For our Second Anniversary Sunday last month, we knew we would have a big crowd, so we moved back to the school basketball court for the day. We had our largest attendance ever — about 85 in the morning English service, & 115 others in the afternoon Cebuano service. We all had delightful fellowship during the celebration in between the services.
So many excellent volunteers contributed to the excitement by showing great hospitality (possibly because I had preached on hospitality the previous week). 🙂
Here, we are setting up a Bible trivia game:

 

Hmmm … Maybe we should be building an ark …? No, we haven’t been getting more rain than normal. You’ll see what I mean in a minute. 🙂

About a week ago, Gina was getting dressed when she felt something crawling on her belly. She lifted her blouse enough to brush it out with her hand, & she was shocked to see this!

In the photo, she had just slapped it with her flip-flop. I told her to put her foot there so you all could see how big the monster is. 🙂
I looked it up. It’s simply called “giant centipede.” From Wiki: “The giant centipede has modified claws called forcipules which curve around its head and can deliver venom into its prey. … It can cause severe pain in humans which can last for several days…” We’re so glad it didn’t hurt her!
Also, within the past few weeks, we had a sparrow in our apartment, & a bat was in our ministry home. Not to mention the many bees, geckos, ants, mosquitoes, & other creepy-crawlies that visit. If we get more animals coming to us – especially if they come in pairs – we’ll take that as a sign that we should start building an ark. 🙂

 

Lani wrote a testimony about what God has done for her. This is part of her letter (remember, English is her third language):

Before, I don’t believe if there’s God. I didn’t feel in His presence, Even my father is in Church every sunday as a leader. My father didn’t teach me about God or who is He?

But now! God is in me. Because of Davao Bible Fellowship. … My life has change. Im so very thankful and excited every sunday to attend the service. Because, The God is with me. … Even the temptations are always near me, Im not afraid because he is always at my side. Thank you Lord, because you sent a good Missionary here. Thank you so much God you entered in my heart.

Lani has been walking with Jesus for almost a year.

Jen gave me a note, wanting to express her gratitude to our sponsors:

Thank you very much for supporting Davao Bible Fellowship Church. You are really generous, you help us so big. Especially to the kids they are always happy for what they receive. And to the elders also. I thank God that you are the instrument for helping Ate (Big Sister) Gina and Kuya (Big Brother) for their ministry here.

Jen is in the front row, in the apricot t-shirt, at our 2nd anniversary service.

 

“Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, and to teaching.” (1 Timothy 4:13)

“Doc Mem” is Doctora Imelda Soriano, a dear friend of ours here.

 

Thirty-seven years ago last month, a rebellious, profane, shy, skinny 18 year old kid repented & began to follow Jesus. He had no idea what a wild ride he was getting on!

A coworker named Greg had been preaching to me since I arrived at the Air Force base in the UK where I would live for two years. After listening to Greg for two weeks, I realized he was right & I was wrong about the things in life that matter most.

No regrets, except that I wish I had done it sooner.

 

We’re so grateful for the small army of young people who do so much volunteer work for DCO/DBF. When I was their age, I hated working in the kitchen. When feeding an average of 100 people every week, there are a lot of dishes to wash.

 

At Fire School of Ministry, where we rent two rooms on Sundays for church services, I am privileged to teach again every Wednesday for this semester. Also, Gina & her disciple Cathy are taking a couple of classes together.

DCO helped send two Fire School students to Thailand & Laos on a short-term mission for two months.

In the photo, Kathy & Ruth, whom we helped sponsor (& who were my students in a Fire School class last year) are seated, with other Fire School laborers in Thailand behind them.
Again, they are not directly affiliated with DCO or DBF. I mention this because I think it’s important for you all to know that we labor together with other ministries here in Davao City. In fact, next month, DCO will sponsor more potential missionaries from other churches for Kairos missions training.

I said that last sentence by faith. We do all of this by faith. Every week, our bank account dwindles down to almost nothing, & every week we believe God to provide again. And he does, through you.

 

For everyone interested in the topic of planting churches where they are needed:
Gina’s hometown of Luna, Apayao, Philippines is still kinda small but growing quickly. I can’t publicly give all of the details about why, but Luna desperately needs a new church. If you are praying about where the Lord would send you, or if you know someone who is, please ask God & ask us about this.

 

I have used a lot of different ways to send money from the US to here in the Philippines. The cheapest way I know of is through World Remit. It never occurred to me until recently that donors to DCO could use WR to support the ministry here. I have used WR dozens of times without any problems. They just happen to be running a promotion now! If you want to try WR, let me know (jgapinoy@gmail.com), & they will credit you $20 just for trying it (the money will be credited to you when what you send totals $100 or more). And they’ll credit us $20, too! We have already received one such credit.
When you ask, I’ll provide you with a special code for your first transaction.

Thank you so much for your gifts. Here are the other ways to donate:
https://nations.ph/donations/

We could never repay you for your generosity to Davao City Outreach, but certainly “you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous.” (Luke 14:14)

Please forward this website to others who might be interested!

Please pray that God will send more laborers into his harvest field.