Love is an Action Word!

When God said that He loved us, He did not just say it but He did it. To prove His love. He gave his one and only Son Jesus Christ. Giving out of love is the most special gift to those who receive it. We receive the precious gift from God of  eternal life through Jesus. It is the birth of Jesus that is the reason we have Christmas.

As a follower of Christ, it was our joy to share the gift of Christ’s love in a unique way. We are so thankful for your untiring support  to iRock Ministries. Through your  support, iRock Ministries was able to gift the kids receiving ministry through The Joshua Center with a memorable meal last December 17.2011. We were able to feed approximately 80 children a meal that they will not soon forget. iRock Ministries shared the blessing of food; spaghetti, bread, hotdogs, fruit salad and popcorn. The kids loved the unlimited orange juice.To help better understand the impact of this gift you need to realize that this type of food is rarely in their diet since it is expensive for most household budgets. Many Filipinos only eat these food items when invited to someone’s home or to a party hosted by a wealthier family. It is nearly impossible that these children would ever be invited for such a banquet.

Although I know how the kids really loved the food, we should never forget the main purpose for bringing everyone together. Along with this gift, we were there  to lead the children and even the parents to Christ. Using the EvangeCube, my wife Nene shared the message of Jesus’ love and forgiveness and that salvation can only be found in Jesus.

After hearing and understanding the message, we had the opportunity to lead kids and their parents to accept Jesus into their heart and lives.

This is the best gift they could ever receive in their life. The physical food is just a consolation prize but the eternal Life of accepting Jesus is the grand prize.

We had Praise and worship and funny games for everybody. Despite the daily struggles and problems in their homes and physical lives you could see the sweet smiles and happiness brought to them that day as we served Jesus through our actions and deeds.

Because of the gift Jesus gave at Christmas, we were also able to bless each person with a gift worth 10 pesos ($0.23). What a joy to bring happiness to a child that may not have received a gift otherwise.

Thank you for such a wonderful act of love. Such a joyous Christmas celebration was made possible because of your great prayer and financial support. We are looking forward to seeing the children and their families grow more in Christ as we continue to minister to them in 2012.

From the Island of the Philippines… Merry Christmas and Happy and Prosperous New year.

Oning and Nene

The Greatest Gift of All!

iRock Philippines step up¬† another fun and exciting outreach for the kids at Bato Santa Cruz Davao del Sur. It is Christmas season and we kept thinking, ‘ what is the best gift we could give to the unreached children?’ We prayed and decided that we would give a gift that will last forever, the Message of Christ Born‚Äù.

At a beginning of the outreach, we had  fun games that everybody could be part of and enjoy.

After the games, we proceeded to a most important part of our program, the Gospel Message. I did some gospel tricks and also a  shared a story with a life changing application.

After the message, we proceeded to a very interesting which is also my favorite, eating time. The iRock Ministries America sponsored the whole event and the food. We gave those who attended delicious spaghetti and cold juice.

( Note: In a rural or remote part of the Philippines, this kind of food is only seen on television, I even dreamed to eat spaghetti and it didn’t happen until I moved to Davao at the age of 21 years old.) Feeding these little ones is a great opportunity and a great blessing.

The great thing about doing children ministry is this; the picture above is the proof that you are not just ministering to the kids but also their parents. It is a culture for us that parents will accompany their children even though they are not invited. And we cater to them also

Before the kids and their mothers go back to their home, my wife Nene packed a few pieces of candy and some crackers for each of the children.

The kids were very excited and very happy because they received a gift. As they reached out for the gift, their smile revealed what they felt inside. But the most exciting thing was, when they received a free Cebuano bible which is donated also from iRock Ministries America.  It is really good to have our things and we called it that it belongs to me.

I consider that the word of God is the most valuable gift that we gave this Christmas season. But the excitement did not end there.

Another donation from iRock Ministries, were sculpting balloons and the knowledge to make a balloon. Ptr. Terry Williams taught me how to make a balloon when she came here for a mission trip. We gave them a balloon as they departed and went home. Smiles and love marked their heart as we shared the love of Jesus with them. They will never forget the experience since it was the first they experienced this way of sharing the gospel.  This event will be a yearly activity and if you want to be part of this great opportunity of reaching the children, you can share it in many ways.

  1. Send a Balik-Bayan package that contains any kinds of give aways.
  2. Donate money for the expense of the outreach this coming December
  3. Pray for us; both iRock Ministries in the United States and iRock Philippines

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