Dear family, brethren, and friends,

The Lord’s Day, August 13, was a beautiful day for the saints to assemble and worship our great God.  We drove an hour from Bacolod City to Victorias City where Jack Jaco preaches.  About 80 souls gather and I preached “God Made Us Male and Female” (Gen. 1:27), dealing with gender identity and roles.  Next, we studied “Why Saints Assemble,” a verse by verse study of Hebrews 10.

In the afternoon we drove over a hour to reach the church in a rural area at Kawayan, Taloc, Bago City where Shem Tagapan preaches.  I was glad to see these saints again and to know they are steadfastly serving the Lord.  About 35 were gathered and I presented the lesson “Jesus Came to Seek and Save the Lost” (Lk. 19:10).  Shem is sound and steady in his work.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,

About 4:00 A.M. on Monday, August 7, Jack Jaco, Mario Rubio, and Efren Miraflor left the hotel in Dumaguete City in a van loaded with all of our suitcases and briefcases to drive across the island of Negros by Bacolod City in the province of Negros Occidental.  I flew from Dumaguete City to Cebu City on the island of Cebu and waited 4 ½ hours to catch a connecting flight to Bacolod City.  This provided valuable study time.  These brethren arrived in Bacolod City ahead of me, met me at the airport, and brought me to the hotel where I will stay.

Jack had made preparations to host our classes on The Home and Family in Victorias City where he preaches, about an hour from here.  Our prayers for safe travel were surely answered today.  I spoke with Jonathan Carino by phone while passing through Cebu City and learned he has been released from the hospital, the vomiting has stopped, and he is trying to regain his strength.  These are encouraging signs, the answer to many prayers by many saints in many places.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,

On Friday, August 4, I flew from Manila to Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental on the island of Negros and was met by Jack Jaco, Mario Rubio, and Efren Miraflor.  Jonathan Carino was not able to come because of his health problems – we are praying for his recovery and he is making progress.

The weather has been overcast and rainy at times because of a typhoon which passed through the Philippines this past week and another one which appears to be on the way.  There is a lighted boulevard on the ocean across the street from the Bethel Guest House (our hotel) where I was able to walk tonight for an hour.  The moon was glowing behind the clouds as it captured the love I was sending to all of you and as it relayed your love to me.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,

The 67th Philippine trip started in the usual way: I worked all Monday night and barely had time to shower before my dependable friend Doug Rush showed up with his truck to take me with a suitcase and six boxes of Bible study materials to the airport.  The 8:30 AM flight from Louisville brought me to Atlanta on Tuesday, August 1, where a noon flight originated going to Tokyo, Japan, and the final flight pulled up at the gate in Manila about 9:00 PM on Wednesday – a little over 24 hours of safe travel by God’s grace.  (The time in the Philippines is 12 hours ahead of U.S. time.) In addition to a few naps, all that time in the air was productive study time.

Thursday morning Sammy Paet and Elias Cruz met me at the hotel to re-pack the boxes in order to ship them via air cargo to the destinations where I will be preaching and teaching classes.  I cannot check them with my suitcase because the excess weight costs an arm and both legs, but they can fly on the same airplane with me as “cargo” for a very reasonable rate.
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April 30, 2017^th Year of Our Lord
HALBROOK REPORT: 66^th PHILIPPINE TRIP April 5-30, 2017

Dear brethren,                               

Thanks to God who keeps opening doors, I have successfully completed my 66^th preaching trip to the Philippines April 5-30, after first going with Jim McDonald in 1995.  I am always amazed at the work Filipinos do with such meager resources!  I am just a visitor who hopes to encourage and edify them, but they are the real heroes of faith.  This trip included two vacation Bible study series for young people in an effort to raise up even more workers:  “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10).  51 lessons were presented toward that end, not counting the ones presented by Filipino brethren.  16 were baptized into Christ.

This trip started with a bang when bad weather diverted my Atlanta flight to South Carolina, resulting in 50 hours of travel, double the usual time.  I even had the bonus of sleeping on the floor at the Atlanta airport with thousands of other stranded people, but all is well that ends well.  I arrived safely in Manila by God’s good providence.  In spite of this one day delay, I made it to Davao City and began work there April 8-12.
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Dear brethren,

There are many saints who live on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines including the province of Lanao del Norte where this battle is occurring.  Marawi is near Iligan City which I visited on my April trip.  Let us pray for all of the innocent people who are suffering in Marawi and let us pray that God will protect and comfort our brethren in this region.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,

I hope this note finds all of you well with your family and loved ones.

By God’s grace I had a safe return from the Philippines to my home in Shepherdsville, Kentucky.  My total travel time was about 30 hours.

In recent years I have had a few floaters especially in my left eye (for more information on floaters, see http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/benign-eye-floaters#1).  Floaters are often small fragments, dots, or lines which appear for a time in the field of vision and gradually disappear.  They are called floaters because they are in constant motion.  This comes with the aging process for some people and is not generally dangerous.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,

During my last lesson yesterday I had another large floater (substance behind the retina which breaks off or pulls away and appears to float in the field of vision).  These are often harmless but can tear the edge of the retina and do serious damage.  That happened shortly before this trip, but it was corrected by laser surgery.  The doctor said if I had another large one, it is critical to get an examination to see whether the retina was damaged.  Severe damage untreated can result in the loss of sight.  Attempts were made to contact three retina specialists here in the Philippines, but they are all away (Labor Day is a long weekend holiday here extending through Monday).  Dr. Teresa Toreja urged me to end my trip and go home immediately to see a specialist rather than risk losing my sight in my left eye.

I must express regret to Ely Ebuenga who made a full schedule of preaching for me covering Sunday and Monday including a visit to the inmates at the New Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.  Also, I express regret to the brethren needing Bibles.  I was scheduled to visit the Philippine Bible Society on Tuesday to purchase those Bibles to be shipped to various locations.  While I truly regret postponing these plans, I am so very thankful for God’s providence which allowed me to complete all of the other appointments through this month before the floater developed.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,

Lordy Salunga and the saints at the Southside church of Christ in Angeles City, Pampanga have been preparing for the Vacation Bible School (VBS) classes which started today, Monday, April 24.  Fifty were present for the first day.  The workbooks on How to Study the Bible by Cecil Willis were distributed.  My lessons discussed the need for Bible study, our expectation to understand the Bible, and some improper attitudes and methods of Bible study.  Lordy taught reasons we study the Bible and Jonathan taught the necessity of preparing the heart.

I called on every student to read passages of Scripture – all were attentive and all participated well.  What a great blessing it is for young people to learn to study God’s Word so that it can guide their lives in a way that honors God, brings personal fulfillment, and defeats the devices of Satan which poison and destroy souls.  The Psalmist wisely said, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.  With my whole heart have I sought thee: O let me not wander from thy commandments.  Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Ps. 119:9-11).
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,

Shortly after 5:00 A.M. on Thursday Rody, Tessie, and Junior Gumpad met Jonathan and me at our hotel in Tuguegarao to begin a 12 hour trip to Angeles City (Jerome Forelo was not able to join us as expected).  While traveling we discussed the Lord’s work, viewed the scenery, and napped at times – except for Rody, our driver, who knows how to negotiate Filipino highways like a racedriver! Or a bus driver.  Actually, there is no difference between the two over here.

On a sad note, as we made our way through the Caraballo Mountains in the Province of Nueva Ecija we stopped at the site of a terrible accident.  Tuesday a bus lost control coming down the steep winding highway and plunged through a barrier 100 feet into a deep ravine.  Thirty-four people died and 44 survived, most of whom suffered severe injuries.  We prayed for God to comfort the injured and the grieving families, and that His providence might open doors for them to seek and find the true gospel of Christ.  Such incidents make me so very thankful for all of you who pray for us during these Philippine trips!
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