Filipinos Reaching Nations

DAVAO CITY REPORT:

As many of you know, we have been trying to push Mara Joy out the door 😂 as a missionary for several months. Last year she was rejected–through absolutely no fault of her own–in a very cruel way by Thai immigration officials. That was a traumatic experience for a 23 year old girl, by herself, away from the island of Mindanao the first time in her life.
But MJ retained her heart for missions.
So I am joyful to announce that as of now, MJ is a staff member of an excellent missionary organization that imparts the gospel to unreached tribes within the Philippines!
Mara Joy is a missionary to those unreached cultures!
She’s on a team that directly ministers to unreached tribes, plus they train Christian pastors and leaders to minister to unreached tribes.
I have already told the missions org that by faith, our ministry will pay MJ’s salary. We’ll also help her move, buy stuff for her apartment, and—if God provides—we’d like to buy a motorcycle for her. (They are much smaller and cheaper here.)
We were blessed to baptize MJ in 2016, and we’ve seen her overcome many challenges as she’s grown in the Lord.
While our previous attempt to launch MJ into missions didn’t happen, this time there is no visa that needs approval. As the USA space program used to say, ALL SYSTEMS ARE GO!
GLORY TO GOD!!!

A public evangelism team accomplishes these things:
–It stirs the saints.
–As they observe, it teaches new converts how they can share their faith with family, friends, co-workers, etc.
–It tells a community that the kingdom of God is there. And,
–It just might lead people to Jesus.
Both Geniel and Kim are naturally shy and quiet, but God is growing a wonderful boldness in them! They just walked up and sat down with her!

Please pray for “M” and “S,” the Hindu ladies whom Prescy is ministering to, that they would follow Jesus. There are always several hundred Indian medical students in Davao City. What a mission field! Please pray for our church’s efforts there.

These young people–in our Buhangin church in Davao City–are usually bouncing off the walls and noisily enjoying each others’ company. But when youth leader Bee gives them an assignment, there’s total silence as they study.

LUNA, APAYAO REPORT:

Joy (dark t-shirt, in the middle) is only 17 years old. She was baptized only 9 months ago. But she is already very mature for her age. Joy often volunteers for various kinds of ministry. And she does a good job leading the youth small group on Sundays.
Those who give and those who pray for us, this is an example of the fruit here that will be credited to your account. (See Philippians 4:17.)

Sisters Nora and Fe pose with Gina after church. Perhaps instead I should be sharing a video of when Fe was dancing and jumping! Because her severe foot/ankle pain was instantly, miraculously healed after prayer! (We believe she had gout.) I included the topic of miracles within my Easter message. Because of what Jesus did for us on the cross, miracles of healing happen!

Every week, Gina is a perfect hostess in church, extending friendly greetings to all one by one. With the mic, Gina is a warm emcee. Also she leads the worship of God beautifully. She often translates for me. She can teach, lead, counsel… She’s the perfect pastor’s wife. ❤

…

Joanna was 11 when she started coming to our church. Three of her relatives (including Fe, pictured, plus Nora and Mark) saw her behavior change by the grace of God. They started coming to church because of her testimony.
“Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19:14)
Joanna lives about a kilometer away from us. She and her two girlfriends began coming to our house to hang out, and that led to Joanna being baptized and transformed.

Gina and I taught a 5-hour seminar about leadership. Why? Because the Luna church is full of new converts, and we need leaders. But I believe God is raising up some of these dear people.

Thanks to our generous donors, we were able to build a kids’ ministry room as well as improvements to the grounds such as sidewalks. Plus we’re digging a well which will have a pump and a tank. (There is no municipal water supply here.) We’re still working on a storage room.
Apple is one of our hard-working kids’ ministers.

About 110 attended our Luna 1st anniversary service, which featured testimonies from several members of the visiting team from Compass Christian Church AZ USA, and preaching by our AZ missions pastor Paul Street. We’re so grateful for all the work this team did for our mission! And they brought a ton of CCC t-shirts!

Do you need to grow your compassion? Visit a hospital and offer prayers and encouragement for the patients.

Aida was bedridden for months with various illnesses. We prayed for her, but nothing happened. Then, led by the Holy Spirit, we asked her if she was bitter against anyone. She confessed all of the details about why she had refused to forgive someone. But thank God, Aida agreed to repent of that bitterness. This time we did not see an instantaneous and complete miraculous healing, but she certainly is steadily getting better. She who was bedridden for months now comes to church most Sundays! May the Lord continue to work in Aida’s body and her soul.

We were honored to host one of the weekly meetings for area Agta tribal pastors and disciples. Gina and I want to help reach the various nearby Agta communities for Jesus. We have a lot to learn. Please pray for that.

Nineteen baptisms since our last report!
We have a baptism tank, but we enjoy baptizing people publicly sometimes. So the community knows the kingdom of God is here. (The others in the pool were swimming when we arrived.)

Life in the Philippines: A couple has a store on wheels. They often park in front of this busy drug store. Their son plays on his phone while they do business.

It was ten years ago this month when my daughter Tabitha accidentally drowned. Gina and I were still fairly new missionaries then. As sad as we all are for not having her with us now, I’m still grateful to God that he gave her to us for 23 years. Tabby, you are dearly loved! We miss you! 💗

We are Filipinos Reaching Nations. If you are somewhere in this chart, Gina and I really appreciate you! Marty, for example, has done so much work managing our affairs in the USA for almost 12 years. Sherrie and others provide care for us when we visit the USA. Some write encouraging messages that bless us more than you can know. Generous donors, wise advisors, prayer warriors…
Gina and I are quite blessed! And we put our blessings to work everywhere from some small islands near Malaysia, to Agta tribal villages in Luzon, to the heights of Nepal.