Dear family, brethren, and friends,

On Thursday, April 13, it was necessary to get up at 4:45 A.M. to catch a plane from Davao City in southern Mindanao to Cagayan de Oro City, Misamis Oriental in northern Mindanao.  Cipriano Carpentero and Edgar Samodal met us with a multipurpose cab and a pickup truck to carry our bags and packages of Bible study material I would distribute.

We drove a couple of hours to reach the church meeting at Eslon in Iligan City, Lanao del Norte where Edgar preaches.  Area brethren joined us and the little meeting house was full and overflowing with additional people listening outside, probably a total of 50 or more.  My topic was “Rejoice in the Lord Always” (Phil. 4:4), a lesson of encouragement.

After leaving Eslon we stopped along the way to visit some saints at Segapad Maigo who had known writers like Cecil Willis and myself in Truth Magazine through the years.  It was a joy to learn how Truth Magazine had helped them all these years.

After another couple of hours travel, we reached the church at Logpond, Tabod, Lanao del Norte where Leo Entroso preaches.  The place is in a rural area well off the beaten path, but they are building a wooden meeting place which was quite full with visiting brethren and sinners.  The sermon entitled “The Bread of Life” was based on John 6 to show Jesus came to give salvation, eternal life, not food, finances, and fun.  He came to save our souls not to feed our bellies.  Three precious souls came forward to confess their faith in Christ and to submit to him in water baptism.

About 5:00 P.M. we reached Kapatagan in Lanao del Norte where Romeo Samodal labors.  This was another rural congregation and our crowd spilled outside the building.  I preached on “The Resurrection of Christ,” a verse by verse study of Mark 16.  Everyone was quite attentive.

We left there a little after 6:00 P.M. for the last leg of our journey and reached Pagadian City, Zamboanga del Sur about 7:30 P.M. by God’s grace.  There is a large Muslim population on Mindanao and we passed military checkpoints where the soldiers are looking for weapons and rebels.  This has been a very long but very good day, and it ended with a bright moon looking happily down on us.

After preparing everything for the next day on Thursday night, I slept at 1:00 A.M. and woke up at 7:30 A.M. well rested, ready for another full day on Friday.  Services at the Bogo congregation in Pagadian City started at 9:00 A.M. with preaching at 9:30.  The large church building was quite full with close to 100 people.  They could not have been more attentive as we delved into “Take Job as an Example” (Ja. 5:10-11).  It was clear everyone was lifted up by contemplating the faith of Job under the most difficult circumstances.  Next, we studied “Why Saints Assemble” (Heb. 10:24-25) at Ramon Carino’s request (he had heard me preach it at Edsa-Pasay in Metro Manila in March).

After lunch we gathered again to consider the topic “Modest Dress through the Ages” (1 Tim. 2:9-10).  During the open forum there were perceptive questions and comments which were very helpful in reinforcing the subject.  I encouraged preachers to study with couples who asked them to perform marriage ceremonies and to cover basic principles regarding marriage, and to include some discussion and advice about finding a modest wedding gown for the bride.  It was obvious this session was well received.

One of the highlights of the day was to have Ramon Carino at age 93 sitting in a wheelchair at his usual place on the front row taking everything in and adding good insights during the open forum.  His mind is still very sharp.

We left shortly after 4:00 P.M. to travel east to Ozamiz City in Misamis Occidental. Again we passed military checkpoints which were stepped up out of fear of Muslim attacks during the busy “holy week” activities of this Catholic nation.  Because of “holy week,” when we arrived at the hotel the restaurant was closed.  Therefore, I accompanied the Filipino brethren in search of a restaurant serving native foods.  We managed to find a buffet style restaurant where I found boiled okra, green beans cooked Filipino style, and two small pieces of grilled fish with leche flan for dessert – we managed fine.

After returning to the hotel, I went to the city hall where there is a circular sidewalk around a park and enjoyed  walking for almost an hour, admiring the beautiful brilliant full moon.  “The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork” (Ps. 19:1).

The hot weather has been moderated by a cloud cover most of the time with intermittent, brief, light showers which cool the atmosphere.  This is perfect weather for travel and preaching, by God’s grace.

Saturday we drove from Ozamiz to Oroquieta City, Misamis Occidental to meet with a house church at Lower Lamac where Nelson Flores preaches on Sunday afternoons.  The man who owns the house is a retired police officer and his house is located in a police compound.  After he and his wife were converted, their children and grandchildren also began to obey the true and original gospel of Christ.

About 20 attended the service and heard “The Gospel Makes Us Right” (Rom. 1:16-17).  We studied about the right God, the right Savior, the right baptism, the right church, the right worship, and the right life.  Young and old alike paid close attention.

When I opened the floor to questions, I was asked if sincere people who have their own religions will be saved since they are ignorant of the truth.  2 Thessalonians 1:7-9 directly states that those who “know not God and obey not the gospel” will be lost.  Is this fair?  Yes, because Acts 17:26-27 teaches that God rules the world in such a way that those who seek Him can find Him.  People who do not seek God and truth will justly be lost in their sins.  All have sinned and the wages of sin is death (Rom. 3:23; 6:23).

Before going to the next appointment after lunch, we spent an hour visiting with Nelson Flores to learn more about the work he is doing as well as other brethren in the area.  Nelson preaches Sunday mornings for a larger church meeting in a high school, and there are plans for the house church to put up a simple meeting place on a piece of property which will give the church more visibility in the community.

The brethren at Clarin had all-day preaching starting at 9:00 A.M. and we arrived at 3:00 P.M.  Juanito Lagasca is the local preacher and he introduced me to the audience, then had me immediately start preaching after one song.  My subject was “The Resurrection of Christ” based on Mark 16.  The church building was full and some people sat outside, in front of the entrance door.  Three were baptized shortly before we arrived.

We returned to the hotel in Ozamiz City before 5:30 P.M.  I took the opportunity to walk before dark.  By the time I finished, darkness was falling and I caught a glimpse of the moon – reminding me of loved ones in the U.S. and in Australia who can see the same moon and who are praying for this work!

On the Lord’s Day we drove an hour to reach the Oroquieta City church of Christ meeting at the Misamis Occidental National High School.  Nelson Flores and Ramon Villamin are working as a team to strengthen this congregation.  Including visitors, the attendance easily topped 100.  Knowing our time was short because we had to catch a plane, I presented only one lesson: “Why Saints Assemble” (Heb. 10:24-25).  The brethren were kind enough to prepare us a lunch which we hastily ate, then we drove back to Ozamiz City to the airport.

The plane took us to Cebu City on the island of Cebu where we are spending part of the night.  Jonathan and I will arrive at the airport at 3:30 A.M. to fly to Manila where we will meet a connecting flight to Tuguegarao, Cagayan in north central  Luzon.  I need to sign off here and warm the bed a few minutes with much prayer and thanksgiving for the privilege of serving God and Filipino saints!

In Christian love,
Ron Halbrook

To see good Bible study material, go to:
http://www.HebronChurchOfChrist.com
http://www.biblework.com
http://www.truthmagazine.com
http://www.CEIbooks.com