COME OVER AND HELP US
When God Gives the Call Before He Gives the Details
“And a vision appeared to Paul in the night; There stood a man of Macedonia, and prayed him, saying, Come over into Macedonia, and help us.” — Acts 16:9
Some calls from God come with instructions.
Others come with little more than two words:
“GO THERE.”
No itinerary.
No financial statement.
No five-year plan.
No explanation of how everything is going to work.
No date circled on the calendar.
Just a deep conviction in your heart that somehow, some way—
GOD HAS SPOKEN.
That is where our journey to the Philippines began.
IT STARTED IN 2011
In 2011, I felt the Lord impress something upon my heart that I could not shake:
We were to go to the Philippines and preach the Gospel there also.
That was it.
I didn't know when.
I didn't know exactly where.
I didn't know how.
I didn't know what doors would have to open.
I didn't know what resources would be required.
I didn't know what preparations would have to be made.
I didn't know what obstacles we would encounter.
I certainly didn't know everything that calling would eventually require of Cecilia and me.
But there was one thing I believed I knew:
IT WAS THE LORD.
And sometimes, when you're walking by faith, that's enough to begin.
PAUL DIDN'T HAVE ALL THE DETAILS EITHER
Acts 16 records an extraordinary moment in Paul's missionary journey.
Paul had been traveling and preaching the Gospel when God began redirecting his steps.
Then came the vision:
“Come over into Macedonia, and help us.”
Notice what the man in Paul's vision didn't provide.
He didn't give Paul a detailed itinerary.
He didn't explain where Paul would sleep.
He didn't tell him how much the journey would cost.
He didn't provide a list of churches waiting to receive him.
He didn't explain the opposition Paul would face.
He simply said:
“COME OVER… AND HELP US.”
That was enough.
The next verse says:
“And after he had seen the vision, immediately we endeavoured to go into Macedonia…” — Acts 16:10
Immediately.
They didn't know everything that awaited them.
But they knew enough to obey.
GOD OFTEN GIVES THE CALL BEFORE THE DETAILS
That's where many of us struggle.
We want God to explain Himself.
"Lord, if You want me to do this, how?"
"When?"
"Where will the money come from?"
"Who is going to help?"
"What happens afterward?"
"What if something goes wrong?"
"What if I fail?"
"What if I misunderstood You?"
Those are understandable questions.
But sometimes God's answer seems to be:
“TRUST ME.”
We want the map.
God gives us a compass.
We want the complete blueprint.
God gives us the next step.
We want to see the destination.
God says:
“Follow Me.”
HOW AND WHEN WERE BEYOND MY KNOW-HOW
When the Philippines was first placed upon my heart, I didn't have the human ability to explain how everything would come together.
Quite frankly—
IT WAS BEYOND MY KNOW-HOW.
But perhaps that's where faith becomes faith.
If I could have explained everything…
If I could have financed everything…
If I could have scheduled everything…
If I could have controlled everything…
If I could have guaranteed the outcome…
then how much faith would have been required?
Scripture says:
“For we walk by faith, not by sight.” — 2 Corinthians 5:7
Faith doesn't mean recklessness.
Faith doesn't mean refusing wisdom.
Faith doesn't mean failing to plan.
Faith means that after we have prayed, sought God, tested what we believe we've heard against His Word, and become convinced of His direction—
WE TRUST HIM WITH WHAT WE CANNOT SEE.
WHAT GOD SAID, HE WOULD DO
There was something else settled in my heart.
I didn't know how.
I didn't know when.
But I believed:
WHAT GOD SAID, THAT HE WOULD DO.
That conviction became an anchor.
Years can do strange things to a promise.
When something doesn't happen immediately, questions begin creeping in.
"Did I really hear God?"
"Was that just me?"
"Has too much time passed?"
"Did I miss the opportunity?"
"Has God changed His mind?"
But waiting doesn't necessarily mean God has forgotten.
Sometimes the promise is immediate.
Sometimes there is a season between the calling and the going.
BETWEEN “GO” AND “YOU HAVE ARRIVED”
We don't talk enough about that space.
It's the space between:
God said it
and
I can finally see it.
That's where patience is developed.
That's where motives are tested.
That's where character is shaped.
That's where faith is stretched.
That's where we learn whether we were excited about an idea or truly committed to obeying God.
Abraham understood that space.
Joseph understood it.
David understood it.
Moses understood it.
Paul understood it.
There is often a waiting room attached to the promises of God.
And the waiting room can become one of God's greatest classrooms.
DELAY DOES NOT ALWAYS MEAN DENIAL
We live in an instant generation.
Instant communication.
Instant information.
Instant purchases.
Instant entertainment.
So sometimes we expect an instant God.
"Lord, You told me yesterday. Why isn't it happening today?"
But God's timetable isn't governed by our impatience.
Ecclesiastes 3:1 reminds us:
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven.”
There is a time for the call.
A time for preparation.
A time for waiting.
A time for learning.
A time for doors to close.
A time for doors to open.
And then—
THERE IS A TIME TO GO.
THE PHILIPPINES WAS NEVER JUST A PLACE ON A MAP
Over time, something happened.
“The Philippines” stopped being merely the name of another country.
It became personal.
It became faces.
Families.
Children.
Communities.
Churches.
Needs.
Prayers.
Opportunities.
Souls.
People Jesus died for.
People who need encouragement.
People who need discipleship.
People who need someone to pray with them.
People who need practical help.
People who need to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
That's when missions changes.
It stops being:
“We are going somewhere.”
And becomes:
“GOD IS SENDING US TO SOMEONE.”
“COME OVER… AND HELP US.”
Those words from Acts 16:9 have taken on tremendous meaning for us.
Come over.
There are people who need the Gospel.
Come over.
There are people who need hope.
Come over.
There are families struggling.
Come over.
There are children whose futures can be changed.
Come over.
There are believers who need encouragement and discipleship.
Come over.
There are communities where the love of Jesus Christ can be demonstrated not merely with words—
but with action.
COME OVER AND HELP US.
For Cecilia and me, that call became the Philippines.
MISSIONS IS MORE THAN PREACHING A SERMON
When some people hear the word missionary, they imagine someone standing behind a pulpit in another country.
Yes, missionaries preach.
We teach.
We evangelize.
We share Scripture.
But missions is much bigger than a microphone.
Sometimes missions looks like sitting with a family and listening.
Sometimes it's praying with someone who has lost hope.
Sometimes it's helping put food on a table.
Sometimes it's placing a Bible into someone's hands.
Sometimes it's encouraging a young person.
Sometimes it's helping a student.
Sometimes it's walking into communities that have endured storms, flooding, hardship, poverty, or uncertainty.
Sometimes it's simply saying:
“You haven't been forgotten.”
Jesus ministered to people.
Mind.
Body.
Soul.
Spirit.
And that's the heart we desire to carry into our work.
GOD'S CALL WILL STRETCH YOU
I wish I could say that following God's call always makes perfect sense.
It doesn't.
Sometimes God will call you beyond your comfort zone.
Beyond your experience.
Beyond your finances.
Beyond your ability.
Beyond your understanding.
And eventually you find yourself asking:
“Lord, how are we going to do this?”
Perhaps you've been there.
Maybe you're there right now.
God has placed something on your heart that seems bigger than you.
Good.
Maybe it is.
Because if God calls you only to things you can accomplish entirely by yourself, eventually you might begin believing that you don't need Him.
But when the assignment exceeds your ability—
you learn dependence.
DON'T CONFUSE “I DON'T KNOW HOW” WITH “IT CAN'T HAPPEN”
Those are two very different statements.
“I don't know how” acknowledges your limitation.
“It can't happen” attempts to place that limitation upon God.
There have been many moments in our journey when I could honestly say:
"I don't know how."
But that doesn't mean God doesn't know.
I don't have to know everything God knows.
I simply need enough faith to obey what He has shown me.
Proverbs 3:5–6 says:
“Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”
Not:
"Understand everything first."
But:
TRUST.
MAYBE GOD HAS PUT A “PHILIPPINES” IN YOUR HEART
Your assignment may not involve crossing an ocean.
Your “Philippines” may be the person across the street.
A ministry.
A business.
A book.
A child.
A church.
A community.
A family member.
A classroom.
A hospital room.
A prison ministry.
A conversation you've been postponing.
Someone God keeps bringing to your mind.
You may know what God is asking—
but have absolutely no idea how it will happen.
Welcome to faith.
Don't manufacture the outcome.
Don't force doors God hasn't opened.
Don't run ahead of Him.
But don't allow fear to convince you that obedience is impossible simply because the details haven't arrived yet.
IF GOD SAID GO—BE READY TO GO
There comes a point when prayer must become obedience.
Paul saw the vision.
Then Scripture says:
“Immediately we endeavoured to go…”
Imagine if Paul had responded:
"Lord, that's a wonderful vision. I'll pray about it for another twenty years."
There is a time to pray.
There is a time to wait.
There is a time to prepare.
And then there comes a moment when God says:
GO.
Faith must eventually put on its shoes.
CECILIA AND I ARE MISSIONARIES TO THE PHILIPPINES
When I look back to 2011, I can see something now that I couldn't see then.
God already knew.
He knew the timing.
He knew the people.
He knew the obstacles.
He knew the opportunities.
He knew the resources that would be required.
He knew the doors He would open.
He knew the doors He would close.
He knew the years between the calling and its unfolding.
GOD KNEW.
Cecilia and I didn't need to know everything.
We needed to trust the One who did.
And today we can say:
We are missionaries to the Philippines.
Not because we had everything figured out in 2011.
We didn't.
Not because the road has always been easy.
It hasn't.
But because somewhere along the journey, God placed a call upon our hearts—
and that call never went away.
WE STILL NEED YOUR PRAYERS
The journey isn't finished.
Far from it.
There are still communities to reach.
People to encourage.
Families to help.
Young people to disciple.
Bibles to place into hands.
Churches to strengthen and plant.
Needs to meet.
Doors to walk through.
And above everything else—
SOULS THAT NEED JESUS CHRIST.
That's why we continue asking you to pray for us.
Pray that we hear God clearly.
Pray that we never run ahead of Him.
Pray that we never lag behind Him.
Pray for wisdom.
Pray for protection.
Pray for provision.
Pray for strength.
Pray for Cecilia and me.
Pray for our ministry team.
Pray for the Philippines.
Pray for Asia.
And whenever Pilgrim Outreach Ministries International comes to your mind—
PLEASE PRAY FOR US.
MAYBE THIS MESSAGE IS FOR YOU
Perhaps you've been waiting on something God placed in your heart years ago.
And you've started wondering whether it will ever happen.
I cannot tell you that every impression you've ever had came from God.
Scripture tells us to test all things.
But I can tell you this:
When God truly speaks—
TIME DOESN'T MAKE HIM UNFAITHFUL.
Don't allow the waiting to destroy your faith.
Don't allow unanswered questions to become unbelief.
Don't allow “I don't know how” to become “God cannot.”
You may not know the how.
You may not know the when.
You may not understand the route.
But if God has truly spoken—
TRUST HIM.
🙏 OUR MISSIONARY PRAYER
Heavenly Father, thank You for calling ordinary people to participate in Your extraordinary work. Thank You for every door You have opened and even for the doors You closed because You knew what we could not see. Thank You for the Philippines and the precious people You have placed upon our hearts. Give Cecilia and me wisdom, strength, protection, provision, discernment, courage, and an unwavering commitment to Your will. Never allow us to substitute our plans for Yours. Keep our eyes upon Jesus and our hearts sensitive to the Holy Spirit. Help Pilgrim Outreach Ministries International carry the Gospel wherever You send us. And when You say, “Go,” give us the faith to answer, “Here am I; send me.” In Jesus' name, Amen.
COME OVER AND HELP US
Those words crossed centuries.
“Come over into Macedonia, and help us.”
And in 2011, the call in my heart pointed toward another part of the world:
THE PHILIPPINES.
I didn't know how.
I didn't know when.
I didn't know all that would be involved.
But I knew this:
WHAT GOD SAID, THAT HE WOULD DO.
And after all these years, I still believe it.
So we keep praying.
We keep believing.
We keep preparing.
We keep going.
We keep preaching.
We keep reaching.
And as long as God gives us strength—
WE WILL KEEP ANSWERING THE CALL.
“And he said unto them, Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature.” — Mark 16:15
Pilgrim Outreach Ministries International
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