Dear family, brethren, and friends,

Friday morning, I flew from Manila to Tuguegarao, Cagayan (a province in northeast Luzon) where Jerome Forelo, Mark Daquioag, and Jay Gumpad met me.  We traveled west a few hours to reach Ballesteros on the Pacific Ocean or the Philippine Sea.  About a dozen preachers were waiting for us at the home of Fidelfin Miranda, where his wife served a delicious meal.

After working on lessons for tomorrow and on email, I was blessed to take a power walk for an hour on a new road or boulevard running next to the ocean.  My body complained about this vigorous exercise because I have not been able to walk like this since leaving home, but it gave me a good night of rest and renewed stamina for the next day.

It rained steadily all night with strong and gusting winds, so we had to dodge downed limbs and other debris on the roads Saturday as we went to preach at the Cabaritan West church of Christ where Jun labors.  Well over 155 souls filled the building and extra chairs were brought in. There must have been 50 young people present — what a wonderful opportunity!  After the lessons entitled “Young People, Read the Bible” and “The Prison of Sin” (which were summarized in the dialect by Jerome), two people came forward to confess Christ and submit to him in baptism in the sea.

The afternoon found us at the Payagan West church where Johnson Ramil serves as an evangelist and 78 souls heard my study of “Assurance by Faith.”  Two more souls were baptized into Christ in the waters of a nearby rice field.  Heaven rings with praises and rejoicing today!  A heavy overcast sky with more rain and some high wind made the day feel wintery even for an American.

On the Lord’s Day we drove to the San Carlos church of Christ in Sta. Marcela in the Province of Apayao to work with Sammy Vargas and the other saints there.  In spite of his severe health problems, he presses on in the work of an evangelist,  even sitting to preach, while also taking very expensive treatments for his liver disease.  A few years ago doctors told him he would live only a few months, but God’s loving providence has extended his life and service in the kingdom.

58 souls assembled for worship and heard the lesson “Finish the Race.”  Jerome summarized the study in their local dialect.  During the invitation song we were blessed to see five precious souls come forward to confess Christ and to submit to him in water baptism to wash away their sins in the blood of the Lamb!

In the afternoon, we drove to Nararagan, Ballasteros in the Province of Cagayan where Sammy and others have been laboring to save souls and plant new congregation of saints.  Six have obeyed the gospel and the brethren meet every Sunday under a makeshift extension with poles and a plastic covering at the front of a member’s house.  Since we have been having rain the whole time, some folks had to shift around to avoid dripping water.

About 35-40 people attended as we studied a lesson based on Psalm 23, “God Is Our Shepherd and King,” making a connection to John 10 where Jesus is “the good shepherd.”  Jerome summarized the sermon and we sang a song inviting people to come to Christ.  Two decided to obey him in baptism for the remission of their sins.  The church now has eight members and the angels are singing with us the praises of God!

We drove several hours back to Tuguegarao and I enjoyed staying overnight with Rody and Tessie Gumpad.  We shared a delicious supper with the Stilts family at Tessie’s table.  Rody, Tessie, and I went to a park that has a walking track and walked for about an hour under a beautiful moon – the rain did not immediately follow us back to Tuguegarao, thankfully!

Today is Monday in the Philippines.  I took an early morning flight to Manila and am preparing to board a plane for Australia at 2:45 AM, God willing.  May God bless all of our loved ones in Christ who help to make this work possible!

In Christian love,
Ron Halbrook