Hi Dear Friends and Family!

The Lord has blessed us with yet another wonderful week! The Lord Jesus has been revealing his powerful presence and love to our team as we have ministered alongside the church here in the Philippines! What a blessing it is to serve him!

Once again our week was spent in two different cities! Early in the week we were here in Marikina. We spent a majority of those two days visiting families and interacting with the children and youth of Neverland. It is hard to find words to describe the joy and gratitude that the family members expressed to us for taking the time to visit them in their small homes. As we visited with different families we were privileged to hear about their lives and how God had become their treasure! Though these people are so poor they have so much joy and contentment because they know Jesus! I do not think I have ever heard them voice a complaint about their circumstance and this is very challenging to me because I who have so much in comparison have difficulty finding the contentment they possess.

While in Neverland we have been able to share about the love of Christ through our own testimonies of Jesus' work in our lives. Along with this we have taught bible stories to children and youth. However, I believe that it was through our times of playful interaction with children that Jesus revealed his love most to the children. They loved to be held close and it brought us much joy as a team to offer them this loving touch!

For the last five days we have been in Cavite City working amongst the people who live in the neighborhood known as Bagong Pook. The ministry that we took part in here was very similar to Neverland, in that we spent time with children, youth and their families.

On Friday and Monday morning we woke up early in the morning to serve malnourished children breakfast before they went off to school. There are about 70 children that are served over the duration of several hours. Again I am so impressed by the gratitude of these children for the meal that they receive. There is nothing but thankfulness and respect.

We had the wonderful opportunity to head up a Christmas Party on Saturday for 150 children! We all dressed up and Santa even showed up with a gift for each one of the children! We had so much fun playing games and singing Christmas carols together! In the midst of the chaotic yet fabulous party we managed to calm the children down enough to share the Christmas story with them which we were thankful for. We all thought it was a little strange to celebrate Christmas while it was so hot outside! I don't think I have ever sweat so much while singing Jingle Bells!

Today was our last day with the church in Cavite City. Though we are very thankful for the relationships that we were able to develop while we were there, it was extremely difficult for us as a team to say our goodbyes. During our time of ministry we were blessed to be able to form some strong connections with the youth group. Tonight before we left we went through the alley ways of Bagong Pook and sang Christmas Carols to a number of families who live their. It was a blessing for me to watch as the team walked arm in arm with the youth from home to home. God has been so good to us during our time of ministry here!

Thank you so much for your continued prayer! We are so blessed to know that we have you supporting us back home! Please continue to remember us in your prayers as we wrap up our ministry here in Marikina and then as we spend several days debriefing our experience as a team. May God bless you for your faithfulness as you journey with us in prayer!

In His Grace,

Graham Sweet

The Expedition Team of 2010