February 7-9 Philippine-New Zealand Preaching
Dear family, brethren, and friends,
The second phase of my schedule is to preach in New Zealand, where I arrived in Auckland on Wednesday afternoon after an all-night flight from Manila via Sydney, Australia. Nothing unusual happened on the flight from Manila covering 5,350 miles, so our prayers were answered for safe travel (thank you for those prayers!).
I slept several hours after watching a documentary movie entitled “Beyond Utopia,” which would benefit anyone and especially young people. It records true startling, shocking stories of what people must suffer and sacrifice trying to escape the oppression of the North Korean regime. I did not realize people can be executed there just for owning a Bible. Children are brainwashed in schools there to believe that Americans are vicious animals who want to destroy and devour the people of N.K. They are taught that N.K. is a paradise or utopia in contrast to other nations. People who criticize the government or seek to escape are commonly banished to gulags or prisons work camps, or even executed in public with children included as witnesses. We often take religious and political freedoms for granted when we should count our blessings and pray for our fellowmen to share those same blessings!
Driving from the airport to the apartment of Randy Cabrillas, we passed an industrial plant which was raging with fire. A large helicopter with an extension hose was sucking ocean water from the nearby harbor and dumping it on the fire from the air. We hope no one was injured.
Thursday was spent working on email, resting, exercising to increase stamina, and trying to adjust to another time change involving a five-hour advance from the Philippines. At suppertime Ronnie and Nina Salunga met us at a restaurant, having just arrived home yesterday from visiting her mother in California. It is always a great joy to be with the saints at Auckland.
On Friday a commuter propjet brought me to Whakatane, Eastern Bay of Plenty, New Zealand (a 4-5 hour drive by car) to work with Abner Salinguit and the other saints meeting here. For supper me met Third and his family at a restaurant for a good meal and visit. Shortly after I was here last year, he had a brain tumor the size of an egg removed and it is an aggressive cancer. He is undergoing treatment with an uncertain future. Since he cannot work and has a lot of time on his hands, I encouraged him to invest this time in intensive Bible study and to start tonight conducting family devotions every day to leave a legacy of spiritual training for his wife and two children (ages 14 and 4). He agreed they will start tonight.
Afterward, we stopped at a grocery store where Abner noticed some young people from a nearby Baptist church carrying Bibles. He introduced himself, started a Bible discussion with them, and set up a study to follow up on the discussion which went well. This kind of aggressive evangelism has resulted in the Whatkatane church growing to an attendance of 50-60.
I saw a beautiful display of stars declaring the glory of God tonight but no moon. While waiting to see the moon again, let’s declare the glory of God by our daily lives!
In Christian love,
Ron Halbrook
P.S. The Church Of Christ Whakatane in New Zealand is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting. Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/
I will teach the lesson on “Selecting a Mate: The Lord Builds the House” (Ps. 127). Keep in mind that N.Z.’s time zone is several hours ahead of other time zones. For instance, this lesson will be taught on Friday at 12:00 AM Eastern Standard Time in the U.S.
To see good Bible study material, go to:
https://www.
https://biblework.
https://truthbooks.com
https://www.truthmagazine.com