Workers for the Harvest Ministries

A brief history

I was so humbled and amazed in the late nineties by God’s grace.  He so completely changed my heart and life; I knew I had to give myself completely to Him.  In May of 2001, I had sold all I had and moved to the Philippines.  I knew God had a plan for me, and I couldn’t wait to see what it was.

I started my ministry right away by simply going to the poorest areas and praying with the sick, and sharing Christ.  There was nothing polished about my ministry, I just honestly wanted to share the love of Christ that had changed my whole thought process.  This praying and sharing grew into a preaching ministry that took me in to almost all of the Northern Provinces of Luzon.  As I preached the love of Jesus, I was also disposed to show it.

I met many orphans there in the mountains; where, without electricity, doctors, or emergency services women often die in child birth.  I saw the orphans working in the rice fields, or collecting recyclables at very young ages.  I even knew of “uncles” that took orphans in only to sell them into slavery as prostitutes.  John Piper in his book, “The Godward Life” notes an estimated 15,000 child slave-prostitutes between the ages of 9-12 in Manila alone^[1]   I could not preach God’s love and grace and turn away from these precious orphans.

In December of  2001 after fasting and prayer, I knew I had to build an Orphans Home.  I named board members from among my most faithful fellow workers in the gospel, and we formed “Workers for the Harvest Inc.” ministries.  After trying to convince friends and churches in the U.S. that this was something that was crucial; I realized no one was ready to join in my vision.  It had no bearing on what God had called me to do.  With help or without, I had to go ahead.  In January 2002, we broke ground after pastors from all over the area gathered to pray for this beautiful project.

By the summer of 2002 I was out of my own money, and earnestly seeking assistance in the U.S.  After speaking in churches and Christian schools in California, and Ohio, for as long as eleven hours in a single day; I was becoming discouraged.  On my last day of fund raising, God answered all of our prayers and supplied the full amount necessary to complete the Home.

We opened in January of 2003 with just four children, who became eight, then twelve.  Now in July of 2005, we have twenty-five beautiful children.  I just returned from meeting them and hearing them sing the most angelic praises to the Lord, and hearing them recite their memory verses.  Praise the Lord!  They are wonderful children, and all are now attending school (except four who are still being tutored to enter school soon.)

By June of 2004, The Master’s Seminary conducted their first seminar for pastors at the Orphans Home.  It was such a blessing to help to train these diligent, faithful pastors who had no formal background.  They conducted another seminar August 4-5.

In addition to the Orphans Home, and pastor’s seminars, Workers for the Harvest has always been about evangelism and church planting.  In June of 2004 Workers for the Harvest took possession of a pastor’s training school, now the “Workers for the Harvest Training Center.”  It is a live in facility where Christian young people from these same mountain villages are trained to be the church leaders.  We currently have eighteen students in training.  We have a very fine group of seasoned pastors to train these kids.  Part of their two year program includes being mentored by pastors in difficult areas.

God has truly blessed “Workers for the Harvest.”  We are still dedicated to evangelism and church planting, with our most recent work on the island of Mindoro.  We continue to provide the finest Christian care for our precious orphan children and we are in the final stages of building a new dormitory so that we can house another 25 children.  We are excited to continue our relationship with the Master’s Seminary to edify pastors from all over the North.

I completed my degrees in “Christian Ministries” and “Biblical Studies with a Missions Emphasis” in May 2006. I am currently pursuing a Master’s degree in Inter-Cultural Studies from Fuller Theological Seminary before returning to full-time service in the Philippines.