Dear family, brethren, and friends,
On Saturday, August 20, I bade Jonathan Carino and Jack Jaco goodbye in Bacolod City, Negros Occidental. As they returned to their homes after a job well done, I flew to Manila for the last phase of my trip. After getting to the hotel in Manila, I caught up on some email, exercised, and reviewed lessons for Sunday.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,
Greetings to all from the Republic of the Philippines where more than 500,000 drug pushers and users have turned themselves in to the authorities because the new President declared war on drugs and he means business. Since he took office at the end of June over 600 have died in shootouts with the police or at the hands of unknown parties. Meanwhile, we are preaching the unsearchable riches of the gospel of Christ to seek and save the lost, thanks to the grace of God and the help of His saints.
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Dear family, brethren, and friend,
Because the August 12 meeting on reconciliation and unity dismissed at 11:30 P.M., by the time I returned to the hotel and packed for the next leg of the trip, there were only two hours to sleep. An early morning flight took us from Davao City on Mindanao to Bacolod City on Negros in the Visayan Islands. Bacolod City boasts a population of almost 600,000 and is the capital of the Negros Occidental Province. There are several good churches within a couple of hours radius and they are growing.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,
While traveling from General Santos City to Davao City on Saturday, August 6, we stopped to preach for a half day at Kitakal, Malungon, Sarangani Province. Rene Sandoval preached here but died in a vehicle accident a few years ago. His widow Sel is still faithful and young preachers have been trained to continue the work.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,
Thank you for your thoughts, prayers, and support in spreading the gospel in the Philippine Islands. The five days of classes on Revelation and on the final events at the end of time began Monday, August 1, at General Santos City in southern Mindanao. Jolly Julom was our host and many brethren came from a distance and stayed with him for the week. They slept on mats on the floor of the church building where Jolly preaches. His family and other helpers prepared food for them.
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Dear family, brethren, and friends,
My flights on July 26-27 from Louisville to Atlanta to Tokyo to Manila on Luzon in the Philippines were blessed with safety and smooth air currents. Our plane arrived in Manila at 7:30 PM on Wednesday , the earliest ever (usually 10:00-11:00 PM through the years). This gave me time to check into the hotel and go to the exercise room. Though the flights are exhausting after 24 hours travel, exercise helps the “paralyzed” body begin to regain some strength as well as to sleep quite well.
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May 18, 2016th Year of Our Lord
Dear brethren,
By God’s providence I am preparing for my 63rd Philippine preaching trip July 26-August 25, after Jim McDonald taking me the first time in 1995. I will labor with Filipino preachers in fields ripe unto harvest. Two weeks will be spent on grounding and upgrading preachers for their great work. They in turn will train others. The gospel torch must pass from one generation to another until the end of time. “And the things that thou hast heard of me among many witnesses, the same commit thou to faithful men, who shall be able to teach others also” (2 Tim. 2:2).
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May 1, 2016th Year of Our Lord
HALBROOK REPORT: 62nd PHILIPPINE TRIP April 4-26, 2016
Dear brethren,
God blessed my 62nd preaching trip to the Philippines April 4-26, just as He did the first one with Jim McDonald in 1995. Many Filipinos are being saved as citadels of sin and error fall before the power of the gospel. Truly “the weapons of our warfare” are “mighty through God to the pulling down of strong holds” and “casting down imaginations, and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ” (2 Cor. 10:4-5). I taught 62 times on this trip and 44 souls submitted to Christ in baptism.
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10:00 PM April 26, 2016th Year of Our Lord
Dear family, brethren, and friends,
This is just a quick note to let everyone know I have arrived home safely from the Philippines to find my beloved Donna well, by God’s grace. She just arrived here last night after visiting her mother and her sisters in Texas. Our prayers have been answered for our safety in these travels.
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Monday, April 25
Dear family, brethren, and friends,
On Wednesday, April 20, I bid Jonathan Carino, Jack Jaco, and the Bacolod brethren adieu and flew from Bacolod City to Manila, arriving mid-afternoon. After a late lunch at the hotel and some exercise, I prepared for the next two days of teaching in the Medium Security section of the New Bilibid Prison (new as of 1940). As a result of hearing me preach on the last trip, the leader of a large Presbyterian group in the prison asked me to teach for several days in their nice facility. I arranged two days for them and one day to work with the inmates in the Receiving and Diagnostics Center (RDC).
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