September 2, 2017^th Year of Our Lord
HALBROOK REPORT: 67^th PHILIPPINE TRIP AUGUST 1-29, 2017

Dear brethren,                               

A merciful God brought me to the Philippines in 1995 with Jim McDonald and my 67^th trip, August 1-29, has now been completed by His grace.  God proclaimed to John His wrath on the evil Roman Empire for its idolatry and persecution of saints.   “The everlasting gospel” brings victory to martyred saints and defeat to their enemies:  “And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven, having the everlasting gospel to preach unto for them that dwell on the earth, and to every nation, and kindred, and tongue, and people” (Rev. 14:6).  The everlasting gospel still proclaims divine judgment on Satan’s servants and final victory to faithful saints.   On 59 occasions I proclaimed this same gospel, not counting lessons taught by Filipino brethren.  Sixteen precious souls submitted to Christ in baptism for the remission of sins.

On August 3 Filipino brethren met me in Manila to help repack boxes and ship them ahead to the places I planned to teach. Thursday a plane took me to Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental where I met Jack Jaco.  Saturday we traveled into the mountains to preach at Baslay, Dauin, Negros Oriental with Macario Magabo.  Pablo Quimada translated my lessons on “Jesus Came to Seek and Save the Lost” and “How Sinners Receive Salvation.”  Four were baptized.  Sunday we worshiped with the saints at Siaton where Pablo Quimada labors.  About 50 attended both places and another three submitted to Christ at Siaton.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,

By the wonderful providence of God my 67^th preaching trip to the Philippines has been successfully completed.  There were 16 souls baptized into Christ and two week-long classes conducted with the help of Jack Jaco and Jonathan Carino.  God blessed my travel during the past month with safety.  It is always an enriching experience to work with Filipino saints.  While I am trying to help them by teaching God’s Word, their faith, hope, and love strengthen and edify me.  I will send out a final report soon.

I fought an ear infection for three weeks and could not defeat it in spite of seeing two doctors and taking several medicines.  The day before I left Manila Dr. Teresa Toreja was able to drain a sore inside the ear and to see spots of infection on my eardrum.  She urged me to see a specialist as soon as reaching home.  While changing planes en route home on Tuesday in Atlanta, I called ahead and was given an appointment for early Wednesday in Lexington.  Knowing there can be road work and traffic problems traveling from Louisville to Lexington, I decided to travel to Lexington Tuesday night after the plane landed and to stay in a motel near the medical complex.  Dr. Matthew Bush graciously saw me though he does medical research rather than seeing patients on Wednesdays.  He took a culture to determine exactly what kind of infection I have, then he packed my ear with some kind of medical cream, and he prescribed another antibiotic.  He wants me to return next week, but he is confident this infection can be killed.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,

At long last I am finally able to send an updated report.  I have been caught in a whirlwind of activity which barely allowed me to preach and teach the scheduled lessons without a moment to write anything.  When the last report ended I was still on Cebu Island and will pick up the story there.

The Lord’s Day, August 20, we drove about an hour to Sitio Katanoy Liloan in Cebu City to worship with Roy Matta and the saints there.  Our attendance was 125 and the church building was filled with young people in their teens and older along with more mature brethren.  My subjects were “Young People, Read the Bible” and “Jesus Came to Seek and Save the Lost.”  When a congregation survives another year, Filipinos often include songs and prayers of thanksgiving in the service, and I was asked to lead such a prayer.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,

The Lord’s Day, August 13, was a beautiful day for the saints to assemble and worship our great God.  We drove an hour from Bacolod City to Victorias City where Jack Jaco preaches.  About 80 souls gather and I preached “God Made Us Male and Female” (Gen. 1:27), dealing with gender identity and roles.  Next, we studied “Why Saints Assemble,” a verse by verse study of Hebrews 10.

In the afternoon we drove over a hour to reach the church in a rural area at Kawayan, Taloc, Bago City where Shem Tagapan preaches.  I was glad to see these saints again and to know they are steadfastly serving the Lord.  About 35 were gathered and I presented the lesson “Jesus Came to Seek and Save the Lost” (Lk. 19:10).  Shem is sound and steady in his work.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,

About 4:00 A.M. on Monday, August 7, Jack Jaco, Mario Rubio, and Efren Miraflor left the hotel in Dumaguete City in a van loaded with all of our suitcases and briefcases to drive across the island of Negros by Bacolod City in the province of Negros Occidental.  I flew from Dumaguete City to Cebu City on the island of Cebu and waited 4 ½ hours to catch a connecting flight to Bacolod City.  This provided valuable study time.  These brethren arrived in Bacolod City ahead of me, met me at the airport, and brought me to the hotel where I will stay.

Jack had made preparations to host our classes on The Home and Family in Victorias City where he preaches, about an hour from here.  Our prayers for safe travel were surely answered today.  I spoke with Jonathan Carino by phone while passing through Cebu City and learned he has been released from the hospital, the vomiting has stopped, and he is trying to regain his strength.  These are encouraging signs, the answer to many prayers by many saints in many places.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,

On Friday, August 4, I flew from Manila to Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental on the island of Negros and was met by Jack Jaco, Mario Rubio, and Efren Miraflor.  Jonathan Carino was not able to come because of his health problems – we are praying for his recovery and he is making progress.

The weather has been overcast and rainy at times because of a typhoon which passed through the Philippines this past week and another one which appears to be on the way.  There is a lighted boulevard on the ocean across the street from the Bethel Guest House (our hotel) where I was able to walk tonight for an hour.  The moon was glowing behind the clouds as it captured the love I was sending to all of you and as it relayed your love to me.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,

The 67th Philippine trip started in the usual way: I worked all Monday night and barely had time to shower before my dependable friend Doug Rush showed up with his truck to take me with a suitcase and six boxes of Bible study materials to the airport.  The 8:30 AM flight from Louisville brought me to Atlanta on Tuesday, August 1, where a noon flight originated going to Tokyo, Japan, and the final flight pulled up at the gate in Manila about 9:00 PM on Wednesday – a little over 24 hours of safe travel by God’s grace.  (The time in the Philippines is 12 hours ahead of U.S. time.) In addition to a few naps, all that time in the air was productive study time.

Thursday morning Sammy Paet and Elias Cruz met me at the hotel to re-pack the boxes in order to ship them via air cargo to the destinations where I will be preaching and teaching classes.  I cannot check them with my suitcase because the excess weight costs an arm and both legs, but they can fly on the same airplane with me as “cargo” for a very reasonable rate.
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April 30, 2017^th Year of Our Lord
HALBROOK REPORT: 66^th PHILIPPINE TRIP April 5-30, 2017

Dear brethren,                               

Thanks to God who keeps opening doors, I have successfully completed my 66^th preaching trip to the Philippines April 5-30, after first going with Jim McDonald in 1995.  I am always amazed at the work Filipinos do with such meager resources!  I am just a visitor who hopes to encourage and edify them, but they are the real heroes of faith.  This trip included two vacation Bible study series for young people in an effort to raise up even more workers:  “For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them” (Eph. 2:10).  51 lessons were presented toward that end, not counting the ones presented by Filipino brethren.  16 were baptized into Christ.

This trip started with a bang when bad weather diverted my Atlanta flight to South Carolina, resulting in 50 hours of travel, double the usual time.  I even had the bonus of sleeping on the floor at the Atlanta airport with thousands of other stranded people, but all is well that ends well.  I arrived safely in Manila by God’s good providence.  In spite of this one day delay, I made it to Davao City and began work there April 8-12.
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