Rain, rain, rain

A fact of life in the Philippines is rain. When you're trying to build a school building, the rain is more than an inconvenience.


We have written often about Obadiah Learning and Development and the school building they are trying to build. Obadiah is an outreach school out of Shiloh Bible Baptist Church in Punta, Dipolog City, Philippines. God has provided in many ways so far, from discounts by engineers to cheaper than expected materials to timely gifts.


But with the rain, the exposed lumber is being compromised. 


"The wooden materials started to be destroyed due to the weather changes," Bro. Joel told us just this week. "Please do earnestly pray."


With a low-pressure system hitting the island, the rain is constant. Please join with us in praying for the remaining funds to be provided. The need stands at roughly $2,800 USD, but we are praying for $3,000 in case there are unexpected needs. 


Further, please pray for the families of the children who are served by Obadiah. Many live in low-lying areas near the water, so flooding is expected.


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.

Interceding for Aloran

The life of an indigenous missionary in the Philippines is hard. There are many obstacles that come into the lives of the missionaries. Health is a problem. Money is a problem. And an almost universal struggle is that of a meeting place.


My friend in Aloran, Pastor Manuel Obut, and his wife, Marylo, are quite busy. In addition to the Bible studies and church work, they also have two outreach schools. Since public schools are crowded in the Philippines, and since private schools are expensive, a common outreach for churches in the Philippines is to provide education for children. It allows the church the ability to teach the children (and their parents) the Gospel of Jesus Christ.


Pastor Manuel, his wife, and the church have many needs, and we would ask you to pray for them. It may not be proper to speak of all of them now, but we do ask you to remember the needs. Please pray for their school, for the teachers, for the children. Also, we are still seeking the 200 Bibles for Pastor Manuel's Bible studies to the many people in Aloran.


However, the pressing need for this time is the church lot. For eight years, the Obut family and church have been caretakers on a lot where there are many buildings. They have been able to use a building for a church and a dwelling place. It hasn't always been the most comfortable place. But they are thankful that the landlady has allowed them to stay there and watch God grow their ministry.


"The houses here are made cement, but we are sheltered in an old bamboo house destroyed already by termites almost to fall down," Pastor Manuel told me. "We received insults and hurting words."


Now, they need help. The landlady's family are not supportive of the church remaining there. The church and the family feel pressure from the landlady's family to move.


There is a lot nearby available for purchase, but the cost for this lot is 1.2 million Philippine pesos. That is more than $28,000 in US currency. They are also praying for another temporary lot so they can build their church and "stand on their own." Pastor told me they have been praying for the temporary lot for two months now. Let's join with them in praying for the lot. Let's also pray for their opposition who are causing them trouble.

Finally, let's continue to contribute Bibles for their work in reaching the lost in Aloran, Misamis Occidental. Remember, we need King James Bibles. We are praying for 200 of them. We have many already, but we have not reached our goal.

Preaching in Polanco

The final Sunday of my trip was spent at the church service of Pastor Ronilo Buyog, brother of Queen Bee. So, he is affectionately known as Pastor Bee, or Pastor-in-Law to me (and remember, in Visaya, the stress in on the second syllable in pastor).

The building you will see in the photos is soon to be demolished, if it has not been already. This church, and the parsonage attached, are on a rental property. The landowner has decided to divide the lot among his children, and he is planning to raze everything on the property, including the church as well as the house of the neighbor.

This was taken on our way to Mabas. We stopped here
to see Pastor's church and get some things for our trip. I
include this photo so you can see the name of the church.

Pastor Buyog was not originally a Shiloh missionary. You see from the photo, his church is called "Ambassador Baptist Mission." He attended Bible college in Manila, and he went to his home in Mansawan to start the church there. However, when the swarm of Buyog moved off the mountain, he started the new mission in Lingasad, Polanco. Lingasad is not far from Dipolog City. I think it's between Dipolog and Dapitan, but then, my directions were often confused. Whenever we went to Dapitan, or through Dapitan (such as the trip to Mabas), we passed by the church. Even though Pastor Buyog is not originally from the Shiloh family, Pastor Mario Montero, of Punta, Dipolog City, mentors and disciples Pastor Buyog now and does what he can to help support him.

We hear that the church has found a new rental property. We are not certain if they have been able to move into the new temporary place yet or not, but when we do learn, we will update. However, the church is praying for its own property. There is a lot near them for 140,000 pesos. That is a little more than $3,300 USD (right now, the price is $3,311.38, but that number changes). Let's pray with them for the amount they need.

Well, anyway, now that we have finished that part of the blog, let's return to my trip. It was a joy to spend time with the believers there in Lingasad. We arrived early, because Pastor Buyog came to get us in the morning. He drives around on his motorbike to pick up church members before the service, so he had to bring us up there very early so he could go and get his parishioners.

Pastor Buyog teaches about Satan
during the Sunday School hour.

First, we had the Sunday School time, when Pastor Buyog taught from the streamer Pastor Mario had made. If you have been following these blogs, you have seen these streamers throughout the series. They are made by Pastor Mario to help teach various doctrines. They are illustrated to help those who struggle to read (or understand the English of the KJV Bible) to follow the lessons or sermons. It helps greatly to have a visual aid.

This particular streamer deals with Satan, his history, his works, his future. You can't really see it on these photos, but there are many scripture verses on the streamer, all showing the scriptural basis for the various points.

Church members await the start of the service.

During the Sunday School hour, there was a very beautiful red rooster tied up right outside the front door. Whoever started the rumor that roosters crow only at daylight was seriously mistaken. He thought he needed to crow all through the Sunday School hour. However, we had the last laugh, because we ate him for lunch. So, the moral of the story, if you're going to be a rooster outside a church in the Philippines, don't interrupt the service. You may end up as manok adobo.

As is common practice, Pastor did ambush the guest one time to sing. So, accompanied by Queen Bee, we sang a hymn in Cebuano. My Cebuano is much worse than anyone else's English over there, so I do hope they had some grace for me. But it means a lot to them for us to try to learn their language.

Queen Bee and I singing a song in Cebuano. 

The message God put on my heart for that Sunday was from Psalm 103. Someone once said, "If you want to know your God, read the Psalms." It is true. The Psalms are a collection of praise songs to God, and they always tell of a particular aspect or virtue of God to be praised. Psalm 103 tells us how David overcame his own tendency to forget God and His attributes, so we talked about how we should do the same. I say "we" because, as you can see from the photo, I had an interpreter. Some parts of Mindanao understand English better than others, so sometimes I had a point-by-point translator. Sometimes, the pastor would summarize at the end.

I'm preaching, and Bro. Joel is translating.

At the end of the Psalm, David calls on all of God's creation to join with him in praise. When we were talking about those particular verses, the Pentecostal pig tied up just outside the window you see in the photo started hollering. It made a good illustration point, that even the baboy was wanting to praise God. Unfortunately, we did not give the baboy the same treatment as the manok. The baboy lived to squeal another day.

It was a joy to be able to encourage these believers. It is always a pleasure to be able to be with the believers in another part of the world. It is an amazing thing to see people who are so different from you in so many ways worship the same God you worship. Their sins are forgiven the same way ours are, if we are in Christ.

There are some other needs Pastor Buyog and his family have. Let us pray for them and for their church. Let us pray for God's blessing and protection, as well as His power in their lives. Let's pray we can be a blessing to them for Christ's sake as well.

Lifting the spirits in Mansawan -- Subanen outreach Part 3

Queen Bee getting ready for the trip in her sarong and
borrowed Alabama national championship hat. 

Our final journey into the mountains of Mindanao was to visit the village of Mansawan, affectionately known as the Beehive. My hostess for the trip, Aiza Buyog, is from Mansawan. Her family name means "Bee," and most of her family fled the threat of communist rebels in the mountains to live on the plain.

However, her father and some relatives still live on the mountain, and thus I call it the Beehive, since we were going to see so many Buyogs.

We had a couple of purposes to the trip. First, since Aiza and the entire church are praying for me to marry Aiza, I had to meet her father. Second, Aiza's brother, Ronilo, founded the church in Mansawan. He also fled the rebels and now preaches in Lingasad, Polanco. However, the church in Mansawan is his extension church.

Pastor Romolu Yarag, left, and
Pastor Mario Montero take a break
from riding the motorbike up
the mountain.

Of all the trips into the mountains, the Mansawan trip was probably the hardest. Characteristically unpaved, the road also was very steep in many places. The village was high up on the mountain, and the rocky, muddy road was too rough for us all to ride on the motorbikes. In fact, at some points we had to push the motorbike up the mountain. Rather exhausting.

Joining us was Pastor Romolu Yarag, who is a pastor to the Subanen near Salug. He preaches in the mountain, and he is supported by Pastor Mario Montero. Those two, as well as Pastor Buyog, Peter Buyog, Joel and Leah Elorta, the Queen Bee, and I all made the trip up the mountain.

Part of the way up the mountain, Queen Bee's uncle met us with a horse. I think I was supposed to ride it, but I felt it more appropriate to help the others push their bikes up the mountain. So Leah took my spot.

Queen Bee and Leah horsing around.

Mansawan from the viewpoint of the high school.

The views going up the mountain were spectacular. It was a very steep climb, and we stopped along the way to view the villages or the scenery. Pastor Buyog was driving the motorbike I rode, and he was a bit more of a risk-taker than the other drives at times.

Finally, we arrived in Mansawan. The air was very thin up there. In fact, we were above the clouds. When the fog rolled in later that day, it had to roll up to us.

One of the first people I met was Papa Bee, the father of mga Buyog (mga is the plural form for a noun; I'm just trying to appear smart for a moment and show off my limited Visaya). Not long after that, I met his mother, Aiza's grandmother. As is customary in the Philippines, she was rather blunt. She asked through an interpreter, "Are you the one to marry Aiza?" My standard response, "I'm praying about that."

Papa Bee

The family is not rich, but they treated us with great hospitality. We ate lunch there, and one menu item was a dish involving coconut milk, rice, pineapples and a bunch of other stuff. My indulgence in said goodness may have contributed to the sickness I suffered that night and the next day.

The church is right next to the family's home. Even though it was a Friday, we held a service with the intent of encouraging the believers who remained in the village. Many of the church members had fled the threat of trouble, so the church was greatly reduced in members.

Before the service, the church members gave a love offering for all of us travelers. They gave cabbage, "cute" pineapples and chayote. (Where we were, "cute" meant "little." Up in Mansawan, the pineapples did not grow very large, so they were called "cute" pineapples. No one ever referred to my nose as "cute.")

Our love offering from the people in Mansawan.

Unlike other expeditions into the mountains, the focus was not to share the Gospel. The people in attendance here were already believers. Instead, we tried to encourage them to persevere in their difficult circumstances. The mountains are rife with rebellion by the New People's Army. Much like the American war in Vietnam, the civilians often get caught in the crossfire.

So, my message for these people was from 2 Kings 5. I encouraged them with the story of Naaman, how his conversion and healing were brought about by the testimony of an orphaned slave girl in his household. It amazes me how God often uses the disadvantaged to accomplish His purpose.

I preach, with Pastor Mario interpreting.

After my sermon, Pastor Buyog encouraged the members further. I have no idea what he said, though, because he spoke in either Visaya or, more likely, Subanen. Even Pastor Mario, my host pastor, does not understand Subanen.

After the service ended, Aiza's father gave me a chicken. The chicken endured the drive down the mountain, and it enjoyed a few days of living at the church in Punta. My last night in the Philippines was the chicken's last night on earth. She made an enjoyable dinner.

Pastor Buyog encourages the believers still in Mansawan.

Me, many members of the Buyog family, and my chicken.

The Queen Bee at her high school, where she was
valedictorian, and my chicken.

Peter Bee, left, Pastor Bee, right, me, and my chicken
at the high school.

"That God will finish what He started"

We're taking a break from our account of my trip to the Philippines to bring an urgent matter before you.

Our friends at Obadiah Learning and Development have begun construction on the school building we mentioned before. So far, $1,100 has been donated to help build the school building. Just to remind everyone, right now, Obadiah Learning and Development meets in the church building at Shiloh Bible Baptist Church in Punta, Dipolog City. The school is an outreach arm of the church.

A few months back, a neighbor donated a piece of property to build a separate building for the school. The property is loaned, as it were, with a 5-year lease for a very small price. But our friends need a building.

Work begins on the Obadiah school building.

So far, the donations that have come in have been worth $1,100, or close to 50,000 Philippine pesos. The church has started construction of the building, but funds are still needed.

With a typhoon in the area bringing heavy rains, Bro. Joel Elorta is very concerned that the construction continue rapidly. Some of the lumber is already in place, but heavy rains can rot the wood and cause damage to the concrete.

"We plead to God that He will finish it before the typhoon hits it bad,that God will finish what He started," Bro. Joel told us.

Bro. Joel also told us the need to complete the project is "at least 120,000 pesos." That total translates to $2,758 in US currency. Since Bro. Joel said "at least," we are praying for $3,000 to help the building complete.

We can see evidence of God's mercy in this ministry in many ways. One of them is the consideration of the engineers planning the building.

"The most amazing of this Igsoon is that we don't have to pay for engineer fee,plumber fee and electrician fee, God touched their heart so they give their service for free," Bro. Joel told us.


As far as the typhoon goes, I don't think the typhoon is near Mindanao (the only news reports I could find about a typhoon near the Philippines placed it near Manila, quite a distance away). It seems, from those reports, that the typhoon has passed the islands, but the rain is still heavy. If we find out more about that particular issue, we will update it.


Let us join together in praying for this wonderful ministry. May God, indeed, finish what He has started in providing for this building.