Dear brethren,

Greetings to everyone in the royal and majestic name of Jesus Christ, Lord of lords and King of kings!

I need to give an update on the situation among Filipino saints and also ongoing plans to help them, as well as my plans for future preaching trips to the Philippines.

Coronavirus Update

After a period during which the Philippines seemed to be making progress in overcoming the covid pandemic, another upsurge of cases set them back and the delta variant has worsened their woes.  Various government entities have again imposed some degree of the lockdown policy, which generally means our brethren cannot leave their houses except for once a week to get essentials.  The problem is that they need to work today in order to have money to buy food for tomorrow.  Government programs to provide food have been largely ineffective.

Only about 3 percent of the population have been vaccinated and brethren report that so far it is primarily front line workers who have received the vaccine (medical workers, public servants, government officials, etc.).  I am just beginning to get reports that a few of our brethren are able to get vaccinated.

Eleven members of Rody Gumpad’s family were infected with coronavirus, and several were hospitalized in serious condition, but finally all of them are out of the hospital and out of quarantine.  Rody went home on Saturday, July 24.  Several of them are still being treated at home and Rody is still plagued with a hard cough.  His lungs are scarred from previous bouts with TB which is prolonging his recovery process.  He is not yet strong enough to resume his preaching activities.

It is amazing how Filipino brethren in many cases find ways to teach in spite of all the disruption caused by covid.  Often they teach via cell phones and are able to conduct radio programs.  Some brethren have been granted special permission by authorities to move about teaching God’s Word or relaying benevolence.  Several preachers have reported leaving their homes at 4:00 AM in order to worship or to conduct gospel meetings, and then to return home before checkpoints are set up.  The result of all of these efforts is that many precious souls continue to obey the gospel!  (If any of our readers consider such activities inadvisable, please consider whether it is advisable to leave people in their sins who may die lost.  Rather than criticizing such efforts, let us pray for our brethren who are willing to risk their lives to rescue the perishing.)

Bibles Direly Needed

As a result of these conversions, there is a major increasing need for Bibles in various Filipino dialects!  Just to meet the requests already submitted over the past year would require $10,000, and if brethren knew I could provide Bibles the cost would soon easily reach $15,000.  I have saved these requests in the hope of returning soon to the Philippines and dedicating a day in Manila to order the Bibles at the Philippine Bible Society, which is my typical procedure.  But this delay is dragging out far too long and far too many brethren are waiting and longing to hold God’s Holy Word in their hands and hearts.

In the hope of raising the necessary funds, I will contact the Philippine Bible Society to see if they will allow me to order Bibles from afar to be shipped throughout the Philippines and to pay for them with a credit card.  I have a good relationship with the personnel there and I believe they will grant this request.

I can earmark donations for this purpose if any of you would like to participate.

Combination of Multiple Tragedies

Off and on I have been receiving donations to address the wide range of hardships our Filipino brethren have been facing for the past couple of years.  Beginning in October 2019 a series of about 16 earthquakes hit a region on Mindanao, leaving hundreds of our brethren without houses.  They were herded into tent cities by the government, but many of the tents are dilapidated after this long period of time.  There has been a steady process of relaying donations to responsible brethren who are helping these saints build small houses out of inexpensive materials (often about $600-$1,000 per house), depending on the size of the family.  At the last report we still need to provide about 100 houses.

Then came the coronavirus pandemic in February-March of 2020.  The Philippine government has repeatedly imposed lock downs in varying degrees as the cases of infection have increased and then leveled out.  Recent increases of cases have resulted in new lock downs.  Of course, nature’s normal cycles continue with monsoon rains and typhoons, resulting in floods and landslides in some places.  In addition, rat infestations have destroyed thousands of acres of crops.  God alone knows how many thousands of saints there in the Philippines are suffering from hunger.

Responding to the Needs of the Saints

With constant prayer for God’s guidance and wisdom, I have been relaying the donations many of you have sent to provide food and medicine.  I have done my best to spread the benevolence from Luzon to Palawan to Mindoro to the Visayan islands to Mindanao.  Though I cannot scratch the surface of the avalanche of needs, we are reaching as many saints as possible, trusting that God has many ways to care for His faithful children of which we are not aware.  It is a privilege to do what we can, fully realizing none of us can do it all.  I will continue to relay these donations as they come.

As funds become available, I am also shipping large boxes to the Philippines filled with English Bibles, songbooks, Bible study materials, clothing, food, plywood communion trays, and other items.  Several brethren join the packing party at my house each time and we stuff 25 boxes to the hilt in about two hours.  A Filipino friend is an agent for Forex Cargo and he picks them up.  They eventually are loaded onto ships on the west coast and reach their destinations in 2-3 months.

I need about $4,000 for each shipment of 25 boxes to cover the shipping costs and items we buy (food, over-the-counter medicine, etc.), but the printed materials are donated by many of you who read these reports and by CEI Bookstore/Truth Publications in Athens, AL.  Each box weighs easily 200-300 lbs. and would be valued at about $500-$1,000 each if all the items were purchased new.  If we do the math, it costs about $4,000 to deliver about $20,000-$25,000 worth of needed materials and items each time.  Perhaps someone would like to help fund this effort?

Thank you to everyone who has donated funds for English Bibles and songbooks, and to all of you who have donated used Bibles and songbooks.  Please keep sending them because the need keeps on growing!

Philippine Travel Plans

The last trip I made to the Philippines was in February of 2020 and the next one scheduled was to be in April-May to include intensive preacher training classes at Tuguegarao City in the Province of Cagayan on the island of Luzon where Rody Gumpad preaches.  Craig Thomas was scheduled to join me to teach for two weeks (to be followed by Harry Osborne, Jonathan Carino, and Lordy Salunga for an additional two weeks), but we have rescheduled this trip five times to no avail.  We have now rescheduled it for April of 2022.  Meanwhile, if the pandemic relents, I plan to go in December of this year, especially in the hope of visiting saints on Mindanao who have been hit so very hard by multiple tragedies.

How to Help

I will gladly share information about how to send funds directly to Filipinos with anyone who requests it, and I am willing to serve as a messenger to send funds for anyone who requests it.  Individuals needing a legal tax deduction may write checks to Help A Neighbor.  Write all other checks to Ron Halbrook. Mail all checks to 3505 Horse Run Ct., Shepherdsville, KY 40165-6954.  For PayPal, the account is Richard Halbrook (or if that snags, use halbrook@twc.com – indicate “send to a friend” not “pay for item or service” – PayPal deducts a charge if the money is drawn from a credit card but not if from a bank account). (Or contact Michael & Donna Glaesemann at michael@butw.org who are also serving as messengers. Anyone desiring a tax deduction from the Glaesemanns can make checks to “Bread Upon the Waters.” Otherwise, make checks to Michael Glaesemann and mail to 264 CR 2125, Burkeville, TX 75932).

Let us remember the words of Paul in Acts 20:34-35, “Yea, ye yourselves know, that these hands have ministered unto my necessities, and to them that were with me.  I have shewed you all things, how that so labouring ye ought to support the weak, and to remember the words of the Lord Jesus, how he said, It is more blessed to give than to receive.”  In this way we lay up treasures in heaven!

In Christian love,
Ron Halbrook

To see good Bible study material, go to:
https://www.hebronlanechurchofchrist.com
https://biblework.congregateclients.com
https://truthbooks.com
https://www.truthmagazine.com