In February, 2000 I had the privilege to make my first short term overseas mission trip to the Philippine Islands. I went as part of a five man team of Kentucky pastors who were going there to partner with some native Filipino pastors and church planters. Little did I know what an impact that two week trip would have on my life and ministry.
Lord willing, this January I will be making my seventh trip there in the past eight years. During that time I have been blessed to travel to the Philippines with a number of very special folks from West Virginia, Kentucky, Lousiana, and Virginia. Our teams have consisted of pastors, musicians, and various lay people. We have done everything there from hospital ministry to preaching in churches, jails, places of business, public schools, outdoor crusades, youth rallies, and open air meetings on basketball courts and rural country cross roads. We have done house to house evangelism, home Bible studies, shown Christian films, sponsored sports camps, and even taken part in weddings and one funeral! We have handed out hundreds of Gospel tracts, Bibles (in English and the Cebuano dialect), and have painted two newly built church buildings.
Gifts from individuals and churches back here in Kentucky and West Virginia have financed the building of two Baptist Churches in the province of Oriental Negros - one on the ouskirts of the provincial capitol city of Dumaguete, and one in the remote mountainous area of Mayapusi, Mabinay. The generous contributions of our friends here have furnished those churches with chairs, sound equipment, audio visual aids, musical instruments, Bibles, Sunday School and discipleship training literature and rice for the feeding ministry. We have been blessed to purchase two motorcycles over the years for the transportation needs of two of the national pastors. Westmoreland Baptist Church sends quarterly financial support for one of the Filipino pastors and Locust Grove Baptist Church helps support another.
Through these past 7 1/2 years we have been blessed to partner with Pastor Dominador Valdez and his wife Villa. Pastor Valdez, whom we lovingly call "Domingo" and his wife have been instrumental in planting a number of churches there on two islands over the years of their ministry. I thank God for bringing this wonderful couple and their two children, Dave and Noemi Joy into my life. Doming has become like a brother to me and I have learned much about faithfulness, love, integrity, evangelism, and Christian character from his example.
In the past few years Doming and Villa have labored to start a mission church in the mountains. The enemy has fought them all the way, but God has prevailed. Mayapusi Baptist Church has come through the fiery trials as a wonderful body of believers and a lighthouse of hope to a lost population in the mountain villages around Mabinay. Doming and Villa have been special mentors to a young couple (Joseph and Juvy Zerna) who are now faithfully serving God as Pastor and wife at the Mayapusi Baptist Church. The Lord has remarkably blessed this work.
I have no doubt that God would have used Doming, Villa, Joseph, Juvy and others to accomplish His purposes there without our help. But I am so thankful that He brought us along side of them to share our resources with them. We have been a blessing to them in their work, but they have been a much greater blessing to us. I am looking forward to seeing them again in just about five months, if it's the Lord's will. We have a number of projects I am hoping to help them with on this next trip. But it will all depend on how God supplies the need through our friends here in America. My plane ticket has already been purchased, and we are seeking for others to join us on the mission trip.
Some of our readers may be interested in volunteering to go themselves. Some may wish to help others go. Some may desire to help with the expenses of the projects we hope to do this time. For anyone who would like more information on the upcoming mission trip - feel free to contact me at pastoradkins@verizon.net .
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