Philippine-Asian Missions, Inc.

Trip Presentation and Team Reflections

As Thanksgiving approaches, let us together express gratitude and praise to God as we review His hand at work in a recent month-long visit to the Philippines by a team of four from Minnesota and Wisconsin. This post includes the Powerpoint, 32-minute summary video, and copies of team Reflections shared during a Missions Sunday school hour on Nov 19, 2023 at Prairie Hill Evangelical Free Church. Note that three of our team (Mike, Tyler, and Jess) are from PHEFC.

A) Powerpoint

This slide show starts by noting that PHEFC supports the family of PAMI Pastor Rafael and Elsie Dominguez, who live and serve on the campus of PAMI’s Emmaus Bible Institute. It also includes several slides from last year’s Missions Moment on PAMI’s partnership with Operation Christmas Child, before moving on an overview of highlights of this year’s visit.

B) Trip summary videos:

YouTube link to a 2-minute youth camp summary video by Shelley Mendizabal: PAMI Youth Camp

YouTube link to a 7-minute summary video by Tyler Pearson: PAMI 2023 Visit

YouTube link to a 32-minute summary video by Mike Thorud: PAMI Visit 2023

This video starts with excerpts from the 40+ hours of travel to get to EBI (27 hours of flights & airport layovers from MSP to MNL, followed by 13 hours of driving from MNL to Sorsogon City). The first Friday, Saturday, and Sunday included visiting the Sorsogon City pier site/lighthouse, celebrating Shabbat (since Jack is a Messianic Jew), music with Compassion kids, prepping for camp with Bulabog Church youth, and Emmaus Christian Fellowship Sunday service. Then there was the 5-day all-PAMI youth camp, followed by visiting various PAMI churches and their outreaches, starting with the Bulan Church where we visited homes of members, participated in a Sunday worship service and youth fellowship, and began conducting a kids program in Bulan church and two of its daughter churches (Fabrica and MonteCalvario churches), and an outreach by the ocean. This kids program was done 21 times, and the flavor of them is uniquely captured by intermixing clips from several of them. The songs all have a common theme of God’s Light. Towards the end of the video, the team with their entourage is seen walking through a Barcelona neighborhood near the home of the Garduque family, and then kids from one of their outreaches share a heart-warming song with actions in their own dialect. Some women in Sister Judy’s Accommodation near Manila dance to this same song as part of their morning devotions. These are women who will be doing two-year long assignments as Overseas Foreign Workers in Asia or the Middle East. Pastor Raf conducted a child dedication for the baby of one of these OFWs. By the way, Sis Judy is a graduate of EBI that has a successful business recruiting, preparing, and placing OFWs. Sis Judy provided the white van that we traveled in, accompanied us much of the time, and provided us lodging in her Accommodation the last two nights. Even though she has already done so much to help PAMI, she says that our visit and commitment inspires her to help even more. The video ends with people of EBI singing to Sister Jess for her birthday, along with various PAMI workers at a picnic singing “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

C) Team Reflections:

Jack’s Reflection

Tyler and Jess’s Reflections

Note that Tyler and Jess got engaged two months after the visit.

Mike’s Reflection