On January 2nd, we flew to the island of Cebu, and had no idea of the adventures that awaited us in our time there! 

We stayed with a YWAM base in Cebu, which proved to be a bigger blessing than we imagined. The staff, who served as our contacts there, led us in many different kinds of ministry: visiting slums and presenting skits, a message, songs, dances, and testimonies there, praying for the sick in the hospital, participating in base worship and intercession, evangelizing in nearby markets, malls, and parks, and even going into prisons to preach the gospel. 

There are so many testimonies I could share about our time in Cebu, but prison ministry is one I want to highlight. As our all girls team stepped into an all mens prison, I prayed the Lord would give us boldness. As I watched one team member share a message, and another share her testimony, I watched as the Holy Spirit moved and men started to kneel behind the fence, and engage with the words being spoken. 

Testimony from my co-leader, Abbie: 

"for the longest time I have longed to bring worship to the Nations in different ways, with new songs, new voices, and dreamt to be a part of it. I didn't really think about what that would look in the immediate future , always thinking it would be months or even years from now.  When I was asked with about 20 minutes before leaving for prison ministry if I would lead worship within the prison, God showed me that this moment is what I was asking Him for. With hundreds of men - within the walls and fences of a prison - I heard many voices singing the words "It is well, with my soul!" Knowing that the Lord could hear His children singing that even in their circumstances "It is WELL" really broke my heart even more for worship and worshipping the Father. Thank you LORD for this special, cherished moment."  

At the end of January, our team sailed to a tiny island north of Cebu called Malapascua island. We were able to serve the local church on the island through house to house ministry, cleaning church buildings, or cleaning plastic that had settled onto the shores of the beach. One highlighted ministry we were involved in was through the high school on the island. 

Testimony from one of my students, Isabelle: 

"We prepared skits, dances, messages, and testimonies for the high schoolers. We all just desperately wanted them to know how deeply loved they were by the creator and author of the universe. That was really our only expectation- but what actually happened was much different. I entered our first classroom with my three other team members, terrified to share my testimony and preach to these kids who were really only one year younger than me. As I watched my teammates preaching, I sat in the back of the classroom praying. Our translator asked the kids in the room to raise their hands if they wanted to say yes to Christ and follow Him. I asked the Lord for just one salvation in the room. I asked the Lord for just one hand to go up, one heart that was genuinely burning for the Lord. One heart would be worth it!… As our translator finished asking the students, hands started to go up all over the room. One by one, every single hand went up. 50 high school seniors chose Jesus Christ that day, and it stunned me. We went to the next classroom, and I asked the Lord for just one hand, and every hand raised again! We went from class to class and hearts just kept burning for a savior. We had over 250 salvations that day (just from the classrooms my little team visited.) it was the most beautiful thing I have ever been a part of."  

 We returned from Malapascua at the beginning of February and went to Bogo City, on the mainland of Cebu. While we were in Bogo, one of our main ministries was at a location called Hope Village. Hope Village is a group of homes that YWAM Cebu built after the typhoon hit the northern part of the island. When we went the first time, we cleaned around the houses, and did a small presentation and bible study for the mothers there. What a blessing it was to be able to minister to these mothers. There was such a peace that the Holy Spirit had established there, and it was evident through the relationships we made and time we spent there. 

In our final weeks of ministry at YWAM Cebu, we returned to the prison, went back to a slum we really loved, and also helped the base build a CR (comfort room/restroom) for their new facility. It was one of my favorite ways that we served on outreach because it reminded me of where the Lord first gave me a heart for missions, building house in Mexico! 

The Lord allowed us to make very special friendships with the staff at YWAM Cebu. They had a largely male based staff, and it was a blessing for our students to learn how they should be treated by men of God. Our "Kuyas" which means big brother in Cebuano, made an impact on us in ways I will never forget. I am thankful for the base leaders there as well, Kuya Joel and Ate Lucille, who made us feel like family and not just another team.