Christmas 2002 Letter

Christmas, 2002

Greetings in the name of the Lord!

Isn’t this an exciting time of year? There are Christmas Cantatas, Sunday school Christmas programs and decorations going up in many places around us. There are even songs about Christ being played in our shopping malls and on the radio. For many, it’s a wonderful time to be preparing for great family times – shopping for gifts, baking great-tasting treats (or at least testing – often repeatedly). I remember the great anticipation I felt as a child to see what was contained in those boxes under the tree with my name on them. Christmas is also a hard time for some, as they remember the loved ones they used to share it with.

This Christmas season is a special one for me. It has been a time in which I have had to say good-bye to many coworkers, friends, people I’ve had the privilege to serve along side of. I’ve been hit by how blessed I’ve been in the last few years. God has brought so many special people into my life, from many different places, and given me the opportunity to do so many different things. I’ve had the privilege to serve and work with many great people at my church, on the streets and with a great board of directors. I’ve enjoyed working for a great company, with great people, and doing lots of cool stuff. I’ve had a great time skating with my inline skating club, and have gotten to know many amazing people there. God has been so good!

This Christmas is also a special one as it is likely the last one I’ll be able to celebrate with my family here in Canada for a while. As many of you know, I am now on staff with International Teams Canada (ITC). I will begin 4 months of training in mid-January and then will begin my role as a Team Leader for Encounter Teams, with my first team starting near the end of August.

The last month has been an exciting time for me as I begin to prepare for what is coming. Since I completed my last job at the end of November, I’ve been packing, writing letters, meeting with people to share what God has called me to, and taking care of many other details that have needed my attention during this transition. Please be praying for me that these things do not distract me from having good times with Christ.

It has been exciting to see how God is providing. Several churches and a bunch of individuals have become a part of my team – praying for me and supporting me financially. It has been humbling to see the generosity of a few that have very little, and yet have still wanted to give. Thanks so much to all of you who have responded. You are integral partners with me in this ministry. At the moment, I’m at 24% of my target budget, with 57% coming from individuals. It will be exciting to see God supply as more individuals come on board. For anyone who would like to join my team, let me know, and I’ll tell you more about how you can go about it – or you can use that blue form that was in my last letter.

As you might expect, what sustains every ministry is prayer. I’ve included a “prayer card” with this letter. You can put it up on a bulletin board or attach it to your fridge, as a reminder to remember me in your prayers. Thanks so much for your intercession on my behalf. Here are some things you can bring before the Lord:

• Praise God for how He has supplied, and blessed in so many ways


• Continue to pray that I would be focused on Christ in everything I do, and recognize the attacks of the evil one

Thanks so much! May you have a wonderful Christmas, and a great New Year.

For His glory,
Steve Van Bruwaene

Steve's Prayer Update

For those of you for whom this is the first such email, welcome! I send out a prayer letter periodically to those whom I think might be interested in hearing what God has been up to in my life. If you know others who might be interested, please feel free to forward this to them, or let me know, and I can add them to the list. If you'd rather not receive this for any reason (or would prefer to receive letters less often), please let me know, and I'll be happy to update my list.

Monday November 25, 2002

Hello all! I trust you've been doing well!

It's been some time since I've sent out an email to update you all on how I've been doing. Things have been going quite well. I have now officially been accepted by International Teams. I have begun the process of formally letting people know what's up. Some of you have received a letter with the "official update", and some info on how you can become involved. Praise God, the support has begun to come in -- people have committed to praying regularly for me, and some have committed to supporting me financially as well. There's still a ways to go, but I am confident that where God has called, He will provide. It will be exciting to see what He will do! For those of you who did not receive this letter, you can check it out at:
http://www.geocities.com/bruwaene/PartherLetter/

I have exciting times ahead. I gave notice at my job a number of weeks ago, and will have my last day on November 29 -- this Friday! I begin 4 months of training at International Teams missionary training school near Chicago in January. In December, I'll be keeping myself busy tying up lose ends in Ottawa, meeting with people, moving back in with my parents in Waterloo, and preparing for my training.

I'd like to thank all of you who have been praying for me over these last number of months. It is so necessary, and very much appreciated. Here are a few things you can be praising God about, and praying for:

• Praise God for all who are praying for me. Praise Him also for the money that has come in. Pray that God would bless those who have felt called to partner with me in this work, and that those that He has called would respond.


• Please be praying for me, that my focus might be on Christ. With all the busyness lately, it's easy to get caught up in "all the stuff that needs to be done" rather than resting in Him. Please be praying for spiritual protection as well.


• Praise God for the great people I'll have the privilege of working with at International Teams. Pray that God would be continuing to guide, direct, and use them, as they make decisions, and plan the future direction of this ministry.

Thanks so much for your interest in what God is doing in my life. I would really love to connect with you sometime, to share more with you, and also hear about how you're doing, and how I can be praying for you.

Have a great week! I'll look forward to talking with you again soon!

For His Glory,

Steve.

October 2002 Prayer Letter

Tuesday October 29, 2002

Greetings in the name of the Lord,

I am very excited to be able to tell you about a new ministry that I have the privilege to be a part of.

International Teams (IT) has launched a new Missions internship program called Encounter Teams. It is targeted at young adults (18-30) who have participated in short-term cross-cultural ministries, and are seriously considering some sort of full-time ministry. It is currently an 8-month program that takes these people to 5 different countries in which IT has work going on. It gives them an opportunity to get involved in a number of different ministries in a bunch of different cultures, and get to work along side quite a few established missionaries. Participants of the first team came back talking about all the ways they had been stretched, and how much they had learned about themselves and about God. It was an excellent opportunity for them to take part in advancing the kingdom, grow much deeper in their understanding of God, themselves, the world, and where God might be taking them in the future. After the first team, one of the team members commented, “Tell them they'll never be the same! Tell them to 'go for-it' and be ready for God to do amazing things!” I’ve included a portion of the Encounter Teams brochure on the following page that gives some more information on what this program is about.

International Teams is bringing me on staff to be a team leader for upcoming Encounter Teams groups. This is an exciting opportunity for me to have a part in the development of young adults who feel God’s call on their lives to ministry. My role will be overall care of the team, mentoring team members as they seek to learn more about God, themselves, the world, and their future. In each of the locations we go to, we will be working along side career missionaries, who will be leading the various types of ministries we are involved in.

It has been exciting to see how God has been directing and preparing me over this past year. Receiving and confirming God’s call has been an interesting process, one in which I have seen His hand at work all the way through. The coming months will likely also be quite interesting. Please be praying for me as I begin raising the prayer and financial support that I will need in order to do this work He’s called me to. If you feel called to partner with me in this ministry, I’d love to hear from you! Included is a response card in which you can indicate if you’d like to be a part of my prayer team, financial support team, or if you’d like to get involved in some other way. Tax receipts are available for any financial gifts.

Lord willing, in January, I will be at IT’s missionary training school in Elgin, near Chicago, for 4 months. Please be praying for me in this as well, that I would be open to all God has to teach me, and that the training would better prepare me for what I have to do in the coming years.

If you could be praying that God would continue to guide and direct those making decisions about the future of this ministry, we would greatly appreciate it. Pray that God would be glorified, and lives would continue to be changed – both the lives of those involved in the teams, and all the people we have the privilege of ministering to.

I wait with great anticipation to see what God will do in my life, and the lives I have the privilege to come in contact with. We serve an awesome God, and I know that through His strength and His power, He can do great things.

I would love to connect with you either before Christmas, or after I get back from training this summer. Please feel free to contact me regarding anything I’ve talked about here.

May God richly bless you,

Steve Van Bruwaene

Thanksgiving Prayer Update

For those of you for whom this is the first such email, welcome! I send out a prayer letter periodically to those whom I think might be interested in hearing what God has been up to in my life. If you know others who might be interested, please feel free to forward this to them, or let me know, and I can add them to the list. If you'd rather not receive this for any reason (or would prefer to receive letters less often), please let me know, and I'll be happy to update my list.

Saturday October 12, 2002

To all my praying friends,

I hope you're having a great thanksgiving! We have so much to be thankful for, don't we?

I'd like to start by thanking those of you who have been praying for me and encouraging me as I've been working through this process of following God's call on my life. Things have progressed quite a bit since my last letter in early September.

In my last email, I was pretty vague about what it was I was looking into. I apologize for that -- until things had advanced enough in the process, I didn't feel that it was necessarily appropriate to announce what was up. At this point, there are a few details that still need to fall into place before things become official, but it's almost there! It is so exciting to see God working and directing me...

Over the past year, I've had a growing interest in working with people, and in cross-cultural/over-seas work. I've been growing into a better understanding of who God made me to be, how He has gifted me, and a deeper understanding of who He is. It's been an interesting year. I had sensed that God was stretching me in a number of ways, and bringing quite a number of challenges into my life in order to prepare me for something that He had coming up for me. I can't say that the process was always fun, but looking back, it has been exciting to see God's hand at work in so many things.

In the last 6 months or so, I've been doing a lot of thinking and praying about where God would have me next. I've considered a number of possibilities that, to some extent, fit some of the passions and gifts I have. While many things seemed interesting, nothing was jumping out at me as something I really wanted to do full-time, or felt called to do. As part of the process of figuring out where He might want me, I spent a couple of weeks in the Philippines, visiting some good missionary friends, and getting involved in the ministry they were a part of. It was quite an exciting time, a time in which God was able to teach me a bunch more, and an opportunity to see first hand some of the things He would soon be calling me into.

A month or so later, an opportunity came up that jumped out at me as something that really excited me -- an opportunity that will stretch me in many ways; one that fits quite well with the gifts God has given me; and something that, as I've prayed about it, talked with many people about, and as I've studied scripture, have felt God's call in.

International Teams (IT) has launched a new Missions internship program called Encounter Teams. It is targeted at younger people (18-30) who have participated in short-term cross-cultural missions, and are seriously considering some sort of full-time ministry. It's an 8-month program that takes these people to ministries in 5 different countries in which IT has work going on. It gives these people an opportunity to get involved in a number of different ministries in a bunch of different cultures, and get to work along side quite a few career missionaries. Participants of the first team (that I had the privilege of visiting in the Philippines) came back talking about all the ways they had been stretched, and how much they had learned about themselves and about God. It was an excellent opportunity for them to grow much deeper in their understanding of God, themselves, the world, and where God might be taking them.

I recall talking to a pastor recently who told me some frightening statistics about pastors. Apparently 50% of people who train to be pastors drop out by their 5th year, and only 1 in 9 make it to retirement. However, for those who have done an internship, these numbers apparently drop off quite a bit. I suspect that the stats. for missionaries are even more dramatic. Giving people an opportunity to find what it is like to live far away from home, in other cultures for an extended period of time, an opportunity to be involved in a number of different types of ministries, and to see firsthand what the life of a missionary is really like is, to me, an excellent way to help prepare them for where ever God calls them.

I've been given the opportunity to come on staff with IT as an Encounter Teams team leader. My role would be to travel with upcoming teams, mentoring team members, coordinating with career missionaries in each ministry location, general logistics, etc. What an exciting opportunity to use my gifts for His service, and to invest my life in the lives of others. To have a small part in God's working in the lives of the next generation of leaders is a very exciting prospect to me!

So long as the last few details fall into place, tentative plans are to begin my support raising this fall, and then to head down to IT's training site in Elgin (near Chicago) in January for a 4-month training program they have for their full-time missionaries. The next team. that I hope to be a part of. launches on August 23, 2002. In the meantime, I would be busy preparing for the team, helping with promotion of Encounter Teams and around the national office, and continuing to meet with people that might be called to partner with me in the ministry.

Would you pray with me in this?

• Praise God for how he has guided and directed me so clearly to this point


• Pray that the final details would fall into place as Christ would have them, and that I would be willing to follow where ever He leads (even if it isn't what I'm hoping for)


• Praise God for how He has been preparing me so far. Pray that I would continue to be open to His teaching.


• Pray that God would be preparing the hearts of those He is calling to partner with me in this ministry. Praise Him for those who have expressed an interest already!


• Pray that the remaining time in the place God currently has me would be honoring to Him


• Praise God for the spiritual protection I've experienced so far. Pray that, with Christ's help, I will be able to resist the attacks of the evil one. If this is where God wants me to be, you can be sure that the evil one will do all he can to put a stop to it.

I expect that once the remaining details fall into place, I'll start sending out more formal information on what's coming up, and will try to start meeting with some of you to tell you more about this. In the meantime, I would love to talk with any of you that have any questions. There's also an Encounter Teams website that is currently under development, that has some good information about the program. You can check it out at http://www.iteams.ca/Encounter_teams

Thanks so much for your prayer and interest in my life. I'll look forward to talking with you more in the coming weeks.

For His glory,
Steve.

Prayer Update from Steve Van Bruwaene

Sunday September 8, 2002

To all my praying friends,

Hello all! I hope you've had a great summer! It's been beautiful, hasn't it?

I'd like to thank the many of you who have been praying for me in this last while, and asking me how things have been going. I so value your interest, and prayer in my life. As most of you know by now, I send out a prayer update every so often to people I think might be interested in hearing about what God has been up to in my life. For a few of you, all of the stuff you're about to read may come as a surprise. I'd love to tell you more about it if you'd like. Feel free to forward this to anyone you think might be interested. If you'd rather not receive this for any reason, please let me know.

A little over a month ago, I sent many of you an email to tell you a bit about a ministry opportunity I've been considering getting involved in, and asked for prayer regarding that. Well it's been an interesting month. God has been teaching me lots, I've had a lot of good conversations with many people, received a lot of good advice, had a lot of good questions, and am quite excited to see what God does in the coming months. I'd like to thank all the people who took the time to talk with me. Your words have been so valuable.

The position being considered is in a new program a fairly large Missions Organization has started up. The "pilot program" just finished up a few weeks ago, and they are now spending some time discussing what was good & bad about it, how they could do things better for future ones, and what sorts of people they'll need. If you could be praying for them as they work through quite a number of things with this, I know they would very much appreciate it.

I have had several discussions with them in the last month, and at this point, they are quite interested in considering what sort of role I might play. This will involve first determining what sort of people they'll need, what sort of person I am, and whether I'm a match. If you could be praying for them as they consider these things, and at some point start checking my references, that they would have much wisdom in determining whether I'm really a fit, we would all appreciate it.

Over the last month, it's been impressed on me that there is a real spiritual battle going on for the hearts and minds of men. If this is where God wants me to be, you can be sure Satan will do what ever he can to keep me from it. I know I've seen spiritual attacks much more than I had before. There are areas that I hadn't struggled in in quite some time that have become more challenging to deal with. I'm ashamed to say that I haven't always stood up as well as I would have hoped, although God has been very good in helping me through it all. Lately, I've been reading through the book of Nehemiah. This morning, I was reading chapter 6, where it talks about the opposition Nehemiah faced from neighboring rulers who didn't want him to be doing what God had called him to do. It was neat to see the insight he had into their various attempts to derail him, and how he was able to recognize and deal with those attempts. If you could be praying for me for God's protection, wisdom to clearly see and deal with these attacks, and extra accountability from those around me as I prepare to enter into what ever God has for me, I'd really appreciate it.

Speaking of accountability, I very much want to become more rather than less like Christ as I go forward. If I'm going to do this, I need to -- through God's strength -- be continually growing to be more like Him. I've come to realize that I can use all the help I can get. Rather than just having a few people I'm accountable with, I'd like to ask you all to, on occasion, ask me how I've been doing. The more people checking up on me, the more encouragement I'll have to press on.

Here's a quick summary of stuff you can be talking with God about:

• Praise: Safe return of the first team, and the great things that have come out of it


• Praise: A lot of good advice, questions, and feedback from many people


• Praise: How God has been directing me


• Prayer: Wisdom for those evaluating the pilot program and beginning to plan for future ones


• Prayer: Wisdom for those making decisions and "checking me out"


• Prayer: Continued spiritual growth and God's protection

Thanks so much for all of you who have been praying and are continuing to pray. It's so wonderful to know I have so many who care about me. God is so good, isn't he?

If there's anything I could be praying about for you, please don't hesitate to ask.

Have a great week. I'll look forward to telling you more as it develops, and hearing about what God has been up to in your life.

Your Friend,
Steve.

Prayer Update from Steve Van Bruwaene

Hello all! I trust you're all doing well.

I'd like to thank the many of you who have been praying for me in this last while. God has been so good! For anyone who has never received such an email from me, I've taken up the habit of sending emails out to people I know, and figure might be interested in how I'm doing. If you'd rather not receive such emails for any reason, feel free to let me know. If you know of others who would be interested in receiving this, please let me know, or feel free to forward it to them.

As many of you know, It's been almost a month and a half since I got back from the Philippines. I've had some time to begin to process some of the things I saw & learned while I was there. It's been interesting & challenging to see how much different North America (and parts of Europe) are materially from much of the rest of the world. It's been exciting to see national missionaries being able to take over the ministries that we used to need to send westerners to do in the Philippines. It has also been challenging to see their incredible faith, and their ability to do so much with so little in the way of finances. I'm sure as I continue to think about my experiences there, God will continue to teach me new things.

(If it's news to you that I was in the Philippines recently, I apologize for the oversight. I'd love to tell you all about my trip!)

Over the last half year or so, I've begun to stat taking much more seriously the possibility of moving into some sort of full time ministry. I've had the sense for quite some time that God has been preparing me for something more that's to come. I've toyed with a number of different ideas but haven't had anything that's gotten me excited until recently. In the last week, I've started to prayerfully consider a potential opportunity that could start as early as sometime this fall. While it's still early to say much about it at this point, I would really value your prayer for me, those I go to to seek counsel, and those I would potentially be working with, for wisdom, and clear direction from God in where He wants me to be. This opportunity would mean huge changes in my life, and as such is something I really want to be sure is a path God would have me go down.

If you could be praying for the following, I'd really appreciate it:

• I would continue to learn all God has to teach me


• I would be genuinely seeking God's will as I consider this opportunity


• That those I go to for counsel would have God's wisdom as they talk with me


• That the people I could be working with would have God's wisdom as they develop this program, and consider if/how I might be a part of it

Thanks so much for your continued interest and prayer. It means so much!

Have a great week. I'll look forward to talking with you more about this as I continue to seek God's guidance in it.

In His Service,
Steve.

Back from the Philippines

Hello all! I'm back!

Actually, I arrived back in Ottawa Sunday June 16. I apologize for not writing earlier. Between jet lag, a busy schedule, some new "news" to process when I got back plus the processing I've begun on all I saw in the Philippines, it's been an interesting week.

My trip was such an incredible experience. The Philippines is a beautiful country, the people are very friendly and hospitable, there was a lot of interesting food, and most importantly, God taught me a lot.

For those of you who haven't heard much about what I was doing, here's a brief summary. I have some friends who are Missionaries with an organization called International Teams (IT). They're leading a program called "Encounter Teams", which is designed to help the team members encounter God, themselves, the world, and their future through an 8-month program in which they visit and get involved in several different types of ministry that International Teams has established around the world. I was invited to visit, encourage, and get involved with the team for a couple of weeks, and joined them in the Philippines for the first 2 weeks of June. While there, the team was focused primarily on working with the urban poor of Manila.

We had the privilege of living in an area of Manila that was not a tourist area. As a result, almost the only white people we saw were each other. As such, while traveling around, spending time in a restaurant or mall, we would tend to get a lot of stares. It was a little odd to be eating a meal while 10 strangers stared at you the whole time. The team leaders had two babies that we sometimes brought along with us. They really got a lot of attention when in public!

We had the opportunity to visit several squatter villages in Manila. These are communities that are built wherever there's space, from wood, steel, sometimes a bit of cement, but basically what ever people can manage to scrounge up for very little or no money, all built very close together, often without plumbing or electricity. The quality of construction generally was below that of our barns or backyard sheds and tree forts. Within Manila, there are hundreds of thousands of people (if not more) that live in these "houses". We had the opportunity to work with the children in a few of the villages, and assist in the construction of an addition to a squatter church in another.

As I work with some of the less fortunate here in Ottawa as well, I found it interesting to compare what I see of the poverty here in Canada with what I saw in the Philippines. Here in Canada, there are a few that live at, or below the level of the poorest in the Philippines, generally due to chemical and/or psychological problems, but beyond those people, the level of poverty in the Philippines was huge compared to here. We are certainly very blessed. I did find it encouraging to witness the hard-working nature of the Filipinos. Even considering the massive level of poverty there, I still see more beggars in one evening in Ottawa than I saw in my entire time in Manila. The poor there seem to all find something to do, I imagine at least partly because they don't have a social safety net like we do to rely on. Mind you, many of the "jobs" people find are ones that we wouldn't dream of having here. We visited one squatter village (Piatas) that was build up against the big city dump. These people would scavenge the garbage that was brought in every day. I saw several guys in a little river that runs right beside the dump cleaning plastic bags others had scavenged in order for them to be clean enough to sell to recyclers.

I was quite challenged and encouraged to see the incredible faith the national missionaries possessed there. On the second Wednesday we were there, International Teams East Asia had a day-long missions conference that they invited us to attend. Pastor Gahni, the director of IT East Asia, spoke in the morning about poverty, and the effect it has had on the Christians of the Philippines. A number of years ago, he had struggled with the question of why God had allowed this Christian nation (the Philippines) to become so incredibly poor. He eventually came to realize that through their poverty, the Filipinos had learned to depend on God far more than believers in richer nations generally ever do. We have a tendency to rely on God only after we have exhausted our own resources, and since we have so much, we tend to rely on God very seldom by comparison. In order to be really used by God however, one needs to be broken to the point where they are able to let God work through them -- something I saw evidenced quite often the lives of many Filipino missionaries. Even with all their poverty, the Philippines has become a great Missionarysending nation. What a challenge for me! How much do I allow God to work through me, to lead me, provide for me, to use me? I had thought I'd been doing relatively well in this area, but have now seen that there is so much more I have to learn there. (Now there's a frightening thought -- that learning process!)

I could go on, but should probably tie this up for now. Perhaps I'll send another in a few weeks, or we'll have a chance to talk more in the coming weeks.

Many of you have asked if I would be taking pictures. Well I have -- 4 rolls, plus I brought back some digital pictures that my friends had taken. Mine are currently out getting developed, but I do hope to be able to share them with you all in the near future. Hopefully next weekend, I'll have some time to put together a web site with some of them, so those of you who I don't have a chance to show the others to will still be able to see them.

I am so thankful for all the prayer that many of you have offered up for me. God is such a great god! He has taught me so much, and still has a lot more to teach me. Hopefully I'll have a chance to slow down a bit in the near future, and do a bunch more processing of all that I saw. I'll look forward to sharing more as God continues to teach me. If you could be praying that God would continue to teach me lots through these experiences I had while away, and others that seem to keep coming my way, I'd be very thankful.

I hope you've been having a great weekend! I'll look forward to telling you more about my trip in the coming weeks!

In His Service,
Steve.

Hello from Manila

Hello all!

Well, I've been here over a week now. Wow! What a place! The Philippines is so much different than what I'm used to.

The Internet has been a little interesting -- this is my third time trying to send this email in the last 3 days. Each time I've come into the Internet cafe, the net has gone down before I had a chance to send. Hopefully it will work today!

I've been living in what I've discovered is a very nice church in a great, quiet neighborhood here. Now that's all relative. I am woken up every morning by 5am by all the roosters crowing, dogs barking. By 6, I hear people outside sweeping, trying to sell stuff by honking their horns, doing laundry, etc.

I've really been hit by the huge difference in money here, and back home in Canada. When I first came into the neighborhood I'm staying in, I found it cramped, small houses, dirty, etc. It seemed, while not slum, a rather poor neighborhood. After Seeing a bunch of other neighborhoods, that perception has changed quite a bit. The community now feels like a beautiful, nice middle-class, safe place. There's a huge variety in the architecture (unlike neighborhoods that really only have 2 different houses, done over and over again) I quite like it actually. (For those who know the Philippines, I'm living in Lagro in Quazon City.)

I'm starting to feel at home here now. I've ridden a jeep on my own a bunch now, and am starting to feel comfortable getting around, at least in my own area. It's kinda cool to start feeling independent, able to make my own way around. The girls on the team still haven't found that after several weeks -- the local missionaries won't let girls travel without a guy. I guess I 'm fortunate to be a guy sometimes!

It's interesting to see how the Philipinos perceive us. Since we're not in a tourist are of Metro Manila, there are very few white people. Some of the children of the national Missionaries we're working with had never seen white people before us! We get a lot of stares from the locals, especially the 2 babies in our group.

When we're with the national missionaries, it's quite common to hear about financial needs. The perception seems to be that westerners are very wealthy compared to here, and they see us to some extent as a source of funding. One thing that's really hit me is how big the disparity is between a Philippino and a Canadian. Several of the needs that people have mentioned to me that seem quite significant to them are about what I would make in a day or two. Wow.

So far, we've done a bunch of things here in the Philippines -- we have visited several squatter villages, did some evangelism with some children in one, and helped in the construction of a youth center for a church in another. I even got to do some ice skating at Megamall on Sunday! This coming week, we have a bunch of things on the schedule. We'll be visiting a city dump where many people live, and scavenge the garbage that comes in each day. I imagine that will be tough to see.

Last week I had asked for prayer for Leilani, my friend who was in the hospital with digestive problems. Well, she's out now, and feeling much better. Thanks for your prayer. Keep praying for the rest of the team, that we manage to stay healthy! We have to be so careful of what we consume. There are a lot of things that while safe for the locals, aren't safe for us, since our bodies have not built up an immunity to them. That makes things interesting sometimes -- trying to explain to a host why you can't drink something that they think is safe...

I've seen lots of stuff here this past week, and have lots to process. I'll look forward to telling you all more about what God has been teaching me as I figure it out! Keep praying for me in this regard, and that I continue to pay attention to all that God has to teach me in the coming week.

Please pray also for me for wisdom as I think and pray about how I might continue my involvement in the ministries here after I leave. There's lots of needs, but there's also a lot of issues with westerners supporting national ministries that, if not handled properly, can in the long run do more harm than good.

Thanks so much for the notes I received from some of you. Even in this short time that I'm gone, it's cool to hear about what's happening at home, and in your lives. I apologize for not responding to everyone. Hopefully this will do!

The coming week looks like it'll be a busy one, so I'm not sure yet when I'll next have a chance to check email. Hopefully I'll get a chance at some point this week. I hope you have a great week, and look forward to hearing from you all!

Your Friend,
Steve.

Arrived in the Philippines

Hello all!

Well I'm here! I've been in the Philippines for a day and a half or so now. The flights went well, and I somehow managed to deal with the jet lag already!

My time here so far has been quite amazing! The community I'm living in is quite beautiful -- lots of vegetation somehow fits in around tight quarters. The houses, etc. are all very unique. I'm actually sleeping in a room above the 3rd floor of a church in the community. The people at the church have been amazingly hospitable. I'm humbled by how sincere, welcoming they've been.

I've been able to spend a bunch of times with my friends here as well (Craig & Leilani, their daughters Elizabeth and Katharina, and team members Rachael and Stacy). Aside from a bad reaction Leilani had to something in some water or something (she went to the hospital my first day here after having some "digestive problems", and is hoping to be discharged today), they seem to be doing well.

I've had some other interesting experiences as well. I've had a bunch of rides in Jeepnee's (cross between a jeep and a bus, a common form of transportation). They are so much different than what I'm used to. Margaret and Deb would know what I'm talking about. I'll have to show you some pictures of them when I get back!

Already, God has been teaching me stuff, and I've hardly begun. It will be exciting to see what else He has to teach me! I expect to see some poorer communities, likely in the next few days. It sounds like we'll be getting into a bunch of different things as well, although it still remains to be seen what all we do. Apparently flexibility is an important characteristic of someone working here!

Thanks so much for your willingness to pray for me and the team. Here are a few things to pray about:

• Leilani's quick recovery


• Health for all of us


• That God would continue to teach and guide each of us, and that we would be paying attention

At this point, it looks like I'll have access to email once or twice a week, so would love to here from you!

I hope you had a great weekend, and have a great week!

In His Service,

Steve.

Prayer Letter

I hope you are all doing well.

As some of you know I send out prayer letters periodically to keep people that are praying for me up to date on what God has been doing in my life. I'd like to thank those I've sent letters to in the past for your prayer. It's very felt and appreciated.

This letter is going out to a bunch more people, as I have some exciting stuff coming up I'd like to tell you all about.

As some of you have heard, I'm going to the Philippines for the first 2 weeks of June. Here's a bit of background.

Since I was a kid, I've been thinking about "being a missionary when I grow up". Over the years, God has provided me with various opportunities to get involved in a number of different things, through which I have been able to serve, and also learn a bunch. For a while now, I've been feeling that God has more exciting things for me. I've been asking Him to be preparing me for what ever those are, and am excited to tell you that He has been. By the way, be careful before praying like that -- sometimes the things God does to prepare us aren't all that easy to take! That said, it's been really exciting to see Him work.

In addition to His preparing me for what ever is coming next, I've been trying to seek God in what that next is. I've had the privilege to serve in a number of different areas of ministry here in Canada, and have heard about many things God is doing in other areas of the world. For a while, I've been thinking that seeing some things first hand would be very beneficial to me in beginning to figure out where God might be taking me. As a result, I've been on the look-out for an opportunity to go somewhere to see things first-hand, while at the same time doing something that's of use to Him.

A few years ago, some good friends of mine in Waterloo came on staff with International Teams (IT). Over the last while, they have developed IT's "Encounter Teams" program. In this program, "Team members will travel, live and learn together for 8 months, solely focusing on Encountering God, Encountering Themselves, Encountering Ministries throughout the World, and Encountering their Future." The team travels to several established IT ministries around the world in the 8 months of the program, and team members have the opportunity to get involved in those ministries. It's a great program to develop young people, and give them a great opportunity to really experience a number of types of Missions work, and learn & grow a whole bunch along the way.

When the first team launched in January, my friends, Craig and Leilani asked me if I would be interested in visiting them some time during their time away. What a great opportunity to not only be able to get involved in what God is doing elsewhere in the world, but also be able to help out and be a blessing to my friends. After thinking and praying about this opportunity, I decided that it was something that would be great for me to do, so I said yes.

So, the plan is to spend the first 2 weeks in June in the Philippines, working with the Encounter Teams group, helping them out however I'm able, and making myself available to learn what ever God wants to teach me while I'm there.

If you would be willing to pray for me in this, I'd really appreciate it. Here are some things to be praying about:

• That all the details would come together


• For health and safety in travel, and while I'm there


• That I would truly be open to what God has to teach me


• That I would be a help and a blessing to the team, and that God would use me for His glory

While my expenses for this trip are covered, for anyone that would like to get involved financially, I'm sure that the people in the Encounter Teams program would feel greatly blessed with any help you'd like to provide. Tax receiptable donations for Encounter Teams can be sent to: International Teams, 1 Union St, Elmira, ON, Canada, N3B 3J9.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read about what God has been up to in my life. I'll look forward to telling you what He's done when I get back. If you'd like to know more about Encounter Teams, or what I'll be doing, feel free to ask.

Have a great week, and God Bless!

Your Friend,
Steve.