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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Dear family, brethren, and friends around the world,

We were blessed when a typhoon headed for the Philippines turned north out at sea, but Luzon has received a lot of rain.  We were worried that our Tuesday, July 10,  flight from Manila to Tuguegarao, Cagayan in northern Luzon might be cancelled, but instead the flight left Manila on time and arrived in Tuguegarao 25 minutes ahead of schedule.  Rody, Tessie, and Jay Gumpad along with Jerome Forelo warmly welcomed us.

After checking in at the hotel, we shared a late lunch, then rested.  Zach and I made our way on foot through the congested traffic and thick clouds of fumes to the track and field stadium of Cagayan State University where we walked for an hour. The heat should have been unbearable at this time of day, but dark clouds and strong winds moved in to cool the atmosphere, though it never rained.
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May 1, 2018^th Year of Our Lord
HALBROOK REPORT: 70^th PHILIPPINE TRIP APRIL 3-MAY 1, 2018

Dear brethren,                               

I thank God at the completion of my 70^th Philippine trip April 3-May 1. God brought me first in 1995 with Jim McDonald. God provided Mark Mayberry to come for his 6^th time beginning on April 11.  We visited churches to preach on a variety of themes and gathered brethren for intensive classes.  Our aim was to saturate souls with God’s Word, “according as his divine power hath given unto us all things that pertain unto life and godliness, through the knowledge of him that hath called us to glory and virtue” (2 Pet. 1:3).  I taught 70 lessons and 27 precious souls yielded to Christ by obedient faith by being baptized.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,

A wonderful loving patient God guided Mark Mayberry and me safely through another Philippine preaching trip April 3-May 1 (Mark arrived Apr. 11–not May 11, which would put him on an advanced time machine, wrongly noted in the first report I sent an hour ago).  After almost 24 hours of travel, I am finally home with Donna again and Mark Mayberry is home with Sherelyn.  We traveled together as far as Japan and then took separate flights.

It was enjoyable for Mark and me to work together again and both of us find great inspiration in working with devoted Filipino saints.  In addition to the good work done by Mark, I taught 70 times and 27 souls turned from Satan to Christ, submitting to him in baptism for the remission of their sins.  We taught week-long classes at Cabanatuan City on The Home and Family and at Navotas in Metro Manila on the book of Revelation.  None of this work would have been possible without the diligent day-in and day-out labors of Filipino Christians.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends around the world,

The Thursday classes in studying Then Comes the End were fruitful again. Mark Mayberry taught on the Judgment Day and also a separate lesson on the text of Matthew 25.  Jonathan Carino spoke on hell and then on errors of millennial theories.  My topics were heaven, realized eschatology (the doctrine that the end of all things occurred when Jerusalem fell in A.D. 70), and errors of the rapture doctrine.  All the teachers were able to give some time for Q & A which the class always enjoys.  Interest continues to run high!

The last day of classes was Friday and Mark reviewed false theories about the millennium.  I then made a review and summary entitled “Premillennialism Undermines the One Hope” (Eph. 4:1-6).  This doctrine changes the original teaching of Christ at many points, both by adding (such things as “end time” signs, Jews return to Canaan, the 1,000 year earthly reign of Christ, etc.) and by subtracting (such as the claim that the promised kingdom of peace has not yet come, etc.).  The three teachers then jointly conducted an open forum for an hour which led to several clarifications.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends around the world,

Having finished the classes on the home and family at Cabanatuan City, we traveled by van back to Manila on Saturday, April 21. Sammy Paet again was our expert driver in the vehicle of Jun Bautista.  A terrible accident nearly occurred just immediately in front of us along the way, but at the last moment it was avoided.  Even though the trip took a very tiring five hours, we thank God for His mercy in giving us safe travel – and we thank all of you who are praying for us!  After arriving here in Manila, we took exercise and made our preparation for the next day’s appointments.

Mark spoke during the both the morning services and in an afternoon service at Edsa-Pasay with Jun Gumpad and Sammy Paet on the Lord’s Day – Mark reported good attendance and good attention to the sermons.  Jerry Toreja picked me up before 7:00 A.M. to preach at Kaptibahayan, Navotas for their 7:30 and 8:30 services.  About 80 souls heard two lessons entitled “Selecting a Mate: The Lord Builds the House” (Ps. 127:1).
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