Dear family, brethren, and friends around the world,
                                                            
Zach and Taya flew back home on Saturday, July 21, and I received word the next day of their safe arrival, with much thanksgiving.  After their departure I took a flight to Davao City, arriving at 3:30 P.M.  I contacted brother and sister Juanito Balbin and Connie and his family, and they joined me for a pizza supper along with Happy Mae, Connie’s sister.  After exercising and preparing for the next day, I got to bed about 12:30 A.M.

I joined the worship assembly on the Lord’s Day at Lower Madapo in Davao City with Robert Agsao.  This church is located in a squatters’ community right next to a huge Catholic cemetery.  There was a good rain last night and the little path into the community had standing water and mud, but we made our way to the church building.  Including children and seven visitors, there were over 60 in attendance as I preached on “Trust God Till the Danger Passes” (Ps. 57).  Everyone was very attentive.  Robert gave a short summary in the Cebuano dialect.

After dismissal, Robert and I went into his small house because he wanted to catch me up on opportunities he has been given.  When I was here two years ago, I met his daughter and her Norwegian husband.  He and I had a good relationship – his wife is a Christian but he has not obeyed the gospel.  Robert visited them in Bergen, Norway and gathered several people to start a congregation. He is wrestling with whether to move there where few obey the gospel or to continue his fruitful work here.  The Norwegian government will support him to preach, but I advised against that arrangement because he who pays the piper calls the tune!  I do not know if funds could be found to support him in Norway, but he is a very competent man.  We prayed for God’s providence to guide him in the right direction where he can serve best.
                                                                                                                        
This afternoon Juanito Balbin took me into the mountains to a point where we could see further in the mountains where brethren are introducing the gospel to souls hearing it for the first time.  In these remote areas, some of the people are associated with the New People’s Army (NPA), the armed wing of the Communist Party, but they are being converted and are laying down their arms.  This area is accessible only by horseback or motorcycle.  Connie Balbin went there to the area of Mondo Hill and Malikongkong today and baptized 10 souls in a river.

Tonight I preached at the 7:00 P.M. worship at the New Matina church in downtown Davao City where Juanito Balbin has preached for many years.  This service is held especially to accommodate brethren who have jobs which prevent them from worshiping at the A.M. assembly – about 40-50 attended.  The sermon was on “The Tree of Life: Lost and Found” (Rev. 22:1-2).

The two day preachers training series began Monday in Davao City on the theme “The Bible Is the Word of God.”  Jack Jaco taught the first lesson giving an introduction and summary of the Bible’s message.  This generated some good discussion clarifying some matters such as the fact that the modern state of Israel has no relationship to the biblical nation of Israel and does not represent the fulfillment of any Bible prophecy.  Next, I preached on “The Glory of God” from Psalm 19.  We are renting a room in a facility called Homitory which has air conditioned function rooms for lectures with tables where brethren can spread their Bibles and notes.  There were 50 present for the first day’s session.

After lunch Don Masaba spoke on the importance of obedient faith, followed by my study of “The Inspiration and Authority of Scripture.”  There was a short break, after which came my last lesson for today entitled “The Writing and Canon of Scripture,” showing how the 66 books of the Bible were given by God, then circulated and organized, so that nothing has been added or lost.

The open forum ran another 45 minutes with a wide range of questions especially relating to translations of the Bible.  Since the gospel must go to all nations by the mandate of Christ, translations are necessary.  The Apostles were immersed in the power of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost, and one of the miraculous gifts they received was the gift of preaching in languages they did not know.  Some of the best English translations are the King James Version, The New King James Version, the American Standard Version, The New American Standard Version, and then the New International Version and the English Standard Version for comparative study.

Some young men asked when we will return to conduct five days of preacher training as is sometimes done.  There is always a good spirit of seeking to learn more about the Bible when classes are held here in Davao City.

AND, I finally saw the moon in all its glory tonight – the next best thing to seeing my loved ones back home!  The moon keeps us connected like a long-distance call.

The weather is really cooperating with mild summer temperatures in the high 80’s with enough cloud cover to soften the heat.  Jack Jaco started the classes Tuesday by teaching on the importance of following the Bible as our authority in all religious matters.  Then I discussed at length “The Apocrypha and Other False Scriptures.”  After a short Q & A period, we broke for lunch.

In the afternoon Jonathan preached about the identity of the New Testament church.  My two afternoon studies focused on evidences of “The Bible: God’s Only True Word,” and I contrasted the glaring absence of evidence for such false religions as Islam, Catholicism, Buddhism, denominationalism, and the occult.

The open forum generated fruitful discussion about how God makes the evidence for the truth available to all men if only they will seek Him.  I also exposed the false claim that the God the Bible and the God of Islam are the same God.  Muslims claim Jews, Christians, and Muslims all trace their history back to the God of Abraham, but they claim to be descended from Ishmael, overlooking that the God of Abraham demanded that Ishmael be cast out.  The seed promise continued through Isaac, not Ishmael.  There are hundreds of thousands of Muslims here on Mindanao, so it was good that this question arose.

A leading preacher from the one-container faction attended and brother Juanito Balbin asked me to offer any comments which might help to clarify whether Jesus made a law requiring that we drink the grape juice from a common container in partaking the Lord’s Supper.  First, I assured our visitor that he was a welcomed guest and thanked him for coming.  Then I pointed out that when Jesus gave thanks for the cup in Matthew 26:26-29, he focused on the meaning and power of his blood as represented by the fruit of the vine, not on the container.  Also in Luke 22:17-18 Jesus told the disciples to “divide” the cup and drink it in memory of him – meaning they each received a share of “the fruit of the vine,” not a piece of the container.  Jesus gave no instructions regarding how many containers to use in distributing the grape juice.  There comments were well received and later our visitor and I had our picture taken together.

At the end of the class, two tables were joined and assorted Bibles and study materials were spread out so that everyone could select whatever they wanted to take home for further study. Many kind expressions were made about the value of the series presented because our brethren here had never heard lessons on the canon of Scripture.  I likewise expressed my heartfelt gratitude for the work being done by brother Balbin and his family with all the saints here in Davao City.

Tonight the sky was almost perfectly clear and thus the moon was crystal clear – the beautiful handiwork of God!

In Christian love,
Ron Halbrook

To see good Bible study material, go to:
http://www.HebronChurchOfChrist.com
http://www.biblework.com
http://www.truthmagazine.com
http://www.CEIbooks.com