Dear family, brethren, and friends,

On the Lord’s Day, April 24, Rex Bayaca brought me to the church meeting at Escoda, Marcos, Ilocos Norte while Craig went to Banna with Elizer Villanueva (and later to Elizabeth West with Remigio Vicente).  Vic Domingo was one of the pioneer preachers in this region and he planted the gospel here.  I have been visiting the Escoda church for about 20 years.  The church building has been under construction and improvement during all of those years thanks to the sacrifices of these saints and additional financial help from saints in the U.S. at times.  I can remember worshiping here with bats hanging from the exposed rafters.

This is a rural community, but well over 200 people assembled with us as I preached the sermon “Work While It Is Day” (Jn. 9:4).  Rex translated the lesson in the local dialect because some older brethren do not understand English well.  Sister Domingo is still living and provided a wonderful lunch as she has done so many times through the years.

In the afternoon I traveled to Palyas Vintar where Christian Agapay labors in the gospel.  Mat Sibayan, Jr. arrived from Manila where his son had just been released from the hospital after one month, and Junior translated as I preached again “Work While It Is Day.”  Mat, Sr. was another one of the pioneers in the Ilocos region.  It is a great joy to see many brethren I have known through the years after this two year absence because of covid.  There was even more rejoicing because two young ladies responded to the gospel call and were immediately baptized into Christ.

Monday was devoted to a one-day lectureship at Parado, Dingras, Ilocos Norte where Warner Macusi continues the work of his father, another one of the early preachers here.  His widow is still with us and it was uplifting to see she is still able to be active in serving the Lord.  50-60 people attended as Craig taught the five basic facts of life and also a sermon on enduring trials from James 1.  I preached on “True Repentance” and “Marriage: Joined by God” (Gen. 2:24).

There were four responses to the invitation for sinners to come to the cross of Christ to have their sins washed away.  Two confessed Christ as the Son of God in order to be baptized for the remission of their sins.  The other two were Christians who had fallen into sin.  One is a preacher whose wife died over two years ago and Satan had used his loneliness as an occasion to lead him to commit fornication.  The other is a lady who has been a Christian only a short time and she also confessed the sin of fornication.  Both came with tears of sorrow and we prayed God to cleanse them in the blood of Christ like the case of Simon in Acts 8:20-24.  The angels of heaven rejoice with us.

We had a very fruitful open forum covering various topics, especially some of the difficulties encountered when someone alleges that his mate has committed fornication. What kind of evidence is needed and how will it be obtained?  Solomon himself could not unravel some of the knotty problems which can arise in such cases.  There are certainly cases where the evidence is abundant, but some cases will have to be settled by God Himself in the end of time.

I pointed to three factors that will help people trying to deal with these issues: 1. The gospel works on the moral basis of persuasion, so we will keep teaching the truth and appealing for people to believe and obey God.  2. Patience results in evidence coming to light which was not expected.  3. Divine providence is always working with us and God has many ways to help us when we do not know what to do.

That night I went to the hotel desk while things were quiet to settle the bill and almost immediately got into a 30 minute discussion with the attendant about the gospel.  She is Catholic but has been reading the Bible and searching for the truth.  She knows something is missing in her life.  I pointed out some differences between the teaching of the Bible and the Catholic catechism and she was amazed.  I gave her a copy of the very effective foldout tract by James R. Cope on ‘The One True Church” and gave her a contact number of a gospel preacher so she can study with our brethren.  This is why I come to the Philippines.  Hungry souls are searching, searching for the truth!  Thank you for helping me to come!

Sunday and Monday the summer heat and humidity took its toll and I recognized symptoms of dehydration such as an unsettled stomach and exhaustion.  By consulting with Dr. Teresa Toreja in Manila and Joven Daynos in Laoag City, I was able to get the medicines needed to start the process of rehydration Tuesday morning.

Craig and I said our goodbyes to a good number of brethren who saw us off at the Laoag City airport and we flew to Manila for the last leg of our work in the Philippines on this trip.  Feeling exhausted, I slept soundly on the flight.  Tonight I ate a light supper consisting of fruit and salad with a small serving of fish.  Craig’s stomach was a little uneasy for awhile, but he keeps soldiering on.  It is a joy working with him.  His lessons are true to God’s Book and are presented in an excellent manner, and he is a very congenial co-laborer.

Our last day of preaching was the Edsa-Pasay lectures on Wednesday in Metro Manila.  Rody Gumpad planted this church in December of 2013 to help Christians from the provinces working in Manila to have a place to worship in a central location.  James Paet is currently doing an effective work with this church as they struggle to overcome the complications of the covid era.  Many Christians lost their jobs because of the lockdown policy and returned to their home provinces, but the attendance is gradually growing again.

James expected about 50 to attend today, but the attendance reached 97 including the deaf mute saints. Our lessons were signed for their benefit.  One brother and his wife came all the way from the Sarangani Province way down in Mindanao.  Craig taught the five basic facts of life and a lesson of encouragement.  My presentations were “True Repentance,” “Marriage: Joined by God,” and “Preserving Unity in Christ.”  There was good participation in the open forum including several questions from our deaf mute brethren. One brother asked Craig to explain the meaning of eternity – whew, I was glad for Craig to have that question!  How do creatures of time explain existence in the absence of time?  I told someone earlier today that I always pass the difficult questions to Craig.

Craig and I thank God for the wonderful opportunities given to us today to teach His Holy Word to such attentive souls, especially our deaf mute brethren.  May God bless us all to be faithful to the end so that we will spend eternity together with God in heaven!

Today is Thursday in the Philippines and we must bid this fair land adieu.  Entry into the U.S. requires a negative covid test, so Craig and I went to a clinic at 8:00 A.M. for that purpose.  After the test, we had a late breakfast and at 10:30 James Paet brought us to the Philippine Bible Society where I purchased 3,876 Bibes at a cost of $35,462, by far the most Bibles I have ever purchased.  I had expected to spend about $25,000 but was flooded with requests after this two year absence.  I handled it by using two credit cards and I will resolve it by God’s grace with the help of His saints.  Some of you have already donated funds for this purpose and I will see how much money we have on hand for Bibles when I return home.  What a joy and a privilege to share in this great work of sending so many Bibles in various Filipino dialects throughout the Philippines where precious souls hunger for God’s Holy Word!

Our day was made complete by meeting a couple who have escaped the errors of the International Christian Church (ICC), a faction from the old Crossroads Movement, which uses various forms of high pressure and psychological manipulation in the name of “discipleship.”  Many Filipinos have been deceived by the various factions emanating from this movement reaching back to the 1960’s, and many are finding their way out of these factions little by little.  Our corresponding finally led to an opportunity to meet each other personally.  We shared a lunch of blueberry pancakes at the Pancake House, best pancakes in the world, and then Craig and I returned to our hotel to prepare for the long trip home.

Today it is evident the medicines have worked well and I seem to be overcoming the symptoms of dehydration.  Thank you to all who have been praying for us.

Please pray for us as we board our plane at 11:50 P.M. so that we will have a safe return to our loved ones, and pray for all of our Filipino brethren who are pressing forward to serve the Lord.

In Christian love,
Ron Halbrook

To see good Bible study material, go to:
https://www.hebronlanechurchofchrist.com
https://biblework.congregateclients.com
https://truthbooks.com
https://www.truthmagazine.com