By Jenna Merrifield
Volunteer in Mission – BCCL
Hello everyone!
Thank you so much for your prayers and support during my time here serving in the Philippines at the Bicol Center for Christian Leadership! I am here serving as a Volunteer in Mission with the NAB – essentially a missionary intern. I have been here since the beginning of April and will be going back to Canada at the end of June. My time here has been an incredible experience, although pushing me out of my comfort zone at times.
I have been serving in a few different capacities. I help out with different events put on by the school, such as prayer events or our events with the Indian medical students, along with others. I attend some of the classes, help out in the café at the school (helping them with their English and teaching them some Canadian baking recipes), participate in different outreach events of the students, and build relationships with all the staff of the school and the café.
I have seen God work through simple yet miraculous ways. God continues to open doors for conversations and is allowing me to use my psychology degree more than I ever thought I would be using it here.
When I don’t have much else going on, I will often go to the café to hang out with the staff, get to know them better, and help them practice their English. Often when I am in the café chatting with the staff, we will end up talking about different Bible stories and, when it’s not too busy, have a bit of a spontaneous Bible study together. They know the Bible really well, but I have had to explain stories, as sometimes they don’t understand what it is saying in English, and then we discuss it together.
One day, one of the staff (who is a newer Christian) asked about the story of Job and about Satan and how he was able to communicate with God about testing Job and why God allowed Job to lose everything. We talked about it, and then the staff read the passage in English and had questions about some of the words and what it meant, so then I got to explain that to them. Another time, a staff member knew I had been working with special needs kids at a school back in Canada, so he asked if I thought they would still go to heaven. This staff member is also a newer Christian. I told them I thought they would, letting them know God still loves those who can’t necessarily make the decision to follow him for themselves and who we see as different from us. They are still created in his image and are still seen as precious in his sight.
I have had many good conversations with the staff and am thankful (and surprised) for the way God is using my past experiences and my schooling.
Please continue to pray for me and my time here and that I would be open to the opportunities and relationships he places in front of me.
Thank you for your continued love, support and prayers!
If you are interested in learning more about what it means to be a Volunteer in Mission, in the Philippines or elsewhere, you can reach out to NAB Gateway Director Randy Schmor.