Greetings to you all in the Name of our Lord and Saviour, Jesus Christ. Again it is my pleasure to bring you greetings from our fellow workers in the Philippines. On their behalf I thank you all for the support you continue to give. They always express their thanks for the encouragement and blessing they receive from you here in NZ.
Pastor Benjie Ragas
writes (edited by request)
“This coming October 25-27 the Macajalar Bay District Youth Under Mission will conducting a “sportsfest”, purposely to encourage and discover each gift and have time together. At Macanhan Church please continue to pray for Pastor Rustom Marquino as he takes the leadership. Please pray for new level of my (Pastor Benjie) ministry especially the situation of the church as I transfer to the City of Davao, The transition period will be unexplainable. Concerning Macanhan Church, please pray for the transition period of Ptr Rustom. Some members are planning to leave the church. Pray also for continued provision for the renovation of the church building since it was started but it is not finished. From time to time the water comes inside from the roof and from the floor because the renovation is not finished. There are some who made a pledge, that’s why we started the renovation, but those who pledged did not give anything. Some of my things are wet, especially now it is rainy season, that’s why this is my additional prayer request that there is a provision so that the renovation will be finished.
Pastor Roy Rocha
writes
“Dear friends, Thank you very much for your love, prayers, and financial support! As you know that we have been in tough situation as we experienced the wrath of nature (as what people says) but we rejoice because in this experience we experienced God’s goodness and faithfulness because He answered you’re / our prayers. Knowing that you are behind us in such experience mattered so much as we moved on in our lives.
As we begun to rebuild and re-establish ourselves from such experience, another sad thing happened that greatly affected my wife emotionally. My mother in law was brought to the hospital because she was hit by a motorbike locally known as ‘habal-habal’ (a means of transportation in remote areas)* in out province. Tears of worry filled our hearts as my sister in law was keeping us update about their mother’s condition. After a week in ICU, she passed away.
To date, we are here in our province for the wake and burial on Thursday.
But in all these, ‘as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord’
- A habal-habal is an ordinary motorbike (125–250cc) which may have anything from one to seven passengers plus the driver. In some areas outriggers are mounted on the rear carrier to carry more passengers or cargo. (G.R.A.)
Our Prayer request:
- Please pray for peace and comfort as we go through all these heartaches
- Peace in mind because our thoughts are with our kids left in Manila.
- Continue to pray as we are re-establishing ourselves in a new location. Many things to do await our return to Manila.
- For financial support as we raise the monthly rent for our new apartment (150 $US)
In Christ, Roy
Pastor Jonathan Navacilla
From Banilad Cebu Pastor Jonathan Navacilla writes about his weekly programme
“…every Sunday we have three services plus a Bible study with the 60 players after that last service. After the Bible study I handle a small group for leaders (prototype small group) for women.
I have a discipleship class every Tuesday night and the same class for different people on Thursday nights.
Wednesday is prayer meeting and Friday is Bible study and visitation time
My Saturday is in Umapad till 3:00pm and Saturday night I handle the small group for men leaders.
“God is indeed faithful and that the harvest is plentiful. Our church attendance for the three services every Sunday is growing in number. Thank you for your prayers!
As of the moment we are doing our “discipleship league”. This Basketball league was created to encourage men church members and to develop the fellowship of the church because those who attend church services on a Sunday morning do not know people who come on afternoon services. But I believe this is a good problem because it means God is increasing our number. In connection with this I ask you to pray with us for a bigger meeting place that we could use every Sunday so that we could do just one service every Sunday. This would be less tiring for me and we could use the Sunday afternoon for small groups and discipleship.”
With such a programme as Pastor Jonathan has out lined as well as his study towards his M Div. it is no wonder to me that he is often worn out and not well. Please pray that he will gain in strength to be able to continue his ministry.
Both Pastor Jonathan (3) and Pastor Benjie(2) along with three others with others will be presenting sessions at an upcoming Pastors Seminar at the end of September.
Pastor Reniel Comajeg
Regarding Youth work in CDO Pastor Reniel Comajeg writes
“On August 26, the Macajalar Bay District Youth Fellowship had its regular monthly fellowship and this time it was participated in by 128 young people and 9 Pastors. The attendance is 30% higher form the July fellowship as the young people are inviting unbelievers to attend the fellowship which gives us more opportunities to share the Gospel.
I was the speaker on the said fellowship and I preached on the subject “Walk by Faith, Not by Sight”. It was a joy to see these young people actively involving themselves in the ministry.
Oro Bible College
In regard to Oro Bible College, this coming week it will be holding its Foundation Day Anniversary Celebration on September 17th. At this time past and present students will join together for sports and games as well as devotions and meetings. On October 15th the Interns will return to the college having spent the last four and a half months away in their respective churches undertaking practical ministry training and experience. Mid-term exams have been held recently. The College continues to hold outreach programmes and Bible studies in Alubijid and Buena Oro.
Please continue to pray for the work of the College/ faculty, staff and students as they prepare for the second semester. Pray that they would also be refreshed during the semester break and that all present students and, God willing, even new students would return for the second semester which commences on November 5th.
Again, I thank you for your support for the Philippine work and trust the Lord’s blessing for each one of you.
Yours in the Master’s service,
Grant Aldridge
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