LIVING WATERS PHILIPPINES

MINISTRY OVERVIEW

Why Living Waters?

The magnificent obsession of our Lord Jesus Christ is to have a pure and holy Bride on that Wedding Day (Rev. 19:7, Eph 5:25-27). Yet because of sin, His Bride, the Church, has been marred and broken. His relentless passion is to sanctify His Bride. Crucial to that is Her (the Church) embracing of Her calling to be a safe place for the broken members of His Body. Living out Her truest self, She becomes a tangible and authentic expression of God’s love, grace and truth for His people. Yet the Church has neglected Her calling to be a safe place for the broken and hurting. She has been relatively silent on issues that touches the depths of the humanity’s brokenness – relational messes, family dysfunctions, sexual struggles, and gender confusion. With much emphasis on victorious lives and stories of breakthrough, the Church has invalidated the plight of the strugglers and unconsciously added to their shame. And for those who braved to bring their struggles to the light, criticisms or even gossips have hindered them from opening their lives again. It is for this very reason that the ministry of Living Waters exists. The Lord’s calling for us is to equip the Church to be a vessel of Jesus’ compassion and truth, and to empower Her to be a safe place for the broken. As an extension of the Church, Living Waters is a resource for pastors and lay people to hear, learn and understand biblical truth about relationships and sexuality. Our programs offer a safe place for Christian men and women to express their struggles. Often times, these struggles are kept hidden because of the shame and guilt people feel. To help people break free from this weight, we provide a setting where people can talk, receive prayer and learn about God’s design for healthy living. We are not a counseling ministry, support group or political organization. Instead, our programs are facilitated by trained volunteers who mentor people and lead by example.

What is Living Waters?

Our ministry is based on discipleship and prayer, and focused on the Father’s desire to heal His children. Therefore, our programs are church – based, so that local churches can reach out to hurting men and women, and offer a place of healing. As a national ministry, we do not set up local programs. Rather we rely on God to raise up a passion for healing in churches across the Philippines, so that lay people and pastors will initiate and facilitate Living Waters programs in their churches. The ministry of Living Waters is unique in the Philippines – in that we offer help to those dealing with a full gamut of relational and sexual issues, such as abuse, sexual addiction, promiscuity, unhealthy emotional dependency, same – sex attraction. Instead of setting up programs for specific groups (i.e. abuse survivors or sex addicts or divorced people), we see the benefit of all relational and sexual strugglers sharing their lives together. In that sense, men and women see how each other is hurting and how they share common core issues. Our programs offer a small group format, rather than one to one relationships. This small group structure allows men and women to hear and witness other people’s stories, which builds hope and confidence that God will and does heal His children. Knowing that they are not alone in their problems, the participants find that the group format breaks down barriers, encouraging them to be open and authentic within the larger community of believers. As well, the ministry is based on three principles: the worship of Jesus, the words of Jesus, and the works of Jesus. We believe that Jesus and His work on the cross is central to personal healing and discipleship. That’s why we incorporate all three aspects into every program we offer. We spend time in worship, we teach a biblical understanding of relationships, and we pray for people to experience Jesus’ healing work.

Our Faith Statement

LIVING WATERS PHILIPPINES’ STATEMENT OF FAITH

We believe the Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the inspired Word of God, the final authority of doctrine, reproof, correction and instruction in right living.

We believe in one God, existing eternally in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, fully man and fully God, only begotten Son of the Father. He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the Virgin Mary, and lived a sinless life. He suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, buried and rose physically from the dead. He ascended to the right hand of the Father and will come again in power and glory. We believe that faith alone in Jesus Christ as Savior and Lord frees us from the mastery of sin, and its consequences of death and eternal damnation. He assumed the penalty of death Himself and enables us to live out of His resurrected life unto eternity.

We believe the Holy Spirit carries out this work of renewal in our lives, empowering us to grow in loving union with our Heavenly Father and to walk in obedience to His will.

We believe that the church of Jesus Christ is formed of all those who know Him as their Savior and Lord, regardless of religions and denominational beliefs.

WHAT WE BELIEVE

Living Waters Philippines join the families of Living Waters around the world, headed by Desert Stream Ministries, in being rooted in the essence of Divine Revelation; namely, that the Second Person of the Triune God took on the human nature, giving us a share in His divine nature. God’s act of creating male and female persons is revelatory of who He is. Therefore, the complementarity of man and woman is essential to Living Waters.

We believe that the Old and New Testaments are the inspired Word of God, authoritative in the development of doctrine and instruction in right living.

OUR MISSION

To empower the Body of Christ to be a safe place of healing where Her members can reflect His image by relating with one another in love.