Earlier this summer I took a trip to the Philippines with my University fellowship. It was a time to reach out to the people of Bustos, Bulucan and Dingalan-and also a time to build relationships with the church there. Our focus was building community in and through Christ Gospel Fellowship in Bustos.

We arrived in Bustos, Philippines, a city of about 60,000, and almost immediately started to spend time with the members of Christ Gospel Fellowship (CGF). The church sponsored us as we arrived and throughout our time in the Philippines as we supported them in their various outreaches and reconstruction projects.

For the first few days of the trip we traveled to Dingalan, where CGF will plant a church to reach out to the farming community. There we looked to connect with the residents of Dingalan by running a day camp-making crafts, singing songs, and telling bible stories.

After returning from the village, we spent the next few days repainting and looking into ways of repairing the church building.  The twenty-year-old building needs a lot of updating; and I felt like I could contribute in this area because of my recent studies in architecture.

During the last few days of the trip our group conducted a seminars for the community and the church members. Because of their desire to start planting churches, our group was able to share our own experiences-coming from a successful church plant in Hong Kong. We talked about the heart of the church and the way that their congregation reaches out to their community. 

I was also part of a smaller group that did worship training-a fun and encouraging experience as many of the members of the church are passionate about music and worship. 

We started to do a lot of community outreach and in the following days had a “slum feeding program” (the name they give to a sort of food drive); and also a neighborhood BBQ, where we encouraged church members to include their friends and family.

Something that I have been learning and I think was solidified over this trip was that “I’ve seen myself change in perspective. I now see a new side of the Gospel. I see new opportunities. I see that God is chaining and growing me. I see that I am being sanctified. Something I have to realize is that God is changing us all of the time”  and “I think God had been preparing my heart for this trip – tailoring my desires, challenges, relationships, and other aspects of my life for it. My vision for architecture, the self realizations I made with team  members and the future fellowship leaders, and my passion for church planting were all things addressed on the trip”. (From my trip journal).