Evan's Blog

Courtyard COG

After many years of trying to get someone to plant a church in our area to serve the people we minsister to and jaming 50 people in our van to drive to church in Makati we have at last started a church of our own.
With our newly hired chaplain to preach, our own boys to lead worship and my own children to take care of Kid's Church we are off and running.
We had just finished putting a roof on our courtyard in time for our very first service last sunday. 58 people attended to hear Moises (our chaplain) preach. Despite having having little time to prepare and no sound system (an absolute necessity in this country) the service was great and there were many new faces.
This Sunday we were better prepared. Materials for Kid's Church, sound system, electric fans and a complete order of service!
Worship was led by Ephraim (I uploaded a video of this to YouTube. See it here). Opening prayer by Jayson, bible reading by Anthony and sermon by Moises.
Jason, Noah and MerryFaye Graff (Along with our short-termer, Prescilla) took the kids upstairs to our classroom and had Kid's Church complete with singing and crafts.
We believe this church is part of God's plan and is happening according to His perfect timing. Join with us in prayer that  people will be touched and lives transformed as this new part of our ministry grows.
We've decided to call it the Courtyard Church of God.
Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise;
give thanks to Him and praise his name forever. Psalm 100:4

Back in the RP!

I have been back the Philippines for two weeks and have finally had a chance to do some much needed work on our website!
A special note of thanks to my brother-in-law, Josh Heppner for the design and layout i have been using for the last year! Check out some of his other work here.
I have updated and added to both the Humour and Jason's Home photo albums... Check them out!
I am also updating links, so if you want a reciprocal link just let me know!
Please email me if you encounter problems with the website or have ANY suggestions!!!

Companion to the Poor

I read something aloud at the conference here in Cooper City COG that many people asked me about. I emailed the author and got permission to post it here on my blog. So, here it is:

I dreamt of the dark murky waters that swirled down the river past the squatter settlement of Tatalon. Plastic bags and broken wood bobbed up and down beneath the oily surface. Each year the flood would sweep through the houses by the river, washing some away, causing havoc.
And in my dream I saw another river, crystal clear, flowing through the slum, and from here into the favelas and bustees and barrios of city after city. As it came it brought life and refreshment—and joy. Its stream kept tumbling and tumbling until it filled all the slums and squatter areas of the earth with its gurgling.
In the midst of the dust and carrion calls of the crows of India’s bustees, and in the desert of Lima’s pueblos jovenes, trees began to sprout along the stream, bringing a new green into the drabness. The leaves covered the garbage strewn around Bangkok’s slums. The half-naked on Calcutta’s streets found them good covering for their wrinkled, unwashed skin, as they cleansed themselves in the sparkling water. “The leaves of the tree were for the healing of the nations.”
I saw children, with their large eyes and protruding bellies, their limp hair colored red through vitamin deficiency, begin to reach up from their play and take the fruit of the trees. And as they ate, new fruit emerged—a new variety each month. The sores on their heads began to disappear. Their spindly arms began to fill out. New happiness took over from their old hunger.
The curses on the nations and the poor were no more, and oppression dissolved before the beauty of a righteous throne.
Looking up at that throne were some servants—humble men and women in the sandals of the poor, still dusty, unknown. And suddenly his name was on their foreheads in all its glory. And they began to reign, along with their chosen companions from among the poor, and to rectify the injustices they had chosen to suffer.
The Lord was with them forever. In one caress he wiped away all their tears. Suddenly before them, their squatter shacks turned into mansions of delight, for he will make all things new.
And the poor cry out, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus, come!”
Viv Grigg
Cry of the Urban Poor, Waynesboro: Authentic Media, 2005, pp 289-90

Viv's books can be purchased in the States through Albatross and more information is available at servantpartners.org.

Cooper City COG

Wow... six months since the last blog i wrote... brutal.
This one comes to you from Cooper City, Florida and the Gold Coast Missions Conference.
As always the missions committee and the congregation of Cooper City Church of God have done a great job of hosting me and all the other missionaries from around the world!
One highlight was a great paper presentation from Ireland's COG national overseer, Nick Park. Nick drew some remarkable lessons and comparisons on maintaining support groups from the rise and fall of the Irish Republican Army. Check out his paper, Using the Irish Republican Army as an Example for Missionary Support Groups on his brand new blog.
Another great presentation was given by Travis Johnson encouraging missionaries to take advantage of on-line communication like blogging to maintain contact with supporters and spread the vision of their mission. His insight into using marketing lessons and treating your mission as a brand were enlightening to many of us. Many missionaries were eager to begin blogging on the spot and some like Nick started immediately! Others like Richard Bechton already had a blog. Regardless, I believe this will be the start of a grand new network of missionaries and supporters. I can't wait until the next conference to see how it has grown!