Pictures from the Youth Conference in Cabadbaran Philippines

Philippine Youth attending our conference.
We are on the screen in the background.



Pastor Paul translating our teaching. 
The computer is positioned so we can see the audience.
We are being projected on a big screen so the kids can see us.

Sat. Afternoon the computer in the church lost the skype
signal and so Pastor Rannie moved all the kids into his
living room and we spoke to them via his computer minus video.
The Lord met with us anyway. He is like that. :>)))

Here are some of the testimonies the youth gave.

"We were so blessed for the word of God which you brought to us.  Especially in the area of making decisions.  I also like that you taught us that we cannot seek peace in people, places or events but only in God.  I also learned that dating is very serious and that God has guidelines."

"I was blessed by God for the teaching on dating. I learned that Sexual intercourse is only for married people and that purity is a holy thing.  Thankful to the Lord because whatever comes along the way, I can stand on the word."

"I was blessed by the teachings.  I am thankful that God uses you in our lives even though you are far away.  I learned a lot about choices and dating. This is not the ending but only the beginning."

"A 20 yr. old young man said that he was blessed by the topic of kissing. He has already experienced kissing and just realized as we taught that it is not Gods best because unless he is married it does not honor God.  He is going to tell his girlfriend, no more kissing so they will not be tempted to sin.  (wink) "

These are just a few of the testimonies, but we pray that God takes the truth that has been taught and burns it into their hearts so that they will live lives of purity.  God is awesome.. 

Much love,
PW and Sherry

Saturday Philippine Youth Conference

Following are our FB posts as the conference was being held.

Session one is completed. We are teaching on Dating Guidelines and it is going well. The students are engaging us in converstaion and interacting alot. It has been fun but it would be so much better if the connection was strong. So if you are reading this at 10:30 p.m. please storm the gates of heaven for a bit. There is a huge voice delay which is very distracting on both ends. Thanks so much.

12:30 a.m.....we have finished up our morning teachings. Thank you for praying. the skype connection improved greatly after we asked for prayer. We spent the last session talking about abstaining from sexual immorality and making a committment to stay pure from this point on until marriage. We asked them if they were willing to make a committment to God and they started standing up before we even asked them to do so. Praise God for His amazing grace to touch their lives. We will start teaching again at 1;30 a.m. Thank you all for your prayers for us in this venture. It has been so much fun and God is using this in their lives.

During the break Pastor Paul shared with us a testimony of how our marriage seminar was used in the lives of the 8 Mountain pastors who attended. They are praying that God will send us in person to minister on marriage to these churches. It is such a humbling thing to hear such things and we can only say Praise God because it is He who works in us and through us. We can take no credit. His love for these people is amazing. Thank you Father.

3:15 a.m. Just finished the final teaching session, the topic was Peer pressure principals. The internet is giving Rannie fits and their computer is not picking up the signal very well today. The problem was intensified after lunch so it is suspicous to them. The last time this happened someone had dug up the cable lines on the street to steal the copper .. But God is still meeting with us and the youth. Our final session is a Q and A time then off to bed. Yeahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Did I say we are too old for this? LOL we have major stay lag this time.

4:30 a.m. We have spent the last hour answering questions for the youth and listening to their testimonies of how the teachings have impacted them. Oh my we are so amazed at God and His love for them. One of the youth recapped each teaching for us and how it impacted her. Most loved the Choices message because it helped them learn to make wise decisions and also Dating guidelines. And the funniest testimonies were the ones where the kids said they learned that kissing was not appropriate for them until marriage, since it could lead to intercourse since it will light a fire in them and so they are going to tell their boyfriends and girlfriends that they cannot kiss anymore. I bet we will have quite a few young men and women upset with us tomorrow. LOL.. All in all it has been a good fruitful 2 days. Thank you for all your prayers for us and for these youth. God is faithful.   Pastor Rannie is going to send us pictures from the Conference which we will post as soon as they arrive.  Please continue to pray for our Brothers and Sisters in this area of the world.

Much Love,
PW and Sherry

Philippine Youth Bible Conference Day 1

Following is our FB post as the conference was being held.

10:30 p.m. We just finished our first session, a teaching on Choices. It is a powerful message and the teens usually are impacted by it. The kids were taking notes and seemed to be really listening.


10.40 p.m. PW is Currently teaching on The war against us. Our goal is to help these kids realize that Satan is out to destroy them by lying, stealing and killing them. But that they have power over the enemy and do not have to live as his victims. They are to be alert and fight the good fight.

Well it is 1:30 a.m. we have 2 1/2 hours left of the conference. Did I say we were tired? Yup. Of course the fact that we got up at 6:30 this morning and have not had a rest all day might be part of the problem. :>))))) Or maybe we are too old to stay up past our bed time. :>)))))) They of course are wide awake since they are 12 hours ahead of us and are 16-22 yrs of age.

The last session went well. PW is going to finish up that teaching and then teach on 3 primary relationships that we all have and then we finish up the day with a 45 min. question and answer time. Those of you in Europe, will you pray for us over the next few hours please? God bless you all.

We made it.. PTL..It is now 4 a.m. The teaching went great and we had a good hour of questions and answers which is always fun. I will post pictures on our blog as soon as Rannie sends them to us. Good night all.

Beautiful Buildings, Beautiful People - Riga and Jelgava Latvia 2013

Beautiful architecture in Riga

Picturesque streets in Riga

Our class of students ages 19-25 Baltic School of Ministry
Jelgava Latvia

Wayne and our translator - Klaus

Ladies who cooked daily for students

Natasha the school secretary

Taking the test

PW participating in animated chapel service

Sherry and Lana

Remnants of church destroyed during WW 2 - dates from 1300's

With Marou, dean of students from Argentina

Beautiful little churches

Onion tops

 A lovely museum

At the Palace in Jelgava - it was built for Catherine the Greats Lover

Day five - bittersweet good byes

Today dawned with blue skies, birds singing and the sun shining brightly.  The temperature actually has risen to around 65. It is lovely for sure. The Latvians are out and about enjoying the arrival of Spring.

We just finished our final sessions at the school.  We had so much fun today with the students.  As we told you last night, the plan today was to do role plays with them to see if they could put into practice the things we taught them.  I (Sherry) made up three role plays to do.  Each one of course was covering a different issue of life so they could get some variety.   We wanted to make it applicable to their lives since most will only be advice givers not counselors in the sense of having clients. Anyway, I acted the parts out dramatically and then as a group they asked the questions to gather information and also then gave advice and homework to the "person".  We laughed so hard through  most of it that tears were running down our faces because they were so concerned they would not do it correctly and they were correcting each other when they thought a bad question or advice given was not right.  I would coach them periodically to help them see deeper into the issues.  I was so proud of them.  They really had learned the lessons this week.  As I commended them they sat straighter and got huge smiles on their faces.  Then they wanted to know if we could do more role plays the next session because it had helped them so much. So we did 2 more in the next session.

We also had assigned them a written paper last night which would count for 20% of their grade so we spent time going over their answers. 

PW spoke in chapel today and talked about love one another and forgive one another. It was excellent and the students were really attentive.  After chapel one young man wanted time to talk with PW so that he could work through a problem with someone.

The last session was the test.  And then the goodbyes.  The students presented us with a gift and then gathered around us to pray for us and our ministry. Many thanked us for the teachings and said it was very useful. One girl said she would never forget the lessons she learned. 

After lunch which was blinshki's,  Mauro, the dean of the school and a precious godly young man, took us to Jelgava to site see. He took us to see a Castle that Catherine the Great had built for one of her lovers and then we walked around. 

In spite of being sick it has been a wonderful memorable week for us.  It is always hard to say good bye to those we spend time with.  We leave tomorrow at 2:25 for home. Please pray for our safety and for connections to be made and that we can sleep on the plane.

Thank you once again for holding us up in prayer this past week. We have felt the difference and are so appreciative.  We will post the pictures from home on Monday so be sure to check back to see our class and this lovely country.

Much love,
PW and Sherry

Day four

Today was lovely.  The sun was shining all day and the temperature rose to about 62.  Spring has finally sprung in Latvia.  It is amazing how much the sunshine affects the classroom as well. 

We worked on the practical application lessons today.  Most of the students will never be "professional" counselors, but they can learn to apply the principles we have taught them as they give advice to their friends. So we began that process of application.  Tomorrow we will actually give them a role play so they can practice the lessons. Can't wait :>)))  I (Sherry) am going to be the "friend, counselee" so I will try to make it fun.  Overall they seemed happy and attentive.

They only have 4 wks of classes left and their minds are tired and full of knowledge from all they have learned this year.  Please pray for them today that they would be able to absorb the rest of the courses of study and that they would leave the year of study changed not just having more knowledge but having been equipped to walk out their faith.  Pray for us as we finish up that we will continue to be anointed so it will bear much fruit in their lives.

PW and I are finally feeling human again..  I guess that is good since we leave for home on Saturday afternoon. Looking forward to being back and with our church family on Sunday.

I will try to post pictures tomorrow afternoon of the week.  We did not tak too many since we were sick, but you will at least get to see our students.

Much love,
PW and Sherry

Day three

Wow what a difference prayers of the saints make. Thanks to your prayers PW and I woke up feeling healthy and pain free for the first time this week. Praise God. 

Classes today were so much fun.  In the morning session PW had a "lively" discussion with the students concerning the fallacy of our need for "self esteem" and also about the fact that no one is born with  a good heart.  The students have been taught in the worlds ideas while in high school so this was embedded in their thinking.  PW then took them to the word of God and spent 5 hours teaching on issues of the heart and how God shows us that our hearts are always active and responding.  We stressed the importance of getting to the heart issues if we want to truly help people.  The days teaching ended with a session on Giving hope for lasting change.  The students seemed engaged and enlightened by the end of the day.

Sherry was privileged to give the chapel devotion today and challenged the students by asking them if they were fans of Jesus or followers of Jesus. 

All in all it was a good day with much interaction with the students.  We are so honored to be able to spend time teaching here at the Baltic School of ministry.

The sun shone all day today and temperature rose to a lovely 60.   After classes today we took a long walk and enjoyed the neighborhood in which our hotel is located.

Please pray that the next two days will be fruitful beyond our expectations. 

Blessings and Much Love,
PW and Sherry