Endless Summer Missions
The Summers Family: Missionary Associates to the PhilippinesArchive for humanitarianism
Did You Know?…We Need You!
Did you know?…as missionaries with the Assemblies of God we are 100% funded and supported by a network of friends, family & partnering churches. We are not funded by our national office, known as the AG World Missions Department, in any way. So we need you to help us get to the mission field. 100% of your monthly pledges & one time donations go to our moving costs, including travel, missions school, and living expenses while in the Philippines.
Did you know?…that when you begin making monthly donations to our missions acct., the money you send goes to building our cash budget requirements which will fund our move, schooling, vehicle needs & more once we leave.
Did you know?…we can’t leave for the Philippines until we have $3000/month in pledge commitments from our support network turned in to the national office. We have reached the 10% mark for monthly support.
Did you know?…that even a commitment of $25/month will make a huge difference in helping us become missionaries.
Did you know?…we have reached the 50% mark for our cash budget requirements that will fund our move.
Did you know?…we need: 2 supporters @ $250, 10 supporters @ $100, 20 supporters @ $50, & 20 supporters @$25 to make our ministry in the Philippines a reality.
Did you know?…you can set up an automatic monthly contribution to support us or donate now online.
Did you know?…that you make the difference…Thank You!
My First Marathon
As some of you may know, I have wanted to run a marathon for some time. I received my initial motivation from my sister, Rachel. After each having 2 children, we both wanted to shed those last few “baby weight” pounds and just get in better shape. I like a good challenge, so I was determined to train for the 26.2 mile race.
The race that I have chosen is the American Discovery Trail Marathon on Labor Day this year (September 7th). It begins in Monument, CO at Palmer lake and ends at America the Beautiful Park in Colorado Springs, CO. Along with the personal challenge to compete and finish, I’ve decided to turn the race into a way to raise awareness and support for our family’s mission to the Philippines.
One of the many opportunities we have while in the Philippines is to combat the ever-growing problem of human trafficking. It breaks my heart that children are being exploited, and fighting this social disease will be one of my goals while there.
When I was a kid, our school held an annual “jog-a-thon” to raise funds for the different programs offered. We had neighbors, friends, and family sponsor us; some people donated a set dollar amount while others donated an amount per lap completed.
Essentially, that is what we are asking you to do. Christian and I are trying to think outside-the-box to raise the necessary funding to meet our missions budget. In hopes to continue raising the support we need to move overseas as missionaries to the Philippines, I’d like to give you the opportunity to sponsor me in my Labor Day “jog-a-thon.”
You can donate in 2 ways: make a per mile pledge or a one time donation. All donations are tax-deductible and will be receipted as such. If you need more information, you can send me an email at circularthinking@gmail.com and I will explain in more detail. If you wish to donate online, we have a “donate now” page which outlines the different ways this is possible. Check it out.
Thanks so much for your time! We are so excited about where God is leading us and cannot wait to move to the Philippines and bring hope to the people there!
Blessings,
Bridget
ps.: Our goal is to have 40 friends & family sponsor Bridget for $1/mile; will you be a part?
Thanks for your continued support & prayers. Remember to pray for Bridget on Sept. 7th, she is struggling w/ hip joint pain…
Christian
Philippines Missions Trip, report 1
We’re now in Tacloban, Leyte, Philippines.
We arrived yesterday morning, cleaned up, went to church and then went out surfing in the afternoon.
No better way to beat jet-lag!
It is absolutely beautiful here, we are staying right on the ocean.
Definitely not a bad placed to be called as a missionary.
The people are very neat and they are very open to the gospel.
The Filipino Christians are the sweetest people.
Today we travel to the island of Sumar, 3 hours away. We are purchasing land to build a church, we will visit the pastor’s training school, and then catch some waves off of one of the best breaks on the islands. This will be a 2 day trip. Pretty awesome.
Continue to pray for us and the people and that God would use our time as we connect with locals and support the Alstons, our missionary hosts.
The greatest birthday ever!
I recently celebrated the greatest birthday ever.
This year I turn 30 on October 27th. But the birthday I’m referring to is not my own but that of my son Riley who turned 2 on October 2nd. Now if someone knows me real well, like my wife for example they understand that I’m not real big into the self celebration myself, in fact I have a hard time getting really into anybody’s birthday, which I’ve learned is an area I need to work on since I’m married.
But since the birth of my two boys life has changed in huge ways. I look at life through a totally different lens of perspective.
Now the great thing about a two year old is that they don’t realize it is their birthday and there is no built in expectations yet. For Riley’s birthday dinner we went to Costco and he got his own hot dog and lemonade. I’ll be honest I almost felt a little guilty gettin’ over on the kid for a $1.50 but he liked it and I got to deal with lemonade induced insomnia from the lil’ guy. I think it was around the fourth time he tried to get me to play with his trucks at approximately 3a.m. that I swore of anything but water or milk for the kid.
The next evening we celebrated as a family with the grandparents and great aunt and uncle and great grandma. It was during the opening of gifts that I felt like once again the Holy Spirit was speaking to me about a father’s love; our Heavenly Father’s love for us.
Now trying to coral a two year old and convince him that sitting down so he could open presents is not an easy task on any occasion but compound that with the recently eaten birthday cake had him whipping laps around the house faster than usual. As he stopped long enough to observe eveyone sitting around watching him you could see that he was assessing the situation and trying to process what was going on. The gifts were placed in front of him and with a little coaxing he begin to reach into the gift bags to see what the fuss was all about. He began to pull out his favorite, toy cars. With oohs and aahs that can only be made by a two year old he held each one as a precious treasure. In that moment pure joy was pouring out of every fiber of his being. I looked around the room to see the looks of love on the faces of the loving relatives as they watched. Do you know what I saw? Joy and Love that may have actually exceeded that of Riley, because they understood a deeper truth. When you truly love someone you love to see them receive more than getting yourself. As I squeezed back tears in my eyes the apostle Paul’s words came alive as he reflected on Jesus teaching that, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.'(Acts 20: 35)
The other profound truth is that Riley received these gifts because he is my son. MY parents, aunt, uncle and great grandma love him because they first loved me.
Jesus said that the greatest command was to love Him and a close second was to love others. This love is lived out in two ways. We love others because we realize they are a child of God and second we love them as we love our self. At minimum we desire to see their needs met.
4,000 kids died today because they didn’t have access to clean drinking water. As Americans we will spend over $18 billion on make up. Think about it…we spend the equivalent on feminine face paint what would provide clean water to every third world country in the world.
So the question becomes, how do we bring Joy to the heart of God? How do we show him love? By giving to those who don’t have what we do; the life changing relationship we have with him. To partner with God, see what he’s up to and join with others who are going. Let’s give of ourselves, let’s stretch our faith, and step out and live an exciting life that reflects the heart of God.
May this truth come alive in your life. May the needs that are so vast in the world around us be met by passionate followers Christ who simply aren’t satisfied with the status quo but passionate desire to change history because of their love of God and their love for others.
Endless Summer Missions 