Anniversary services nearing

Once again, we want to pass along some information about the anniversary services for some missionary pastors in the Philippines. The anniversary services are times of particular evangelistic outreach with extra services. Some of the upcoming anniversary services and the needs are listed as follows:

• Pastor Ronilo Buyog -- Poloanco -- April 6 Pastor Buyog has a need for 1,500 Philippine pesos to finish the construction of the church's coconut-wood pews. In addition, let's pray for the church, the pastor and the services during the anniversary.

• Pastor Valentines "JoJo" Begafria -- Leon B. Postigo -- April 24 As a side note, if you are opposed to Valentines Day for any reason, just remember it as Pastor Valentines Day. The Pastor in Leon B. Postigo was born on that day and bears the saint's name. His anniversary service is coming up on April 24, and he asks the following prayer requests, "Please help us in praying for our 2nd church anniversary this coming April 24, 2012.,victory, genuine salvation of the visitors and provision of our financial needs.God bless!"

• Pastor Raffy Begafria -- Tampilisan -- May 27-28 Pastor Raffy sent us his request, "We are praying for our 2nd anniversary on May 27-28. We need 30 thousand pesos and mini evangelistic crusade. Our goal is to invite 100-150 persons to attend. We are also praying 20 pieces plastic chairs worth 10 thousand pesos and we pray also for our church lot worth 130 thousand pesos. In addition to that we are also praying that someone may sponsor the schooling of our eldest son Nathan this year."

We trust you will join with us in praying for these anniversary services and the other needs. Please remember, if God lays it on your heart to help with these needs, please contact Love in Action Ministries. You may contact them through the website, by mail to Love in Action International Ministries, Inc. P.O. Box 85 Dothan, AL 36302 or by calling             334-494-4995. 

Let's meet Pastor George

A funny thing happened to Assembly of God pastor George Rubio during his ministry days. 


He became a Christian.


For many years, the pastor in Zamboanga del Sur on the island of Mindanao in The Philippines struggled with the question, "Can I know I am saved?" Fortunately, he met his cousin, Pastor Mario Montero, one day and they had a great conversation.


"He teached about the doctrine of Salvation so I was convience and after that he was the baptizing me and my wife," Pastor George said in an email to Homegrown Harvesters. His spelling has been preserved. "So that’s the way I understand about Salvation , In Ephesians 2:5,8, 'For by grace I am save.'"


He added, "When I was in pentecostal, I don’t know if I am save." How does he now know of his salvation? "So therefore I thank the Lord because I am received Jesus Christ as my Personal Savior in my Life," he said. How great a blessing now for this dear pastor to know he is saved without any doubt. 


So what does a pastor do after he gets saved? He keeps preaching, of course. Pastor George leads the work at Shiloh Bible Baptist Church in Mahayag, and he has an extension in Molave.Both of these places are in Zamboanga del Sur.


These ministries are on the same lots where Pastor George preached as an Assembly of God pastor, but now the churches are missions from SBBC Punta. However, the lots are still registered with the government under the Assembly of God Church of Molave. In order to transfer the titles of the lots to the SBBC ministry, the church must file certain papers with the government. The required fees total 35,000 Philippine pesos. That's about $815 US based on today's exchange rate. 


Let's join Pastor George as he and his church pray for the funds to transfer the title of the lots to the current church. And praise God that a preacher got saved!

Is that a bridge or a roof?

This is the Sindangan Bridge, the longest in Zamboanga del Norte province of Mindanao, Philippines. It runs almost one kilometer in length. It runs over a mostly dry riverbed, and many poor families have taken advantage of the structure for an available roof. 

Pastor Greg, pastor of Shiloh Bible Baptist Church Sindangan, estimates 25-30 houses, representing many family members, use the road for a roof. Here is what he tells us:

"But I see that this case is also dangerous especially recently wherein floods is hitting our province of Zamboanga del Norte. I am afraid for their situation because I know that the place wherein they are living is a former river that is now dead but when strong floods come, this will be very prone that the flood waters will come back to its original route and would harm this people. I am praying that through the children's bible class that we conduct here we will be able to reach the children as well as their parents God's word and preach to them salvation through Jesus. Please help us pray for them."

The flooding Pastor Greg mentions is a very real possibility even now, because a new tropical storm is threatening Mindanao, the island where most of the pastors with whom we have a relationship live. You may remember the damage done to other areas of the island during the last typhoon in December.

The children learn about God's word in Sindangan.

Pastor Greg is thankful that the church was able to extend some outreach to the families recently, extending the children's Bible study to include these children.

Pastor Greg also told us about the burden on his heart to reach Datagan, a village within the municipality of Sindangan. Datagan is in the mountainous region, so remote that there is no way to drive there. "The only access to get there is through walking or riding horses or carabaos (from the proper or center of the village)," Pastor Greg said. "We have to cross 7 rivers to get there and I am sad that some portions of the place is till untouched by the gospel. I am praying that God will give us the capacity and strength to reach them."

He is burdened to blitz the area with the gospel, using tracts, open-air preaching and things like that. These are his prayer requests:

"We are praying that God will provide us additional loud speakers, microphones and megaphones," he said. "We are praying also for lots and lots of gospel tracts to be handed to these people. We are also praying for 20 additional plastic chairs needed for the village saturation. Our church workers and volunteers are still small in number but I am praying that God will stretch their spiritual capacity to be involved in this ministry."

We will close the blog entry with some photos from Shiloh Bible Baptist Church Sindangan's baptism service, just because we like to show photos of baptisms. Recently, four people were baptized. That's why we help the pastors; we help them reach the lost in their country. Let's join with them in praying for these many needs. 

Update on Pastor Aries

We want to praise our God for His provision! Thanks to the kindness of our friends at Love in Action Ministries, we have a sponsor for Pastor Aries. We are so grateful for the burden God put on the heart of this family who will sacrifice for this pastor in Manila.

Pastor Aries wrote to us to express his gratitude. We will publish part of the letter below.

God is really good all the time..and He uses people,kind people .....For The Love in Action,,,your doing a great Job..you're helping a lot of missionaries around the world..you're refreshing wounded soldiers of Christ in the ministry...I'm praying you'll continue doing that to be great partner of every ministry(mission) all around the World until our Lord comes and someday all of us will be rewarded by our Good Lord..in Heaven..Thank You very MUch...to All..


There are many, many more missionaries such as Pastor Aries who would be greatly helped by monthly support. As Pastor Aries said, we are "refreshing wounded soldiers of Christ in the ministry." Indeed, may we continue doing that, as Pastor Aries prays we will do, not only for him, but in ministries around the world. Let us work until Jesus comes.


We should mention the building situation for Pastor Aries now as well. The building where his church meets (and probably where his family lives) is owned by an elderly lady who is trying to sell. The cost for the building is 500,000 Philippine Pesos (a few dollars short of $12,000 US). Let us join our prayers with him as well for this matter. 

Malnourished in Manila

¹⁵If a brother or sister be naked, and destitute of daily food,

 ¹⁶And one of you say unto them, Depart in peace, be ye warmed and filled; notwithstanding ye give them not those things which are needful to the body; what doth it profit? -- James 2:15-16

Who is a missionary? Is it someone who leaves the West and goes to a foreign land? Or can it be a man who leaves his home to minister in another part of his home country? Do we care about those types of missionaries?

Let us meet Pastor Aries. He left his home on the Philippines island of Mindanao and moved to Manila, the nation's capital city. Actually, he serves in Taguig City, part of metro Manila. He left as a missionary from Pastor Mario Montero's church in Punta, Dipolog City. Instead of his native dialect, he must speak Tagalog in Taguig City. Philippines students learn their own dialect, the national language (Tagalog) and English throughout their school days, so he had some exposure to Tagalog, but still, it is a different environment for him, even within his own nation.

His monthly support is 4,000 Philippine pesos. The rent and electricity for his home and church (same building) are about 3,000 pesos a month. That leaves about $24 a month for all his needs, and the needs of his wife and 6-month-old son. In metro Manila, where the cost of living is higher than on Mindanao, that money does not go far. 

Recently, Pastor Aries has had some serious health issues. He battled the mumps a few weeks ago, and then last week he had to be put into the hospital for dehydration.

"They said maybe because of malnutrition," Pastor Aries said. "That's why I am easily hit an illness like that."

Pastor Aries is an adult, but his weight is down to about 100 pounds, very small for an adult man. But is he bitter?

"Oh maybe this is part of the missionary life, hehehe," he said. "Getting thin for a while."

It would take so little money to support our pastor friend there in Manila. How many of us in the West are far from malnutrition? Even $50 or $100 a month would do wonders for this dear brother in Christ, who is suffering to bring the gospel to the people of Taguig City.

Please pray for this brother, and consider whether God might have appointed you to be a helper to this cause. 

Praying for direction

We would ask you to pray for direction as we explore an opportunity. The folks at Obadiah Learning and Development at Punta, Dipolog City, offer a tremendous service in their outreach. They have a school in the church building, where the children are taught regular academic subjects as well as Bible lessons.

In addition to the teaching, the school provides food, uniform, shoes, books, paper, pencils and fare to weekly church services. Plus there are quarterly fees. In non-fee months, the cost per child is about $36 per month. When the government fees are due, the cost is about $50 per child. Right now, we have 13 students who need the regular $36 in expenses, plus four more who are waiting to register. They will need $50 this month to include the fees.

Perhaps you would like to sponsor a child for this ministry. We will work on a schedule to know what months the fees are due, but please consider if maybe God would have you sponsor a child through this ministry. It reaps eternal rewards. If you are not led to give, then we would appreciate your prayers.

Please pray for us as we consider this aspect of the ministry. Please also pray for God's provision. We need about $460 by the end of next week for 13 of the students, so please pray God will provide it. He provided in January, and we pray for His provision this month, too. Also, we would like to get the additional four students registered and provided for, and that cost is about $200. Please pray God would supply those needs.

If you think you can help, please contact Love in Action Ministries. You may contact them through the website, by mail to Love in Action International Ministries, Inc. P.O. Box 85 Dothan, AL 36302 or by calling             334-494-4995 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting            334-494-4995      end_of_the_skype_highlighting    . When you contact them, please designate the funds for Punta Children's Ministry.   

Blessing the children

Once again we want to share with you the ministry of Obadiah Learning and Development. The children's ministry is a school and outreach tool for Shiloh Bible Baptist Church in Punta, Dipolog City. Some quarterly fees and expenses are due for 13 of the children. The fees are 500 pesos, and the expenses are 1,000 per student. The money is due by the end of the second week in February, which is very soon.

In addition, there are four students awaiting registration. Their fees and expense will be 2,000 pesos each. Please pray with us that God would provide for all these children's needs.

The total need of 27,500 pesos is just short of $650 US. Please pray that God would provide this need for these children.

If you think you can help, please contact Love in Action Ministries. You may contact them through the website, by mail to Love in Action International Ministries, Inc. P.O. Box 85 Dothan, AL 36302 or by calling             334-494-4995    . When you contact them, please designate the funds for Punta Children's Ministry.   



Mahalo and salamat. :)