Heaven’s Window – Take a Look

What you are about to read is a supernatural encounter with the living God.  It was a “Heavenly Experience.”  Come with me to Catigbian, Bohol, Philippine Islands.  I made a supernatural visit there yesterday.  As I examined Catigbian in some detail from my perch, words flooded my mind like peace, simplicity, rest, uncontaminated, Eden.

A series of things happened yesterday that drew my attention to this small town in the Philippine Islands.  I want to share them with you in the same order they came to me.  My thought was that God has taken me to a place through intercession.  He gave Catigbian to me as a prayer burden, a place I can easily see from “the wall of intercession.”

Consider joining with me after you read the following accounts:

1.  FIRST,  I WAS COPIED ON A LETTER THAT WENT TO ONE OF OUR SPONSORS OF CHILDREN:

Dear (Name),
Thank you again for sponsoring children in the Philippines.  I wanted to write to let you know the pastors are working on new photos and profiles for the children we now sponsor as well as gathering information for profiles of the new ones being sponsored.  It is a busy time for them.  I want to try and keep all 16 of the children you sponsor in one location for you if I can.  It is a remote place and the pastor has to travel a good distance to use the Internet so communication with them is sometimes a challenge.  There are exciting things happening in the town of Catigbian, Bohol, where your kids are located.  When we first

Dennis and Cleofe Abriol pastor and care for children sponsored by FCM.

began to minister there, the resistance to the Gospel was very strong.  The young pastor and his wife felt called to go there to begin an evangelical work.  There was none.  The only church was the Catholic Church and they were not happy to see an evangelical church in town.  In addition, it was an area of communist rebel strongholds.  The first time I went there, I was told to be out of the area before dark.  The pastor and his wife had much opposition from, it seemed, everyone in town, school teachers, city officials, religious leaders, almost everyone.  But they knew God had called them there and they prayed and persevered.

They began to take children off the streets into their home.  Struggling financially, they sometimes did not have enough to eat for their own family, they still took the children to live with them and trusted God for provisions.  We first met them when Dennis, the pastor, came to a meeting we had in a nearby city.  He brought 10 kids with him on the bus, 2 were his and 8 were street kids he was caring for.  God showed us his heart and it was clear He wanted us to help them.

In the years we have sponsored children in Catigbian, God has done a wonderful transformation there.  There is now favor in the schools and even in the city mayor’s office.  We saw the mayor last year and he gave his blessing to our ministry and honored us with a Certificate of Appreciation for our work with the children.  The area is no longer known as a Communist area and at least one known terrorist was saved with all his family.

You can look up “Catigbian, Bohol, Philippines” on the Internet and find out more about this beautiful place.  By the way, Ras says it is one of the most lush and beautiful places he’s ever seen.  Maybe you can go there with us sometime.

Now for you to make it possible for us to add additional sponsored children is a further confirmation of God’s exciting plans for the people in this small town. I’d like to have all 16 of your sponsored kids to be from there.  We will have the profiles soon and I will send them to you.

Thank you again for being part of God’s plan and for the big impact you are having.  God bless you more and more,

Kathy Bohlin, Director, Philippine Missions, FCM

2.  SECOND, AFTER READING THIS LETTER, I PULLED UP CATIGBIAN ON “GOOGLE EARTH.”  I BEGIN TO PRAY AS I LOOKED FROM OUTER SPACE VIA SATELLITES AT THIS BEAUTIFUL PLACE.  THE LORD GAVE ME THE FOLLOWING WORD:

April 20, 2011.  Through intercession today, I visited an Asian city.  I was watching the city from outer space through technology.  That city could be your city.  This one is hidden away.  I saw peace over the city, I prayed for more peace.  I prayed for the churches, the government and the poorest of the poor children living there.  I prayed for families, marriages and parenting to be at peace.  While looking at the city from the place where I live, I could see the city being raised up to a higher level of living.  It was like the present layer of living was eclipsed by a higher level akin to moving from the first to the second floor of a building.  The Lord says, “I want to do this for your city, your family and descendents and for you personally. 

Revelation 4:1 (NASB)  “After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard, like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me, said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.”

3.  THIRD, KATHY BOHLIN WROTE ABOUT THE WORK OF FULLNESS IN CHRIST MINISTRIES IN CATIGBIAN, USING MATERIAL IN THE LETTER ABOVE AND ADDING TO IT.  THE PIECE SHE WROTE APPEARED IN THE DAILY E-MAIL THAT WENT OUT TODAY FROM FullnessOnline. Go there.

Faith In Action – A Town Is Transformed

Dennis Abriol, man of faith, with 10 children cared for by him and his wife.

It was an act of faith when a young pastor came to see us.  He had 10 children with him.  Two were his and eight were children from the streets he had taken in.  They slept in the church, which was also the home of the pastor and his family.  Though sometimes they did not have enough to eat for their own family, they still took the children to live with them and trusted God for provisions.  The young pastor came to see if we could help him to feed the children and send them to school.

We did help them and God made it possible through sponsors and ministry partners to help many of the poorest children in town.  We have sponsored many children in Catigbian and God has done a wonderful transformation there.  Dennis and Cleofe will tell you that favor began to come to them when the poor children were sponsored.  The people in the town saw that someone really did care for the children. . 

Sponsoring children opens the door to ministry to family and community leaders.  This town has been transformed by the love of Jesus as shown to children by the pastor and his family and by FCM sponsors.  One lady sponsors several children in Catigbian and just signed up for more.  What joy is hers as she knows how God is using her gifts to impact many.  

You too can be part of transforming the life of a child, a family, a community and perhaps an entire town.  To sponsor a child cost only $30 a month. To sign up, go to Sponsor A Child.   

4.  FOURTH, A JEWISH FRIEND SENT THIS WORD:

Hi Ras,
Thank you for sending out this word. Interestingly, just yesterday, one of my best friends told me that of the nearly 7 billion people in the world, the “average” person looks like an Asian male.

So immediately when I read this, I realized what you were seeing. It was a City of Refuge. In the coming time of tribulation – whenever that is – there will be Cities of Refuge where people will go to get help because of the famines, floods, earthquakes, etc… The idea that you saw an Asian city is two-fold – one, it reminds you of the contrast to the incredible disaster in Japan and two, it ties in with the idea I shared in the beginning of the average person’s looks. And then you tied it in with Revelation, which describes details on what will happen during the tribulation and then the millennial reigh of Maschiach – Yeshua, our Messiah.

Shalom uv’racha and Chag Sameach!
Peace and blessings and A Joyous Fesitval (Passover)
————————————————————————————–

Would you pray with me for CATIGBIAN?  It is obvious God is at work there in powerful ways.  The mayor has a vision that many people from around the world will come to Catigbian.  At first glance, one might wonder why.  There are no motels. Perhaps one small café, though I am not sure about that.  No grocery stores. To use the Internet, residents must travel to another city many miles away.  Perhaps as our Jewish friend said, Catigbian is to be a City of Refuge.  The soil is fertile and will grow just about anything.  There are beautiful rivers and forests.  Yes Mayor, perhaps God has plans to use your city as a refuge for many people who come there from around the world.  His eyes are watching over you with the love of a Father.

Needed for Children at Garbage Dump – $350

After our heartbreaking visit to the garbage dump last Friday evening, we made our way to the worship center nearby. Pastor Rudy who oversees the care of the children, along with some wonderful helpers who love the children with a tenderness that touched our hearts, was there.

The worship center has a dirt and gravel floor and is completely open on the sides with a roof, something like a “pole barn” a person might find on a ranch at home in Texas.  It is filled with plastic stackable chairs, some with repairs and patches.  It is a simple structure, but full of the glory and presence of the Lord.

We saw something new at the worship center this time.  A closed in room has been constructed.  Purpose? To provide for a safe place for the orphans and those most at risk to sleep at night.  Currently there are 5 young girls sleeping on a simple plywood bed with a light cloth to cover them. The oldest, age 17, helps keep watch over the younger ones.

Pastor Rudy asked if we wanted to see behind the room. “Yes! Of course!!”  In the very small space out back, are plans for what they call a “dirty kitchen” and a “comfort room.”  A “dirty kitchen” is a place for cooking over a fire pit or a stone pot of coals and a place to store a small supply of firewood.  A comfort room is a toilet. They will build 2 toilets.

There are many needs at the garbage dump, but one of the most pressing is food and nutrition.  That is why your gifts to “Feed Hungry Children” are so vital.  Some of the children talk about not having anything to eat all day.  This “dirty kitchen” will be used to cook food for those children who have nothing to eat.  Children in the Philippines have a long lunch break and most go home to eat. For the children who live at the garbage dump, there is no food for their lunch.  These children will find food and love at the “Throne of Grace Worship Center” at the garbage dump. Your donations help provide that food.

We need $350 to build the “dirty kitchen” and “comfort room.” By providing, or helping to provide, for this need, you will be touching many young lives who live in the most devastating circumstances you can imagine.  The sponsorship of these children is very literally changing their lives for the future.  If you could just see the change that occurs in the lives of these youngsters once they are sponsored and begin to receive regular meals, you would be amazed that so little can do so much.  Feeding them helps them be healthy and able to learn in school.  Perhaps even more than that, it tells them that someone cares for them.

Would you ask God if you are to be a part of providing this kitchen and toilets for the kids?  If God leads you to be part of it, you can give online by going to Ministry to Children.  In the comment section at check-out, enter “for kitchen and toilets for kids at garbage dump.”  God will bless you!!!