January 13, 2023^rd Year of Our Lord
                              
Dear brethren,

A gracious God opened the first door for me to preach in the Philippines in 1995 with Jim McDonald and now the 81^st door is opening February 1-March 2.  This trip will include New Zealand and Australia as well, working with brethren I have not seen since August of 2019.

Our labors in the gospel are extremely urgent because the Final Judgment Day is fast approaching.  We live in the Gospel Age, the last dispensation of God and every moment brings us closer to the end of time.  Paul urged sinners and saints to prepare for the fearful reality of appearing before our Lord to hear his final pronouncement of our eternal destiny.  “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. Knowing therefore the terror of the Lord, we persuade men” (2 Cor. 5:10-11).  This trip is planned in the hope of urgently persuading both sinners and saints to prepare for that last great day!
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,

As I make last minute preparations to leave for another preaching trip to the Philippines, I will ask for your prayers for a safe trip and for God to open doors to save the lost and to edify the saved.  Including the roundtrip, I will travel November 29-December 20. Here is the schedule for travel and preaching:
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November 5, 2022^nd Year of Our Lord
                              
Dear brethren,

By God’s merciful providence my 80^th preaching trip to the Philippine Islands is scheduled for November 29-December 20.  Jim McDonald first took me in 1995.  What a great privilege it is to preach among souls who are so earnestly seeking for God and the truth of His plan for our salvation!  But there is another great blessing in this work: While preaching the gospel in cooperation with Filipino saints, I have learned many lessons about faith, hope, love, sacrifice, and service from their examples!

When there is such a great harvest of souls, two things are vitally needed.  There must be an abundance of teaching about the first principles of the gospel which sustains the harvest and there must be much teaching to strengthen and solidify the faith of new converts.  When the church at Antioch harvested Greeks as well as Jews, “the hand of the Lord was with them: and a great number believed, and turned unto the Lord” (Acts 11:21).  The church at Jerusalem sent Barnabas to help “who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord” (vs. 23).  My trip will focus both on first principles and on exhorting saints to cleave to the Lord.
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July 2, 2022^nd Year of Our Lord
                              
Dear brethren,

God’s good providence has opened the door for my 79^th trip to the Philippines August 2-31.  Jim McDonald first took me in 1995.  Mark Mayberry, faithful evangelist for the Adoue Street Church of Christ in Alvin, TX, will be my co-laborer, arriving on the 10^th.  Trey Torno from College Station, TX will join us August 10-22 for the Mindanao trip. (Aug. 2-30 Keith Greer will work with Rody Gumpad on Luzon.)

A great harvest of souls brings growing pains, the need for edification, preparing preachers, and even new benevolence cases.  When thousands were converted in Jerusalem, extraordinary sacrifices were made to meet benevolence needs:  “And all that believed were together, and had all things common;  And sold their possessions and goods, and parted them to all men, as every man had need” (Acts 2:44-45).  This was not socialism requiring people to divest themselves of all possessions but was sacrificial love and fellowship expressed to destitute saints through the church’s treasury.
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Dear brethren,

Greetings to all in our sovereign Savior’s royal name.

The itinerary I recently circulated included this:  “We plan to preach on Friday, April 1, at Kapitbahayan, Navotas City, Metro Manila in the morning.  In the afternoon we will transfer to the church at Lapu-Lapu, San Antonio, Parañaque, Metro Manila with Jerry Toreja.”   The new congregation is located at Lapu Lapu in Malabon not in Parañaque.

I had planned to preach on April 1 and the next day fly to Tuguegarao, but the airline cancelled the Saturday flight.  This forces me to cancel my plan to preach in Manila in order to fly to Tuguegarao on Friday.  I will try to reschedule preaching in Manila on a future trip, God willing.
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Dear brethren,

Greetings to all of you in our sovereign Savior’s royal name.

Two years ago at this time I had completed 77 Philippine trips and was planning to make the next trip in April, concentrating on appointments on the island of Luzon.  That trip was cancelled due to the rise of coronavirus and related travel restrictions.  By the grace of God, I am now moving forward to fulfill the commitments made two years ago.  I planned this trip for March 29-May 6, only to learn from the Philippine embassy there is a protocol after the covid pandemic which limits my visit to 30 days.  Unfortunately, I was forced to cancel several days of preaching already promised in order to squeeze my trip into the 30 day limit.

God willing, Craig Thomas, evangelist for the Westside church of Christ in Bloomington, IN, and I will leave Louisville, Kentucky on March 29.  We plan to preach on Friday, April 1, at Kapitbahayan, Navotas City, Metro Manila in the morning.  In the afternoon we will transfer to the church at Lapu-Lapu, San Antonio, Parañaque, Metro Manila with Jerry Toreja.
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