Over the last week Brian and I have gotten to do some different things. Last Saturday, we went to two outreaches, Camachile 1 and Dulo. Both outreaches are feeding ministries along with a short Bible study. We also went back to the outreaches today. On Monday, we shadowed Pastor Marcelo Ramirez. He is in charge of the church planters for MTW. It was great to see a different perspective of the work going on over here.
Next week we will be very busy as it will be Brian's last week here. We will be going back to Cubao, visiting the aftercare kids again, visiting PTS and doing a few outreaches. Please pray for us that we would have the strength and energy as we share the gospel.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Friday, July 13, 2007
Len-Len Update
Len-Len (I miss-spelled her name last time) has stage 3 cancer. It started in her nose and has spread to her lymph nodes. She has already started chemotherapy and needs to have radiation therapy. Unfortunately, right now she will have to wait until October to start the radiation because the hospital is backed up. There is the possibility that she can get in sooner at another hospital, though. Please pray that she will be able to go ahead and get started on the radiation as well.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Alabang
Brian and I are back at the guest house in Alabang now. Our weekend trips to the ABPs went well. This morning there was the monthly MTW pastors fellowship. All of the pastors and church planters for MTW were there. Their wives also had a fellowship at the same time, but not all of them were able to come. It was good for the pastors to be around each other some more as some of them are in cities without other Presbyterians. I was able to speak with Pastor Ruben Hidalgo this morning (it was his church that hosted the MOF rally in Lemery). He said that he has had follow-ups with some of the people that came to Christ and at least one of the guys wants to start a Christian band in Lemery. It is a great praise that there has been a commitment from the converts there. Buboy presented two prayer requests from ABP 1 this morning. Jing-Jing is one of the girls that has been in the home for a couple of years. She has diabetes and has had trouble watching what she eats and also has to take insulin everyday. The second prayer request is for Lyn-Lyn. She has a malignant tumor in her neck and started chemotherapy today. She is with her parents so, please pray that Buboy and others will be able to reach out to them in this time as well. Buboy also announced today that ABP 4 will open on September 9th. It will be a home for girls ages 6 to 12 with the older girls staying at ABP 1.
For the next week and a half or so, Brian and I will be going around with Topher. We will visit some of the members of his church, looking for kids for the ABPs, visiting the kids that were in aftercare, doing outreaches in Camachille and going back to Cubao for ministry. Please pray for us that we would always be prepared to share the gospel and would look for every opportunity to do it.
For the next week and a half or so, Brian and I will be going around with Topher. We will visit some of the members of his church, looking for kids for the ABPs, visiting the kids that were in aftercare, doing outreaches in Camachille and going back to Cubao for ministry. Please pray for us that we would always be prepared to share the gospel and would look for every opportunity to do it.
Thursday, July 5, 2007
Christ's Stewards Fellowship
Saturday after the retreat, Brian and I went to Batangas City with Pastor Celso Namuco and his wife Hanny. Celso is the pastor of Christ's Stewards Fellowship which is a small, but growing church plant. Saturday night we met with some of their worship team before heading to Hanny's parents' home. We stayed with her parents and younger brother, Joshua, for the five nights we spent in Batangas City. They were very hospitable people.
Sunday morning before the service, Brian and I both shared our testimonies during the service. In the afternoon, Brian led the Bible study for the junior church (middle school-aged kids). Sunday night CSF held a Youth Jam, where teenagers were invited in to play with the band and I shared the gospel with them.
Monday morning we went with Celso to a United Elders of Batangas City meeting. Every month the pastors and elders along with some church members from all denominations get together for fellowship. We were able to meet pastors from a few other churches and share what we are doing here in the Philippines. In the afternoon we went to a local Catholic school to share the gospel with a couple of high school classes. In the class that I was in all 17 of the kids prayed to receive Christ. Please pray for them because they all come from Catholic homes and appear to have no idea how to pray from their hearts. Monday night, CSF held a Musicians On Fire (MOF) event in Lemery. They invite any and all bands to come and play two or three songs and share the gospel and testimonies in between. They give complete freedom to the bands to play whatever they want. About eight bands showed up to play and there were between 75 and 100 people there in all. I shared my testimony and Brian shared the gospel. Then Pastor Celso invited anyone that wanted to to pray with him. About 15 people raised their hands to indicate that they had prayed with Celso and committed their lives to Christ. It was amazing to see what God did as neither Brian or I expected anything like that.
Tuesday Brian and I went and made some home visits with Pastor Celso. After dinner we played basketball with some of the youth and some workers from the bakery that Hanny's parents own. We were also able to share the gospel with them.
On Wednesday nights CSF has another worship service. It is a lot like their Sunday morning service, but there are some people that come that are gone on the weekends. We both were able to thank them for their hospitality and share some of what we learned there. Pastor Nelson Dangan was also there for the service.
This weekend Brian and I will split up and go to different ABP homes. Brian will go to ABP 3 in Molino and help out with the younger boys. I will go with Josh to ABP 2 in San Pedro and help with the older boys.
Sunday morning before the service, Brian and I both shared our testimonies during the service. In the afternoon, Brian led the Bible study for the junior church (middle school-aged kids). Sunday night CSF held a Youth Jam, where teenagers were invited in to play with the band and I shared the gospel with them.
Monday morning we went with Celso to a United Elders of Batangas City meeting. Every month the pastors and elders along with some church members from all denominations get together for fellowship. We were able to meet pastors from a few other churches and share what we are doing here in the Philippines. In the afternoon we went to a local Catholic school to share the gospel with a couple of high school classes. In the class that I was in all 17 of the kids prayed to receive Christ. Please pray for them because they all come from Catholic homes and appear to have no idea how to pray from their hearts. Monday night, CSF held a Musicians On Fire (MOF) event in Lemery. They invite any and all bands to come and play two or three songs and share the gospel and testimonies in between. They give complete freedom to the bands to play whatever they want. About eight bands showed up to play and there were between 75 and 100 people there in all. I shared my testimony and Brian shared the gospel. Then Pastor Celso invited anyone that wanted to to pray with him. About 15 people raised their hands to indicate that they had prayed with Celso and committed their lives to Christ. It was amazing to see what God did as neither Brian or I expected anything like that.
Tuesday Brian and I went and made some home visits with Pastor Celso. After dinner we played basketball with some of the youth and some workers from the bakery that Hanny's parents own. We were also able to share the gospel with them.
On Wednesday nights CSF has another worship service. It is a lot like their Sunday morning service, but there are some people that come that are gone on the weekends. We both were able to thank them for their hospitality and share some of what we learned there. Pastor Nelson Dangan was also there for the service.
This weekend Brian and I will split up and go to different ABP homes. Brian will go to ABP 3 in Molino and help out with the younger boys. I will go with Josh to ABP 2 in San Pedro and help with the older boys.
Pastors' Families Retreat
The retreat went really well. Ken Cross, the pastor at Sandhills Presbyterian Church in North Carolina, was the keynote speaker. While Brian, Josh and I led a couple of short Bible studies for the children. We were also able to get to hear most of Ken's messages. Overall, it was a very relaxing time for everyone. The pastors really seemed to enjoy the fellowship and the teaching from Ken.
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