Dear family, brethren, and friends,

I regret to say that for several nights I have not been able to find the moon, but I know it is there – reminding us of God’s grace and our love for each other when we see it.  

On Saturday morning Rolly Salvador drove us from Rosario in the Province of La Union to Baguio City which is an independent city in the geographical region of the Province of Benguet.  Our journey required climbing to an elevation of 4,900 feet and my body has struggled to adjust to this radical change. 

There are only a few congregations meeting in this city of 400,000 souls (two-to-three million people if we include suburbs and surrounding area).  In the afternoon 25 people gathered to hear God’s Word at the Leonila Hill church in Barangay Aurora Hill where Rosendo Gumpad is the local evangelist.  The two sermons I presented were on the theme of “Life and Death.”  Many young people were present and were very attentive.  When we sang the invitation song, the 14- year-old grandson of Ronnie Gumpad stepped forward to confess his faith and submit his soul to Christ in baptism. 

The Lord’s Day was spent with the saints at the Cresencia Village church in Guisad here in Baguio City with their evangelists Ray Libatique, Lito Almerol, and Fernan Bautista.  Another longtime evangelist here, Andrew Gawe, passed away recently at the age of 89.  My first sermon was “The Prison of Sin” followed by “Work While It Is Day.”  After lunch we continued with a study of Psalm 57 entitled “Trust God Till the Danger Passes.”  73 precious souls joined today’s assembly and 4 of them stepped forward to confess Christ as the Son of God, requesting to be baptized for the remission of their sins.  Heaven and earth rejoice!

There was a very fruitful open forum this afternoon which focused on questions about how the word “wine” is used in the Bible.  It simply refers to the juice of grapes, whether it be intoxicating or non-intoxicating drink, depending on the context of each passage where it is mentioned.  The Bible leaves no room for intoxication, except when alcohol is used as a drug for medicine.  The intoxicating effects of alcoholic beverages simply makes us vulnerable to Satan’s advance.  The Bible gives no approval of drinking intoxicants as a beverage. 

We walked to a mall after supper where I could get my exercise.  Getting there was like wading through the crowds in New York City during New Year’s Eve!  The mall was so full and busy we had to go to the third floor to find room for me to really walk.       

Monday had been scheduled as a day for rest and study.  God works in His own time and way.  After my sickness in Ilocos Norte, the doctor prescribed medicines but wanted me to have a follow-up visit after several days.  This day gave us the needed opening.  Rosendo Gumpad’s family uses a doctor who is their friend and because of this I had a 9:00 AM appointment today.  His daughter JoAnn was very helpful negotiating the appointment, filling out forms, and moving around in the hospital for blood work and for an EKG necessary for approval for an endoscopy exam of my stomach.  That will be done at 8:00 AM tomorrow (and, hopefully, I can catch up with the brethren for our preaching appointment after the test).  The doctor is looking for bacteria which need to be attacked with the precise medicine.  I am much better, but my stomach is still uncomfortable.

By the time we finished all this including lunch today, it was 3:00 PM.  Frankly, this is an embarrassing situation.  I should be here helping our brethren, but, instead, they are helping me!  They could not be more gracious, patient, and helpful. 

We returned to the mall so that I could walk this afternoon rather than at night.  The fourth level had an open-air walking area outside around the perimeter of the building.  Walking back to our hotel, I observed blind people utilizing special grooves in the sidewalk to guide their walking sticks.  

Baguio City is high in the mountains.  Even though temperatures are in the comfortable 60’s range, the mountain breezes make it feel much cooler and I definitely need a jacket part of the time. Meanwhile, Donna tells me the temperature at home has been in single digits with snow at times, so I cannot complain. 

I need to correct this sentence in report #2: “We will enter eternity in heaven or hell in resurrected, immoral, spiritual bodies.”  It should read: “We will enter eternity in heaven or hell in resurrected, immortal, spiritual bodies.”  There is a vast difference between “immoral” and “immortal.”  I need to bring Donna with me to proofread these reports before I send them!                                     

Here is the final correction in report #1 on the Saturday I missed while in the hospital (Dec. 6).  Mark Wallace preached at the Caugingannan church in Pamplona, Cagayan Province where Daniel Tiongson labors in the gospel and 150-200 attended.  That afternoon he preached at the Alassitan church in Pamplona where Dante Tiongson labors and about 40 attended.  My head was in a heavy fog  during those days of sickness, but I am very thankful to Mark for fulfilling our appointments.  Mark is now in the air, well on his way home to his loved ones.

Thank you to all who are praying for Mark, for myself, and for the Filipino brethren here with me.  I still cannot see the moon, but I know it is there!

In Christian love,
Ron Halbrook