THANKSGIVING GALORE! Blessings During the Pandemic (Part 1)

Missionaries Robert and Jing Talisic, on the Buhid Mangyan Project, share their thanksgiving testimonies during the Covid-19 pandemic. We summarized their experiences using the acronym PANDEMIC. This week we will post the first half of their testimony. Be sure to check back next week for the continued story!

P - PLANTED VEGETABLES ARE NOW BEARING FRUIT

When the lockdown was announced because of COVID-19, Robert and Jing were concerned. “What will we do?,” Jing asked. “Food will soon become difficult to find. Papa, we have to do something or we’ll starve!”

Robert, in his calm, collected way replied, “Then let’s just grow our own garden. There’s plenty of space to plant around here.”

Even though neither of them had any experience growing a vegetable garden, they began preparing the soil with great gusto. That’s the kind of thing that missionaries do in a crisis like this. After all, they don’t want to go hungry, especially if there is something that they can do about it!

And God blessed their efforts. So much so, in fact, that they were surprised! It was a pretty good garden for first-timers. After only a couple of months, they were finally able to taste of the fruit of their labors. And boy was it so very, very sweet!


​A - ALL-NEW TALENTS AND SKILLS DISCOVERED

This is connected to Robert and Jing’s first experience. As mentioned, they had never tried growing a vegetable garden in the past. They only did so now because of the crisis. Robert is especially thankful that God helped him to develop a newly-discovered talent. He was the one who mostly took care of the plants, and it was a first time for him. It’s just amazing how God almost instantly gave him the gifts and skills that he needed as unexpected situations arose.

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N - NEARBY SIGNAL LOCATED

In the past, Robert and Jing had to hike all way to barangay Hagan to communicate with their loved ones, and with the Home-base. It was the nearest place where they could get signal for phone calls and cellular data.

Then the lockdown was enforced. On top of that, a person from Hagan was tested positive for Covid-19. All hope of communication with the outside world was lost for Robert and Jing. At least that’s what they thought. God always finds a way, though.

After over a month of zero communication with the outside world, Robert and Jing discovered that near the bridge, inside their own barangay, there was a spot along the road with cellular signal! It was just a few meters down the road from the cellphone loading station!

“Whew! It’s awfully hot in this place, Sweetheart,” Robert remarked, holding up an umbrella for Jing and himself.

“I know! It’s so hot here,” Jing replied as she typed on her phone. “It’s been over a month since we communicated with the Home-base, though. They need to know how we’re doing. This is God’s provision for us, and we must thank Him for it, even if it is uncomfortable. This is just one of those things that a missionary has to put up with. Roses always come with thorns, you know,” Jing said, smiling at her husband.

“Yes, at least in this world,” Robert agreed.


​D - DISCOVERIES FROM READING

“I feel so drained,” Jing confided to her husband. “After being here in the mission field for more than a year, I long so much for a break!”

“I know,” Robert replied. “If it weren’t for the COVID-19, we would have been able to go back to the Home-base for a break way back in April.”

Can you guess how they overcame their boredom and weariness? Through reading!

“Hey, Sweetheart I didn’t know these things!” Jing excitedly reported to her husband one day. “This is interesting. I want to share this with the brethren!” Both of them spent significant time during the lockdown reading and learning new things, and sharing their discoveries with the Buhid believers. In this way they were able to wisely invest the time spent under lockdown conditions, and God turned the seemingly lost time into a blessing to His mission.

Romans 8:28 says it well, “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose” (NKJV).

Despite the challenges and disappointments that Robert and Jing have faced over the last few months, they were able to testify that, “Through God’s mercy, by His grace, and by the guidance of the Holy Spirit, our exhaustion and weariness were replaced by new energy and excitement because of the things God is teaching us through our readings.”

Join us here at PFM in praising the Lord for His sustaining power!
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To be continued next week . . .

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