and was a horrible blow to the local Badjao tribe. The fire forced them out of their homes and now hundreds of families are living in a local park in a tent city of tarpaulins.

People working to recover what they can from the smoldering ruins that once were their homes.

People working to recover what they can from the smoldering ruins that once were their homes.

Our church went to help these people the afternoon after the fire and gave food, water, and hygiene kits until supplies ran out. We also went back later to distribute over one ton (1,000 kilograms) of rice during a thunderstorm. We went from tent to tent slogging through the mud and water to get the rice to these precious people.

This precious little girl fell after losing her home and is now living in the park under a tarpaulin.

This precious little girl fell after losing her home and is now living in the park under a tarpaulin.

I got to drive nine volunteers to the site and drove home with 14 volunteers in my overloaded vehicle. I want to give credit to my local church that provided the supplies as we did not have the financial resources to help. Thanks to our church, I was able to pray for people in the soot and rubble, and give out rice in the mud and rain.

Elderly people homeless from the fire living under a tarpaulin.

Elderly people homeless from the fire living under a tarpaulin.

 

 

24 Hour Worship Marathon at the Refuge

24 Hour Worship Marathon at the RefugeAbout one week ago, we hosted our first 24 hour praise and worship marathon at the Refuge. We had about sixty on-fire youth passionately worshipping God the whole time. It ran continuously for 24 hours from Friday until Saturday night. It was amazing to see the hunger, fire, and passion the youth displayed the whole time. The atmosphere for worship and soaking in God’s presence was just wonderful.

Soaking at the 24 Hour Worship Marathon.

Sheena who attended announced that her friend Khael was healed at the event, “He testified how his sore throat was instantly healed when he joined the 24 hour non-stop worship.”

Another attendee told me she clearly heard answers from God about things she had been praying for months about. She also told me she enjoyed God’s presence so much that it was hard for her to leave.

This event was such a wonderful success. We can’t wait to have the next one.

Excited to Worship God at the Refuge

Awake Samal Outreaches

Across the bay of Davao City, lies beautiful Samal Island. Even though it is near the city, it is underdeveloped and many of the people there live in poverty seemingly forgotten by the outside world. 

One of the great missionary organizations here, F.I.R.E. International, has a vision and strategy of reaching the entire island of Samal through evangelism. They are having targeted weekly outreaches in every community on the Island. They asked us to participate in their outreaches and teach evangelistic dramas to their team. We joined the first of many outreaches and have already started the drama trainings. I prayed for many people at the first outreach who were instantly healed.

One teenager came to me with a yucky deep cough and asked me to pray for him. I asked him to cough before I prayed and it sounded terrible. I then rebuked the cough and sickness, and commanded his body to be healed by the Stripes of Jesus. After I prayed, I asked him to take a deep breath and cough. His lungs were instantly so clear that he could not cough!
Praise God!