Dear family, brethren, and friends,

On the Lord’s Day Jack Jaco took Kevin to preach at Victorias City in the morning and to Bago City in the afternoon where Shem Tapagan labors in the gospel (where two precious souls yielded to Christ in baptism).  Jonathan and I went to the Talisay City church where Bob Senining preaches and assembled with 45 people.  My first sermon was “God Created All Things,” emphasizing God’s sovereignty in the universe and in human life.

Effectively utilizing background information in the Passover Feast, Jonathan presented a thorough study of the Lord’s Supper at Talisay.  After lunch Jonathan taught on differences between the Law of Moses and the gospel of Christ, followed by my lesson on “The Purpose of Our Lives.”  We then conducted an hour-long open forum covering questions about the two covenants, giving into the church treasury and individual benevolence, God’s willingness to forgive all sins including adultery, the spiritual state of the Gentile world during the Mosaic Age, drinking intoxicants, divorce, and other interesting topics.
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December 20, 2019th Year of Our Lord

HALBROOK REPORT: 76th PHILIPPINE TRIP DECEMBER 2-20, 2019

Dear brethren,

For the 76th time God has granted me the privilege to preach the gospel of Christ in the Philippines since He first sent me there with Jim McDonald in 1995.  Christians who came from a pagan background in Thessalonica soon rang out the message of salvation in Christ in every direction – “The Lord’s message rang out from you not only in Macedonia and Achaia – your faith in God has become known everywhere” (1 Thess. 1:8-10, niv).  Filipinos are abandoning their sins and false religions to sound out the true and original gospel of Christ throughout their nation and around the world.  On this trip I taught 35 lessons and 11 precious souls confessed Christ and were baptized to wash away their sins in his blood.

The flights December 2-3 from Louisville to Detroit to Tokyo, Japan and on to Manila were all safe, though we had a 4-5 hour delay in Tokyo waiting for Typhoon Tisoy to clear the Philippines.  Elias Cruz, James Paet, and Andrew Romero met me at the hotel Wednesday morning to re-pack 5 of the 6 boxes filled with Bibles and study materials to send ahead to places on the itinerary.  The other box made a side trip to Amsterdam and arrived a day late.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,

I am writing this quick note Friday at 9:30 PM now that I am home again by God’s good grace after having safe passage for the past 24 hours from Manila to Tokyo to Detroit to Louisville.

I thank God for granting me the privilege to labor again in the Philippines Dec. 2-20 with many dear Filipino saints.  They are always an inspiration to me, and I hope and pray that my efforts will always be edifying and encouraging to them.  Due to their labor in opening many doors, I presented 35 lessons and there were 11 precious souls baptized into Christ and his church.  God gives this increase through the power of His Holy Word (Rom. 1:16; 1 Cor. 3:6-8).  I am often reminded of David’s words in Psalm 107:8, “Oh that men would praise the LORD for his goodness, and for his wonderful works to the children of men!”
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