26/07/2025
By: Melody Milloren
This was a different level of faith adventure.
It’s always exciting for me to do kind of extreme and thrilling physical activities, but it felt scary when the challenge was jumping off into a dream that is not financially sustained. My brain was budgeting and accounting without the funds.
I only got 2 months to prepare before the actual camp in Ormoc City, and needed to set up the venue and prepare the campers. Me and my mom got the plane tickets, but no money for the whole preparation. I was thinking that maybe I’ll just use my money, which was intended for paying my family’s bills, and I’ll just find a way to pay when I come back.
The night before the flight, I went to a grocery store to buy essentials for the trip. I’m sure that we are going but not sure what to spend there. While checking my phone, I saw my cousin’s name popping up and saw that she had sent a photo - it was a screenshot of a receipt! Looking at it closely, there’s a note “Donation” and it was sent to my bank account. My heart leaped and I almost cried, but I remembered I was in a mall, so I just paused for a while, thanking God. I continued walking around but could not get anything yet because I was caught up in the amazement of how God shows up in our needs. I continued praising God in my mind and heart throughout the night, knowing that His move is an affirmation to the vision that He gave me. It was His vision, and I am just His vessel.
We were picked up by my aunt and uncle (so we could ride a van or bus), who are the pastors of the church we are visiting, and it happened that their businessmen relatives were at the airport, who offered us a ride in their SUV in a 2.5-hour land trip. What an amazing God we have. He gave us provisions and made us comfortable.
The pre-camp was done! We found a prefect venue and paid for the reservation, prepared meals and snacks for the campers and church workers, provided fare and fuel for the follow-ups and other transactions. Wew! What a journey it is! I got the opportunity to see the fingerprints of God in this venture, and I am asking Him even right now that I will see more of it in my life. I believe you will too!
The picture was taken during the actual camp, with the campers waiting for their turn to receive their dinner. All of us are full in spirit and in food. God is good!
The Living God continues to inspire!