Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Dumaguete City, Philippines
Today was a mixed bag. Randall and I started at 4:45 this morning a fast paced two mile walk along the sea wall on Rizal Boulevard. There was a slight drizzle that turned into a real downpour after we returned to the hotel. After breakfast, the entire team left at 8:00 AM for Zamboanguita (henceforth referred to as “Zambo”) and Dauin, along the southern tip of Negros Island. In all my trips here in the past I have never experienced what we did today at Zambo.
There is a HUGE outdoor marketplace that takes place in Zambo every Wednesday. It stretches along the National Highway for a good distance and also from the highway to the coast. We estimate the crowd there to have been over 2,000 people, and if you looked up “mass confusion” in the dictionary, a picture of the Zambo market would have been there! One could buy anything from fish to furniture. Bolo machete’ type knives, hammers, clothing, pigs, chickens, cows and carabaos were being sold in this amazing place. Apo Island was visible from the shore, and people were cooking all manner of food to feed the crowd that filled the area. The noise level was unbelievable. Many of the vendors had bull horns or karaoke type machines calling out to the crowd. Music played so loudly you could barely hear yourself think.
Into this din, Pastor Valdez set up a preaching point. It was pretty much an exercise in futility. We could barely be heard, and basically, we were overwhelmed by the crowd. The only good that could come out of that experience was the fact that Thamer broke out the Cebuano Bibles and gave several to random individuals. We could have given away our entire stock of 400 in minutes!
Eventually we packed up and left Zambo for the town of Dauin, and the home of Miguelito Zerna (brother of Pastor Joseph Zerna). Things went much better there. We played music and drew a crowd, and shared the message of the Gospel. NINETEEN souls were added to the Kingdom of God today in Dauin. Much time was spent on scripture distribution and gathering of the usual follow up information. A weekly Bible Study was scheduled to begin on January 26th at the home of one of the ladies who had accepted Christ.
Upon our return from Dauin, the other three had lunch and a nap. I missed mine today, as I had to go back to Sibulan to get the Mayor’s approval of our rental of the Sibulan (outdoor) Auditorium (pictured above) for our evangelistic crusade in May. When I returned to Bethel Guest House, I signed the contract for the May 26-27 Pastor/Church Leader Seminar meeting rooms here at the hotel, and paid the required 50% deposit.
There are so many interesting, individual stories we could share, but time will not permit. Tomorrow we are headed for the remote mountains of Mabinay, where we understand that an outdoor service has been planned. We attended the mid week prayer service at the New Life Church tonight, and we are certainly ready for bed. Total number of recorded conversions for three days now stands at 130. We are thankful to be part of the exciting things that God is doing here in the Philippines.
Thank you for your continued prayers on our behalf. Until the next update -
Dumaguete City, Philippines
Today was a mixed bag. Randall and I started at 4:45 this morning a fast paced two mile walk along the sea wall on Rizal Boulevard. There was a slight drizzle that turned into a real downpour after we returned to the hotel. After breakfast, the entire team left at 8:00 AM for Zamboanguita (henceforth referred to as “Zambo”) and Dauin, along the southern tip of Negros Island. In all my trips here in the past I have never experienced what we did today at Zambo.
There is a HUGE outdoor marketplace that takes place in Zambo every Wednesday. It stretches along the National Highway for a good distance and also from the highway to the coast. We estimate the crowd there to have been over 2,000 people, and if you looked up “mass confusion” in the dictionary, a picture of the Zambo market would have been there! One could buy anything from fish to furniture. Bolo machete’ type knives, hammers, clothing, pigs, chickens, cows and carabaos were being sold in this amazing place. Apo Island was visible from the shore, and people were cooking all manner of food to feed the crowd that filled the area. The noise level was unbelievable. Many of the vendors had bull horns or karaoke type machines calling out to the crowd. Music played so loudly you could barely hear yourself think.
Into this din, Pastor Valdez set up a preaching point. It was pretty much an exercise in futility. We could barely be heard, and basically, we were overwhelmed by the crowd. The only good that could come out of that experience was the fact that Thamer broke out the Cebuano Bibles and gave several to random individuals. We could have given away our entire stock of 400 in minutes!
Eventually we packed up and left Zambo for the town of Dauin, and the home of Miguelito Zerna (brother of Pastor Joseph Zerna). Things went much better there. We played music and drew a crowd, and shared the message of the Gospel. NINETEEN souls were added to the Kingdom of God today in Dauin. Much time was spent on scripture distribution and gathering of the usual follow up information. A weekly Bible Study was scheduled to begin on January 26th at the home of one of the ladies who had accepted Christ.
Upon our return from Dauin, the other three had lunch and a nap. I missed mine today, as I had to go back to Sibulan to get the Mayor’s approval of our rental of the Sibulan (outdoor) Auditorium (pictured above) for our evangelistic crusade in May. When I returned to Bethel Guest House, I signed the contract for the May 26-27 Pastor/Church Leader Seminar meeting rooms here at the hotel, and paid the required 50% deposit.
There are so many interesting, individual stories we could share, but time will not permit. Tomorrow we are headed for the remote mountains of Mabinay, where we understand that an outdoor service has been planned. We attended the mid week prayer service at the New Life Church tonight, and we are certainly ready for bed. Total number of recorded conversions for three days now stands at 130. We are thankful to be part of the exciting things that God is doing here in the Philippines.
Thank you for your continued prayers on our behalf. Until the next update -
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