Damaris Contreras, a Term 2 student in the i195 program, joined 19 others on a short term trip to Pangasinan in the Philippines last November. As a result of their numerous community outreaches, public school assemblies and music outreaches under the leadership of Trevor Davis, over 1462 people gave their lives to Jesus on the island! In addition bathrooms & a kitchen were constructed for a new Global Impact Center along with a basketball court to initiate a new sports ministry for the youth. The local school building and police station also received a new coat of paint and many were healed through the initiation of a women home outreach ministry. Four members of that trip stayed behind for long term work as Rock Ambassadors, joining two others who had already been serving there for the past year in the same capacity. God used this trip to show Damaris, that God truly is the Great Physician and He can use whomever He pleases to heal in Jesus name.

"One of the afternoons my team and I were assigned to pick up trash in the villages and we ran into a woman named Anita. We had actually met Aunty Anita days earlier at a church service. She stuck out in my mind because when we had asked her about her family and husband, she had just started crying in church. It was a shock to see her now, on this outreach. She approached us and asked if we would be willing to go to her house and pray for her husband. She had such sadness in her eyes.

We told her we would be happy to go and also asked if we could pray for him – but she didn't respond. As we walked with her down the dirt roads all we could see was trees and houses made out of palm tree leaves. The poverty in the area was profound and many people were struggling just to stay alive. I felt such a spiritual darkness as I passed by each shack. Eventually we arrived at where Aunty Anita & her husband lived. He came outside and looked at us with confusion. Certainly we were not the average sight in that part of the world.

We shook his hand and said "hello", then we asked him if we could pray for him and with a hesitant voice he said, "yes." We asked what he would like prayer for and he said for his health and his ear. He could not hear from one of his ears and described to us how that had been making his job harder. He felt hopeless in many ways as how to continue to provide for his family.

The tattoos on his body spoke of an intense past running with gangs and there was such a thick oppression as we began to pray. However, as we laid our hands over him and prayed I felt the Holy Spirit come down and fill this man up with God's love. We prayed that God would also bring healing to his ear so that he could work and continue to provide for his family.

As we opened our eyes he was smiling! God had in that moment, restored his hearing! God did an amazing work through us and all we had to do was agree with Him in prayer. He is faithful! The man began hugging us and thanking us. There was hope back in his life again. This experience showed me that God can use even someone like me to bring hope to those that have none."