Dear family, brethren, and friends,

My first work in Digos City, Davao del Sur was back in 1997 with Jim McDonald.  Julie Notarte has concentrated in this area and reached out to remote tribal and mountain regions of southern Mindanao.  His father established a congregation here in Digos City and a church building was constructed in 1973.  Julie’s sons (Joshua, Joseph, Jonathan, and CB) have matured and share in the tremendous workload this successful work has created. Literally thousands of people have obeyed the gospel through the years in these surrounding areas and mountains.  

Tuesday, 97 souls joined us here in Digos City to begin exploring the theme “Life, Death, and Beyond.”  In the morning two sessions covered the subject “Why We Live” and in the afternoon “Man as Body, Soul, and Spirit” and “The Gospel Makes Us Right with God.”  

Dear family, brethren, and friends,

Thursday-Friday (Aug. 21-22), a lot of saints must have been praying for me as I tried to manage the cancellation of a flight from Cagayan de Oro City which was replaced by a flight requiring an all-night stay in the Manila airport to wait for a connection at 4:00 A.M.  Stephen Carpentero faithfully drove me to the airport in CDO in a rainstorm.  When I checked in for my flight, I was told I could not check my suitcase through to General Santos City but would have to pick it up in Manila and check it in again there, but they could not give me a reason.  

When I got to Manila, retrieved my suitcase, and tried to check it in again, I had a long wait and finally they said my 4:00 A.M. flight was cancelled, and I was booked to fly at 10:45 A.M. Meanwhile, the airline would pay for my overnight stay in a hotel about 20-30 minutes from the airport.  After getting 6 ½ hours of sleep, Friday morning I was in a van in another torrential downpour headed for the airport where I finally made the flight to General Santos City in southern Mindanao together with James Paet who graciously came as a helper.

Dear family, brethren, and friends,

On Monday, the 18^th, I reluctantly said goodbye to Alvin Miguel and his sweet wife when they dropped me at the airport in Zamboanga City.  I flew to Cebu City where I had a very productive four-hour layover, which gave me time to work vigorously to catch up on some emails (although many still remain unanswered).  The next plane brought me to Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental where 19-year-old Stephen Carpentero met me and brought me to the hotel.  He is the son of Jhun (Cipriano, Jr.) and grandson of Cipriano Carpentero, both of whom were dear friends and co-laborers in the gospel for many years.  They would be proud of Stephen for continuing to hold high the torch of truth.

Dear family, brethren, and friends,

On Thursday, the 14^th, Jack Jaco took me to the airport at Bacolod City, Negros Occidental to fly to Manila and then on to another flight to Zamboanga City, Zamboanga del Sur.  I had to recheck my suitcase in Manila, but it was nowhere to be found.  Finally, they found it and I had to check in, go through security, and get to the gate ASAP.  About five minutes after I arrived, the boarding started.  So, again, all is well that ends well.  Alvin Miguel met me and helped me get settled in at the hotel.  Since I got to bed a little past 1:00 A.M. last night, I am ready to get a good night’s rest and start tomorrow’s lectures. 

It is a privilege to work with Alvin Miguel and the other saints here in Zambogana City.  A two-day lectureship on began on Friday covering the book of Revelation in a function room near my hotel.  The brethren do not have a meeting house which can accommodate us and 74 attended this first day.  We studied an introduction and the first 11 chapters in four sessions today, followed by an open forum.  Our audience includes all age groups of men and women, and they could not have been more attentive.  Some commented this is the first time in their life to hear such lessons on this book.

Dear family, brethren, and friends,

Since I got to bed in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental at 5:30 A.M. because of the late ferry on Monday, August 11, I slept until 10:00 A.M., ate a late breakfast, and then went to Victorias City where Jack Jaco labors in the gospel.  I was scheduled to preach two lessons in the morning and two after lunch on “Moral Truth in an Amoral Age,” but I managed to squeeze three of the four lessons into the afternoon session with a full house of 63 people present.  The air condition struggled to cool this full room, and I was covered in sweat, but the way everyone listened so well made such factors fade away.

We finished at 5:00 P.M. Jack drove me back to the hotel where I exercised, ate supper, worked on sermons and email, and got to bed by 12:30 A.M.  A full day was planned for Tuesday, beginning with a two-hour drive to Puey, Sagay City where Jordan Cabras lives and preaches for brethren surrounded by sugarcane fields.  He erected a tower nearby at his home to broadcast the gospel on a make-shift radio station.  

Dear family, brethren, and friends,

It is a bitter-sweet experience to complete preaching appointments because we  treasure our relationship and new memories with brethren where the work has been completed while we look forward to the same things at the next appointment.  I have learned to love the saints at Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malyasia and we never have enough time to accomplish everything we would like to do, but we trust God’s providence to use our efforts to advance His cause and His kingdom in some way.  

After saying final good-byes Thursday to Nick and Justina Rowe, I spent 4-5 hours in two airports and over 6 hours on two planes in order to reach Manila  about 9:30 P.M. via Kuala Lumpur.  After talking with Donna and Connie W. Adams via cell phone, exercising, and catching up on some pressing emails, I got to bed about 1:00 A.M.  All is well that ends well by the good grace of God.

Dear family, brethren, and friends,

From the time James Paet picked me up Friday in Angeles City to go to the airport in Manila until I arrived in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia was about 20 hours.  It was good to see Nick Rowe and his wife upon arrival late at night.  Getting to the hotel about midnight, I took 30 minutes of exercise, caught up on a few emails, and got to bed at 2:00 A.M.

We started the classes at the Padi Mas Point 2 church of Christ in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia on Saturday morning with 15 souls in attendance.  The theme for the first two days is “The Authority of Christ.”  Today we studied his authority in his word, as our Savior, as head of his church, departures from his authority resulting in the gradual formation of the Roman Catholic Church, and the reaction from within the Catholic Church because of its many false doctrines and its corruption in the 1400’s-1500’s resulting in the Protestant Reformation.  

Dear family, brethren, and friends,

My July 26-September 4 trip got off to a good start by the grace of God.  No matter how hard I work to get everything organized and ready to go, the last day and night are filled with attending to a multitude of last-minute details.  Often there is no time to sleep, but this time I slept almost two hours before going to the airport at 4:30 A.M. Saturday, which is a victory.

I usually sleep on the first flight, but a Baptist preacher who grew up in South Africa was seated next to me on the Louisville-Atlanta leg and we had a profitable Bible discussion.  I gave him James R. Cope’s foldout tract on “The One True Church” with my email address on it.

It took 45 minutes to walk to the gate in Atlanta to board the plane to Inchon, South Korea, so there was no time for breakfast.  On this plane I took a couple of 2-3 hour naps and got a ton of work done on charts and outlines.  Getting to Manila about 10:15 P.M., I was at the hotel by 11:00 and was able to go to the exercise room for 35 minutes before sleeping, which helps me recover from the long flights.

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Ron & Donna Halbrook
3505 Horse Run Ct.
Shepherdsville, KY 40165-6954
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July 1, 2025th Year of Our Lord

Dear brethren,

God opened a door for me to preach in the Philippines in 1995 with Jim McDonald and I am preparing now for the 91st trip July 26-September 4, including a 3rd visit to Malaysia. The schedule includes the islands of Luzon, Panay, Negros, and Mindanao with lessons to save the lost and to edify the saved.

God gave disciples of Christ the name “Christian” because it means they belong to Christ as his adherents and his special possession. God chose to bestow this name when Gentiles as well as Jews were being saved in Christ at Antioch while Paul and Barnabas preached together: “And it came to pass, that a whole year they assembled themselves with the church, and taught much people. And the disciples were called Christians first in Antioch” (Acts 11:26). God is calling sinners to be saved in Christ and bestowing this blessed name on them in the Philippines, in Malaysia, and around the world!
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May 6, 2025^th Year of Our Lord

Dear brethren,                                  

God’s gracious mercies provided the open doors, financial means, and safe travels for the completion of my 90^th Philippine trip, and first trip to Japan, April 2-May 6.  I am indebted to Jim McDonald for introducing me to this work in 1995.  There were 82 occasions to preach, resulting in 30 souls who submitted to Christ in baptism and one sister who repented of backsliding and was restored to her Lord.

John proclaimed that because Jesus Christ is God or deity, He is the source of life, who enlightens us to God and all truth: “In him was life; and the life was the light of men.  And the light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not” (Jn. 1:4-5).  Satan and sin could not defeat this light and it still shines in the Philippines, Japan, and all the world.