Explaining a LIA Philippines mission trip

Here is a list of churches LIA has either planted or helped in some
way to reach the lost and unreached people groups in the Philippines.

How does one describe a Love In Action mission trip to the Philippine island of Mindanao? That’s a good question, and to be honest, a tough one to answer. To adequately put into words what God is doing in Mindanao and what He does in and through those who come with Love In Action would take volumes. Maybe I’ll write a book one day.

Martha, Mama and I have traveled to Mindanao for three straight years. We try to tell people about each of our trips through words, photos and videos. We speak to churches and share with family and friends. However, we don’t do it justice.

Thankfully, God has used our testimonies to lead a number of people to help us with what God is doing here. Thanks to the financial provisions of those individuals, Harvest Church, Cross Pointe Community Church, and others, we have planted and have made an impact on 63 churches and 30 home churches on the island of Mindanao. We have fed thousands of hungry children, and provided school scholarships for very poor children whose families could not afford to send them to school.  We have even built a school.

We are also thankful for God using our testimonies last year to inspire three people to travel to the Philippines with us this year. Harvest Executive Pastor Keith Frith, his brother Rusty Frith, and Jimmy Moerkerken have spent the last 10 days doing and seeing things they’d never imagine. Rusty leads worship at Crossrooads Community Church in Enterprise.

It’s been fun watching them experience the incredible ministry that takes place here. We do more evangelism here in one week than most churches in the U.S. do in a year, and for some, more than they do in multiple years.

God is pouring His Spirit out in Mindanao like I’ve never seen before. The people – Muslims and those who are not practicing any religion – are open to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There is a hunger for the Word of God that makes you a shame about the lack of zeal for Jesus that so many American Christians have. I used to be one of them, but not anymore.

You see, when you experience true revival with people who truly love and follow Jesus, there’s no way you can stay the same. Family and friends of Keith, Rusty and Jimmy, these guys have changed. You will see it. They were already great guys, but they have a desire to reach the lost like never before. Please encourage them, and let their excitement rub off on you.

And don’t think it will go away. What God is doing inside of them is exactly what He has done and is doing inside of Martha, Mama and me. And they want to come back next year to get even more of the anointing that God is pouring out here to reach the lost.

I don’t know how many people we have seen make decisions for Jesus in the past nine days, but a very conservative estimate would be 1,200, and we’re not done yet. Mama, Keith, Rusty and Jimmy left today to begin their journey back home to Alabama. Martha I will be here until Feb. 17, and then we head back to Hong Kong and China.

Thanks to my new job, I’ll be back in Asia soon, and when I do, I’m coming back to Mindanao to conduct another pastors/missionary workers conference in an undisclosed location. For safety reasons, I will not say where until it’s over.

If you want to come to Mindanao and help our indigenous brothers and sisters spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I encourage you to start praying now and ask God for the finances. Depending on airfare, the costs are between $2,500-$3,000. That sounds like a lot to most people, but think of it this way. Can you put a price on God working through you to lead lost, unreached people to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ? And, can you put a price on an experience that will truly transform your life forever and show you what it really means to follow Jesus? Ask Keith, Rusty and Jimmy what they think.

The next big trip to the Philippines will probably be February 2015, but we may have one before then, depending on the interest.

You may not be able to travel to the other side of the world or be able to take two weeks off at one time. But you can still impact souls for eternity by praying and helping financially. We need many more people and small church groups to support our indigenous pastors for just $100 month. We need to plant many more churches to help with the rapid acceleration of the spreading of the Gospel.

On average, we can plant a church for $900.  Our goal is 100 new churches this year.

We need more clothing to ship to the children. We need more carpenter tools for the missionary pastors who must also construct their own church buildings. We need more hygiene items to ship to our brothers and sisters. And, some extra Nescafé instant coffee is always welcome for their “Coffee Fellowship.”

The Philippines, it’s a very special place with extraordinary people, especially on the island of Mindanao. You need to experience it to really understand what I'm talking about.