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SENT Intensive: A Three-Month Cross-Cultural Ministry Experience

For the next three months this group of young adults will be living in Roxas City, Capiz, Philippines as part of Canadian Baptist Ministries (CBM) SENT Program.  For the first time ever, CBM’s SENT program, together with our Filipino partners, are providing young people with an opportunity to experience what it is like to live and serve cross-culturally for three full months.  This enthusiastic group arrived on May 1st, and after a couple of days of orientation and rest, they jumped in with both feet.  For the past five days the team has been participating in the Capiz Baptist Youth Fellowship Union’s (CAPBYFU) annual summer camp, which was held in a rice field behind Dapdapan Baptist Church.  With over 400 children and youth from all over Capiz province in attendance the team had the opportunity to meet people from many of the churches they will be engaging with during their three months in the Philippines.  They made so many new friends and experienced summer camp, Filipino style.

During the three months the team members will be exposed to various ministries that CBM is engaged in with our partners, and they will be exposed to Filipino culture as they visit communities, share meals, and fellowship together with new Filipino friends.  Although their schedules will be busy, they will have ample time to get involved in ministries that they are most interested in as individuals.

As they interact with people and ministries, over the next three months, they will gain a much better understanding of what it is like to live cross-culturally, and to live out their faith in this context.  For sure, each of them will experience culture shock.  They will miss family and friends back home, and they will miss some of the ‘comforts’ of home.  They will eat a lot of rice, and maybe a few dishes that they’ll wonder what’s in them.  As they experience these things, however, they will grow in their faith, and God will use this global discipleship experience to help shape their lives, strengthen their faith, and expand their worldview.


CAPBYFU CAMP

The campers were divided into small groups and led by facilitators who helped guide discussion about the theme (Deep-Rest-Shun).  The SENT Intensive team split up and each joined a different group, which helped them meet new people.

The host church, Dapdapan Baptist, built an amazing ‘session hall’ out of bamboo poles and various tarps for the roof.  They even built bamboo benches for all of the campers to sit on.  It served the camp very well, especially as the rains started to fall on day three.


The team was served a traditional Filipino meal (Adobo Chicken and rice), on the first night, at one of the church members houses.  It was a great evening of fellowship and sharing in their back yard.


Rodney Steeves sharing ‘his story’ of how God worked in his life and led to him joining the SENT Intensive team.  The young people, who were listening very intently, were captivated by Rodney’s story.


Upcoming Activities

  • Next week, the team will be traveling to Iloilo City to visit with the leadership of the Convention of Philippine Baptist Churches (CPBC).  This will be an opportunity for the team to learn about the many ministries of the denomination, which are carried out around the Philippine islands.
  • The team will also be visiting Camp Higher Ground, which is CPBC’s camp and retreat centre in Iloilo province.   As the team visits they will be looking for opportunities to engage in the camps ministry.
  • On May 21st to 25th the team will be traveling to Baguio City to attend the Asia Pacific Baptist Youth Conference (APBY).  This is an annual event of APBY, which will focus on discipleship and just happens to be in the Philippines this year.  This will be an amazing experience as the team gathers with over 1000 youth and young adults from all over the Asia Pacific region.  The team will be accompanied by members of the PBEA Scholars group, which is a student aid and discipleship program of KPM and supported by CBM.

For more information on CBM’s work around the world, including the Philippines, or to donate please visit www.cbmin.org or call 1-905-821-3533.


If you are interested in becoming a Partner-in-Mission with our family, please contact Barb Keys (bkeys@cbmin.org or call 1-905-821-3533) at Canadian Baptist Ministries.   You can also visit their website at www.cbmin.org to give online or for more information.  We are only able to follow God’s leading in our lives thanks to the monthly support of generous individuals and churches.

All donations of $10.00 or more will receive a charitable tax receipt at year end. 

Thank-you!

Michael & Melanie

Kyla, Sean, Carter & Allie