Philippine Preaching April 7-May 5, 2020
March 7, 2020th Year of Our Lord
Dear brethren,
By God’s good grace Jim McDonald took me to the Philippines in 1995 and April 7-May 5 is set for my 78th trip to preach the glorious gospel of Christ in that land. It will be a blessing to work with Craig Thomas, evangelist with the Westside church of Christ in Bloomington, IN. Both he and his son Ryan have preached in the Philippines and Ryan is married to Jennifer Gumpad, daughter of Rody and Tessie.
The great harvest of souls continues in the Philippines. Preacher training classes are crucial as new men are converted and as young men aspire to preach. Paul urged Timothy, “You therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men who will be able to teach others also. You therefore must endure hardship as a good soldier of Jesus Christ” (2 Tim. 2:1-3, NKJV). We will concentrate on the pressing need to train preachers in the truth and challenge them to endure hardness in this great work.
On April 9 several brethren will meet us at the hotel in Manila to ship boxes to the venues where we will use the Bibles and teaching materials we plan to bring. The next day Craig and I will fly to Laoag City, Ilocos Norte to meet Efran Ramos and other brethren. Saturday-Sunday we will scatter to visit several congregations in the Ilocos region. Normally, we labor with pioneer preachers Mat Sibayan, Sr. and Vic Domingo, but both men are suffering the ravages of age and sickness. We hope to visit them.
April 13-15 Efren will host classes for preachers covering the book of Revelation at the church of Christ meeting in Binacag, Ilocos Norte. They will build simple tables to use in the church building so that participants can open their Bibles, notepads, and copies of Dan King’s workbook on Revelation. On the 16th Craig and I will travel to Tuguegarao, Cagayan and stop along the way to preach at the Centro church in Pagudpod, Ilocos Norte and at Dubing, Pamplona, Cagayan.
Rody Gumpad and the brethren at Tuguegarao, Cagayan will host a month-long preacher training series April 20-May 15. Classes include how to study the Bible, survey of every book in the Bible, basic Bible doctrine, the New Testament church, a preacher’s life and work, church history, issues that divide churches, Bible geography, preparation and delivery of sermons, and learning to use Bible study tools (a reference Bible, a Bible concordance, and a Bible dictionary). Time will be devoted each day to prayer and memorization of Bible passages. Craig and I will teach the first two weeks (Apr. 20-May 1) followed by Harry Osborne and Lordy Salunga. Including Bibles and other materials as well as personal needs of participants, the cost will be about $20,000, but these classes are direly needed because as Jesus said, “The harvest truly is plenteous, but the labourers are few” (Matt. 9:37). Men of all ages are enrolling.
On May 2 Craig and I will fly to Manila, preach in the area on Sunday, and Monday is reserved to purchase Bibles in Filipino dialects to ship many places. Thank you for responding to my call for help to purchase 830 Bibles in February! We will stretch our budget for Bibles again, and fly home Tuesday, the 5th.
Thank you for prayers and donations which make these trips possible! Individuals needing a legal tax deduction may write checks to Help A Neighbor. Write all other checks to Ron Halbrook. Mail all checks to 3505 Horse Run Ct., Shepherdsville, KY 40165-6954. For PayPal, the account is Richard Halbrook – indicate “send to a friend” not “pay for item or service.” Donors receive financial reports (2 Cor. 8:21).
In Christian love,
Ron Halbrook
Phone 502-955-1748 or 957-6726; e-mail halbrook@twc.com
P.S. There is a dire need for songbooks! I can ship new or used copies very cheaply.
P.S.S. Hundreds of saints who are victims of the 9 earthquakes & 4,000+ aftershocks in southern Mindanao are still living in tents and struggling for food & clean water. Many tents are shredded by sun, rain, & wind. Funds are needed to build small houses of light materials. Donations are being relayed to aid these suffering saints.