Dear family, brethren, and friends,

I spoke with Teresa Toreja in Manila this morning (night there) and learned that her husband Jerry passed away.  He was normal, active, and happy on Friday but has had health problems in recent months.  She woke up about 2:00 AM Saturday because he was groaning.  She tried to resuscitate him without success.  She said it seems his heart failed.

Jerry had served as an elder for the Kapitbahayan church of Christ in Navotas.  The church split over covid issues but was reunited and worshiped again as one church on March 12.  He was hoping to devote the remainder of his life to preaching the gospel as he told me when I saw them on March 2.
Continue reading

June 20, 2019th Year of Our Lord
                              
Dear brethren,

Upcoming travels scheduled for July 30-September 6 will take me to preach Christ in the Philippines (75^th trip), New Zealand (9^th trip), and Australia (8^th trip).  I thank God for opening these doors by the invitation of Jim McDonald to accompany him to the Philippines in 1995.  It will be a privilege to labor in these lands again to encourage the saints in the spirit of Philippians 2:14-16, “Do all things without murmurings and disputings:  That ye may be blameless and harmless, the sons of God, without rebuke, in the midst of a crooked and perverse nation, among whom ye shine as lights in the world; Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain.”  Saints shine in this dark and stormy world of sin and death as lights along the shore guiding souls to Christ, the beacon light of eternal salvation.   “Let the lower lights be burning, send a gleam across the wave.”  Christian lights are brightly burning around the world!

God willing, July 30-31 will find me engaged in about 24 hours of travel from Louisville, KY to Manila.  The next morning local brethren will help me repack boxes to ship ahead so that materials can be distributed in various areas where I will teach.
Continue reading

Dear brethren,

I just received this notice from Jonathan Carino about his father’s death.  It has been a privilege for me to work with both of these faithful evangelists for many years.  Ramon was highly respected for his godly life both among the churches in the Philippines and in his local community by its citizens and leaders.  He was a rock of strength and stability which will be sorely missed.

On April 21, 2000 I heard him make the following observation and wrote it in the front of my Bible:  “Light obeyed bringeth more light.  Light resisted, rejected bringeth night!”
Continue reading

Dear family, brethren, and friends,

The Philippines gets 15-20 typhoons each year spread out over several months, which helps the rice fields which require much water, but this year several have hit in quick succession with monsoon rains in addition.  Therefore, the Philippines has suffered much flooding and other calamities which destroy crops, houses, and lives.  Much of the damage has been done on Luzon because of the track the most typhoons follow.  Many of our brethren have been struggling for food.  Recently, I learned that northern Mindanao is also suffering.  Successive torrential rains have destroyed crops and created landslides in southern Mindanao.

A super-typhoon with the international name Mangkhut, locally named “Typhoon Ompong,” hit the Philippines on Saturday, September 15, and much help will be needed especially on Luzon again.  Here are excerpts from a CNN report dated the day the typhoon hit:
Continue reading

Dear brethren,

I am preaching in southern Mindanao on the last leg of this month-long Philippine trip.  We planned for 60 to participate in two days of preacher training here in General Santos City, but about 100 showed up the first day, including 10 denominational preachers.  God willing, I will return home in about a week. Thank you for praying for this work!

On this trip more than ever before, I see the evidence of the good being done by the Forex Cargo boxes (called balikbayan boxes) we have been sending in recent years, thanks to your donations.  I estimate 250-300 of these huge boxes have been sent with Bibles, Bible study materials, Bible teaching materials (including materials to teach children), and assorted clothes, food, and personal items.  Brethren of all ages at the Hebron Lane church of Christ have formed the most efficient packing team you have ever seen.  On this trip I have noticed several churches using the homemade communion sets we sent, many song books, children’s Bible study materials, and one brother wearing an “old faithful” suit I wore for many years!
Continue reading

IMPORTANT NOTE TO ANYONE WANTING TO SEND FUNDS FOR ANY PURPOSE
INCLUDING SUPPORT FOR PREACHERS OR BENEVOLENCE: 

I will be away from home Nov. 29, 2016 – Jan. 10, 2017. 

Donna will be away Dec. 7, 2016 – Jan. 16, 2017. 

It will be necessary to work around those dates or to use some other means of relaying funds to recipients.

In Christian love,
Ron Halbrook

Dear brethren,

Philippine news reports plus firsthand accounts by our brethren in the central and northern parts of Luzon tell the sad story of super typhoon Haima (Filipino name Lawin).  It plowed across Luzon on October 19-20, leaving a huge swath of destruction.  Crops ready for harvest were devastated, homes were damaged or blown away, power lines and their poles were downed, and thousands of people fled to evacuation centers or were displaced. Many church buildings were damaged or destroyed.  The land already had been saturated by another typhoon a few days before Haima hit with even greater fury, causing major flooding and dangerous landslides. For more details, see the news report below.
Continue reading

Dear brethren,

Please ask everyone you know to pray for the saints in northern Luzon in the Philippines as one of the worst typhoons ever to hit that region is hitting them with torrential rains and powerful winds.  It is considered in the “super typhoon” category and is named Haima or locally Lawin.

I have received a number of messages from Filipino saints pleading for our prayers as the early rain and wind was moving into the Isabela and Cagayan Provinces.  The path will take it across northern Luzon, so other provinces will soon suffer devastation as well.  A couple of sample messages are reproduced below along with a map showing the path of the typhoon.
Continue reading

Dear brethren,

Typhoon Koppu entered the Philippines October 12 and was given the Filipino name Lando.  The heavy rains affected several parts of the Philippines but the brunt of this monster storm was felt on Luzon, especially the central and northern provinces.   As of October 22, it has left in its wake 54 dead, hundreds injured, and 100,000 displaced from their homes.  Corn, banana, and rice crops were destroyed and thousands of houses damaged or destroyed.  Many people are now hungry and seeking food and shelter, including our brethren.
Continue reading

Golden Opportunity to do Good in the Philippines

Dear brethren,

There are times we need to act without delay!  “Cast your bread upon the waters, for after many days you will find it again….Sow your seed in the morning, and at evening let not your hands be idle, for you do not know which will succeed, whether this or that, or whether both will do equally well” (Eccl. 11:1, 6 NIV).  When there is a need and we have the means to act, we should act in confidence that God will bless our efforts to have a good result.  Please read about this golden opportunity to cast our bread and sow our seed.
Continue reading