The Asia Pacific Regional NMI (AP-RNMI) Team embarked on an immersion tour in the Philippines on 24-29 August 2024. The team comprised field coordinators from Australia, New Zealand, Korea, the Philippines, Micronesia, and Melanesia South Pacific (MSP). This AP-RNMI immersion tour is part of the yearly in-person meeting of the Council to keep abreast of each field’s victories and challenges as they serve as field coordinators.
The tour started with the Team’s attendance at the graduation of the Vacation Bible School (VBS) of the local outreach of the Clark Church of the Nazarene under the Metropolitan Luzon District. The Team also visited local churches in the Metropolitan Luzon area. The Angeles City and the Clark churches welcomed the group as the Philippines-Micronesia Field Coordinator and the Regional NMI Coordinator come from these churches, respectively. They served as the hosts of the meetings/immersion tour.
On the first official day of the meeting, field coordinators gave updates on their jurisdiction’s activities, plans, and programs for the coming year and the hurdles they face.
When the meetings concluded, the team visited the Luzon districts, where District NMI Presidents and their District Superintendents enthusiastically met them, shared updates on their district NMI activities, and served their native delicacies to the team. The team also visited the Philippines-Micronesia Field Office, meeting with the FSC, missionaries, and employees in the field office. One of the oldest churches in Metro Manila received a team led by the DS and the DNMI President. A brief tour of the Regional Office housing the World Mission Center (WMC), some regional offices, was also done.
One of the highlights of the immersion tour was the travel to the Southern Tagalog District (STD). The team was brought to one of their outreaches, with about 500 families living along the coastline. The team met the people in the community, shared the Word in their homes, and prayed with them. Each member of the AP-RNMI council had a glimpse of how to be in the “mission field” by walking through the streets and flooded roads to reach out and touch the lives of the people in the community. It was an experience that the team will cherish and a constant reminder that NMI must PRAY for the missionaries as they are the hands and feet of Jesus; CARE AND CONNECT with them so that they will not feel alone in their journey and encourage people to GIVE so that the ministry will flourish.
In this immersion tour, the AP-NMI Council confirmed that the efforts in reaching the lost, the last and the least, should be “intentional so that people will experience the incarnational love of God for their lives to be transformed and become Christ-like disciples in the nations.”
By: Christine T. Mosuela