Crucible of Love
You think you’re a good person until you live in community… Then you realize you are the most selfish, vain, conceited creature on the face of the planet.
When God Calls
Sometimes God calls us to do quite simple things – like “Go and pray for a friend” or “Help your sister change her flat tire.” These things can be quite ordinary, but nonetheless they eventually reveal to us more and more, in some capacity, who the person of Christ is. Our lives so far as a family have been filled with these…
I Lift My Eyes Up Unto the Mountains
The roosters had just begun their Monday morning crowing when it was time to get up and prepare for the day. Our family awoke, quickly preparing a small snack breakfast before Fr. Leo, Sr. Marie Eugenia, and a religion teacher named Garvin came to the house to pick us up on our missionary adventure to the mountain communities above our…
DOCAT: What I’m doing NOW
After reading the DOCAT, a newly published adaptation of the social doctrine of the Church, one quote stood out to me as a summation of my missionary life and a summation of how my life reflects the ideals talked about in this book: “’God’s love never ends.’ (1 Cor 13:8). He goes after us, looks for us in our caves and hiding places,…
Missions At Home
Ever since I found out I’d be coming home to the States, I’ve been asking myself how to reconcile my two lives into one. How can I enjoy my visit home and at the same time not forget my missionary vocation? How can I continue saying yes to Jesus each day?
The Tale of the Free Wedding Dress
Full disclosure: This is NOT the wedding dress or the bride the story is about, but I’m not allowed to post pictures of her until the actual wedding. Fair enough. “Let’s go wedding dress shopping!” A normal statement for a maid of honour to make to a bride-to-be. But this wasn’t a normal situation. Kristi* and Annie* were Americans, working…
The Transformative Power of Love
I’ve been putting off writing this blog for far too long now. I was sure I would not have the words to truly express my feelings on what I’m about to write about, and I’m still sure that I don’t. But, bear with me as I attempt to share my heart with you. When we arrived in Malaybalay, I met…
Love What Matters
I recently started seeing a lot of posts from the Love What Matters movement on my Facebook feed. It’s touching.. stories, photos, and videos that highlight what’s really important in life, especially when there are so many negative things in the news and in our own lives that try to steal our focus and our joy.
Vlog: What a Day in Peru!
Power of Prayer by Olivia
This is a personal testimony about the power of prayer that our 13-year-old daughter shared as her final message to her peers at our weekly praise and worship gathering in Camiguin, Philippines. From before I was born, prayer has been a part of my life. After my sister was born, the doctor told my mom that she shouldn’t have…
The Blind See
Jesus works miracles everyday; they may not always look like those in the Bible, but they are every bit as real.
Thanks ElevateClicks!
So we’ve decided to seek out a Google Grant – a program through which Google gives non-profits $10,000 per month in free internet advertising! But, as we’ve seen just looking at this stuff on our own, obtaining and maintaining a successful Google Grant account is complex and can be extremely time consuming. The average nonprofit will only use about 3%…
Jesus, I Trust in You: Part 3
The house is finished! On Mother’s Day we drove to Nanay Ludi’s house for our weekly visit, our gift of a litson manok (a rotisserie chicken, her favorite) in hand. We arrived to find a very happy couple inside a very cozy, newly completed home!
Kids Ministry in the Philippines
I believe one can learn the most about the Kingdom of Heaven from children, and this fact has only been made more and more clear to me in my missionary life. It is because I see Jesus so much in children, that I have officially decided to run a kids ministry. Every Thursday night, I do my best to instill…
Divine Mercy
Two years ago our Mexico team started a project building a little chapel in General Cepeda for the people that live too far to walk to Mass. Someone had donated a plot of land to the Church, and Father wanted to see a chapel built there, but there were no funds. So, when some friends came to visit and heard…
10 Fun New Experiences in Peru!
1. We live in an abandoned bakery. It is a very interesting set up. We have one big room where we all sleep which was used to store bread. It’s awesome, we live in a room that is made to be fresh and cool!! The sinks in the bathrooms opened with your foot so you would not contaminate anything, which…
Why I’m [Still] A Missionary
It’s 10:48 pm and I just finished rinsing the last of the lice shampoo out of my hair. It’s just a preventative measure this time, but I’m being a little extra careful because a few weeks ago at this time of night I was picking dozens of little eggs off my scalp. Lovely, I know.
Jesus, I Trust in You: Part 2
Over the mountains and through the jungle…Grandma’s house is on its way to being finished! (Read Part 1 of this story here.) Together, you all have donated over $800 towards giving Ludi and Lope a home where they can be safe and comfortable in their elderly years. That kind of generosity goes a long way here in the Philippines!
