Life in Cebu...

So, there it was . . . the biggest spider we’ve ever seen. Damascus had mentioned that he had seen it crawling on the wall, but none of us believed him. We’ll never doubt him again. Dave summoned the courage to smash it with his shoe, but it took a while. We had heard that such spiders exist, but hearing and seeing are quite different. Now we know the reality.
Thankfully, after the first week in our house, the cockroaches greatly decreased in number. Joshua was kind enough to sweep them up by the dozens. Now we rarely see them.
And, after weeks of hearing a loud lizard every morning and evening, we finally saw it crawling on the outside wall of our house last week. We remembered what the local people had told us: don’t go near it. If it jumps on you, it holds on tightly and is rather difficult to get off. We didn’t dare take a picture of it lest it should become startled and land on us. Now we know what the noisy creature looks like.
Of course, there is much more to life here than spiders, cockroaches, and lizards (the lizard being the only survivor). We still have much to explore in terms of reaching out to others and in doing the work God has summoned us to do. That includes our work at PTI (and until the client consent form is signed by our students, what we can share is limited) but also the work of the local church. Here’s more from Dave:
As Director for Church Mobilization for PTI, I get the amazing privilege of spending time with local pastors and other church leaders. Cebu City as a whole is a highly religious city, and the local church has a strong presence here. The main church presence here is Catholic, and we have met many wonderful, devout Catholic people.
There are also amazing Christian churches which are looking not only to care for themselves but also bring the life transforming power of God’s Word to their neighborhoods and the city itself. I have had the chance to teach at a couple churches here and meet with many pastors whose concern for the city goes way beyond head counts or reputation. They want Cebu to be a city after God’s own heart! The one prayer concern I have for the local church is really about leadership relationships. I have met church leaders with great visions and passion, yet they are often unable to fulfill what God has put on their hearts because there is division or confusion in the leadership.
The Lord has put me in situations where I end up counseling some of these leaders through the process of reconciliation and helping them reorganize their leadership. I love helping teams grow and realize their potential of shared vision. I also love sitting down with a discouraged leader and reigniting that passion which led him or her to serve in the first place. The conversations can be exhausting, and sometimes I get frustrated, but I’m grateful God is using me.