Dear family, brethren, and friends,

I slept about nine hours Friday night, which is not at all typical for me, but maybe it will help my body make the 12 hour time change.  Saturday morning was spent catching up on some email (cannot get it all done), and learning how to use the iCloud to connect pictures on my camera to my laptop (with guidance from Kevin Stilts via a lengthy phone call – thank you, brother!).

After lunch I went to the airport to fly to Bacolod City in the province of Negros Occidental on the island of Negros.  Since there are not enough gates at the Manila airport to accommodate all of the domestic flights, a bus took us out to board the plane on the tarmac.  The covers on one of the jet engines were wide open with technicians working on both sides of it, which was not very reassuring as we boarded!  The travel time from the Manila terminal to the Bacolod terminal was about two hours and the flight was late, but it was a delight to finally Jack Jaco’s smiling face again at last.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,

The Philippine preaching trip scheduled for November 29-December 20 is now in progress.  By God’s grace my flights on Tuesday-Wednesday from Louisville to Manila were safe in spite of 120 mph headwinds from Detroit to South Korea which caused turbulence and delay.  As often happens, a Catholic Filipino sitting next to me became interested in my comments about the church of Christ going back to the basics of the original teaching of Christ and he asked for my contact number.  I was glad to finally fall into bed at 2:00 A.M. Thursday.

By the way, the temperature was 85 degrees when the plane landed at almost midnight – and I forgot to bring my overcoat and snowshoes  for this freeezing winter weather! 🙂
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Dear brethren,

Jim McDonald blessed me by taking me to the Philippines in 1995 and my 79^th trip was completed August 2-31.  Mark Mayberry from Alvin, TX joined me on the 10^th and Trey Torno from McKinney, TX participated August 10-22 for the Mindanao leg of our trip.  (Aug. 2-30 Keith Greer worked with Rody Gumpad on Luzon.)  I taught 62 lessons – Mark taught a like number of lessons, plus lessons by Trey – and 141 submitted to Christ in baptism for the remission of their sins through these combined efforts.

3,000 obeyed the gospel on Pentecost and the church immediately faced many benevolence needs.  “And all that believed were together, and had all things common;  And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need” (Acts 2:44-45).  16 earthquakes hit Mindanao October 2019 – May 2020 .  Hundreds of saints in remote areas lost their homes.  Saints in the Philippines, the U.S., and other nations have been sending funds to meet this unique emergency.  Our sermons aimed to edify these saints. We can verify that men such as Julie Notarte, Franklin Isla, Salvador Parbo, Nardo Francisco, Jolly Julom, Connie Balbin and others have been doing their best to handle the benevolence funds in an honorable and effective manner.  As donations permit we will try to complete this work as best we can.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,

The 79^th Philippine trip was completed successfully by God’s good grace today.  Mark Mayberry and I returned to our loved ones this afternoon (Trey Torno and Keith Greer arrived home ahead of us).

This has been another profitable and fruitful trip in every way — thanks to many Filipino brethren who welcome us, work with us, and keep us safe.  We are also very thankful to all of the saints who donate funds and offer prayers to make our work fruitful and safe.

Above all, we thank God for opening these doors and giving us safe passage as He has guided us to precious souls who love and seek for the truth.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,

Our flight Thursday from Davao City to Manila was safe and we both slept from exhaustion. Friday we studied and rested some but also spent a couple of hours at the Manila American Cemetery and Memorial where about 54,000 Americans and Filipinos who died in WW II are commemorated with gravestones and inscriptions on huge limestone panels. By God’s providence one result of the war was that doors were opened for preaching the gospel here. God is still reaping a great harvest of precious souls in this land.

On Saturday Mark preached at the congregation in Sta. Maria, Bulacan all day and 13 souls obeyed the gospel. James Paet drove me to Vican, North Caloocan City where 52 people gathered to hear lessons on “From Wretched Man to More Than Conqueror,” “To Seek and Save the Lost,” “Young People, Read the Bible,” and “Finish the Race.” After an open forum, 5 souls who confessed Christ were immersed in a barrel of water.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,

Julie Notarte took Trey to visit several churches Thursday and they harvested 12 more souls who obeyed the gospel of Christ.  It is important to remember that we are not baptizing these people after preaching one or two lessons, but they have been studying and learning at the feet of Filipino preachers – we are simply shaking the tree and helping to catch the apples which fall.

Mark and I were taken by Frank Isla to the New Matina church in Davao City where Juanito Balbin has preached for many years with the assistance of his sons – and now his youngest son, Connie, is helping him.  About 100 people including many preachers gathered for all-day preaching.  I preached “From Wretched Man to More Than Conquerors” to open the service, followed by Mark’s presentation of two sermons on lessons we learn from faithful Abraham.  My final topic was “Finish the Race (2 Tim. 4:7-8).”
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,

Monday, August 15, we left our hotel in General Santos City and drove three hours to reach an area in the mountains which had been hit hard by the earthquakes.  About 200 people welcomed us at the church at Maibo, Magsaysay, Davao del Sur.  Their building had been destroyed and rebuilt at a better location.  Their typical Sunday attendance is 180.  I preached from Psalm 23 and Mark discussed faithfulness to the Lord in short lessons because saints were waiting for us in other places.

While Trey preached I surveyed about 60 of the houses which were rebuilt or repaired with benevolence funds sent by our brethren including many who are reading this report.  I did not have time to see every house but saw many in every stage of repair or construction.  I saw similar houses at the other places we visited today.  Many saints expressed their heartfelt gratitude for the help they received and I made it clear that many donors sacrificed to make it possible, and I merely served as their messenger.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,

Thursday night while walking I finally saw the moon peek out behind the clouds where it has been hiding since I arrived in the Philippines.  Spread the good news!  After all this time it is confirmed that global cooling has not frozen it, global warming has not melted it, and climate change has not changed it.  As God ordained from the beginning, it is shining as beautifully as ever, fulfilling its purpose – and reminding those of us separated by great distances that we all can see the same moon.

Friday morning, August 12, we set out in a van to preach at Kitakal, Malungon, Sarangani Province where Dondon Cadayona labors in the gospel.  This church is located along the highway about an hour from General Santos City.  Over 100 people were gathered inside and outside the church building as I preached “From Wretched Man to More Than Conquerors.”
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,

The appointment to preach on Monday, August 8, was with the Phase 6 church in Caloocan City in Metro Manila   where Andrew Romero labors in the gospel.  After we drove two hours to reach the place, ninety-four souls were present to hear sermons entitled “From Wretched Man to More Than Conquerors” and “Work While It Is Day (Jn. 9:4)” in the morning session.  After lunch by request I taught “Navigating the Present Distress (1 Cor. 7:26),” followed by “I Will Sing unto the Lord (Ex. 15:1).”  The open forum covered a variety of good questions.  When we sang the invitation song, four young ladies stepped forward to confess Christ and submit to him in baptism.

Overcast skies and rain mitigated the heat again today, but at the end of the day my clothes were wringing wet with sweat.  Monsoon rains and a low pressure system east of the Philippines are keeping much of Luzon and Mindanao covered with thunder storms and showers.  While it mitigates the heat, it raises the potential for flooding and landslides.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,

My 79^th Philippine trip got underway August 2-4.  The flights on Tuesday-Wednesday went well from Louisville, Kentucky to Detroit, Michigan, on to Seoul-Incheon, South Korea, and finally to Manila in the Philippines.  Keith Greer arrived safely with me but flew a different route on the first two legs of the journey.

Thursday morning Elias Cruz, James Paet, and several other Filipino brethren joined Keith and me at our hotel to help us repack the 8 boxes of Bibles and study materials to ship ahead to the venues where I will preach.  Then we visited the money changer and made other preparations to begin our work.

Early Friday morning Keith flew to Tuguegarao City, Cagayan to labor with Rody Gumpad and many other preachers in northern Luzon.

Friday I visited the church at Kapitbahayan, Navotas to preach with Elias Cruz. Thirty-nine souls heard my lessons entitled “From Wretched Man to More Than Conqueror” (Rom 7:24, 8:37)” and “Navigating the Present Distress” (1 Cor. 7:26).  The first lesson recounts how God delivers us from the miserable life of a sinner to become more than conquerors in Christ.  The second sermon considers Bible principles which guide us as we make decisions in times of danger and distress.  I hoped this study might open a door to resolve the split that occurred over issues related to covid. The study was well received and was followed by a good open forum session.
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