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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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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