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.

We were invited to visit Peter Azuelo in the late afternoon as we returned to Bacolod City.  He is a retired denominational preacher who has heard us teach several times but has not yet submitted to be baptized for the remission of sins and ths to be added to the original church of Christ.  His wife served some delicious native desserts.  We discussed the spirit of man and how God communicates His will to us through the Scriptures given by the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit does not say one thing in Scripture and then another by some emotional feeling we experience.  Our study included the purpose of water baptism, the New Testament church versus denominational bodies, and the Bible pattern for the name, organization, and worship of the church.  I plan to send him a few books to read since he is very studious.  God has blessed him to live 80 years and we pray God will extend his life and he will submit to the original gospel of Christ.

The next segment of my schedule, August 14-26, is devoted to Cebu Island.  I took a flight Monday afternoon from Bacolod City on Negros to Cebu City on Cebu, anxious to see Jonathan Carino and to learn more about his condition.  When he met me at the airport, his son Kris was driving the vehicle and I rejoiced because it was clear Jonathan is regaining his strength. The doctor has prescribed medicines which are helping his kidneys and other organs affected by diabetes.  Next week he is one of the teachers as we conduct the classes on the book of Revelation and it appears he will be strong enough by then to participate.  Fortunately, this week the itinerary calls for visits to local churches and classes in homes and I will be expected to do most of the preaching, which gives him more time to recuperate.

Thank you to everyone praying for our brother’s recovery – truly, God answers the prayers of His people!

Tuesday was scheduled for rest and preparation for these next two weeks, and it seems providential there were no teaching appointments today.  Last week I struggled because of pain in my right ear which got worse as I tired and improved when I rested.  (Somehow I forgot to mention this to Donna when we talked by cell phone each day – actually, I did not want you to worry, dear, because I felt it was under control.)  By God’s grace I was able to ignore the pain when teaching, so it did not interrupt the classes.  I consulted with Dr. Teresa Toreja who prescribed drops for my ear.  The drops are now finished, but today about 4:00 A.M. I was awakened by severe pain.  After tossing and turning without finding relief for an hour, I remembered there is Ibuprofen in my briefcase and about 30 minutes after taking this medicine I drifted off to sleep again.

Teresa recommended I see an Ear Nose & Throat (ENT) doctor.  Jonathan knows a good ENT doctor and was able to get me in the door to see him today.   It turned out my ear was infected which explains the itching, burning, and pain I have experienced the last week.  I will take an antibiotic he prescribed for the rest of this week.

The proposed schedule for preaching on Wednesday did not materialize (long story), which is so rare I cannot remember the last time it happened.  This was a Godsend because I needed a quiet day to rest and recuperate.

Mario Rubio has been preaching the gospel about an hour from Cebu City at a home located on Tupaz St. in the community named Taptap on a high mountain overlooking Cebu City. Several people have been baptized into Christ and Mario conducts a service there on Sundays.  On Thursday, August 17, about a dozen people joined us on the large back porch of this home.  I began with a simple study entitled “Jesus Came to Seek and Save the Lost.”  Jonathan summarized it in Cebuano to clarify a few things in the local dialect.  After lunch I taught from Matthew 16:13-19, “When Peter Confessed Christ,” which focuses on Peter’s confession of Jesus as the Christ and its relationship to Jesus’ promise, “I will build my church.”

When time was offered for open forum, there were no questions, except one answered by Jonathan, because the audience said the teaching was very clear.  There were no additional baptisms today, but it was a wonderful opportunity to sow the seed of the kingdom – and it will not return unto God void but will surely accomplish His purpose.

Our Friday appointment was with Nathan Cajigas at Mainggit, Toledo City, but the ENT doctor had advised me to return to him today if my ear was still troubling me.  I had a restless night and realized when I awoke that it would be prudent to take his advice.  I hoped he would release me to go ahead and we could make a late start on our two hour trip to Mainggit.  The doctor said the ear is improving, but he wanted to start me on a different medicine – and then came the unwelcome news.  He said the medicine would fight 60% of the battle to kill the infection, but rest was necessary for the body to fight the other 40% in order to have success.  He recommended cancelling both Friday’s and Saturday’s appointments to take complete rest.

There is not much point in seeing a doctor if you are not willing to follow his instructions!  Furthermore, I cannot afford to jeopardize next week’s classes because we already have lost one of our teachers, Lordy Salunga, to sickness.  So….

Jonathan, Mario Rubio, and Dondon Mabasa left me at the hotel to start my new medication and to rest while they went on to Mainggit.  Jack Jaco had arrived ahead of them from Negros to join us for the upcoming classes next week, so he preached, followed by Mario and Jonathan.  By the grace of God through the power of the gospel, two were baptized into Christ.  About 100 people attended, Jonathan reported.

Likewise, on Saturday Jonathan accompanied by Jack, Mario, and Dondon made the two-hour trip to Bogo City to work with Gil Suico and Rupert Ramirez.  Again the gospel was preached to 20 precious souls.   Two more submitted to Christ in water baptism and were saved by grace through faith in his blood.

While I deeply regret missing the opportunity to work with the dear saints in Mainggit and Bogo City, every cloud has a silver lining and I must pause to count my blessings.  In 67 trips to the Philippines, such setbacks have been very rare – occurring only once every several years.  Also, when that rare sickness or injury occurs, I can always rely on the experience and wisdom of Dr. Teresa Toreja who advised me to find an ENT doctor in Cebu City to treat this ear infection.

And, last, since the assignments for the Revelation class next week had to be reshuffled because of Lordy Salunga’s illness, I will be teaching several additional lessons and this rest time has allowed me to do some much needed study.  (Let’s please continue praying for Lordy’s fight against diabetes and high blood pressure.)

I am always aware of how blessed I am to have saints around the world praying for me on these trips.  Trusting in God’s love and providential care, we have nothing to fear!

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