Holy Given: Leyte International School of MissionsDulag, Leyte, PhilippinesWeek 2: 23-29 March, 2009Can’t believe another week has passed here in Holy Given Leyte! We had the privilege of having two wonderful guests in our second week – Cindy Ruakere from New Zealand was here with us the whole week, and Angela Hughes and her team (Yasmin, Angela's daughter, Rebecca and Paige) travelled from Baguio to be with us for a few days. Cindy taught for most of the sessions in the first half of the week on bringing out the sound of the land. The sound of worship that is unique only to the Philippines, and that only the Filipino bride can bring. Angela and her team brought the heart of the Father and made it real to the students. She taught on the Father’s heart towards His children and the extent of His love for them. It was such a joy and delight to see and hear how each student received a deep revelation of our Father’s love for them individually, and that they now know how special and treasured they are in the Father’s eyes. We had such a tremendous breakthrough on Thursday, March 26. It was truly truly amazing, no words can fully capture what the Holy Spirit did. What started out as a sending away prayer for Angela and her team as they return to Baguio, turned into a Holy Spirit blow-out that lasted several hours. The sound of the Philippines broke through, and it was as if the sounds of heaven merged with the sound coming through the earth. The team leading worship went into spontaneous worship. The drums were going at full force, there were prophetic songs, speaking and interpretation of tongues, there was dancing. Some of the students started whistling in tune and rhythm to the drums. It felt as if we were back at the start of creation, where it was just man and the earth. The worship was so raw. Everyone was lost in the Holy Spirit, no one was bothered about what the other was doing, yet it all felt so united, as one body. The sound of the Filippino bride is one of Love. The atmosphere was charged, and His presence and love was so thick in the room. Friday was “Freedom Day”! We were all baptised in the ocean, it was a washing away of the old and calling forth of the new. It was awesome seeing the students sing and shout for joy in victory and freedom! Pastor Ferds and the students then took buckets of water from the ocean and salted the perimeter of WEBC to cleanse the land and reclaim it for the Lord. We had a joint worship service at WEBC on Sunday, the church plants from the different villages in Leyte meet every third SUnday of the month for the worship service. Following from the tremendous breakthrough on Thursday, the students put together a time of worship in true Filipino style. There were dances from each of the 3 different regions of Luzon, Visayas and Midanao. The students also had the traditional bamboo dance. Worship instruments included the Filipino flute, and bamboo. We were absolutely blown away, God has done such an acceleration with the sound that is coming out from the land!
