Praise God for His answered prayers

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. -- Revelation 4:11


This verse was the subject text of the midweek sermon at Pastor Mario Montero's church this week. It is appropriate that we praise our God and Saviour this week.


We asked you to pray yesterday for Pastor Bhoys family, the victims of violence in the Philippines. Praise God, Pastor Bhoy's wife, brother and sister-in-law all received the necessary transfusions, and they will all be released within two days, doctors estimate. Pastor Bhoy's wife has been released.


The story of the provision for the transfusion is one of amazing sovereignty and providence of God, but we will ask you to trust us on that one for now. Still, we rejoice in this good news.


Of course, there are still health issues to be considered, so please continue to pray for their recovery. Also, our dear brothers and sisters still have a burden for their people. Please pray for their protection, boldness and fruitfulness as they share their faith. 


On another topic, we do ask for prayers for Punta. Parts of it have been affected by flooding, still held over from the Typhoon Sendong disaster. Rains have continued, the waters have risen again. No damage to the church, but some of the members' homes have been affected.


Thanks to all who prayed. May we continue to see God work through this ministry. 

Urgent prayer request

We are in dire need of prayers for a friend in the Philippines. Pastor Bhoy Baguinda, whom we mentioned yesterday, is facing a severe crisis. We mentioned his wife was in the hospital, and now we know why. His wife,  brother and sister-in-law were stabbed by Muslims while they were sharing the Gospel.

They are all in critical condition in the hospital. The three family members are awaiting blood transfusions. Please pray for the survival and restoration of these dear members of our Christ family, for the provision of the hospital bills, and for the salvation of those who attacked. Will update when we can.

Edit: Also, please pray for his eldest children who are in Manila attending college and are far from their mother at this time.

Remembering the forgotten

We have a few praise reports and prayer requests to bring before you.


First, we want to pass along the news from Pastor Valentines "JoJo" Begafria in Leon B. Postigo, Zamboanga del Norte. Earlier this month, they had their "kinder's recital," where the children performed. As is the case with these churches for whom God has given us a special burden, they used the service as an opportunity to evangelize the parents and family who would attend.


Pastor Valentines had the following prayer request of us: "I praise God for the victory, to God be the Glory all the parents heard the gospel and heartily followed in the sinner's prayer.Please pray that the holy spirit will continue to work in their heart that the gospel being planted in their heart will grow and will lead them to follow and serve the Lord.Thank you once again for the prayers and please pray that God will continue to use me and my family fruitfully in the ministry that God has entrusted to us, and for my son's study he will be in grade school next school year." Just a note, the conversation was through Facebook message, so we have preserved the spelling and grammar as it was sent to us. (We journalists feel a need to declare all those kinds of things.)


Pastor Valentines reminded us of something else. In America, with computers everywhere, we think people have the same access to technology all over the world. But our ability to contact Pastor Valentines was an exception this week. We were able to contact him this week because he was in a particular place and a friend lent him a computer. He reminded us that "by friday we will go home to postigo and I cannot reply to you those days. computer shops are far distant in our place, we need to go to sindangan for that." Do you catch that? This pastor is laboring where computers are "far distant" from them. How many missionaries around the world, to say nothing of this part of the Philippines, labor anonymously in fields far from the technology we Westerners take for granted? How many labor without any outside help from Western mission agencies? We know of some, but how many more are there?


How do these missionaries reach their people? Again, Pastor Valentines gives us insight. He asks us, "Please pray for our ministries here:house to house soul winning, bible studies,tracts distribution,children's outreach,feeding program and kinder school.Please pray for the victories, genuine salvation of the children and their parents and specially fruits that remain." How can we not join with these men? How do we justify ignoring these men who reach their villages and towns with the Gospel?


Another man who is less forgotten is one we have mentioned before. Pastor Bhoy Baguinda serves in Payao, Zamboanga Sibugay. His two children are in college now in Manila, and even though they are attending a Christian school where they do not have to pay tuition, they need support that Pastor Bhoy has been unable to give them. Manila is a long way from Payao (several islands away), and these two college students have daily needs. Please understand, these pastors often have trouble supporting their families, especially as they start out. Wouldn't it be great if we could help them put their children through school and release a burden from them? 

In addition, we learned yesterday that Pastor Bhoy's wife has been confined to the hospital. We don't know anything other than that, but we do ask you to pray for Mrs. Nelly. We don't know what the issue is or the severity of it, but we ask your prayers.

Another prayer request brought to us today is that of Pastor Clemente Gumapit. You may remember many months ago we helped his church buy property. The landlord was trying to sell the property out from under them, and we helped raise the necessary funds. However, because of some property laws and division of lots (stuff we don't really understand), it was not possible for them to purchase the lot they rented. They were able to buy another lot in a better location, and the landlord was willing to let them continue to rent until they could build on the new property.

Pastor Clemente has asked us to pray that the church building might be built soon. The plan is for a church and parsonage. The materials and labor for the entire project is a little more than $34,000, but the parsonage can be built for around $500. Pastor is praying that he can move his family to the property soon, so let's pray for this $500 for the parsonage. Then we can pray for incremental progress to start building the church. As of now, the pastor and his family are growing crops on the future property so that they can make good use of it while they wait on God's provision for the building. 

We realize there are many things in this entry, and it may be hard to process them all at once. But if you take only one thing away from this entry, consider this: Let us remember our forgotten brothers and sisters who are reaching the world with the Gospel. Let's pray for them and pray for the needs they have -- property, Bibles, tracts and other tools to reach their world with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Let's remember them and pray for them and consider if we can give our support for their sakes. 

The Bible tells us that every tribe, tongue and nation will be represented in heaven. What tremendous opportunity we have to be a part of fulfilling that promise from our God. 

Storm stories

Earlier we rejoiced that our contacts in the Philippines had survived the terrible Typhoon Sendong that hit southern Philippines last week.

Today, however, we received word about some the situations in the area that was harder hit, and we are deeply saddened to pass those things along.

First, we ask you to pray for Pastor Deo Begafria. he serves in Cagayan de Oro, one of the hardest hit places. He, his wife and their three children survived the storm and floods only by getting to the roof of their church building. The entire contents of the church were washed away, and they had no place to meet on Sunday. Please pray for Shiloh Bible Baptist Church Church Barra, Cagayan de Oro, as they try to build back their church.

Another church was also destroyed in Iligan City. Pastor Ruben Sulapas had his church destroyed. At this time we are not certain of the name of this church, as it does not appear to be a SBBC church. But we do know the pastor's name, and we ask your prayers for his church.

We are certain both pastors have seen their churches suffer great losses, but we know of two members in particular in Iligan City whose families were devastated. Both men are Bible translators, trying to bring the word of God into the native dialect. One man lost his wife and three children; they found the bodies for all of them. The second man had his three children swept away. They are missing and are presumed dead.Since the city is on the coast, many of the missing may never be found, because the water sweeps so many bodies into the Iligan Bay. This man's wife had a nervous breakdown over the disaster.

We are deeply saddened to learn of these situations. As we know more, we will let you know. Clearly, when we hear about two churches being destroyed, our first thought is to try to find a way to help our family there. Please pray with us as we seek God's direction in this tragic and urgent matter. 

News from Cagayan de Oro

Just a brief update today, but we have heard from a friend in Cagayan de Oro, the town hit hard by Typhoon Sendong.


This comes to us from a sister, a member of Living Word Bible Baptist Mission. She asks us to pray for the situation there, and we will. She only had a few moments to chat, so we did not get much information, but we do pass along her requests.


They are as follows:

• Prayer for the Thanksgiving service Dec. 27. The church will have a guest speaker, and she asks that we pray for the love gift for the speaker, food, and salvation of visitors.
• The church will have baby dedication Dec. 30. Our sister and her husband will have their baby dedicated at the service, and she asks for prayer for a love gift, food and the salvation of the baby sponsors who will be there.
• When I asked her about the storm, she asked that we would pray that "people would know there is salvation." 

So, let's lift our Sister Jackie to the Lord for these requests, and let's pray for her pastor, Ignacio Daguil. Let's pray for his protection, provision and power as he leads the ministry to that heavily damaged area.

Family day

Some children love the camera

Folks, we wanted to share with  you some photos from the family day at Shiloh Bible Baptist Church Punta this week. Unfortunately, the day coincided with Typhoon Sendong, a terrible storm that has left a death toll on Mindanao that is still rising. It passed 500 a few hours before the writing of this blog, and it will keep rising.

The greatest damage was done far from the place where our focus lies, but we will see that there was plenty of damage yet. We know that flood waters bring problems later, too, with mosquitoes and other illnesses, so please continue to lift these people in your prayers.

The family day for the SBBC Punta church is part of the Obadiah Learning and Development ministry. The leaders had planned to do this day of celebration and outreach, and the children were afraid the storm would cancel the day. But the party went on despite the storm.

The day started with some instruction inside the church building.

Children learn on family day

 

From there, they party moved to Infinity Pool. Some people wouldn't swim in the rain for fear of getting wet, but these children did not mind.

Children get their Sprites

The children also received gifts. It was a celebration of their hard work during the term.

Gift time for the children

Most of the children were able to be at the celebration, but two were sick. The ministry needs your prayers, because they plan to have 37 children starting in January, and the Bible instruction and academic instruction serve as outreach tools for the church. They have seen the ministry bear fruit, and we ask you to join with us in praying for the ministry. Funds are always needed.

However, the day was not all fun. As the next photos show, the damage from the storm was serious. We know some of the children involved in the ministry had their homes affected. Please pray for this area, and pray for the affected families. Also, please pray for this particular ministry. Prayers are most important, but we are praying, also, for financial support for this ministry.

People wade into the water after Typhoon Sendong caused flooding.

Water abundant

Storm can't stop the Gospel

We have some exciting things to share with you about the last few days for the church in Punta, Dipolog City.

First, let us praise God for the safety of our friends there who endured Typhoon Sendong. News reports say, as of this writing, that as many at 69 people died from the storm on Mindanao. We praise God the storm is weakening in the area where our friends in Punta are, but the flooding is still causing damage. In fact, the parents of some of the children ministered to at the family day of the Obadiah Learning and Development ministry are affected by the storm (apologies for the vagueness of that statement, but that's all we know at this point; we hope to update when we can).

Perseverance
But on Saturday, even as the waters rose "up to the knee," a band of believers braved the flash floods to keep their appointment for a time of evangelism. The group hiked to Laoy ("very far" from the church as our sister described it) to the appointed home Bible study. As our sister told us, the young people would not stop despite the storm, and they arrived at the place where the Bible study would take place.

What happened? Well, God rewarded their efforts by bringing a new sheep into the fold. A young man prayed to receive Christ at the Bible study. Our sister Maryjoy asks us this request, "Pray that the brother will come in church." As you read this, it is Sunday in the Philippines, so let us pray this new brother will indeed join the church for worship today.

Preservation
Pastor Endelito Tamagna, a pastor with a different church but a friend of Pastor Mario Montero of SBBC Punta, got caught in rising waters while trying to cross a river. Mercifully, God provided his protection, and Pastor Endelito made it to the other side.

We hope tomorrow to update you concerning the family day at SBBC Punta. But we wanted to share these items with you now. Please pray for those affected by Typhoon Sendong, and pray that this storm might result in more people brought into the Kingdom.

Various prayer requests

Sometimes, just to keep us humble, God reminds us of our inability apart from Him. Such is the case with some needs our brothers in the Philippines have. As Americans, even the poorer among us have more than these dear brothers often have. So we are often tempted to try to provide all the needs out of our own strength.

Recently, a man committed to donating $100 a month to a particular ministry, and he realized it was not much compared to the need. The lay minister whose ministry will receive it was overjoyed. He said "That is like a million dollars to these kids."

But as you will see, there are some needs that this size ministry can't meet right now. We do not have the monetary answer. So, we must turn our eyes to the One who owns the cattle on the thousand hills. We ask you to pray for the following needs with us. We pray that God will provide for these churches in their need.

Shiloh Bible Baptist Church Punta
This is the church closest to the author's heart. He learned a valuable lesson, because while making his visit in May, he took photos of the lot the church was trying to purchase. The landowner saw the "wealthy Amerkano" taking photos, and raised the price. So, the lots on the front and the back of the church are offered for 1 million Philippine Pesos each. One lot is 400 square meters, and the other is 700 square meters.

Additionally, the church is praying for another lot that is more than 1 hectare (the exact dimension is 11,644 square meters). The price for this lot is 7 million PhP. Now, the cost for the larger lot (based on the current exchange rate, which is always fluid) is about $160,000 US. the smaller lots a little less than $23,000. That is a lot for us, but it's impossible for this church. As James reminds us, "Hath not God chosen the poor of this world?" It is especially true for these believers. And these fishers of men are seeing their nets breaking with the attendance and new converts God is providing.

Shiloh Bible Baptist Church Salug
You may remember earlier this year we helped this church buy its property. Just to refresh your memory, the church faced the impending sale of the lot on which their building stood and which they rented. We raised the funds for them to buy it, but because of some title issues, it was impossible for them to purchase the property. So, they bought a lot nearby. Now, we pray with them for a building and pastorium on the new property. We are not certain on the price for the building needs (last time we got an estimate it was around $34,000 US, but that's banking on a foggy memory), but we ask for prayer right now.

Our Filipino brothers don't spend money foolishly when it comes to church buildings. They don't build for aesthetic quality as we tend to do in the U.S. They are content with mounted fans instead of air conditioning, wooden benches and stone flooring. They don't care about luxury; they want a place to meet. Please help us pray for this need.

Shiloh Bible Baptist Church Ozamis
This is the mother church for all these ministries. Pastor Jun Begafria left his island to start a mission church in a rough city. He even had to learn a new dialect, leaving behind his native Ilonggo for the Mindanao dialect of Cebuano. Currently, this church meets in a spacious room on the third floor of a building. Though it is spacious, they would prefer to have their own place to meet and worship.

They are praying for a lot near the airport. It is described as "not less than" 6 million PhP. That translates to roughly $136,000. The measurement of the lot is slightly above 13,500 square meters.

As you can see, those needs far exceed what we are able to provide at this time, and they certainly exceed what our brothers and sisters can raise. But we all pray to the same Father, if we are in Christ. So, let's join with them in praying for these needs.

As always, if you feel led to do more than pray, we do accept gifts through Love in Action Ministries. You can access them through the website in the link, or by writing them to the information below. Please designate your gifts to the Philippines, and if you have a particular church need in mind, designate it further. Also, please consider their ministry to the homeless in the Dothan, Ala., area. 

Love in Action International Ministries, Inc.

P.O. Box 85
Dothan, AL 36302
334-494-4995

As our Filipino brothers like to say, "God bless you more." May God's richest grace abound to you in all things.

Thanksgiving and praise

Today, we bring a prayer request and a time of thanks. 

Later this week, Bro. Joel and Sister Lea, pictured below, will hold the Thanksgiving celebration for the children of their ministry outreach with Shiloh Bible Baptist Church in Punta, Dipolog City. Their ministry is going to be called Obadiah Learning and Development, and since that is the name of the future and because we are partial to Old Testament minor prophets, we use that name already.

Sister Lea and Bro. Joel during the anniversary service in May.

As the school term has drawn to a close (and if you want to read more about the ministry, try this link), it is time for the children to have a celebration with their families. Bro. Joel and Sister Lea will provide the food, the entertainment, and (if God provides) a trip to the pool. They are praying also to give individual gifts to all the children and family members (estimated at 100 people). 

Of course, the Gospel will also be presented. 

This event is Friday in the Philippines, but with the international dateline, it will be Thursday for us in the U.S. Bro. Joel asks us to pray for "the gospel witness, good weather, food preparation, transportation and presents." Please join us as we lift our prayers ahead of this event. May God bring in a harvest of souls through the witness of this dear couple.

As always, if you feel led to do more than pray, we do accept gifts through Love in Action Ministries. Their contact info is:

Love in Action International Ministries, Inc.

P.O. Box 85
Dothan, AL 36302
334-494-4995.

If you decide to give to this particular need, please make a note that the gift should go toward SBBC Punta Children's Ministry.

Most of all, please join us in praying for this event, and for this ministry. Pray God will send us people who have a heart for the lost and see the vision we have here. 

Psalm 23

You have probably heard Psalm 23 all your life, but probably never quite like this. Enjoy the 5-year-olds from the Obadiah Learning and Development school at Shiloh Bible Baptist Church in Punta, Dipolog City. 

Enjoy the video, and please join us in praying for these youngsters, and as we pray for additional support for this ministry. 

Reaching out to the children

Joseph was only 5 years old, but he already understood what he was learning at Shekinah Tutorial Services (soon to be renamed Obadiah Learning and Development), a ministry for children at Shiloh Bible Baptist Church, Punta, Dipolog City.


His father, a drunkard, was heavy on Joseph's heart. So, in typical blunt Filipino fashion, he approached his father. He said, "Papa, please stop drinking, God will get angry.You don't want to go to heaven?"


Now both of Joseph's parents are attending the regular church service, and Bro. Joel, the leader of the ministry, along with his wife, Lea, asks us to pray for them. "Please pray for power and Godly wisdom in our Bible studies with his parents," Bro. Joel said.

Children learn their lessons at the Shekinah Tutorial Services
children's outreach at Shiloh Bible Baptist Church.

Shekinah Tutorial Services is an outreach arm of Shiloh Bible Baptist Church, Punta, the church of Pastor Mario Montero. The name of the ministry is changing soon to Obadiah Learning and Development, and we are always happy to see things named after Old Testament Minor Prophets.


Obadiah L&D is an education program that is also an outreach tool. The ministry teaches the regular school subjects for children ages 4-10. It also provides books, papers, pencils, school uniform, shoes, socks, bags, notebooks,and all school supplies with snacks every day from Monday to Friday and fare to church every Sunday. There is also Bible instruction.


However, there is one condition: All the families whose children attend must agree to a twice-weekly Bible study and agree to attend the morning church service. If they agree to this, then the child is sponsored by the church for the education.

Students write their assignments during class.

How has this ministry been effective? Here's what Bro. Joel told us, "Many received Christ. Baptism is weekly, to God be the glory. Sunday population is increasing, Bible studies are almost every day..whew..Amen and Amen."


He goes on, "Two of our kids had been dedicated in the service for God by their parents.They were from another denomination but they dedicated their two kids at SBBC-Punta,where we preach Christ Crucified. Amazing and so great for God's glory. My wife and I became their sponsors...second parents to be exact."


Bro. Joel and Sister Lea do not turn away a child whose parents agree to the Bible study, and they are handling almost all the Bible studies alone. Indeed, everywhere the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few.


But this ministry is not free. Each child sponsored costs about $50 per month. This third quarter, they have 20 children participating. An additional 17 are registered for the quarter beginning in January. The day of this writing, Bro. Joel and Sister Leah were conducting interviews with the families of the new applicants.


If all the children are registered for the next quarter, that will put 37 total children involved in the ministry. At $50 per child per month, that's quite a commitment. But the church is not afraid of it.


"We have to do some sacrificing, but to God be the Glory they are increasing," Bro. Joel said. "We also have to increase our faith, that is why we need prayers, more prayers. My wife and I can't do this alone. The church, you know is a pioneering church, we have to depend on God. We thank God Pastor Mario is backing us and so with the church."

The new applicants are seen here with Pastor Mario Montero (far left).

Can we join together in praying for this ministry? How we rejoice to hear about the salvation of children and their families. As Bro. Joel said, he and Sister Lea cannot do everything by themselves. Please join with us in praying for this ministry. Also, let us pray for sponsors who will help the church in the ministry needs. May God use us to help reach this community with the good news of Christ's love and sacrifice. 

Sister Lea appears with the current scholars. It appears Bro. Joel is in the background.