Friday, December 4, 2015th Year of Our Lord

Dear family, brethren, & friends,

Monday morning, November 30, I flew from Louisville to Atlanta to meet Steven Saunders (Clarence, MO) and Jim Barnett (Artesia, NM) for our flight to Tokyo and on to Manila.  Our flights were safe by God’s grace.  After 24 hours travel, we were ready to rest, getting to bed about midnight.  Wednesday morning Elias Cruz met us at the hotel to help us separate, box, and ship the teaching materials to be used at various congregations where we are scheduled to teach.

Wednesday afternoon we had the rare opportunity for a little sightseeing.  We visited the Manila American Cemetery & Memorial where U.S. many military men are buried who lost their lives defending and liberating the Philippines during W.W. II.  The scope and magnitude of the sacrifices made by these men are overwhelming.  In addition to acres and acres of row after row of crosses marking the graves, the names of 36,286 missing in action are inscribed on tablets of stone overlooking the graveyard.  By God’s good providence, America’s close ties with the Philippines create a wellspring of good will which opens many doors for us to preach the gospel.

Our work began December 3-4, Thursday-Friday.  Jim and Steven came to concentrate on teaching singing classes, especially to equip men to lead the singing.  When they made their first trip with me in 2012, we began at the Kapitbahayan church of Christ in Navotas, Metro Manila.  This church is fully organized with elders, deacons, evangelists, teachers, and all the saints.  There was such good interest that men came from distant places not only Luzon but also from other islands such as Palawan.  The same thing happened this time and the attendance on Thursday reached about 60.

The original plan was to teach more advanced classes for those who attended in 2012, but there were so many newcomers that Steven and Jim began again with the basics.  Normally three days are needed for this foundational study, but they rushed to squeeze the lessons into two days.  The students caught on quickly and the classes moved well.  Men of all ages participated, but it was especially encouraging to see a large number of younger men wanting to learn more about song leading.

Between the classes on singing and song leading I taught lessons on “After We Begin, What Then?” (two parts), “Why Saints Assemble,” and “Instrumental Music.”  In addition while Steven and Jim were teaching on Friday, I conducted a private study with Ely Ebuenga’s friend Bernardo “Benny” Angeles, a denominational chaplain at Bilibid Prison in Muntinlupa City.  When I finally got through to Benny that denominational baptism is not the baptism commanded by Christ, he commented, “Then, obviously I have followed error.”  We took him to a swimming pool and paid a fee to baptize him in it during the lunch break.  Ely and Bennie will be strong partners preaching the gospel in the prison.

At the day’s end I conduced an open forum which led to a wide range of questions.  When I tried to end it, someone kept saying, “Just one more question” until it was dark and we had to dismiss.  Traffic was so congested that the trip to the hotel took three hours rather than the 45 minutes-one hour typical in past years.  Our trip to Navotas had taken two hours, so we spent five hours traveling today.   There are so many street construction projects and so many vehicles of every kind on the road that Manila traffic is becoming almost paralyzed.  The government seems unable to resolve these problems.

The brethren’s appetite for more training in singing has definitely been whetted.  They are asking for a full week of these classes at some future date.

I have been delayed in preparing and sending this first report because of tight schedules and Murphy’s law.  Just traveling in Manila has become exhausting.  On a couple of days when I had an opportunity to get the report out, I could not get access to the internet.  Often in the Philippines internet service is intermittent. I will try my best to get caught up.

Meanwhile, I remember my beloved family and all of the saints and friends back home in my daily prayers.  Not only are our lives linked by God’s love for us, but also the work we do in His kingdom requires the united efforts of many hands and hearts.  I am eternally thankful for the small part I have in the great work God has given to all of us and I am eternally thankful for the encouragement and help of the saints of God.

In Christian love,

Ron Halbrook