Dear family, brethren, and friends around the world,

Monday morning we flew from Manila to Puerto Princesa City on the island of Palawan.  Dario Belviz and a large delegation of saints met us at the airport and brought us to the hotel where we will stay and conduct this week’s classes.  Many have come from great distances at their own expense, even from other islands, to attend.  I have been doing this type work long enough to learn to pity the host because a heavy load falls on him in making all the arrangements for an adequate place to conduct such studies and also to accommodate the brethren who gather.  Dario is faithfully fulfilling these duties with the help of several brethren without complain.

Normally, Steven and Jim prefer to have three full days for the singing classes, but today we started at 1:30 P.M. after traveling from Manila.  This first day I did not preach in order to let them maximize their time and relieve some of the pressure of losing half a day.  Actually, this was a blessing for me because the time spent in my room studying and resting allowed me to apply medication to my toes and to stay off my feet.  Perhaps the infection has slowed the healing process, but the wounds are closing up little by little (thank you for your prayers!).
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Dear family, brethren, and friends around the world,

By the grace of God, the time for my 72nd preaching trip to the Philippines arrived on Tuesday.  After completing all the details necessary for the trip, I was blessed to have almost two hours to sleep.  The lights from Louisville to Detroit to Tokyo, Japan to Manila all went well.  At Detroit Jm Barnett (evangelist from Hope, N.M.) and Steven Saunders (evangelist from Macon, MO) joined me for their third Philippine trip.  They are talented song leaders and bring valuable talents for teaching song leaders.  We checked into our hotel about 10:30 P.M. Wednesday, thankful for God’s providence in giving us safe travel.  I went immediately to the exercise room for a 45 minute workout, which helps me recover from the 27 hour trip.

Thursday morning several Filipino brethren met us at the hotel to re-pack six boxes loaded with materials for singing classes and assorted Bible study materials.  All these materials are relayed ahead to our destinations and are distributed at the various venues during our visits.  The rest of the day was present with miscellaneous duties such as visiting the money changer, and then reviewing lessons for the next day of teaching.
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Dear brethren,

Below is some information about the next Philippine preaching trip planned for November 27-December 18.  Funds for this trip have been slow to come in, especially in view of our concentrated efforts to find financial help for Filipino victims of the super Typhoon Mangkhut (also called Ompong) which hit Luzon on September 15.  Thank you for the generous response to their emergency needs for food, medicines, and repair of their houses.

I must now begin to focus on the preaching trip coming up next month as outlined below.  Also please read the appeal from Steven Saunders below regarding his preparations for the trip.
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Aug. 3, 2018^th Year of Our Lord
HALBROOK REPORT: 71^st PHILIPPINE TRIP JULY 3-AUGUST 2, 2018

Dear brethren,                               

God’s good providence first brought me to preach Christ in the Philippines in 1995 with Jim McDonald and the 71^st trip was completed July 3-August 2.  It was a memorable trip working with Filipino saints who are such an inspiration and having Zach and Taya Martin make their first trip.  Zach effectively proclaimed the gospel and Taya effectively taught ladies’ classes.  He is back in medical school and she is back teaching school, but they will be long remembered by Filipino brethren.  The Philippine fields are white unto harvest because so many souls seek God in the spirit of Psalm 63:1, “O God, thou art my God; early will I seek thee: my soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee in a dry and thirsty land, where no water is.”  I taught 60 lessons and 18 precious souls confessed Christ and were baptized.

Elias Cruz, Sammy Paet, and Jhun Gumpad met us at the hotel in Manila on July 5 to re-pack and ship ahead the 10 boxes of Bibles and study materials we brought to distribute.  July 6-7 I preached a series on “The Bible Is the Word of God” at Kaptibahayn, Navotas with Jerry Toreja. This series proves we have all the original 66 books of the Bible and why the Apocrypha, the pseudepigrapha, and so-called “lost books” are not included in God’s Word.  Zach’s sermons and Taya’s ladies’ classes were well received.  Zach learned about Philippine medical practice by spending time with Dr. Teresa Toreja, and later with Dr. Cathy Forelo.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,

I made it back home safely by God’s good grace.  The flight from Manila to Tokyo went fine, and from Tokyo to Detroit we encountered turbulence, but I arrived in Louisville, KY about 5:30 PM Thursday as planned.

This has been another heart warming and uplifting trip working with Filipino saints who serve the Lord by faith, hope, and love.  They are an inspiration.

It was also uplifting to have Zach and Taya Martin join with us in the work of the Lord on Luzon.  They were greatly blessed in meeting so many Filipino brethren
and they will never forget them.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends around the world,

On the Lord’s Day we worshiped with Ben Canada in the small newly constructed church building at Kiblawan, Davao del Sur.  My morning sermon was on “Salvation: Amazing, Astonishing” (Isa. 52:13-15).  We were blessed with visitors from denominations who are retired school teachers, servicemen, and policemen who have been studying with Ben and were very attentive all day.  One man took notes constantly.

The weather is quite hot again and I was soaked in sweat before lunch time – a small price for such a wonderful privilege.  After the lunch break I preached on “How Sinners Receive Salvation” (Rom. 10:1-17).   Comparing this passage with Mark 16:15-16, Acts 2, Acts 8:35-39, and Acts 22:16 proves that men “call on the name of the Lord” to receive salvation when they submit by faith to Christ in water baptism.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends around the world,
                                                            
Wednesday morning we drove from Davao City to Kitakal, Malungon in the province of Sraangani.  Our trip of 2 ½ hours took us from the heavy traffic of Davao to winding roads in the edge of the mountains.  The morning gathering was set aside for me to conduct a wedding ceremony for Dondon Dacayona and Sel Sandoval (they previously had a simple ceremony to satisfy legal requirements, but our purpose was to focus on God’s Word).  My lesson on “Marital Love” summarized the Song of Solomon and made applications showing how to cultivate love in the home.  They have a custom of pinning a light veil over the bride’s head, indicating husband will lead, protect, and provide for her.  To stress the indissoluble nature of the union, a light cord encircles the necks of both parties and connects them.

After lunch I preached “When Peter Confessed Christ” (Matt. 16:13-19), showing that Christ gathers souls as his church based on his divine nature and authority as the Son of God, not based on Peter as the first Pope.  The role of Peter with all of the Apostles was to simply preach the gospel of Christ, thus bringing them to Christ the Savior, the Rock of our salvation.
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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.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends around the world,

Our Tuesday, July 17, started in a leisurely way because the morning was free and we did not fly from Laoag City to Manila until 2:10 P.M. – then we were supposed to change planes and arrive in Cebu City on Cebu Island by 7:30 P.M.  Oh, well!  As it turned out our day lasted about 19 hours because the heavy evening rains delayed and backed up so many flights waiting to leave Manila.  By God’s grace, we finally arrived in Cebu City and were met by Jonathan and Kristopher Carino who took us to our hotel.  I got to bed about 2:00 A.M. Wednesday.  To say we all slept well is an understatement, but all is well that ends well.

Two days of lessons on “The Bible Is the Word of God” were planned for Cebu City, beginning Wednesday.  We slept a little late because the classes did not begin until 10:00 A.M. to allow time for brethren coming from distant places to arrive.  Zach got us off to a great start with his study in Acts 8 of Philip and the Ethiopian official.  At the same time Taya conducted morning classes for 36 ladies.  And meanwhile my first lesson was on “The Glory of God” proclaimed in the creation and in Scripture, based on Psalm 19.  There were 30 men in attendance as we taught.
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