Mission Trip Report

Monday, February 7

Dumaguete City, Negros Oriental

Republic of Philippines

12:50 AM

Our first Sunday in the Philippines is now over, and we are thrilled to report that 159 people have made professions of faith in Jesus Christ, since the opening service at Bacong Christian Fellowship on Thursday evening.

Although we have had a couple of minor health issues, our team is well, and our members have been 100% able to take part in the activities of Saturday and Sunday.

On Friday and Saturday, we made the three hour trip to Manjuyod to do evangelism activities and to assist mission Pastor Nico Folio and the congregation of the Maaslum Southern Baptist Church, in reaching their community for Christ. Nico and Jocelyn are working hard to followup on prospects, and on those who made decisions for Christ as a result of our activities. I cannot begin to describe the condition of the roads that led up into the mountains of Manjuyod, but let me just say they were the worst I have ever travelled. Mostly unpaved, they are narrow and winding, with no guardrails. Although the view of the gorges and valleys is breathtaking, the reality of the danger is ever present. The huge sugar cane trucks that have rutted out the dirt roads, leave very little room to pass when one is encountered.

This morning, our team split into two teams for morning worship activities. Randall Robertson and Randy and Brenda Lincoln made the long trip back to Maaslum for morning worship today. On the way back, near Tanjay, the Easy Ride of Brother Joseph broke down with mechanical problems. After waiting a long time along the highway on the way home, eventually Joseph put them on a Ceres liner bus, which brought them back to Dumaguete. Eventually Jospeh got the problem repaired, and he and wife Juvy were able to make it to our evangelistic service at Sandupan, Bacong tonight.

I preached in two services at Bacong Christian Fellowship Sunday morning. The church is nice but rather small, and unable to accommodate the crowds who attend special emphasis services. Today, the children from the Christian School sponsored by the Bacong Church performed in each service, and their families came to see the program, and to hear the Gospel. The number of students and their parents far exceeded the seating capacity, so two services were held this morning. My congregation would be shocked to know that I preached two messages on Sunday morning, and we were done before 11:00 AM! ( Of course the services started at 8:00AM)

Tomorrow's plans call for another crusade in the mountains, as we will be driving back into the mountains for evangelistic activities in Lamdas, Mabinay.

Right now, I can barely hold my eyes open, so I am going to sign off for now.

Thank you for your prayers and support which have allowed us to purchase over 1,700 Bibles for distribution, and will also purchase rice for the churches and their pastors. I look forward to tomorrow's activities, and pray that God will go before us!

Good night and may God bless!