June 1, 2016
I arrived in Manila just a week ago! It has been quite the
journey over the past year as I’ve prepared for the possibility of being back
here in the Philippines, or even staying in the US to do some development and
fundraising work for Companion With the Poor. After two discernment trips last
September, and this past January, it seemed best for me to be back here in the
Philippines for another two years, to continue journeying with Companion With
the Poor to plant holistic churches in the slums and educate transformational
leaders at the grassroots, bachelors, masters, and doctorate level. It really
is great to be back!
Preparation and Sending
Getting back here didn’t come easy, but the Lord has made it
possible! Were it not for the amazing support from many of you, both
prayerfully and financially, I wouldn’t have been able to return to the work
here in Metro-Manila. But with your help, and God’s direction, the Lord has
restored me to my role and team here.
Though originally planning to return at the end of April, my
communities here in Manila and back in the States encouraged me to stick around
in the US for an extra few weeks for two trainings that could contribute to our
ministry in Manila.
One of these trainings was in writing grant proposals from
The Grantsmanship Center based in Los Angeles. My training was actually in Des
Moines, IA, and though not LA, I actually really enjoyed my time in that
up-and-coming city, as well as being able to fellowship with one of my high
school friends that I haven’t seen in a while.
Our Team and My Host Family!
The other training that I attended before coming to the
Philippines was a training in Philadelphia, PA with International Ministries.
International Ministries (IM) is the mission organization connected to the
denomination that ordained me last year in Kansas City (American Baptist
Churches, US), and the denomination that my family (and even grandparents and
great-grandparents on my dad’s side) has been associated with my whole life.
IM has recently developed an Associate Missionary position
for people like myself, and others who are employed and serve through another
organization. During the training however, I got to learn from three other
missionaries (two couples and one single missionary) about their ministries in
Haiti, Mexico, and Guatemala. The single missionary working in Guatemala
encouraged me the most, as his ministry is similar to my own, working to bring
peace and
justice in some of the poor neighbor-hoods in Guatemala and
other parts of Latin America. It was great to see how my work connects to
others around the world and yet is only a small part of God’s work through
churches, missionaries, and believers around the world!
Prayers
As I get back into my routine here in the Philippines,
please pray for the following:
- Pray for my team (see picture to the left) as we begin a
new assignment to evaluate 30 of our former churches, with hopes of knowing how
to improve our current church planting efforts and even find more areas and
partner churches for future ministry.
- Pray for my continued language learning, as I begin
language school again and work towards becoming more proficient in Tagalog.
- Pray for my work with the local seminaries and Bible
colleges to continue strengthening theological education here in the
Philippines.
- Pray for our 12 teams, and 60 missionaries with CWTP and
their families!
For more information on my ministry, feel free to e-mail me
at pjrollet@gmail.com.
Checks can
be sent to Mission Ministries Philippines, c/o Paul Rollet, P.O. Box 6546,
Santa Ana, CA 92706.
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