COVID-19 and Lent

    This year has been a roller coaster of ups and downs and we haven’t even made it halfway through!  January and February were super busy maintaining a class schedule, planning a wedding, and hosting guests from across the Philippines and USA.  March was full of more classes, putting regular life back in order, and figuring out married life. Amidst all of this COVID-19 arose. One day in Sunday service the pastor asked us, “Kinsay ang ‘korona’?” (Who has ‘corona’?)  The people looked at each other nervously. He then proclaimed loudly that he had hoped everyone did because of having the ‘korona’ of life in their hearts. Everyone had a good laugh and “Amen!”

    Last night I read Nehemiah 8 and verse 11 says: “So the Levites quieted all the people saying, ‘Be still, for the day is holy.  And do not be grieved and sad’.” Now this is in light of Ezra reading the Book of the Law of Moses but over the last few weeks I have often thought, “Is God telling the world ‘Be Still!’?”  I’m not sure about the rest of the world, but here in the Philippines most things are closed until April 14th.  That is 2 days following Resurrection Sunday.  Is God making us remember to give up thing things of this world and remember what he said, “Let be and be still, and know (recognize and understand) that I am God.  I will be exalted among the nations! I will be exalted in the earth!” (Psalm 46:10)

    Believe me I understand this is a depressing time.  I cannot see, much less teach my precious students in this time, but I am doing what I can to still be the light to the world.  When reading last night I was using the Amplified Bible. Psalm 37 begins: “Fret not yourself … Trust (lean on, rely on, and be confident) in the Lord and do good; so shall you dwell in the land and feed surely on His faithfulness, and truly you shall be fed.  Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He will give you the desires and secret petitions of your heart … Be still and rest in the Lord; wait for Him and patiently lean yourself upon Him; fret not yourself … (1a, 3, 4, and 7a)

    The inner teacher in me brings out one of my many dictionaries…

rely = to depend confidently; put trust in. (trust = reliance on the integrity, justice, etc., of a person)

truly = 1. in a true manner; faithfully 2. legitimately.

fret = 1. to give oneself up to feelings of irritation, resentful discontent, regret, worry, or the like 2. to cause corrosion; gnaw.

delight = a high degree of please or enjoyment; joy; rapture (= ecstatic joy or delight; joyful ecstacy)

also = in addition; too; further

Rely on and be confident in the Lord AND do good.  These are hard things to remember to do all the time, but if we remember to then we truly shall be fed.  I am trying to fret not as the world changes around me.  I DO NOT want my life to be full of corrosion.  It is easy to know God will provide for us, but it is another to depend confidently and trust that he will do so faithfully and legitimately!  And then we have delight yourself ALSO in the Lord.  Why ALSO and what exactly does it mean to delight yourself?  We cannot just rely on God, WE MUST FIND PLEASURE IN DOING SO!  I’ll be honest, I am not there yet. Oh I put my trust in God alright and depend on Him.  However, I’m certainly not confident about it because I’m pretty sure it won’t turn out how I would like.  I am most certainly not in ecstasy over what God is doing in my life.  I have a lot to work on if I want not just to be fed, but achieve the desires and secret petitions of my heart…

I am going to make the effort to remember to “Be Still” and rest this Holy Week.  Often we cause our own stresses, but the next 10 days I want to forget everything else and REMEMBER who God is and what he did for ME (and YOU!) through his son.  I leave you with Zechariah 2:13 “Be still, all flesh, before the Lord, for He is aroused and risen from His holy habitation.”

Reflections fro Visitors

As most of you know this February my family was here for our wedding.  I asked my sister-in-law if she and or her girls would lile to write a reflection of their visit for our March blog.  She and Evelyn wrote the following....

To reflect on our special February trip to Juagdan now, in this time of global crisis, feels surreal. How much more thankful we have grown that we were able to safely travel and be present for Christine and Jun’s wedding. Our time in Juagdan and on Bohol was incredibly sweet and we pray our many new friends will stay healthy during this time of uncertainty. Of course, our world has always been uncertain, and now that some of the illusion of control has dissipated for us we can see a bit more clearly how the hope we have in Christ is a good gift to us today and has been every day.

While we were with Christine and Jun we enjoyed so many things: the incredible hospitality from every member of the community-young to old, the beautiful creation, the satisfying food prepared by Kuya Jun’s sister and other friends, the pure water from the Cajigas family business, the delight of basketball games, the happy squeals of children, the wonder of discovered critters, the joy of shared interests and faith, the splashing waves and bouncy roads we traveled over, and I could go on and on. We were so very blessed by everyone we met, the love and care were incredibly humbling. We are already dreaming and planning of when we will go again.

But as the days and weeks have gone past since we arrived home, one impression has resonated deeply in me: the value of my sister-in-law and brother-in-law’s good work for the Lord.

In the Philippines the national language is Tagalog but in the southern part of the Philippines, where Bohol is, Visayan (also called Cebuano) is spoken. However, in order to conduct business, apply for a job, and do many other things you must have functional English. My impression is that in order to truly be free, in order to not be beholden to someone else or dependent on another’s trustworthy interpretation, you must know English. As many of us in America know acquiring a language solely in school is difficult, it must be practiced and used somewhere else for it to be useful, but these opportunities can be hard to find and in remote areas, such as Juagdan, the barriers to continuing with one’s education are layered and many.

Christine and Jun have a vision for empowering the next generation through education, life-skills, and a life-informing faith that excites me and I want it to excite you too! This is because it is a worthwhile cause and their vision is able to be realized through our support. Christine was always able to stretch a dollar and in the Philippines that is even more true with the current exchange rate! Her sensible frugal way and proven integrity make her a trustworthy partner. Jun is a genuinely loving and capable hard-working man who we are honored to call brother. They make quite a team! So truly this is not “just” learning English, this is freedom to empower our fellow image-bearers, enabling them to make their own choices in this life and to be discipled in Christ by a man and wife who love the Lord fiercely and firstly and take that commitment to serve all. We can’t wait to be part of this growing ministry. And we have now seen how even one extra dollar a month can literally change lives!


By: Evelyn Teresa Davenport
For: Aunt Christine and Tiyo Jun

God Shows His Creation
I think God was trying to show off (In a good way) the Philippines creation.
By going to the wild life place I got to experience standing behind an owl, talking to a parrot, staring straight at tarsiers, and many other things.

The People
In the Philippines you will find the nicest people in the world. When I was there they went out of their way so my family and I could have a good time.

Amazing Things
When I was in the Philippines I saw things I never thought I would see. I saw men scaling coconut trees, waves taller than I will ever be and many other things.

Yummy food
There were many yummy foods. I do not know what they were called but I do know they were scrumptious. I loved that there was rice every day and I loved the pork.