Cubao

Tuesday afternoon Brian and I spent time with Topher and Dan. We first went to Binan to look for some boys for ABP 2. We went to what was probably the worst smelling market that either of us had ever been through. I don't think that I have ever been more happy to be able to take a deep breath of second-hand cigarette smoke in my life. Most of the boys that we had gone to look for were gone. The police had rounded them up because of their "rugby" (glue that is inhaled for a high) use and taken them to some other homes. We did find one boy though, Julius Tolits. He actually spent about a month at ABP 2 before and wants to go back. Tolits agreed to quit using rugby in order to get back in the home. We went back to the market today and he was off of rugby, but wanted to tell his grandmother goodbye before he goes to the home. So tomorrow the social worker from ABP 2 will go meet with him and his grandmother before taking him to the home. We also handed out bread near the market yesterday, and Tolits took us to the home of a family that he knew. We were able to give them some bread and to pray with them.

Last night we went to Cubao, which is in downtown Manila, to do some more bread ministry and look for more boys for ABP 2. We were able to share with a group of street children and young adults. We prayed with them and a few of them prayed to accept Christ as their savior. While we were sharing with them a man stopped by to thank us for coming and sharing with the street kids. He said that he lived on the street until he was 15 and became a Christian. He was very excited and thankful for our ministry. We also talked to a few women who were living on the street with their children. It is really hard to describe the things that we saw. One of the women would like to put her daughter in ABP 1, but first we must find out if there are any openings.

Today Topher took us to the railroad tracks to speak with a couple families. We talked with one boy whose mother would like to put him in ABP 2, but his father won't allow him to go. We also may have found another girl for ABP 1. We visited Kenneth's mom and prayed with her today. Kenneth is one of the newest boys in ABP 2 and has only been there about a week.

Please pray for the kids that have had to leave the ABPs because they exhausted their time. The aftercare program which was keeping them in school has been cut because of a lack of funding. It has gotten to be really hard and discouraging for these kids.

Brian and I leave for the retreat tomorrow and it appears that we along with the other intern, Josh, will be leading the program for the pastors' children. Please pray that we would minister to them well and that God would speak through us.

Santa Rosa

Brian and I spent the last three days with Pastor Gerry at Christ Sanctuary Christian Ministries in Santa Rosa. Friday night we shared during a prayer meeting. Saturday we spent time visiting some people in the church and shared with the praise and worship team. Sunday morning we combined to give the sermon. We talked about discipleship and leadership with them and then Pastor Gerry followed up with a short summary of what we said. Sunday afternoon we had a youth fellowship where we were able to go into more detail about what discipleship is.

I feel like the church really understood the point that we were trying to get across. After the service on Sunday, the men met together and decided to start having monthly fellowships, which was very encouraging to Pastor Gerry. The youth we spoke to were actually more young adults and college students than youth, but they were very receptive to what we said. We gave them the opportunity to ask questions and that seemed to really help their understanding.

Please pray for their church that they would really adopt discipleship. Two young adults, Sister Sam and Brother Russell, both seemed to be very interested in discipling people. Please pray for them that they would continue with this and that God would give them people to disciple. Also, pray for the leadership of the church as at least two of the elders are gone for extended periods of time. One man works for an oil company in Libya and is gone for three months then comes home for one. The other man is a seaman and is gone for up to nine months at a time. Please pray that other men would step up to lead in the church. Also pray for the completion of their new church building and ABP 4. Construction is going well and both hope to open in August. Pray for the church as they get ready to be the host church for the new ABP.

Tomorrow Brian and I will go with Pastor Topher to minister to street children. We will also be looking for potential candidates for ABP 2 as there are three or four openings there.

On Thursday, Brian and I will head to Rizal for the Pastors' Family Retreat. We will be there through Saturday, before we head to Batangas City to help Pastor Celso. I believe that 13 of the 19 local pastors will be at the retreat with their families. Please pray that they would be encouraged, uplifted and refreshed while they are there. Please pray for Brian and I as we speak at Pastor Celso's church. There is a large group of young people there and it would be great to get them to start a discipleship program.

HIJCC - Bulihan

Brian and I spent Sunday through Wednesday with Pastor Dong Apuyo at Holiness In Jesus Christian Church (HIJCC) in Bulihan. On Sunday, the church celebrated its 11th anniversary. Mr. Scott spoke with the theme being "Overcoming evil with good through Christ." This is also the church that our group went to last year to sand the walls and paint. The sanctuary is almost completely finished now (all that is left to do is put up a ceiling above the balcony). It looks really nice now.

On Monday, we went with Pastor Dong to visit some of the church members in the morning and got a little while to rest in the afternoon. Pastor Dong's youngest brother, Rohelio, and two of his friends, Marlon and Daril, accompanied us around in the morning and afternoon. They were really great to be around and they made us feel very welcome while we were there. We played some chess with them and they tried to teach us how to play the guitar. Monday night we had our first youth fellowship. There were about 20 youth there from the church with about half being believers. I shared the gospel with them and Brian talked about discipleship and we played a game in between. Pastor Dong translated for us and it seemed like the messages were well accepted.

On Tuesday morning we hung out with Rohelio, Marlon and Daril for a little while before we started making visits with Pastor Dong. Another of Pastor Dong's brothers, Tutoy, and the other three guys went with us to visit church members again. In the afternoon, we hung out with Ro, Marlon and Daril again before heading to a women's fellowship at about 5. The women shared some of what was going on in their lives and Brian and I shared a little about our background and why we were in the Philippines. We then ate what we thought was dinner with the women only to find out afterwards that it was a merienda (snack). After the fellowship, we went back to the church and had a second youth rally. This time Brian shared the gospel and I spoke about leadership. Once again the messages seemed to be well accepted. We then talked with the youth some as they thanked us for coming and we thanked them for there hospitality and tried to encourage them before we left. We then finally had dinner at about 10:30 and we got to spend a long time talking with Pastor Dong.

Wednesday morning we went out with Pastor Dong and the guys again to visit members. We then had lunch and headed back to Alabang.

It was great to spend a lot of time with Pastor Dong. I think he was encouraged by the time we had. He is 33 and he and his wife, Vivian, have 5 kids. He is still attending seminary and hopefully will be ordained soon. He also has a water distribution business that he runs with Tutoy, as the church cannot completely provide for his needs. Please pray for him and HIJCC - Bulihan. Most of the church members there are poor, but they give a lot to the church. Please pray for Daril as he started college on Wednesday to get a computer programming degree. Rohelio and Marlon are both looking to attend seminary soon.

Please pray for me that I would get the opportunity to go back and visit them at least once before I leave. Also, pray for Brian and I as we head out to another church on Friday. And pray for safety for the CMPC time as the leave for home Friday morning.

In Christ,

David

Safely In Manila

I arrived over here safely late Friday night. On Sunday, Brian Moore and I will be going to a church plant. We will be staying there through Wednesday morning. Please pray for us as we go and for me imparticular as this will be my first time doing this sort of thing.

Headed Off

I am finally headed off for Manila. Please pray that I will have a safe trip over.

Getting Ready To Go

I am still trying to work on the subscription function. I am not sure what is going on with it.