I conquered Taal Volcano!

This past week I had the privilege of traveling to Taal Volcano and experiencing a week of Middle School Outdoor Education with Faith Academy! When I was told I could go with the group of 200 middle schoolers plus staff on this trip, I had no idea what I was in for! I had such an amazing week of roughing it and real encounters with the Lord. Here are a few snippets from my journal for the week:

Sunday, February 6, 2011

Today, the seniors and a few staff left for Taal Volcano! We took a short jeepney and a banca (small boat) to the main island. Prior to this day, the water on the lake was very choppy and we weren’t even sure if the boats would make it over; however, today the water was smooth and calm. The Lord answers prayers! After arriving to the island, we unloaded the bancas and set up the Taal Camp. This involved tents made of tarp and a CR (comfort room- aka toilet) that was a big hole in the ground. We started our hike up the volcano around lunch time. It was so very hot, but when we got to the top it was totally worth it. The water was bubbling hot in some places and the volcano was surrounded by hot sulfur mud. That I accidentally sunk into, blistering my heel. I actually got within a few inches of the main fumeral! After the hike, we rode the banca back right about the time the sun was setting. It was a great, hard, awesome day!

Monday: February 7, 2011

Today, we went up to the school that we are going to be doing ministry at and met the teachers. The teachers were so welcoming and greeted us with banana lumpia and coke! The school, San Isidro Itaas, was beautiful and simple. I am so excited to work with the kids in the following days! We also visited Pastor Vick and Raquel’s house and church. It was an open air church on the top of this mountain. The pastor and his wife produce soya to make soy milk that they feed to the malnourished kids in the area. It was definitely a reminder that church is not about the building, but about the presence of God. Thank you Lord for being more than the structure we go to. Thank you for your presence.

Tuesday, February 8, 2011

We were up early to have devotions and breakfast, before helping the kids load up and move out to their sites. During the week the students stay at three sites: Reef, Taal, and Beach (Base) Camp. After the traffic calms down, I helped prepare the stuff for the chicken kill before leacing for ministry. This was our first day at the school with the kids. It was great! The boys painted a cross walk for the school and the principal was so thankful! In the afternoon, we taught the kids how to kill, clean and prepare their chickens! It was an interesting event and some of the kids were rather disgusted! I now can say I know how to kill, clean and prepare a chicken! I am not sure if that’s a good thing!

Wednesday, February 9, 2011

This morning I rode on the back of a jeepney for the first time! It was awesome! I can’t wait to do it again! We were able to paint the gate at the school today! It looked really good after the students were done. Today, I realized what wonderful Godly mentors the Lord has placed in my life. I have had the privilege of learning and gleaning wisdom from two women at Faith Academy. I am serving right beside them this week and it has really made me appreciate their Godly influence in my life. God is so good.

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Today was the last day at the school doing ministry and painting. We were able to paint the inside walls of the church to help Pastor Vick and Raquel. The Lord definite honored His Word and the Holy Spirit showed up at San Isidro Itaas. Over 100 children and 8 adults prayed to receive Christ! God is so good. I was overwhelmed with the presence of the Lord and how He moved in such a huge way! In three days, we have killed over 50 chickens! PETA would not be happy. I will sleep good tonight because I am completely exhausted!

Friday, February 11, 2011

The week is over and we are packing up the cars and heading back to Manila. This week has truly been amazing and the Lord has been so faithful to move in the hearts of His people. I pray that I continue to allow the Lord to use me in a way that honors and glorifies Him above all else!

Father, thank you for your safety and presence this week during outdoor education. I pray that you take the seeds that were planted and continue to nourish them until their hearts are enlightened with Your goodness. I pray that whoever reads this blog will be encouraged and draw closer to You. Lord, make us more like your Son, Jesus. Amen

-Mads

Mail:

Faith Academy
MCPO Box 2016
0706 Makati City
Philippines

Life's not fair. God is good.

Life is so not fair. Seriously, I look all around me and see so many things that I think are not fair. Like a boy from my high school passing away after having the flu, a friend getting paralyzed after a football tackle, the number of orphans in the world, people starving and living in squatter towns, and I could go on. More now than ever in my whole life have I began to wrestle with this great question: Why aren’t things fair? Fair: impartial and unprejudiced.

“Really God, I don’t understand. If you love us so much then why are all these things happening that are not fair. Why is there so much pain and suffering in the world?” I was brutally honest with the Lord and myself in the emotions I have been feeling. I felt like it wasn’t fair that I was born into such a great life while there are so many who are suffering. These feelings continued to build for the next several days becoming more and more overwhelming. I begged God for some sort of answer or peace. And then one night, alone with the Lord in my room, I was overcome with the peace of God.

“But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Romans 5:8 Well that’s not fair at all is it? God sent His only Son WHILE WE WERE STILL SINNERS to die for our sins, to take our place. God is not fair! Praise the Lord! If God were fair, the all of us would have no hope of ever spending eternity with God. But God is a just God. Just: honorable in one’s dealings and actions. God is a good God. Good: morally excellent. The Lord flooded my heart with an overwhelming feeling of gratitude.

I came to the conclusion in my heart: Life is never fair because sin is present, but God is always good. He sent His son to take what was for us, what was fair, and in exchange we get eternal life with Him. God is good. So despite the suffering and grievances in our lives, never forget Romans 5:8: “While we were STILL sinners”.

“Abba Father, Thank You for not being fair and giving us what we really deserved. Thank you for being just and for being good. You deserve all of our praise. Give us a peace when dealing with the things of this world and may we always give you the glory. Amen”

-Mads

Overwhelmed with His goodness...

[This is my desire to honor You. Lord, with all my heart I worship You. All I have within me, I give you praise. All that I adore is in You. Lord, I give you my heart, I give you my soul. I live for you alone. Every breath that I take, every moment I’m awake; Lord have Your way in me.]

After almost exactly three weeks in country, I am still trying to figure things out. The culture, yes, but even more I have been wrestling within my heart; wrestling with the emotion of being in country and realizing that there are so many hurting, poor and lost people in the Philippines. Initially I was really speechless when I witnessed the poverty, squatter communities and the volume of orphans in the Philippines (even in the little portion I have seen), then my feelings turned to overwhelmed and burdened. It wasn’t until this past week that I was really able to sort my feelings out and come some sort of temporary place of peace and rest with the issue. On one hand, it leaves me feeling like I should drop all that I am doing and just fix it! Knowing, that is generally not how the Lord works. I have this overwhelming desire to do something, whether big or small to help these people see the love of Jesus. It breaks my heart to see these people suffering and hurting; however, on the other hand, I have to think: what can little ol’ me do? I don’t have a job, I HAVE student loans and I am single. Can you see where this is going? After trying to somehow balance these two extreme feelings out, I have come to some sort of a conclusion. Its two parts, so get ready! I have full confidence that the Lord knows my abilities and my heart. He knows how I can change the world for His glory. He knows my next move and step. Good thing, because I don’t want that responsibility. This gives me great peace because I don’t have to figure it all out… My immediate responsibility is to be faithful in the small things the Lord has given me to do right now. Secondly, my life will never amount to His best if I live within the realm of practicality. A very wise woman once said, “Practical? Since when is [serving the Lord] practical?” (this is a paraphrase) I learned so much in that one conversation because in my limited little mind, I revert to what is practical and reality. I say: “Reality is I have student loans.” God says, “Reality is I am in control and I can take care of those loans. Obey me.” Whoa, talk about smack in the face. So I am turning a new leaf. I don’t want to live by the “practical” rules of life. I want to live a life for the glory of God, whether that means her or there or wherever. I want to be found faithful in the little things, so that the Lord will trust me with the BIG things!

I pray you were somehow encouraged by my meager words. May the Lord bless you and keep you today! Thanks for your prayers and support! Hopefully more to come soon…

-Mads

Emails: mcwheeler@liberty.edu

Financial Support: PO BOX 209 Stantonsburg, NC 27883

Prayer Requests: -Outdoor Education: February 5-11; Continued health and safety!

Top Ten :)

Here are a ten of my tops for my first few weeks in the Philippines:

1. 1. Ants are my new best friend: they are everywhere, even the shower!

2. 2. Accidently sitting in a Filipino’s lap when getting on a Jeepney, doesn’t exactly spell a good idea. Whoops!

3. 3. Just because I am white, doesn’t mean I don’t know how much things cost. Thank you Mr. Jeepney driver for trying to keep my change.

4. 4. Ear plugs are good for drowning out the sounds of our next door roosters, and the alarm clock.

5. 5. Filipino kids are the cutest, especially my buddy, Daniel.

6. 6. Missionaries are often good at sharing, quite like Jesus commanded us in the Bible.

7. 7. You should always let the driver know a second time when you get off, or he will gun it through the traffic past your stop.

8. 8. If you want to live in the Philippines, you better like to eat rice. A lot.

9. 9. Some people say jet lag only lasts a short time, I disagree.

10. 10. My life has already been changed forever. For His Glory.

Double Rainbow...

The general problem with asking the Lord to find favor on you and allow you to suffer for His Name is that the Lord hears our prayers. I think that sometimes He hears our small words (that we sometimes don’t know the full effect of what we pray) and grins because He knows that we have no idea what we are asking for. So after praying that the Lord would teach me and train me through suffering: enters Today. It would have been a lovely day if I hadn’t started it off by oversleeping (ear plugs to drown out the rooster sounds from outside also drown out your alarm). After rushing out the door, I hustled down the street to grab a jeepney when it starts raining. I didn’t have an umbrella or coat. So I just chuckle to myself and wonder what else I might encounter today (still trying to keep a smile). I caught my ride up the hill to school and arrived just in time to witness a double rainbow. How thankful I am for the little reminders of God’s precious promises to us. I went along with my day and after arriving to HS Science I was informed that I was late: the schedule changed for Spiritual Enrichment week. So for my first day of teaching solo I was late. I swallowed my pride and tried to teach without melting down right there in the class. After I left the class, I prayed “Lord, thank you for the reminder that I am not in control: now can you please let me finish MY day.” I think the Lord just grinned knowing how incapable I was to actually run my own day. A couple hours later I am on my way to my next class I teach solo and one of my students stops me in the hall and says, “Where were you today? You missed class.” I question her and figure out that the schedule was all changed again and I had actually completely missed my class. Seriously? After school , I had to go to the immigration office to extend my visa. When we arrived I realized I didn’t have enough cash. So I ran across the street to the bank, slipping on my way down the hill. I return to the desk and get my receipt realizing they charged me almost double the actual cost. We left the office and I thought to myself, really could this day be any worse? At that moment, the Lord whispered to me, “I am in control.” I quickly ran through my entire day, realizing that while I had tried to keep a smile on the outside, on the inside I was a mess.

I learned a few critical lessons today, as a child of God and as a missionary: 1) Things don’t always go as planned: and that’s OK! In life and on the mission field, the idea is to do God’s perfect work; but there is one problem: we are trying to do it with imperfect people. Nothing is going to be smooth, but that does not mean the Lord isn’t in control or involved. 2) I have no idea what suffering for Christ looks like or the trust in God it requires. I asked to suffer for the Lord, and yet I could barely make it not even 24 hours without wanting to crawl back in bed. The Lord reminded me today that suffering for Him is not about me, it’s about His glory; Completely for His Glory. 3) God is in control. As a daughter of the King, I do not have to be in charge or responsible for making my day work out perfectly. Praise the Lord. No matter what I think is falling apart or not going as planned: God is still on His throne. I am so thankful that I am not in charge, but that I have an intimacy with the One who is.

I want to leave you with this one thing. Don’t ever forget that God is in control and that He totally and completely cares about the details of your life. He really cares. He is bigger than any problem. He is understanding and compassionate. Rest in that truth, friends. Be encouraged.

-Mads