A blog produced by Rolling Fork Baptist Church designed to help Christians live out their faith in their homes, their work places, their schools, and their communities.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Monday, August 22, 2011
Friday, August 5, 2011
REFLECTIONS OF OUR FIRST MISSION TRIP TO THE PHILIPPINES THIS YEAR part 5
Even Matthew looked tall in the Philippines!
One night, we had fish soup with our meal. I don't know what it was really called but since it was a chunk of fish in a soup bowl of water, we called it fish soup. Did I eat it? No, I did not. But Greg smiled really big before he tried it.
The music was amazing... so lively and so God-honoring. Not only that, but the praise team members got along incredibly well. That's unusual. You know how musicians can be sometimes...
We took a ride to a 'spring' for those who wanted to go swimming on our 'day off'. The scenery was beautiful as you can see in this photo.
We had "19" people in the van that we rode in. They said "19" because they counted Aaron and me twice because of our size.
Another photo opp. It seemed like everyone had a camera because we were always be asked to be in a picture. But after all, don't all young people love Santa Claus?
This 'spring' was built in the middle of nowhere. How come our 'springs' don't look like this??????????
I got to sit in the front seat since I was 'huge' and so I got to take this pic of our team. They look so cozy.
This water buffalo is bigger than my car. 
This was our last evening meal at the camp before heading to Magpet. The food was incredible each day. The mangos were very soft and sweet.
These last two photos are from Magpet, which was the last day that Matthew and I were with the team. We were ready to go home but at the same time, we really didn't want to leave our team and our new friends. 
REFLECTIONS OF OUR FIRST MISSION TRIP TO THE PHILIPPINES THIS YEAR part 4
Greg Crenshaw and I were asked by this group of ladies for a photo. Many people would stop us as we were walking and ask for a photo so not only did we pose for their cameras, we often got one on our cameras as well.
The scenery was incredible in the jungle with all of the plants, clouds, and the mountains in the distance.
This is one of the classes I taught. These young men and women were such a joy to talk to. I really enjoyed their participation in class as I asked questions and gave illustrations.
Greg Crenshaw, pastor of Vine Hill Baptist Church, taught one of his breakout sessions in the tabernacle. When he finished his lesson, we had Q&A time and dealt with topics such as baptism, church membership and more.
Aaron Shipp, pastor of First Baptist of New Haven, played football with the youth during the break. He was called 'Mr. Athletic'. Matthew was called 'the spirit of Spurgeon'. Did I get a nickname also? Oh yeah, 'Santa Claus'! Why? Of course, my gray whiskers and my 'big belly'. I told them that next time I come back, I would be smaller. Their reply? "No, Pastor Bruce, we will miss your belly." so I answered, "I hope to miss my belly, too."
Aaron, Greg, and Matthew before the Sunday night service. Matthew preached about the 'living stones' that God uses to build His church.REFLECTIONS OF OUR FIRST MISSION TRIP TO THE PHILIPPINES THIS YEAR part 3
I asked Greg to take this photo of me in front of Bethany Hall where I would be teaching a morning session with him. What is really funny about the people in the Philippines is when you point a camera at some one, everyone in the surrounding area will rush together to be in the picture with you. These three photos are only seconds apart. :)
Greg and I had a game plan going into this break-out session... I would do the first half and then turn it over to him for the second half. Again, I said that was the game plan. I was told that I didn't need a translator so I started teaching. About half way through, I am told that they do need an interpretor so I backtrack in the lesson to get them caught up. When I was done with what I had set out to do, I checked my watch and was surprised to see that I didn't fill the first half like I thought I would. So I am thinking, "I bet Greg thinks I didn't teach very long..." but what actually happened was my watch had lost about twenty minutes so Greg was actually thinking something like "Bruce isn't leaving me much time to teach.".
Our topic that morning was 'What Is The Gospel?' and Pastor Jose was helping the pastors understand what the Bible says about the gospel and how that differs from what the world says about the gospel. Greg taught them about some 'false gospels' such as 'God promises to make you rich'. The Q&A time was very informative concerning what they know and where they need help.
I enjoy listening to Greg teach because of his style... he is very smooth in his delivery and is able to ask the questions that the congregation wants someone to ask and then he answers it. He had a great question from one man and Greg's answer came out so fast, he didn't leave time for Jonathon to interpret for him. When I got his attention, I asked him, "Can you go back and allow Jonathon to catch up with you?" They both laughed and Greg replied "I don't think so."
As the music started in the tabernacle and the people started coming in, you could feel the energy level building up. I was so impressed with the many people who used their musical gifts to lead us in worship. People of all ages... even little kids who looked like they could barely hold a guitar, much less play it, but yet they had an opportunity to play in their own praise team during one of the services.
In this photo, Pastor Lito and I are preaching the morning service. It was 10:30am Sunday morning at the camp but my church family was praying for me at that same time (which was actually 10:30 pm Saturday night). I am so grateful for my church family who not only encouraged me to go on this trip but also helped raise the money. Thank you, RFBC.REFLECTIONS OF OUR FIRST MISSION TRIP TO THE PHILIPPINES THIS YEAR part 2
Greg and Vickie Cochran poses for a quick photo at supper. Greg is our team leader and was very encouraging to us, especially since four of us had never been to the Philippines.
Hannah Cochran and Daniel Wilson work so well together. They minister each week as part of the praise team at Cedar Grove Baptist Church in Shepherdsville.
"Home away from home": this housing unit was built by missionairies years ago and we were very thankful to have such provisions in the middle of the jungle. I roomed with Aaron Shipp and Matthew Spandler-Davison and we have a great time together... we had so many laughs no matter what time of the day!
Ligaya can sing so amazingly. Such as sweet voice and during one of the worship services, she sung a duet with her mother, Juliet, and it was totally amazing.
Pastor Lito and I have so much in common, I think we are twins. His sense of humor proved to be quite entertaining... during one of the worship services, when they were giving us a string of wooden beads as a gift, he gave me mine as he laughed and said, "You are worthy of my holy kiss." How can you not laugh at that when he says that right in the middle of the service???
Here is the tabernacle as we approached it that Sunday morning. Pastor Lito interpretted for me as I preached the message that morning. And I loved to hear him sing. His voice was so full and powerful.REFLECTIONS OF OUR FIRST MISSION TRIP TO THE PHILIPPINES THIS YEAR part 1
Here I am taking care of all of the luggage while the rest of the team has coffee or something enjoyable. But not me, I am stuck with all of this stuff! (Bless my heart. I know you feel my pain.)
Our team gathers for a quick photo before heading to Mt. Carmel for the conference. Left to right, Hannah Cochran, Aaron Shipp, Matthew Spandler-Davison, Vickie Cochran, Greg Crenshaw, Daniel Wilson, Greg Cochran, and myself.
Here we are visiting the tabernacle to see where our worship services would be held. Each service was a true blessing to experience. We had different worship teams lead us each service and everyone was so supportive of us.
One song that was sung during the invitation was in cebuano and even though I could not understand the words to the song, I could definitely recognize the power of adoration for God in it. GOD IS AWESOME IN ANY LANGUAGE! AMEN?
Here is a close-up view of the banner behind the pulpit area. By the way, we got to hear some Southern Baptists from the Philippines sing Southern Gospel songs that I have known for years. That was lots of fun!
Here is Greg Cochran with two men from the camp's conference. The man on the right is Pastor Nelson whose father was one of the first Filipino converts to Southern Baptists about 50 years ago.
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