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.

Sad farewell

"Then Jesus beholding him loved him..." Mark 10:21


The scripture above comes to us from Jesus' encounter with the rich young ruler. It stands out to me because it shows the heart of our Savior, even for those who reject Him. There are some who will try to tell you God loves only the elect and despises the unsaved, but here, Jesus clearly loves a man who rejects Him. 


It is very interesting that Mark makes this point, because he was the "transcriber of Peter," our Lord's most intimate disciple. Peter knew Christ's heart for this man. Jesus loved him. Yet, the man rejected. How intense must have been Christ's sadness. He saw what blessings and grace were offered to this man, and he saw the future this man had chosen instead. Christ offered him blessings for eternity, but this man chose the pleasures of this life for a season.


Even so, we lost a member of our ministry. The woman who inspired this ministry has abandoned it and chosen a sinful path. It grieves us greatly. We bear no anger toward her, but we are saddened to see someone turn away from a chance to help churches reach their part of the world. Yet, even as Christ continued in His work after this man whom He loved spurned grace and its blessings, so must we.


So, after a few months of trying to deal with some issues, we are returning to our work. We are so thankful for Love in Action's work as we were away, and we are excited about continuing our work together.


We are praying about some specific ministry works to be done. One that we are especially excited about is the possibility of providing scholarships for the children of Shiloh Bible Baptist Church missionaries. These pastors begin their work with no support at all, and they often have very little money to take care of their families. So, when it comes time to send their children to college, they are often at the mercy of others.


So please pray about this part of the ministry. We also want to start monthly support for missionaries and help with building projects. 


Please check back with us, follow us, like us on Facebook and join with us in prayer and support. We can still help our brothers in the Philippines reach their nation with the Gospel. Will you join us?

Preaching in Moliton

Today we wanted to share with you the outreach that Shiloh Bible Baptist Church in Punta is doing.

We'll let our sister who sent us the following papers tell it in her own words.

Enjoy!

The gates of hell

As some of you may know (and everyone who reads this will find out), my heart goes out to Muslims. The predominant emotion for many seems to react to Islam in fear. But there is no reason to be afraid if you are in Christ. Greater is He that is in us than he that is in Islam. My heart goes out to the millions (perhaps billions) trapped in this false religion.

That's why I'm excited to tell you about one man in our family of missionaries. Now, I won't tell you his name, or any personal details about him for reasons which will soon be obvious. But nonetheless, this man needs our prayers.

First, let us consider something. Most of the money in the Philippines is tied up among a few families, so professionals have to leave the country to earn a solid living. They are valued all over the eastern world in many countries.

One nation where they work is Saudi Arabia. The man we are asking prayer for is one of these who works in Saudi Arabia, the cradle of Islam. While he is there, he teaches God's word to other Filipino workers, and he shares the love of Christ and the message of salvation in the most Muslim country in the world.

We are sure there are many like him. God has a way of getting His people into the places where people need the Gospel. Please pray for this man's boldness, his protection, and his fruitfulness as he storms the gates of hell with the knowledge of His word.

Thank you and God bless.

Meet our church in Dipolog City

What a joy to bring you testimonies of what God is doing in the Philippines!

The church in Punta, Dipolog City, was the first missionary church sent out by Shiloh Bible Baptist Church in Ozamis City. We are privileged to share with you some stories and photos a sister at SBBC Punta shared with us.

You will see in the JPGs that the church is praying for a bigger lot. We remind everyone, the funds the church needs are $12,000 to buy the property and take care of the legal paperwork. If you feel led to donate, please do so through Love in Action Ministries. Their contact info is as follows:

Love In Action International Ministries, Inc.
P.O. Box 85
Dothan, AL 36302
334-494-4995

Now, for the story of SBBC Punta. Note, we have preserved the language of the sister who sent us the file, but I think you can follow it pretty well. Also, the files are as large as we can run them. I hope they are readable.  

Letter from a sister

It's been a while since we have updated this site. There are reasons why we are not updating as much, so we ask your prayers for this time in our ministry.

First, we want to let you know that we are now officially affiliated with Love in Action Ministries. This move has been a part of prayer for a while, and we are thankful for it.

As you are working to start a ministry, it's amazing to see how God uses people to accomplish His purposes.

I want to share with you a letter from the Sunday School leader for Shiloh Bible Baptist Church in Ozamis. God blessed us tremendously by the generous donation by the General Association of Regular Baptist Churches publishing division. The GARBC donated enough supplies so that each of the children in the Sunday School classes could have a book. The GARBC donated materials from the previous quarter, and they only charged us the shipping fee (which was not too much, considering).

Here is the letter from the leader of the Sunday School for children at this church. Some information has been edited out.

Good day!

Greetings in the Precious Name of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ!

I am ... from SHILOH BIBLE BAPTIST CHURCH Gomez St., Ozamiz City, Philippines. I am the Sunday school teacher in the children's department in our church. ... the recipient of the materials being requested from your good office.

i would like to inform you that the package arrived last Wednesday, Sept. 7, and would like extend our gratitude for granting us these materials. this indeed an answer to our prayers because we are badly in need of these, thank you so much. May God bless more your ministry.

Can we expect some copies of materials/lessons for the next time?

Since there are numerous young lives here who need to be ministered.

May this partnership of ours may lead more precious souls to our Lord God.

Thank you once again and God bless us more!

For His Glory and Honor,

Sis Xxxxx

 

Please join us in praising God for this provision. Also, please pray with us that we can provide more materials in the future. How wonderful would it be to help more children learn about God's word!