Update 7: The Waterfall in Aurora & Butterflies....

Today we finished all the schools we needed to do in the Aurora area; only having two to do today. All of us but one person went to a national high school which was neat. The students interacted so well. It's amazing to me how they look up to Americans here and everywhere for that matter. If a Filipino pastor went up to speak to them alone, they would not hear it as well as if an American were up there. God has given America a platform for many years and has truly blessed us. Even though there are countries out there that hate Americans, there are still people who look up to us tremendously. Our economy may be falling, but that is a sign of the times we are living in. We are still a beacon of hope for the rest of the world. I am not sure how long we will have this window of light so I yearn to make the most of our ability to influence others while we still can. Many of the high school students came to Christ today, which was great!


After we were done with the kids we got a surreal opportunity to hike out to this gorgeous waterfall. To think that I wasn't in New York at some park taking a stroll through the woods, but that I was literally in a forest in South East Asia was not something I thought I'd ever really be doing! As we hiked, there were vines and branches all around us. We walked through water hopping across on rocks. We had to be extremely careful because some of the rocks were slippery. Luckily we had the Filipino pastors with us and a couple of native Filipinos. There were butterflies of every color of the rainbow soaring around us as we walked. This site blessed me so much because butterflies are just such beautiful creatures. I tend to see things in spiritual ways a lot, and when God speaks to me he brings about revelation in the oddest of ways. The butterflies remind me of our stages of life as we grow and metamorphosize into the person God wants us to be- first as the caterpillar when we walk with the Lord as a baby..then we go into a period of hibernation in a cocoon as we are being grown, formed, moved, and created in a rather uncomfortable manner..until we become the spectacular butterfly we were meant to be. But when God looked at the caterpillar he didn't see a caterpillar. He saw a butterfly and planned on forming a butterfly the entire time. The scripture that has been heavily on my heart today has been "For I am sure that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on that day when Christ Jesus comes back again" (Phil 1:6). It's great to know that God will not leave us undone, but that he is constantly molding us and bringing us toward who he wants us to be-whatever our lot shows us at the present time. Many Filipinos are now beginning their journey as born again believers in Christ. My prayer is that they continue to walk out their salvation so that they can have God's utmost in their lives. What happens after someone gets saved depends on how much they are willing to let God mold the rest of their life. Many of us remain caterpillars, some remain in the cocoon. This is our own choosing and God's desire is to break us to the point where we become a totally different creature.

When we finally got to the waterfall we swam in there for quite a while. The water was cold but it gave me such relief from the heat we've had here! I loved it. The falls were so powerful it was almost impossible to get too close to it without going underwater to get there. The current was very strong. It was such a site!! My breath was taken away for a while today by the awesomeness of it all. Again, it revealed God's glory through his creation. I did not want a single moment to pass by where I wasn't praising him for allowing me to be there. I didn't want to miss a beat of his heart through nature's finest. When I liken the scene to Fern Gully or even Avatar I am not even kidding. It reminded me of a Rain forest. Pictures and words can't do a justice. Others in the group that have been going for a while said they had never gotten the chance to be in a place like this. So I feel honored to have gotten to do this my first year here. We are moving out of the Aurora area and into a new province this weekend. Please pray for the hearts of the people we meet where we go next. After all, the experience at the falls was just an added bonus. What we are truly here for are the lost souls! But I couldn't have asked for a better way to end my week in Aurora.