Always be ready for the unexpected in the Philippines. I lead a small team again to the main island of Luzon, ready for nearly anything, and landed right in the middle of Typhoon "Ferora", which was resonsible for the deaths of over 100 people (mainly in landslides).

Fortunately, no team members were among them. In fact, Mark Schadel, Kevin Davis, Scott Patterson and myself had fun getting around with Ps. Welly Navalta, our host, because the flood that the Typhoon brought with it prevented much of our progress in the mountains. So it was no power, floodwaters, wind and landslides. A fantastic adventure holiday, except that we were there to minster!

Each major meeting revolved around a concert where myself and Mark shared in song, while Kevin and Scott preached and/or shared their hearts out. Many other meetings occured around these, including Bible College seminars taken by Kevin and Scott, and small church meetings in quaint church buildings without walls, or windows, and with the odd chicken wandering through.

Concerts at Umingan and in the mountains in Lamut were real highlights, and the growth of churches in these provinces is tremendous. Concerts in Pampanga and also in Manila at Makati City were also very successful, despite being lost in Manila traffic for 3 hours and arriving as the support acts were just finishing. I must admit, Philippino time appears to be slightly different to Aussie time.

But the greatest thing we saw over the entire trip was the response to appeals, with hundreds of people coming to the front to give their lives fully to the Lord. On several occassions, the Holy Spirit broke loose across those at the front, and they began to cry and scream and kneel and weep before God. At Lamut, following a blackout in the middle of one of my songs, I preached by torchlight and had an appeal. Three quarters of the hundreds of mountain tribes people present came to the front and prayed and cried out to the Lord in tears. This went on, out of my control but certainly not the Lord's, for over an hour.

At moments like these it becomes clear that, in ministry, God will have His way. If the hearts of the people are open, as they are in the Philippines, then the Holy Spirit will touch their lives, regardless of who speaks or sings. God can even use a donkey, if He needs to, so it is with great humility that we acknowledge and honour the Lord, and the pastors of the Philippine archapelago.

This place is primed for revival, folks, and I want to be a part of it. So, as you read this reoprt, spare a prayer for the believers and pastors of the Philippines.