Jesus said "Most assuredly I say to you, he who believes in Me, the works that I do he will do also; and greater works than these he will do because I go to my Father."John 14:10

This is the Hendersons, your long term missionaries in the Philippines. We are now on a 30 day outreach in and around Manila.

We are rejoicing at the results of these two crusades, but at the second, God performed miracles and people were dramatically healed of diseases and deformities. In the first crusade, eleven people made public commitments to follow Christ. In the second, nine people were healed, five came to Christ, and two were restored to the faith.

Of the nine healed, one was a paralyzed stroke victim (the entire left side of his body was locked and frozen and his hand was drawn up to his side), he also could not walk very well or talk, as a result of the stroke. We also had a deaf and dumb boy, restored to hearing and able to speak; and a woman with a goiter, that made it hard for her to breath and speak, also healed. The goiter softened and shrunk (I could feel and see the difference). We also had a wheel chair bound boy, who stood up for the first time. Fevers, stomach aches, several back injuries, and a frozen shoulder joint, which could not be moved at all; were healed. In the end, the shoulder joint could be moved in any direction, pain free. God showed up and it was powerful.

It all started when our YWAM team went to help a small church in Baseco (a crime ridden harbor area) conduct a crusade. I have preached on the outreach frequently, 23 times now in the last 27 days. The church we were working together with, put up a banner saying there would be a "Salvation, Healing and Deliverance Crusade."

I was asked by the YWAM leader, "Do you know how to do a healing crusade?"

I had seen the banner before he had, and I had already been praying about it since I was the main speaker. I told him, "Sure, I could do it!"

He replied, "You know what to do?"

I told him I could do it, I would just add it to end of my evangelistic message. He seemed shocked at the matter-of-fact, way I said it. My confidence came from the Elijah Challenge training my family and I, had completed back in Houston, before we came to the Philippines.

I spent that morning in prayer and built up my faith before the service began. I also mentally reviewed the things we had been taught.

I used the Way of the Master evangelism method (as I always do) and closed with the method we were introduced to in Houston. First, I prayed for general healing for members of the crowd (the long range method) and I told them if anyone was healed they should come and testify about their healing. We had several people come up and several small miracles, (a four day malaria-like fever ended, back injuries, and stomach problems were healed).

Those who were healed were profoundly moved by the experience and powerfully testified about what God had just done and how much better they felt. We asked for others to come forward if they wanted specific prayer for healing. Those that came forward, were not healed the first time we prayed for them, but as we persevered in continuous private and public prayer, God showed Himself strong by healing the crippled stroke victim and the crippled boy, who stood for the first time in his life.

The stroke victim was a depressed old cripple who could barely walk, could not talk, move his hand or arm, or get out of a chair by himself. When he was healed, he became a radiant, joyous man, marching in place, raising his knees high, swinging his arms, opening and closing his hand with great enthusiasm. These were all things, he could not do just a few minutes earlier. We asked his name and he pointed to his mouth and explained to my interperter, that he could not talk because of his stroke. She told him, "You just talked to me!"

Then he realized he could talk and he became even more excited. His wife could not contain her joy; she alternated between screams of joy, clapping, turning in circles and looking to heaven while shouting prayers of thanksgiving. In the Philippines, if the man of the family (the primary earner), is unable to work; the family, which frequently lives on the edge of "real" poverty (not what we Americans call poverty), immediately falls into deep poverty... which means they go without food and shelter. She had powerful economic as well as personal reasons for her joy!

After this healing, more people came for prayer and more people were healed, finally a group of kids brought a deaf and dumb boy. He was their friend. He didn't want to be with us, because he didn't know what was going on. He was both shy and afraid of all the excited people and the big white preacher in front of him. This boy doesn't communicate with official sign language, but by hand gestures and reading lips to some extent. When we (my interpreter and I) figured out what was going on and understood his fear, we reassured him and I laid hands on him and prayed. At first he could only hear a little bit; by the second time we prayed, he was trying to talk and he would cock his head from side to side, like a cat or dog listening to a strange sound. He was obviously hearing something and he was trying to hear more. By the third prayer, when the other boys shouted in his ears, he would jerk away from them and cover his ears! He indicated to us and showed us he could hear. He would stop talking to us, to listen to the guitar playing behind us on the stage. My interpreter asked him, "What is your name?"

He told us with difficulty, that he did not know. He was born deaf and dumb and had never heard his own name. He began answering our questions with simple answers. While we were with him, his language skills continued to improve. By the time we left, he was able to talk in a understandable manner.

Another woman (who I thought was a man) came up for prayer and could only whisper to us and breath very slowly. She told us she had a goiter (growth in her throat), which was affecting her ability to speak and breath, as well as her hormones. The second time I prayed for her, she could speak and she told our interpreter, "Tell him that I am a woman."

The goiter had so effected her hormones, that she looked like a male to me. The next time I touched her goiter in order to pray for her, it was soft and not hard as it had previously been. I prayed for her two more times and the goiter seemed to disappear and I was no longer able to feel it. She started rejoicing and I asked her how she could tell for sure it was completely gone. She told us with great joy, "Because I can talk and breath now. It is gone!"

She also testified to God’s glory, and His miracle working power in her life.

The whole community was jumping and praising God, the excitement was everywhere. This led to five people making commitments to follow Christ, and two Christians who recommitted their lives to God. Several members of the Baseco Church made commitments to go into full time ministry at this crusade.

Many people wanted prayer. One of those was a young man who had a necklace around his neck with a large marijuana leaf on it. I asked him what it was and he said he knew it was a drug plant, but he explained he did not use drugs. I told him it was a symbol of rebellion and resistance to authority. I told him he could not submit to Christ and wear a symbol of rebellion at the same time. I told him to take it off or I would not pray for him. I expected him to unhook the chain and remove it; instead he reached up, grabbed it, and jerked it from his neck, breaking the chain. This chain was an expensive necklace, especially by Filipino standards, but he destroyed it instantly when he realized it stood between him and God! He clearly wanted to get right with The Lord.

I cannot tell how exciting and powerful this evening was with mere words. Suffice it to say, "The hand of The Lord" has not been shortened in the 21st century. He still loves to show His power, and authority over sin, illness, injury and death. He came into that tent and used a no-name evangelist and missionary like me; and He destroyed the works of the evil one powerfully. Everyone there knew that they had experienced the power and authority of God. Those who were healed went on their way rejoicing and praising the name of Jesus.

I reminded everyone who was healed, "No church has healed you, no saint has healed you, Mother Mary has not healed you, no spirit has healed you, and that I (an American) have not healed them, either. Jesus has healed you."

I told those who were healed, "Jesus healed you so that you will tell others about Him."

It is the name of Jesus who heals, restores, forgives, and sets the captives free. It is His kingdom which had come with power into their village that night. It was Jesus' name and person, that had healed them.

The ultimate authority in any power encounter, is God himself. When He shows up and speaks; things are changed forever. He showed His authority, power and mercy that night. We were like Jacob when he stopped at Bethel and had the vision of the ladder leading to heaven. As Jacob said, "Surely the Lord was in this place and I did not know it." We, like Jacob, discovered that the Lord was with us in that tent. By the end of the evening everyone knew it.

The Lord is the same today, yesterday, and forever; and when I say forever, I mean FOREVER!!! He is our Savior, healer and deliverer. Too often, our lack of faith restricts Him. "According to your faith, be it unto you" this is what the master still says.

Praise the Lord, His love and His mercy endures FOREVER!

"Whatever city you enter,... Heal the sick there and say to them, the Kingdom of God has come near to you." Luke 10:9

In Christ service,
Carl Henderson and family;

PS. We have photos of some of those healed and of the crowd of between 150 and 250 people. We did not document things with the camera as well as we should have, because we were overly excited, we did not expect to be taking before and after photos, and we forgot about the camera until the end. We do have pictures of the crowd, the deaf and dumb boy, and the healed stroke victim, Robert, and the women with the goiter.

Click here to see the new ministry photos.


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Smokey Mountain is the largest slum and squatter area in the Philippines and by some reports; the world. There are over 30,000 people who live in or make their living from this dump. The dump is so big, that it burns continuously from its own spontaneous combustion (the heat is generated like a giant compost heap from the microbes and bacteria buried in the garbage). These squatters and scavengers make their living by digging through the trash in search of recyclable materials or other treasures that can be sold for money. Most squatters are unable to gain employment in other ways and are barely able to afford food, if the whole family forges together.

This area is also known for its crime and violence. We often have Taxis refuse to take us back to our Mission Base, because the area near our bases at Smokey Mountain is so well known for violence and crime. One particular night we had three Taxis refuse to take us into this area and those that grudgingly do take us, make everyone lock their doors as we enter the area. We regularly walk through these same areas and minister to people on foot for hours at a time, even after dark, without incident. God’s work, done His way, never seems to lack angels for protection.

Squatters in the dump spend all their energy trying to provide for their everyday existence, leaving them no way to break the cycle of poverty, ignorance, despair and hopelessness. YWAM has numerous programs including; malnutrition feeding programs, elementary through college scholarships (school is not free in the Philippines), permanent and semi-permanent housing (a combined government and Christian enterprise), infant care for malnutrition babies, TB clinics with free medicine, and discipleship classes for those receiving the medicine and their children, parental education classes, and exhaustive discipleship courses for all students receiving a school scholarship (they meet three to four times a week and include visitations by YWAM staff to their homes on a regular basis), parents, women, and men Bible studies, orphanage for children rejected by their parents because of deformities, and hospital visitation. Many squatters and their children only escape the dump at death or when hospitalized for the treatment of illness or injury.

The success in Smokey Mountain are now becoming evident, as many of the graduates of these programs have become missionaries back to Smokey Mountain and elsewhere in the Philippines, and the world (working all across Asia). Many of the long term missionaries at our base were raised on the dump scavenging for a living and by God’s grace have been released from the cycle of poverty and more importantly, from the cycle of sin and death, through the grace, mercy and cleansing power of Jesus Christ. They have now planted churches and ministries in the dumps which are living, vibrant, and changing Smokey Mountain. We have been blessed to preach in these churches, teach in their classes, disciple their students, feed children and care for orphans with them.

The Kingdom of God has come to Smokey Mountain! It started as the smallest of seeds and it is growing and will continue to grow until it becomes a great tree growing out of this pile of garbage; changing it and those in it forever. We are proud to play a minor role in this great unstoppable move of God. Praise His name!

Click here to see pictures of Smokey Mountain.

Carl Henderson and family
Mission of Reconciliation,
Missionaries to the Philippines

I want to encourage people to keep praying for us, I have found new power and ability in preaching that I have never known before. I can stand-up and speak on a moments notice now, on nearly any topic and speak powerfully and very effectively.

At first I thought it was my street preaching in Houston and Dallas that had improved my ability to think on my feet and preach without preparation and extensive notes, but I now believe it is the prayers of the saints back home in the states. I believe your prayer support has freed my tongue and mind. I have a freedom in the pulpit and power I have never experienced before. Praise the Lord!

I speak regularly in many different forums (Sometimes five or more times a week!), to all kinds of people and audiences. I rarely have more than 3 to 5 minutes to prepare to speak. When I have prepared a message, God usually changes it and gives me a totally different message just before I speak. Scriptures and illustrations flow from my mind and people are powerfully convicted. Sometimes I sit down and I can barely remember what I just told the crowd.

I asked Nethaniel, my oldest son, how was my sermon, after one of these episodes, he told me, "Dad, these days even a bad sermon from you, is excellent." Last night I spoke to college students in Manila. I had prepared a sermon, but I saw one of the students had a text on the back of her T-shirt, Luke 10:27.

God would not give me peace until I looked up the text in the middle of the song service. As soon as I read the text, God gave me a whole new sermon from the text and the verses that followed it.

Many people were powerfully effected by the last minute and spontaneous sermon that God gave me that night. The first five days in Manila on outreach, I spoke everyday of the week to a different group and never repeated myself. On Sunday morning we were dressing to visit a huge church in Manila and God strongly indicated to me that I was going to preach. This church is so big and sophisticated that they conduct four church services every Lord’s Day. I told Celina that I thought I was going to preach in church that Sunday. She didn’t see how it could happen and neither did I, but I felt sure I was going to preach. I put some old sermon notes in my Bible (just in case) and we left for church.

Through a series of God ordained strange events and coincidences, we went from being seated in an obscure corner of this huge building, to accidentally meeting the pastor. The pastor invited us into his study to talk. A short conversation later, he moved us into the front row of this huge church so he could introduce us. This was changed again as he asked Celina to come up and speak as an American Missionary’s wife and greet the church. Celina and I were shocked and surprised by this unexpected turn of events. Celina bravely extended salutations to the congregation from America and returned to her seat. Then the pastor surprised us again and asked me to come up and preach. I preached with great power and conviction and never touched the sermon notes I had brought along.

As God had indicated, I preached that day to over 400 people with Pastor Marlin the senior pastor serving as my interpreter. God is marvelous and His ways are beyond finding out.

"A man’s heart plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps." Proverbs 16:9

Please continue to pray that God the Holy Spirit will continue to empower and equip us with boldness, wisdom and power.

Now, Lord grant to your servants that with all boldness they speak your words by stretching out your hand.... Acts 4:29

Carl Henderson and family
Mission of Reconciliation
Missionaries to the Philippines

I had a wonderful "Mars Hill" experience which started when I shared my faith with one man. He brought his four friends. I shared the Way of the Master with them and they were so impressed that they invited me to a meeting of their organization called "The brotherhood of Universal Spiritual Seekers." It is a society of "spiritual" people from all faiths who are seeking various ways to know God.

They took him (the apostle Paul) and brought him to Mars Hill, saying, "May we know what this new doctrine is of which you speak? For you are bringing some strange things to our ears. Therefore we want to know what these things mean. For all Athenians and the foreigners who were there spent their time in nothing else but either to tell or to hear some new thing." Acts 17:19-21

They are Yogis (the man I spoke with first), Animist, Spiritist, Hindus, Buddhist, Bahia, Unitarians, pretend Christians and I also found out their were a few real born again Christians who are using the organization as a means to spread the gospel and a way to persuade others about the true God. I agreed to speak at their societies meeting the next day.

Then Paul stood in the midst of Mars Hill and said "Men of Athens, I perceive that in all things you are very religious;..." Acts 17:22

The meeting started with local politicians attending the meeting hoping to gain the societies support for the up-coming elections. After they made their pitch to the society, I was asked to speak. I spoke for 35 minutes on the difference between the creator God Jesus, and all other gods. I taught on how creation reveals God’s justice (His irrevocable laws, i.e., gravity), His love (allowing the rain to fall on the just and unjust) and His mercy (allowing sinners time to repent instead of destroying them in their moment of rebellion). This of course eventually led right into the Way of the Master.

I had 35 religious philosophers agreeing with me, that a just God can only be merciful by letting His justice fall on a perfect sacrifice, which I maintained was His own son, Jesus Christ. Making His son (the whipping boy) for unjust humans like us. They all agreed that this is the only solution that allows God to be both just and merciful at the same. It seemed to be a totally new concept to them and it left them amazed and dumbfounded.

I cannot describe how powerful this sermon was with mere words. Everyone told me they had never heard the gospel explained in this way before. Many even told me they did not know that this is what Christianity was about. They were amazed that God had found the answer for the dichotomy of justice verses mercy. Justice requires punishment, but mercy brings the punishment full circle where God himself bares the punishment for His subjects.

I had several other missionaries come to the meeting to pray while I spoke and I asked a South African missionary who had been involved in the cults before becoming a Christian to share about his search for God. The meeting broke up with many questions and answers. They hosted a meal for us and they asked me to bless the food, before the afternoon ended I was asked to pray a total of four times publicly for the group. We were asked to come back and join them and they posed for a huge group photo. We were so well received that one of the animist priest from the mountain tribes played the Star Spangled Banner on his nose flute in honor of our visit.

Please remember the society in your prayers. Pray that the eyes of their hearts will be truly opened and that their hearts will open to the foolishness of placing their hope in anything besides God the Father, God the Son and God the Holy Spirit.

The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God (the Father),and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. Amen. 2 Corinthians 13:14.

Carl Henderson and family
Mission of Reconciliation,
Missionaries to the Philippines

We have had big battles with the Cults here in the Philippines. They are not passive and laid back like in the states. Here they are rude, aggressive, rough and even violent. We have had some street preachers assaulted and beaten up in Baguio in the past by members of these cults.

I was showing scripture to one of them in the park in Baguio and he grabbed my Bible and started swinging it around by one cover, throwing the papers I had in it everywhere. I had to let him have it initially because I did not want to rip it in two pieces having a tug of war. After he jerked it out of my hand, I grabbed his arm and retrieved my Bible. I picked up the papers and moved to another area do evangelism, but he came back to argue with me three more times and the last time to mock me by bowing to me Japanese style. This was his response to Thomas confession that Jesus was Lord in Jn. 20:28, and Luke 24:52, Mt. 28:9, Rev. 5, where the apostles and others worshiped Jesus as only God can be worshiped.

This particular cult (there are several new ones here besides those we are familiar with in the states) also bumped into us when we are witnessing (like school bullies), they force their way between us and the person we are witnessing to, and they stand right beside us and try to interfere with the one-two-one evangelism by attempting to intimidate us or the person we are sharing the gospel with. They also pass by us like sharks, moving back and forth, behind our backs while we are sharing the Way of the Master.

We are hard pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair, persecuted but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed. 2 Cor. 4:7

Carl Henderson
Mission of Reconciliation,
Missionaries to the Philippines

Our heavily loaded bus was returning to Baguio, when it stopped suddenly in the middle of nowhere and a family with three children climbed aboard. I new in my Spirit that they were Christians the minute I saw them. There were no Bibles visible, the children were dressed inexpensively but modestly. However, there was nothing to give them away except the joy of the Lord on their faces, as they hurriedly searched for a seat on the crowded and now moving bus. Buses in the Philippines, with a few exceptions, are the roughest of transportation with no leg room, hard seats and little comfort besides the windows being up or down, if they work at all.

This young family desperately searching for a seat ended up in the large seat at the back of the bus behind us. The bus which had been smoking and was badly overheating, eventually pulled over for repairs at a primitive gas station. Remembering the first rule of evangelism, which is to be friendly and talk to everyone you can, I started a conversation with the father of the family. It was quickly evident that we were both Christians and not only Christians but we were both pastors. Pastor Danny thanked me for coming to the Philippines as a missionary and told me about his work as a church planter.

He had planted two successful churches in the past, which he had left in the hands of other capable men once their membership exceed fifty people. He had two new church plants he was currently working with, one in Bawang (90 miles from Baguio) and another in Aguias (60 miles from Baguio). He preaches in one during the morning and the other one at two o’clock in the afternoon. He and his family were on the way to their second church in Aguias when they boarded our bus. In the tradition of the old time circuit rider preachers, Pastor Danny had preached at one church for three years straight without missing a Sunday and at the newer church plant for seven months.

In a brief time, I found out that Pastor Danny was a carpenter, "like Jesus" he said with a big smile. He worked all week as a carpenter in Baguio. Every Friday night he and his family came down the Mountains into the lowland jungles for visitations and evangelism on Saturdays. Each Saturday he prepared or completed his preparations for his sermon for Sunday. Every Sunday he led worship, taught Bible classes, and preached twice in two different locations thirty miles apart. Behind the joy in his face, I could now see a weariness in his eyes. Having pastored churches bi-vocationally for years in La Feria and Houston, Texas, I knew what a demanding task he had undertaken.

As the bus began to move again, I could not help but feel compassion and admiration for him. I felt like he needed pastoring and someone to come along side him to help him in his ministry. In minutes our bond became strong, as so often happens with brothers in Christ, it seemed like we had known each other for years. Despite the Kingdom of God brotherhood, which made us seem like old friends, I was surprised when he asked me to come and preach in his church. Without a hesitation I agreed, after all this is why we came to the Philippines, to preach and teach, and whenever possible, to bear our Filipino brother’s burdens. We quickly exchanged telephone numbers before he departed for his second sermon of the day at an unmarked bus stop.

The next week the text messages flew as we made arraignments for the coming weeks services. On Sunday morning, Netahaniel (my oldest son) and I, set out by uncomfortable and crowded bus for Bawang, ninety miles down the Mountains. We waited in the Market, our noses and eyes being overwhelmed by the sites and smells of the open air market. Pastor Danny’s wife showed up just as we were beginning to wonder if we had messed up our directions and were in the wrong place. After a long walk through the market, out of the township, past Brahma cattle, water buffalos and dry rice patties, we arrived at the new church plant. The believers were already gathered under the porch of a nice home. Introductions were made, shortly after the services started. We were surprised by an unexpected request that we sing a song to them.

Fortunately, I had Nethaniel with me and he carried the day by playing their Guitar and singing on a moments notice. I was never more proud of him than I was that day when he stood up without warning and played that song. I took a picture of him playing while a chicken pecked at the ground beside him. Later I shared my testimony, and Pastor Danny preached. As Pastor Danny preached a rooster came up beside him and crowed. Pastor Danny never missed a beat on the first or second crow. I leaned over and told Nethaniel, " watch close, lets see if he denies Christ before the rooster crows the third time." As I expected, he was still affirming Christ even after the fourth crow.

After lunch we were off to Aguias. When the bus dropped us, I learned that the bus stops in proximity to a swinging bridge and walkway which spans the river and leads to the village of Aguias. Having crossed these bridges before in the Philippines (and in the army) I was not apprehensive at all. However, as I neared the bridge I noticed that this particular bridge was about 200 yards long, strung very loosely on slack cables, the cross boards were not made of finished or cut boards but of unevenly spaced sticks, two to three inch in diameter, many of them split or cracked. These sticks were randomly placed some two inches and others eight inches apart. Over these there were two heavily aged and weathered 1" by 6" boards, laid and partial nailed to the sticks under them. These nails were one of the reasons for the splits in the sticks underneath them, the other was that they were aged and weathered from over exposure to the elements. Whatever strength they originally had had obviously been reduced by constant use and years in the sun, wind, rain and heat. As I stepped out onto this precarious contraption, I couldn’t help but remember that a large Filipino from the villages rarely weighed 140 pounds and I weighed at least a 100 pounds more than that. The bridge creaked, groaned and rocked, as I gingerly started across trying to step on two sticks at a time with each step. My theory was that if one broke the other might still hold me.

To give you an idea of how precarious the situation was I actually thought maybe I should leave my Bible behind so that when I fall through the bridge at least my Bible wouldn’t get wet in the river. I also thought it wouldn’t hurt to have one more hand available to hold on to the cable hand rails, when the boards gave way. I was not thinking if the boards gave out but when the boards gave way. However, my second thought was what use was I as a preacher without my Bible (and notes), if I should arrive safely in the village on the other side. I warned my son to stay back and cross after me. I was thinking if I didn’t make it across at least we wouldn’t be stranded on different sides of the river and a little space between us would give him a better chance of not joining me in the river. I prayed a quick prayer under my breath and started across.

I had gone about 20 yards when I stopped and told my son to get out your camera and take a picture of me on the bridge. I was thinking this will make a good before and after picture. After I fall through the bridge and get out of the river, we can take a picture of me all disheveled and wet from head to toe from my sudden, although not unexpected, accidental baptism in the river.

I went down into the lowest part of the bridge and it began swinging from side to side as I tried to tippy toe across two boards at a time. The bridge was rocking and swinging from side to side so much that my son later told me he thought I was purposely trying to scare him as he followed me from a safe distance. In reality, I was doing everything I could do to stay upright, hang on to the hand rail cables which ran on each side of the bridge and not drop my Bible in the river. The bridge was rocking so radically that the hand cables, which were normally at hip level for me ( and above the waist for Filipinos) dipped to the point that they ended up at my knees. If I continued to hold on to the cables, when they were at knee level it left my head and torso hanging precariously over the rail and resembling a person pushing the rail downward in an attempt to jump head first over the rail and into the river bellow. It also felt like I was about to go over the rail head first into the river. When I let go of the dipping rail it left me trying to transfer my weight uphill to the upper side of the rocking bridge without any hand to hold on with. My Bible and a bottle of water were in my other hand making it difficult to grab anything. This forced me to lean or push on the cable or hook one finger around the cable.

After what seemed like an eternity I passed violently back and forth through the lowest part of the bridge, while gingerly searching for strong sticks to support my weight. I started up the steep assent of the bridge and the violent jerking and swaying decreased and the quality of the bridge improved with three 1" by 6" boards nailed over the sticks, instead of the two that had been on the other side. The sticks even seemed to be more evenly spaced and closer together. The assent improved as I neared the embankment. I exited the swinging bridge sweating and quite tired from pumping adrenaline, struggling to maintain my balance, while not falling through the holes in the bridge. The heat and humidity of the jungle low lands did not help me maintain my cool. I breathed a quick prayer of thanks to God and waited for my son to finish crossing the bridge.

When he got off the bridge he was a little upset at me and told me in no uncertain words that "my messing around and rocking the bridge, while trying to scare him, had nearly caused him to fall off the bridge several times".

I assured him that I had not been trying to scare him by shaking the bridge and that I also nearly fell from the bridge half a dozen times because of its poor construction. Once he realized that we shared the same fate crossing the bridge and it had been a very dangerous crossing for me also he calmed down. We both looked back at the bridge with a look of bewilderment on our faces as we realized we would be crossing it again on the way home.

As we made our way up through the Mango groves along the banks of rice paddies, we skirted small villages some homes made of block and concrete and others of Bamboo poles woven together. The flooded and dry rice patties, and the Bamboo "Nipa Huts," reminded me of pictures of Viet Nam during the war. We eventually wound our way through the villages and found our way to the bamboo church building. It was the epitome of an isolated native church. Bamboo walls, a dirt floor and bamboo pews. It was the most beautiful little church building I have ever seen.

As we waited at the church building the word went out through Pastor Danny, who arrived before us, and several children that church could start. Promptness is not a Filipino attribute and in the remote areas clocks and promptness are even more rare. As we waited for the believers to assemble we watched two young rooster fighting in the church building and two dogs amble in and out of the church building. Slowly one after another the Christians began to assemble. We greeted and talked with them as they arrived. The children’s Bible School meeting was in a separate open sided hut. We attempted to take pictures of the early arrivers but they shyly turned away from the camera. When the magic number was reached the service began with praise and worship, testimonies and a special song by Nethaniel again.

It was so hot in this bamboo building that I completely soaked one handkerchief in perspiration just wiping my face and neck before I preached. I saved the other handkerchief for the time I was actually preaching. This second handkerchief was also soaking wet with sweat, when I finished. My shirt, when it finally dried, had large rings of salt across the chest and back, from being soaked with sweat for hours on end.

When I stood up to preach a mangey hairless dog ambled into church and laid down in the front row and went to sleep. I have to admit it is not nearly as discouraging when a dog sleeps through your sermon as it is when a person does. No body seemed to notice as chickens and dogs ambled in and out the service. I preached as I always do, in a new location, on the need for personal evangelism. I challenged the church to be "seed sowers" and I gave them tracts to pass out in their village, and I coached them on how to fulfill the great commission in their villages, where they are the minority. I encouraged them with the biblical commands to "do the work of an evangelist," to share their faith "in season and out of season." The sermon was received warmly and they welcomed the tracts and were encouraged with the idea that it is not just the ministers job but everyone’s role to share their faith. They seemed to like the idea that they could "do the work of an evangelist."

After many joyful goodbys, we watched the renewed and invigorated believers, as they departed from their meeting place with hugs, hand shakes and their famous Filipino smiles. As we made our way back along the rice paddies and mango trees, we attracted much more attention than we had with our arrival. The unbelieving men, women, and children came out to stare at us as we departed their villages.

After we explained to Pastor Danny about our last adventure on the bridge he advised us to cross it like a tight rope. He told us to keep your feet directly in front of each other because "this bridge is very difficult." Very difficult was an incredible understatement. I explained that I did not trust the bridge because of my weight and he said "its not strong, this bridge made for little people, but keep feet in front of each other." This did not renew my confidence but I had already crossed it once so I new it was not an impossible task. Surprisingly, Pastor Danny’s technique did result in a steadier and less dramatic crossing. It still was not "a walk in the park" tippy toeing over the gaps in the bridge.

As we exited the bridge Pastor Danny told me, "next time you bring your family, Filipinos like to see you have family." I promised him I would try, not knowing how I would get Celina (my wife) and Joshua (our 5 yr. old) to start out on that bridge let alone walk across it.

We reached the main road and eventually caught a passenger bus. We were upward bound out of the lowlands, and off to our mountain home in Baguio. Once again I was grinning from ear to ear with joy. It is amazing to experience God’s work in our lives, and to see God fulfill my life long dream to preach in a jungle church, as a missionary. Of all the places I have preached in the Philippines, Mexico or America, this bamboo hut, church building, in the jungle, is my favorite memory, so far. I have always felt like a preacher and evangelist but this bamboo church made me feel more like a missionary than anything I have experienced so far. I praise God for the church in Aguias and I hope to be able to serve God in it again. To God be the glory!

"They that wait upon the Lord, Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint." Isaiah 40:31

See the Pictures from Aguias here.

Carl Henderson and family
Mission of Reconciliation

We've posted some new photos on the Phillipines mission page. Click here to see the new opportunities God is creating for the Filipino people to learn and be encouraged by the good news of Jesus Christ!

Veteran missionaries (17 years in the Philippines), David Weaver and family are looking for a home. They have been in temporary housing for months, please pray they are able to locate a house near the location where they minister. David is a very successful "Church Planter" and runs a church planting school for Filipino Evangelist and Missionaries, which has had tremendous success. The Weavers are wonderful friends, mentors, counselors and host to any new missionaries they come across. Pray for them to find their much needed home soon. They must be in there new home by April 1st.

Pray for us to have rest from the constant illnesses. We have traded and exchanged colds, fevers, bronchitis, head colds, and sore throats of and on, for our whole 3 months in the Philippines.

Pray for us to stay in God’s will with our future ministry in the Philippines.