one down, two to go

Well, the first 'assignment' of this missions trip is now complete - the 3-day pastor's conference sponsored by Global Advance in Davao City, Philippines was attended by more than 1,450 pastors and leaders from throughout Mindanao island and it was one of the most incredible conferences I've ever been a part of. It seemed every session brought fresh truth and practical insights to the delegates, but even more importantly, there was a wonderful work of the Holy Spirit each day as we closed. After the final session of the conference today, the Global Advance team, comprised of 4 people from Dallas and the 8 of us from CLC laid hands on every senior pastor present, and then they joined us to lay hands on every delegate in attendance. It turned into one of those 'God-moments' that can never be fully described - only experienced. I believe that lives were changed and that new anointings were released as we prayed together, and it was one of my greatest joys in ministry to be a part of it all.

After some much-needed rest tonight, we'll participate tomorrow in two different ministries to children - one called "Family Circus", which is patterned after Pastor Bill Wilson in New York City, and currently reaching over 20,000 children each week. We'll be there for the first of several services they operate on Saturday, and then later in the afternoon visit an orphanage operated by our hosts for this week, Ken and Cris Sandberg of Calvary International. I'm sure both visits will be a much different experience from these past three days.

Then on Sunday morning our CLC group will split into 4 groups to minister in as many different local churches, before coming together that night for one final service in the Philippines as a team. I can't wait to hear the reports as our ladies experience preaching the Word here to the always-receptive Filipino congregations!

All of you can be very proud of the CLCers here representing us so well - they have worked tirelessly, prayed fervently, and shown genuine love selflessly in situations that have stretched us all well beyond our comfort zone. Please continue to pray for us as we complete these final two assignments, and we'll see you back at CLC soon.