Dear family, brethren, and friends,

On the Lord’s Day I visited three congregations introduced to me by Domie Jacob about 25 years ago where his son Frankie still labors.  In the morning Willie Pastor drove me to the Cordon church where 47 souls assembled to worship and to consider sermons on “The Prison of Sin” and “Finish the Race.”  The one who decided to obey the gospel did not bring a change of clothes, so the baptism was postponed.

Next, we drove out into the countryside to meet with 31 people in the congregation at Der-an.  My topic here was “The Lord’s Supper: Memorial to Christ.”

After taking lunch, we proceeded another half hour to Villaros where 39 attended and I preached from Psalm 23, “God is Our Shepherd-King.”

Most Philippine churches have small paperback songbooks in their dialects plus English songbooks donated by U.S. brethren.  Often the name and location of the original owners are stamped inside the front cover of those books, and I enjoy glancing at that information because I frequently recognize where they came from.  The English songbooks at both Der-an and Villaros came from the Pruett & Lobit St. church in Baytown, Texas where my wife grew up.  These books were old and worn.  It was encouraging to think that the songbooks I used in worship today may have been used by the Bell family many years ago!

An all-day lectureship was conducted Monday at the Cordon church where Frankie Jacob serves as an evangelist.  I have visited this congregation many times through the years reaching back at least to March of 2001 when my son David, Don Hastings, Steve Wallace, and I worked here with Domie Jacob.  Our theme today was “Moral Truth in an Amoral Age” covering the subjects of abortion, homosexuality, transgender, and social media.  After the four lessons were presented, an open forum was held.

Someone asked about the rare case of a pregnancy which cannot go to full term, and which would result in the death of the mother and child, i.e., a tubal or ectopic pregnancy.  Such a case requiring abortion would not involve murder but rather the rescue of the mother since she is the only person who could survive.  A medical student asked about cases of artificially inseminating a third party to serve as a surrogate mother.  Such a practice creates moral issues because the surrogate is carrying the child of a man to whom she is not married.

Another question involved relatives being called upon to make a decision to remove life support technology from a dying person.  It is not murder to allow nature to take its course rather than to prolong the suffering of a dying person.

When we sang the invitation song, a young lady 13 years old came forward to confess Christ and to receive cleansing from sin in his blood by submitting to him in baptism.  Heaven and earth rejoice for the salvation of this precious soul!

Willie Pastor’s family, including his 89-year-old mother on a walker, attended today’s lectureship.  After we dismissed, his son showed me the Bible he uses which was an old Bible donated and signed by Virgie Bell, my wife’s mother.  It had a note inscribed by her asking the reader to remember Psalm 1:1-2 and 1 Corinthians 15:58.

I counted 34 souls who endured the high summer heat and humidity without complaint as we studied all day today.  Studying with such dedicated people makes me a better Christian!  It is evident that God sent me to the Philippines not only to teach but also to learn!

Tuesday was a day of travel, leaving Santiago City and about three hours later arriving in Tuguegarao City in the Province of Cagayan.  After we got settled in the hotel, Tessie Gumpad served a delicious supper in her typical 5-star restaurant style of cooking.  Rody Gumpad joined James Paet and me for the one hour walk under a big bright beautiful full moon!  I hope you saw it, too!

James drove Rody and me over an hour Wednesday to reach the saints in a rural area at Dy-Abra, Tumauini, Isabela where Victor Sinon labors in the gospel.  These saints had a nice church building until the children of the brother who donated the lot drove them away after his death.  Today 161 souls gathered under a makeshift wooden frame covered with tarps but open on all sides.  Pillars surrounded us where the outline of a new church building stood, but they have a long way to go.  As is typical, the delay is caused by lack of funds.  Rody summarized my sermon on “The Prison of Sin” in their local dialect.

A man was baptized into Christ at the age of 31, married with two children, but who lost both forearms by electrocution.  Two denominational preachers attended among the 115 people, and they were so interested they followed us to the next venue.

We drove next to the church located at Antagon 2, Tumauini where Victor Ramos preaches.  I preached a textual lesson from Mark 16 on “The Resurrection of Christ.”  The heat index was about 120 degrees Fahrenheit (50 Celsius) and my clothes were still wet with sweat an hour after preaching.  What a privilege and an inspiration to preach to people willing to endure such conditions to hear the gospel!

James drove hard and we barely made it back to Tuguegarao in time for the Wednesday evening Bible study at the Metro Tuguegarao church where I preached to about 60 souls on “God Is Our Shepherd-King” (Ps. 23).  It was a joy to be back with these saints where I first visited about 25 years ago.  In addition, Craig Meyer who recently came over to the Philippines traveled from Pamplona with Robin Pulveras to be here for the lectures, as did David Gatewood who has been staying in Cebu City.  It is unusual to have two Americans in the audience when I preach over here.

It has been a good but exhausting day, which ended well with another delicious meal at Tessie’s table and a one hour walk with James.

A two-day lectureship began Thursday at the Metro Tuguegarao church of Christ where Rody Gumpad is an evangelist.  Over 200 people packed the building as we began exploring the theme “Life, Death, and Beyond.”  This is an unusual lectureship because we have the added advantage of training in the song service with the help of several brethren from Davao City in southern Mindanao, about 1,750 kilometers or 775 miles from here.  Connie Balbin with the help of James Paet and Craig Meyer conducted singing sessions today.

Today’s sermons were “Man as Body, Soul, and Spirit,” “Why We Live,” The Gospel Makes Us Right with God,” and “Assurance by Faith.”   One of the denominational preachers who joined our studies yesterday was present today and told me he understood what I taught.  Rody will follow up with him tonight in private study.

One of the questions in the open forum was whether young men who are not yet Christians should participate in leading the worship service.  These young people should be taught to sit with their parents to observe, learn, and participate in ways appropriate to their age, but they should not lead the service.  1 Timothy 2:8-12 teaches faithful Christian men to lead our worship.  We can hold training classes separate from worship for the young men who are not yet Christians, and even for young men who are Christians but need training.  One brother said he gathers young men before the worship hour to train them at the front and the session ends before the worship service begins, which is a very good plan.

Again, Friday over 200 souls attended as the studies continued on “Life, Death, and Beyond.”  Our lessons covered “Finish the Race,” “Why and How We Die,” “After Death – Hades,” “After the Resurrection, Heaven and Hell.”

The denominational preacher who heard the sermons on Wednesday and who came again Thursday, studied with Rody last night.  He has supervised other preachers under him in his denomination, but he understands now the difference between the original and true church of Christ in the New Testament and modern denominations created by men.  Having heard the true gospel for the first time, he obeyed it today without delay and was baptized into Christ for the remission of his sins.  He is anxious to return to his home in the Mountain Province to share the gospel with his associates in the denomination, which is 4 ½ hours distance from here.   Of course, our brethren are willing to go to his place to help him.

It has been uplifting to see and work with saints I have known 25 years and longer in some cases.  Tessie’s cooking is always a delight.  A few preachers joined me in walking tonight, but, as they say, I walk, and they jog to keep up.  We enjoyed our time together.

Tomorrow, God willing, we will travel westward in the Province of Cagayan.  I thank God for every saint who has fellowship with us in this work for the cause of Christ by your prayers, encouragement, and financial aid.  May God bless us all to finish our race serving Him!

In Christian love,
Ron Halbrook

To see good Bible study material, go to:
https://www.hebronlanechurchofchrist.com
https://biblework.congregateclients.com
https://truthbooks.com
https://www.truthmagazine.com