Preaching in the Philippines August 19-21, 2023
Dear family, brethren, and friends,
All of Saturday was devoted to travel. A flight from Davao City took us to Manila. After a couple of hours, another ;plane brought us to Zamboanga City, Zamboanga del Sur on the island of Mindanao. Alvin Miguel met us at the airport. By the time we got settled into our hotel, it was getting dark, and Alvin guided us to a restaurant noted for excellent seafood. This is my first time to return here in about 20 years. At times it has not been safe because of Muslim rebels, but things are peaceful now. Ramon Carino was with us last time and he took me to the cathedral where a group of fanatical Catholics including himself gathered Bibles to burn.
Because of the large attendance expected, the saints the Canelar church arranged for worship and lectures for two days at a rented function room. On the Lord’s Day 126 souls filled this large room at 8:00 A.M. including about 40 visitors. “From Wretched Man to More Than Conquerors” was the first study. After worship and a short break, I preached on “The Resurrection of Christ.” After lunch, we reconvened to study “Nailed to the Cross,” showing that Christ offered himself as a perfect sacrifice for sin and replaced the Old Covenant with the gospel.
The next lesson was “When Peter Confessed Christ,” a textual study of Matthew 16:13-19 and the coming of the New Testament church. The open forum covered a very wide range of questions about the plan of salvation, about worship, and about various false religions. It has not been necessary to translate the sermons, but some of the answers in the open forum were translated for clarity.
Our lectures continued Monday with another full house of very attentive brethren and visitors. 40 visitors were invited and attended. Before our first session today, three young ladies from ages 19 to 14 were baptized into Christ. For their sakes and for all of us, my first sermon was “Finish the Race.” Part of maintaining a right relationship with God is maintaining a right relationship with our family. This was stressed in the next lesson on “Marriage: God’s Gift to Man and Woman.”
Within the previous 12 hours I noticed my energy level plummeting and this morning my stomach was upset. I consulted with Dr. Teresa Toreja in Manila and she said the symptoms point to a bacterial infection and she sent prescription for several medicines. I asked Jonathan Carino to take the first slot after lunch so that I could rest a full hour – but it turned into two hours and I had to drag myself out of bed to preach a final lesson entitled “The Gospel Makes Us Right with God.”
Jonathan had preached and conducted an open forum during the two hours I was away, so after my lesson it was time for “picture taking.” No Filipino event is complete without “picture taking.”
I ate breakfast with some difficulty but have taken virtually no other food today (I have been drinking liquids when possible but even this makes my stomach uncomfortable). I slept another hour after returning to my room and then ate a bowl of soup. I am still quite tired and will go to bed quite early tonight in the hope the extra rest will help resolve this setback.
Two additional precious souls confessed Christ and were baptized to wash away their sins after the last session.
The brethren here have worked very hard to prepare and to invite people from far and wide – it has been a success in every way. I was here about 20 years ago, so I told them I hope it will not be another 20 years until I see them again – I will be 97 by that time!
Ron Halbrook
To see good Bible study material, go to:
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