Hello from Dumaguete!

5:15 AM
Saturday, January 5

We arrived safely in Dumaguete after 37 hours of (rather exhausting travel) about an hour behind schedule. (That would have been about 2:00 AM on Friday - Eastern time) That's not bad, all things considered. We were all tired and ripe and ready for a shower and a shave.

There must have been about 25-30 people to meet us at the airport. What a wonderful reunion it was. Weather here is HOT and Humid, but that's what we expected. And, considering the refrigerator like conditions of Huntington when we left, it is a very pleasant place to be.

Made a quick trip to Lee Plaza store to purchase a few necessities then had dinner at Shakey's across the street from the Bethel Guest House, where we are staying. Bethel's wireless internet service was down when I tried to get on line last night, so I just went on to bed. Thamer was already asleep when I got back to the room. (did I mention that the trip was tiring?)

We ran into Rowina Gantalo at Lee Plaza. She had just finished work at the Asian College of Science and Technology and had stopped at Lee's to do some shopping. She joined us (along with Doming, Villa, and Joseph and Juvy Zerna for a nice dinner together at Shakeys.

Other than a couple of glitches, the trip was uneventful and our luggage arrived when we did. That in itself is a blessing.

We had three interesting delays on the trip. We were over an hour late leaving LA because of a "starter problem on one of the engines". I'm not kidding. That was what they told us. Finally the plane was towed somewhere on the tarmac and a new starter installed. That is what they told us. My main concern was , on a 14 hour flight over the Pacific, once it was started, would the engine REMAIN started? Fortunately the answer was yes. It was a good flight and Cathay Pacific Airline is really a first class carrier (even to the masses of us riding in economy!).

The other two delays came at Hong Kong and Manila, when in both cases, the planes were boarded and ready to go, but a ticketed passenger did not get on the plane. Therefore, "for safety precautions, the flight was delayed so their baggage could be identified and removed from the plane". I said AMEN to that. Remember it was in Manila, several years ago that Ramsee Yousef's plot to blow up eight outbound jetliners was foiled.

Fortunately none of the delays caused us to miss any connecting flights. We had opportunity to witness to several people on the trip. I sat next to an elderly couple from Ho Chi Minh City, Viet Nam (formerly Saigon) on the trans Pacific flight. They were a very nice couple who practiced the Buddhist faith. We made small talk for awhile after introductions and eventually I shared the Gospel with them as they asked about the purpose of my trip. Although polite, they did not respond to the invitation, but I know that the seed has been planted and I left them each with an Eternal Life tract and a prayer for their safe journey - and that they might come to know Christ.

This is the purpose of our trip. Plans today call for a devotional and time of sharing at 9:00 AM with our Filipino hosts. They will share with us the evangelism strategy for the next 9 days and we will begin the adventure with prayer for God's guidance and direction. At 2:00 this afternoon (1:00 am back home) we will have a baptismal service at Silliman Beach. Randall will bring the message on baptism, Darrell will sing, and I will have the privilege of helping Bro. Joseph Zerna baptize 10 new believers from Mayaposi Church. Thamer will do what Thamer does - an ambassador of goodwill! They really love that guy over here. Why not? As Mrs. Valdez says, "On the inside he is very tender and kind but on the outside he is like a grumpy man!"

That's the plan for now. We'll see how God brings it all together.,

Tomorrow is the 8th anniversary service at The New Life Church. We look for a wonderful day in the Lord.

Love to all. I'll post again at the next opportunity. Please continue to check out the blog site for updates.