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FMC Delegation to Make Visit to the Philippines Feb.11-24 (Update!)

philmap2From Doon PRC's bulletin we find this notice (Doon in the calling church for the foreign mission labors in the Philippines, with Rev.D. Kleyn and his wife Sharon serving there at present):

This week Thursday, February 11, Rev. Engelsma and Lee & Joann Hoekstra plan to leave for the Philippines as the annual Doon/FMC delegation. They plan to return on Wednesday, February 24. Pray that God would give them safe travels and bless their time on the field.

According to Rev.J. Engelsma the delegation's plan is to visit all of the churches and groups with whom our missionary is working and in that way get a taste for all of the places, people, and labors.

Let us be in prayer for this delegation as they travel and as they make these visits. May they gain good knowledge of the fields and labors and also be an encouragement to our missionary and his wife.

To read about some of Rev.J.Engelsma's impressions and thoughts, visit his blog posts at the RFPA blog site. Here is a sample of what he wrote about his first Lord's Day with the saints in the PRC of Bulacan:

Today (Sunday) is difficult to put into words. For a while now I've been thinking about how to describe and summarize it, but I'm not sure I can. It was a day of sensory overflow—physically, emotionally, spiritually.

Some of the more physical things are easier to describe, although impossible to express. We were on the road by 6:30 this morning, in order to travel the 2 hours to the PRC of Bulacan. The ride put into perspective the 20 steps I have from the backdoor of the parsonage to the church, even on the windiest, coldest Iowa morning. Along the way we had to creep through a large, street-side market swarming with people, and vehicles, and people, and animals, and more people. The sights, the smells, the sounds—they were almost too much to handle at once. My head was on a swivel and I still missed 95% of it, I'm sure.

That was the easy part. Now comes the hard: describing our time with the congregation and council of Bulacan. How do you put into words the genuine, Spirit-worked thrill of worshiping God with the brothers and sisters in Bulacan? Impossible. How do you describe the smiling faces and joyful greetings in the Lord? It can't be done. How do you even begin to convey the soul's rapture at hearing Psalter numbers sung in a language you can't understand but yet you do understand, hearing the soul-stirring cry of Ps. 51 in the Tagalog tongue express one's own sorrow for sin? Inexpressible. How do you communicate the rush of silent tears of joy and gratitude? God alone has them bottled.

Today we met some other members of our family. They are different from us. Their native tongue, their skin color, their backgrounds, their taste buds, their culture—all is different. And yet we are the same. One in faith, one in hope, one in love for God and for his church, one in the Lord Jesus Christ.

A beautiful Sabbath.

Last modified on 17 February 2016