Philippines Trip 2006
I have already shared the stories from our trip to the Philippines in 2006, but I want to share with you what was going on with me personally during that trip.
I and my good friend Pastor Kevin Holland left Seattle and headed to Los Angeles to catch our international flight on Singapore Airlines. By the time we arrived in Los Angeles I was beginning to develop a slight sore throat and cough. I was not sure if it was a cold or not as I have been on blood pressure medicine for years and the medicine I was on had caused a cough that was more of an annoyance than a cough. Anyway, we caught our flight and were off to Singapore and then on to Cebu. We were going to the Philippines for a National Churches Conference where we were to be the main speakers at the conference.
After we arrived in Cebu, I began to feel sick and my voice began to leave. When it was my turn to speak, I would get up and God would fill my voice. Then after I was finished my voice would go away. I would go back to our hotel and go to my room and just lay down. Pastor Kevin and the others would go out to eat, but all I really wanted to do was to lie down. Each day I would be just a little worse than the day before. The conference was three days, and after the conference I was heading out to do a jungle crusade on the island of Bohol and then we all were heading down the coast of Bohol to visit a church in the town of Valencia.
The entire time of the conference my health was failing and for some reason I began to think that there was a possibility I could die or at least I thought I was really sick. I told Pastor Kevin nothing of how I was feeling because I knew that if he knew he would not let me go and do the crusade and the other ministry items we had planned. When I did tell him after we got home I would have been right. As each day passed, I kept getting weaker and sicker. I remember lying in bed and telling God, "God I love the Philippines and the people but as much as I love them please don't let me die here. Let me get home so I can say goodbye to my family." I mean to tell you I was really sick and I knew it.
For the remainder of our trip I spent most of the time lying down and really not eating much because of being sick. I had no voice and had no other speaking engagements that required me to speak. I think for me the best was when we got on the airplane to head home. We had been in Cebu for sixteen days and it was the longest sixteen days I had been through. The ministry was fantastic as I was witness to some amazing miracles and God was there helping me through the hard times.
When we returned to the US I had called my wife and asked her to get me into the doctor as soon as possible. I told her that I did not want to go to emergency because I didn't think it was emergency material. Wrong! We went directly from the airport to the doctor's office where I found out that I had bronchial pneumonia. The doctor told us that if I had let it go for another couple of days I could have died because everything was shutting down and rapidly. As you can tell, I made it through and to this day whenever I plan a trip overseas, Pastor Kevin is the first person to make sure that I have been checked out by the doctor and that I have not had a cold or been sick at least a month before my trip. He told me that if he would have known at the time he would have put me in the hospital in the Philippines and then he would make sure I did nothing until we left and that is why I said nothing, because I put ministry before my own health. Not any more though, I have myself checked out and plan the trip when I think I am least likely to get sick.
I have made other trips since that one and I have been totally healthy and besides, my wife told me that I would never go on another trip without her.
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I and my good friend Pastor Kevin Holland left Seattle and headed to Los Angeles to catch our international flight on Singapore Airlines. By the time we arrived in Los Angeles I was beginning to develop a slight sore throat and cough. I was not sure if it was a cold or not as I have been on blood pressure medicine for years and the medicine I was on had caused a cough that was more of an annoyance than a cough. Anyway, we caught our flight and were off to Singapore and then on to Cebu. We were going to the Philippines for a National Churches Conference where we were to be the main speakers at the conference.
After we arrived in Cebu, I began to feel sick and my voice began to leave. When it was my turn to speak, I would get up and God would fill my voice. Then after I was finished my voice would go away. I would go back to our hotel and go to my room and just lay down. Pastor Kevin and the others would go out to eat, but all I really wanted to do was to lie down. Each day I would be just a little worse than the day before. The conference was three days, and after the conference I was heading out to do a jungle crusade on the island of Bohol and then we all were heading down the coast of Bohol to visit a church in the town of Valencia.
The entire time of the conference my health was failing and for some reason I began to think that there was a possibility I could die or at least I thought I was really sick. I told Pastor Kevin nothing of how I was feeling because I knew that if he knew he would not let me go and do the crusade and the other ministry items we had planned. When I did tell him after we got home I would have been right. As each day passed, I kept getting weaker and sicker. I remember lying in bed and telling God, "God I love the Philippines and the people but as much as I love them please don't let me die here. Let me get home so I can say goodbye to my family." I mean to tell you I was really sick and I knew it.
For the remainder of our trip I spent most of the time lying down and really not eating much because of being sick. I had no voice and had no other speaking engagements that required me to speak. I think for me the best was when we got on the airplane to head home. We had been in Cebu for sixteen days and it was the longest sixteen days I had been through. The ministry was fantastic as I was witness to some amazing miracles and God was there helping me through the hard times.
When we returned to the US I had called my wife and asked her to get me into the doctor as soon as possible. I told her that I did not want to go to emergency because I didn't think it was emergency material. Wrong! We went directly from the airport to the doctor's office where I found out that I had bronchial pneumonia. The doctor told us that if I had let it go for another couple of days I could have died because everything was shutting down and rapidly. As you can tell, I made it through and to this day whenever I plan a trip overseas, Pastor Kevin is the first person to make sure that I have been checked out by the doctor and that I have not had a cold or been sick at least a month before my trip. He told me that if he would have known at the time he would have put me in the hospital in the Philippines and then he would make sure I did nothing until we left and that is why I said nothing, because I put ministry before my own health. Not any more though, I have myself checked out and plan the trip when I think I am least likely to get sick.
I have made other trips since that one and I have been totally healthy and besides, my wife told me that I would never go on another trip without her.
Back to Stories To Intrigue