Philippine Preaching August 2-7, 2022
Dear family, brethren, and friends,
My 79th Philippine trip got underway August 2-4. The flights on Tuesday-Wednesday went well from Louisville, Kentucky to Detroit, Michigan, on to Seoul-Incheon, South Korea, and finally to Manila in the Philippines. Keith Greer arrived safely with me but flew a different route on the first two legs of the journey.
Thursday morning Elias Cruz, James Paet, and several other Filipino brethren joined Keith and me at our hotel to help us repack the 8 boxes of Bibles and study materials to ship ahead to the venues where I will preach. Then we visited the money changer and made other preparations to begin our work.
Early Friday morning Keith flew to Tuguegarao City, Cagayan to labor with Rody Gumpad and many other preachers in northern Luzon.
Friday I visited the church at Kapitbahayan, Navotas to preach with Elias Cruz. Thirty-nine souls heard my lessons entitled “From Wretched Man to More Than Conqueror” (Rom 7:24, 8:37)” and “Navigating the Present Distress” (1 Cor. 7:26). The first lesson recounts how God delivers us from the miserable life of a sinner to become more than conquerors in Christ. The second sermon considers Bible principles which guide us as we make decisions in times of danger and distress. I hoped this study might open a door to resolve the split that occurred over issues related to covid. The study was well received and was followed by a good open forum session.
In the afternoon I preached the same two sermons at Lapu Lapu, Malabon wehre 59 souls gathered. and where Jerry Toreja often preaches for them. This is the group which separated from Kapitbahayan. Again, the lessons were well received and generated some frank comments and questions concerning factors which contributed to the division. The parties involved in the division are hopeful at this time that they can be reconciled. We will be longing to hear that this process will bear good fruit.
All day Saturday I proclaimed God’s Word to the assembly of 65 people at Meycauayan, Bulacan where Jaime Bobis preaches. The first two lessons were the same ones presented yesterday and then I turned to “On to Canaan Or Back to Egypt? (Acts 7:39),” followed by “Finishing the Race (2 Tim. 4:17-18)”. Two precious souls were baptized for the remission of their sins in a swimming pool nearby – and the angels rejoiced with us!
I have not seen the moon because the skies have been overcast and cloudy with an abundance of rain every day because of a typhoon south of us in the Visayas. The advantage is that this cools the hot atmosphere somewhat.
The first Lord’s Day service was at the Edsa-Pasay church where James Paet serves as an evangelist and where the deaf-mute saints also gather – Tonyboy Hornado has long preached for them. In view of the presence of our deaf-mute brethren, I slowed the pace to help the translator (signer) and broke the study on “Navigating the Present Distress” into two parts. We were glad to see that this service included first-time visitors among the 60 attendees.
In the afternoon we worshiped in Parañaque with saints meeting at the house of Jimmy Battung where our attendance of 10 included two Catholics. The sermons were entitled “Jesus Came to Seek and Save the Lost” (Lk. 19:10 and “When Peter Confessed Christ” (Matt. 16:13-18). Both congregations are struggling to recover from the downturn imposed by the covid pandemic.
Please pray for Keith Greer’s work with Rody Gumpad in northern Luzon and for the safe travel of Mark Mayberry and Trey Torno as they will be traveling here Monday-Tuesday. May God bless all who are laboring in the gospel at home and around the world!
In Christian love,
Ron Halbrook
To see good Bible study material, go to:
https://www.
https://biblework.
https://truthbooks.com
https://www.truthmagazine.com