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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Dear family, brethren, and friends,

Our work in Iloilo City being concluded, I flew Tuesday to Manila without incident.  Upon arriving in the afternoon, I received a message from Teresa Toreja requesting that we meet to discuss something.  Jerry and Teresa joined me for supper about 7:00 P.M. and then we came to my room.  In past years when there was spare time Teresa would open her notepad filled with Bible questions she encountered in her study and in the process of teaching God’s Word, and we would study and discuss these questions, but in recent years we have not had the opportunity to do so.  Tonight she opened her notepad as before and began to offer her questions, some regarding key passages in Romans 7, others regarding Luke 17:1-10, others regarding heavy burdens carried by the service of a Christian doctor, etc.  Our study continued for at least an hour and then we turned to God in fervent prayers, knowing that His eyes and ears are always open to His people.  It is always a joy to be with Jerry and Teresa.

After they left, I went to exercise, worked in preparing for tomorrow, talked with Donna, and got to bed by midnight.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,

Travel days feel like lost time, but Thursday got off to a good start.  After exercising, eating supper, and doing a little work in the hotel at Naga, I was tired and went to bed early last night.  I slept over 7 hours and felt much better Thursday morning.  After breakfast at the hotel, I caught a plane to Manila where I had to change terminals.  Believe it or not, there is a Wendy’s Hamburgers in terminal 3 where I enjoyed for lunch a hamburger with fries and a Frosty (not as good as Blue Bell Ice Cream, but it will do in a squeeze).  The flight from Manila landed in Iloilo City on Panay Island about 5:30 P.M. where I was met by Jack Jaco and Bob Senining, a brother I had not seen for many years.  As we left the airport, a gorgeous lightly tanned moon was appearing on the horizon, reminding me again of all my loved ones at home – so maybe this was not a wasted day after all!

Our two days of Bible lectures began Friday at the function room of a hotel here in Iloilo City.  Jack Jaco came ahead to contact brethren and make arrangements.  The attendance today was 50 including denominational preachers, some of whom are leaders in their denominational organizations.  It is hard to realize we have not returned here for the past 6-7 years, but it seems the timing is right for this visit by God’s providence.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,

Two days of classes for preachers began Monday on the theme “United to Proclaim Christ” in Daet, Camarines Norte.  The series was introduced by a study of “Attitudes Essential in God’s Kingdom,” a textual examination of Matthew 5.  Christ introduced his new kingdom by contrasting the civil nature of the old Israel and the spiritual nature of the new kingdom.  Preachers must teach and exemplify the attitudes essential to citizenship in this new kingdom of God.  Sharing these attitudes unites us in Christ.

Next we studied “Preserving Unity in Christ” based on a shared commitment to God, to the truth, and to unselfish love for each other in Christ.  Attitudes and actions which destroy our unity must be avoided at all costs.  One example is being overly zealous for opinions and personal scruples, discussed in Romans 14.  If opinions and scruples are held as personal property, there will be no agenda to spread and enforce them upon other saints – as a consequence, there will be no division over them.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,

My 76th Philippine trip started with a bang because there was little time after flying from Louisville to Detroit to catch the plane to Tokyo, Japan, but I made it.  The flight to Tokyo was fine and I completed a lot of study and work along with a nap, but we were stranded in Tokyo 4-5 hours waiting for Typhoon Tisoy (also called Kimmuri) to pass over Luzon.  Finally, our plane took off and passed through heavy rain and turbulence but arrived safely in Manila about 1:00 A.M. Wednesday – it should have been 9:30 P.M. on Tuesday.

The airport had been closed until 11:00 P.M. Tuesday because of the typhoon, so many delayed flights were arriving and hundreds and hundreds of people were jammed into immigration lines and at the baggage carousels like I’ve never seen.  To add to the excitement, five of the six boxes of Bibles and study materials I brought as checked luggage arrived while one traveled to Atlanta and on to Amsterdam!  Say what???  That required paper work and more lost time.  By the time I got to my hotel room, it was about 3:00 A.M.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,

On October 16 a major earthquake measuring 7 on the Richter scale hit the vicinity of Koronadal City in the Philippine province of South Cotabato in the southern part of the island of Mindanao.  Its effects were felt far and wide, bringing great devastation and suffering especially to rural and mountain areas heavily populated by the poor including our brethren in Christ.  Several smaller quakes occurred and several hundred aftershocks have occurred.

Numerous reports and appeals for help  are coming in from our brethren.  Pictures show areas which literally dropped down, open gap lines in the earth, destroyed homes and church buildings, and other marks of destruction.  Landslides were triggered.  A sister in Christ and her infant were killed when a landslide demolished their small dwelling.  Forced evacuations have resulted in tent cities and people living in gyms which have no side walls. The population of one of these tent cities is about 70% our brethren.  It is not safe for people to return to their farms and dwelling places.  In many cases, if the house did not totally collapse, it is unsafe for the inhabitants to go inside and so they sleep outside the house.

The government sent shipments of rice, but much of it was not edible.  Local governments have assigned citizens small lots to rebuild their homes and start a new life, but there is no money with which to rebuild.  Christians are suffering dire need of food, clothing, and shelter.

Here is a report from brother Frank Isla who has been visiting some of our brethren to assess their needs and to comfort them:
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