Great start Jonathan!
My name is Anthony and my asawa Jenn and I are excited beyond words to participate in next years GK Bayani Challenge in Sulu! My wife and I visited the Philippines earlier this year and were very blessed to visit three GK villages in Cagayan De Oro. This was my first visit to the PI and it was only my wife's second visit since moving to the US with her family when she was 12 years old, with the last visit being 8 long years ago. My wife and I have been graced by the Lord to have been able to support GK as donors before this trip, but nothing transforms your life like actually visiting a village and seeing the fruit of the Lord's work! Now we are not only donors, we are now Builders! While we were visiting the villages we both promised each other that our next trip to the Philippines would be to participate in a GK build. But I was struck with a bug, and that was to step it up a notch and build in the Muslim/Christian areas. It was a hope and prayer of mine to participate in the Highway of Peace after seeing one of the GK videos. For me, a white American Catholic raised from a middle class family, in my mind there was no better people to help and make the biggest impact that the poorest of the poor living in these Christian/Muslim areas. These people are not only poor but have been victims of the savages of war. But what an example they are making by working together to build the lasting peace that the Government, the UN, the Army and no one else is capable of making! GK is God's blueprint on how to get people everywhere to come together as one and remove the divisions of the Filipino people! This was the hope and prayer in my heart, and when my wife and I attended the GK Builder's summit recently in San Diego and we watched the video announcing the GK Bayani Challenge next April in Sulu, it felt as though my prayers were answered! My mind immiediatly went to work on how can we make this a reality. It didnt take long as my wife and I were tapped to actually participate in the Builder's summit in the form of making a pledge for our region the NW Region...so I thought of the Bayani Challenge in Sulu and talked it over with my wife and after clearning the idea with Bro. Butch and Sis. Mayin (our loving Regional Directors!) I made the pledge on stage in front of everyone that we will be sending a team from the NW Region to the Bayani Challenge build. We weren't sure how we were going to do it yet, but we both felt confident that the Lord will make it happen! After the pledge was when we were introduced to Jonathan. As soon as we got back to Oregon from the summit, my mind was still going overtime on how to make our pledge a reality. While my wife and I were driving around an idea hit me, why not invite the local Muslim community in the Portland area to participate in helping their fellow muslims in the Philippines?! Our Oregon Branch Partnership Coordinator Rossana Holder has a contact within the Muslim community and we will be meeting with the head of one of the local Mosques to present GK! God willing we will have some local Muslims in the mix of Filipinos, Phil-Am students, Puti Catholics etc. making up our team to go to Sulu!
If you are reading this and live in the NW Region of the US, we want YOU! But as the banner suggests it is Only For The Brave!
Are your brave enough to help the poorest of the poor?!
See you in Sulu!
Anthony & Jennifer
GK-Oregon GKom Coordinators
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