Halbrook Report: 50th Philippine Trip Apr. 9-May 27, 2013
July 4, 2013th Year of Our Lord
Dear brethren,
With God’s help my 50th Philippine trip was completed April 9-May 27. I thank God and Jim McDonald for introducing me to this work in 1995. Isaiah prophesied, “And an highway shall be there, and a way, and it shall be called The way of holiness; the unclean shall not pass over it” (Isa. 35:8 ). Many Filipinos are seeking The Way of Holiness leading to heaven! This trip involved visiting churches, preaching to the lost, teaching a weeklong series on the home and family, and training preachers. The latter classes were conducted with the invaluable help of Steven Deaton from the Hebron Lane church of Christ here in Shepherdsville, KY and Lordy Salunga from the Southside church of Christ in Angeles City, Pampanga Province. I taught 127 lessons and 23 confessed Christ, asking to be baptized.
I flew from home to Manila and immediately on to Escoda, Marcos, Ilocos Norte to join Vic Domingo’s training classes for young preachers. April 13-15 I taught a series on “The Authority of Christ,” providing each student my booklet by that title. About 50 attended including a Catholic priest converted in December. At 82 years of age Vic is still very active with the help of men such as Rex Bayaca, Jensen Pascua, and others. On Sunday, the 14th, about 200 souls attended worship including dear sister Lingling from the distant mountains where saints are in need of basic necessities. It was also good to see Sherwin Vizcarra, faithful preacher whose wife suffers from myelogenous leukemia (help is needed for treatments).
On Tuesday the 16th about 200 people of all ages but especially young people attended the Laoag City church of Christ where Mat Sibayan, Sr. has preached for many years. They heard lessons entitled “How Shall the Young Secure Their Hearts?” and “The Purpose of Our Lives.”
Wednesday was spent working with Egdon Sabio, preacher for the Cabugao, Ilocos Sur church . He is a manager at an electric cooperative, and took me to two sites to speak to employees on “Christ Teaches Total Honesty.” At Edgon’s house preachers gathered for a morning of study. During the open forum, the questions centered on how to work for reconciliation when brethren are alienated. On the 18th Warner Macusi brought me to the small rural church at Pacifico, Marcos, I.N. where 50 souls gathered under a tarpaulin stretched between two houses. Friday Efren Ramos brought me to the Binacag Banna church of Christ, Nueva Era, I.N. , a rural church which has grown through the years. After preaching we went to a canal to baptize five precious souls who confessed their faith in Christ. I usually help brethren with expenses in these meetings, but Efren refused any help explaining that they wanted to do this for themselves. It is a joy working with brethren who are determined to help themselves.
Next, I flew from Laoag City to Manila and on to Cebu City to work with Jonathan Carino and other brethren on Cebu Island. Sunday we went to the village of Libjo Tabogon where Gil Suico preaches for a new church meeting in a house rented by a member. Normal attendance is 25-30 but 66 attended. The saints need their own meeting place because the owner plans to drive them out. We returned to the area again to preach in Bogo City at a hotel function room to an audience of 110 including about 40 denominational “pastors” gathered by Gil Suico and Felix Cantulan. After two days of intensive study, the “pastors” insisted I return ASAP to teach them more. I will try to do so.
April 24 was devoted to the small congregation of Baptists where Benjie Labura preached before his conversion during my last trip. This is at Sacred Homes, Cansojong, Talisay City in Metro Cebu.
The next segment of the trip took me to the island of Mindanao in the southern Philippines. Saturday the Lagao church of Christ in Balite, a suburb of General Santos City, hosted a one-day gospel meeting. Romeo Dela Cruz, who lives here but preaches in a remote area, joined us. Delfin Allas does much of the preaching at Balite. C.B. Balbin from Davao City helps once a month. Many young people heard lessons on “Attitudes Essential in God’s Kingdom,” “Purify Your Souls,” “Total Honesty,” and “True Repentance.” April 28-29 I worked with Aguillardo Untal at Bula, General Santos City. He was converted from the Pentecostal religion last fall and we are trying to help him convert his congregation.
Three were baptized Tuesday in an all-day meeting at Kitakal, Malungon, in the Sarangani Province. Rene Sandoval preached here before his death; the church including his wife Sel is still very active.
May 1-6 found me in northern Mindanao at Cagayan de Oro City, the capital of Misamis Oriental Province. It is home to Cipriano Carpentero, Jr. and Cyrus Gesulga. Cyrus hosted the Home and Family series with the cooperation of Cipriano. Our classes met in the building of the church at Buntong Camaman-an where Cipriano preaches, but the men slept at the Capisnon building where Cyrus preaches. Jonathan Carino from Cebu and Jack Jaco from Victorias City in Negros Occidental helped me teach the lessons. The men repeatedly sang “Where Love Is In the Home” and “God Give Us Christian Homes” with feeling and fervor. They were as attentive as any group we have ever taught!
On my birthday, May 7, I flew from Cagayan de Oro City on Mindanao to Manila on Luzon. Seeing my birth date on my passport, the hotel sent a small birthday cake to my room. Thursday and Friday were devoted to preaching at the Bilibid Prison where Willie Pastor has been incarcerated for about three years as a result of killing someone in self-defense many years ago. While his family prays and works for his release, Willie and his brother Kenneth who lives in Manila have been proclaiming the gospel of Christ to the inmates! Saints now meet in various sections of the prison. Ely Ebuenga also helps with the prison work.
Willie, like Joseph in Genesis, is a highly trusted inmate who is given much flexibility in his efforts to teach God’s Word. He works in the Receiving and Diagnostics Center (RDC) where all new inmates are processed for a couple of months. He begins teaching them as soon as they arrive. He could not join us when we preached in the Medium Security facility, but Kenneth and Rody Gumpad helped with the teaching. Five precious souls responded to the Lord’s invitation. Friday was a good day at the RDC sector with Kenneth and Willie, Ely Ebuenga, Rody, and Atoy Franco. 100 souls attended and three responded to the gospel invitation. The prison harvest continues!
Next, a two-day gospel meeting was conducted Saturday and Sunday with the new Edsa-Pasay church of Christ in Manila. Rody Gumpad alternates with his sons and sons-in-law in traveling from Tuguegarao to Manila to work with this church. The church meets in the CYA Building, located at a central point accessible to many Filipinos who come from the provinces to work in Manila. This church is off to an excellent start. I focused on “The Authority of Christ,” discussing the Bible plan of salvation including the New Testament church and various departures which formed the Roman Catholic Church. Steven Deaton arrived from the U.S., and joined us on Sunday. We had a full house.
May 13-24 was devoted to preacher training classes at the Kapitbahayan church of Christ, Navotas, in Metro Manila. Elias Cruz is an evangelist there; Jerry Toreja and Fred Gonzales are elders. The students ranged from age 9 to the 30’s with one man in his 70’s. They slept on pasteboard and mats at the second floor of the building. A room was set up with handmade wooden tables and plastic chairs so the students could open their Bibles, books, and notepads. Steven Deaton, Lordy Salunga, and I taught classes surveying every book in the Bible, The New Testament Church by Roy E. Cogdill, denominational doctrines, issues dividing brethren historically, the preacher’s life and work, church history, and Bible study tools (Strong’s Concordance & the Zondervan Bible dictionary). This group constantly asked questions, even approaching us after the lessons and cutting into the lunch hour.
I preached on Sunday at the new Edsa church again. Jimmy Battung expressed his desire to place membership. His daughter Malaine and her husband Ricky Halnas with their two children had been studying since they first heard me preach about six years ago. They compared what we teach with Catholic and denominational teaching. Ricky works in New Zealand and planned to arrive in Manila on Saturday, May 25. They requested I delay my return from May 25 to May 27 to study further with them.
After the last classes at the week’s end at Kapitbahayan, each student spoke on what they had learned, and expressed appreciation for the teachers and for the U.S. brethren who provided their Bibles and other study materials. Only God can measure the potential these young men will have as they give their talents to the service of God! Steven returned home the next day.
After Rody and I preached on Sunday, May 26, the entire Ricky Halnas family confessed their faith in Christ. Ricky had just arrived from New Zealand and they wanted to obey the gospel immediately. There is no church in Timaru, N.Z. where Ricky works on the south island. I told him we would do our best to find a way to help him. Through Filipinos, the gospel is spreading around the world!
No words adequately express my appreciation for donors who make this work possible, but God knows who you are and will reward you. May God be glorified as He gives the increase!
In Christian love, Ron Halbrook
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