Philippine Trip!
For those of you who have sponsored me on this trip, I want to
thank you again. Thankfully, I did not need to resort to walk-a-thons,
bike-a-thons, or mar-a-thons to raise the money! Although I did put a roof on a
house that brought in $500.00, that was the most physical work I did. Many
people from the church also donated for my tickets. I am very appreciative
of all.
The trip was from January 9th to the 21st, and boy, it was an
adventure!
Pastor Gresham and I went together and was able to do the
following...
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Visit
Missionary Claire Loquias on the southern island of Mindanao, city of
Davao
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Visit Charity Baptist Foundation in Davao,
Philippines |
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Visit Missionary Howie Hunter in Lipa City, Manila |
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Help Howie Hunter set up the radio station called "Faith
Broadcasting" |
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Developed the name "Faith Baptist Express" as the name for
the new shipping ministry to that portion of Manila. |
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Preach and teach at churches all over Luzon |
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Meet
Filipino pastors and praying churches that receive our material from CBF
|
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Visit villages and pass out hundreds of Gospel
tracts and Bibles |
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Preach through an interpreter |
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Teach the youth |
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Hunt for cobras |
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Ride motorbikes, tricycles, and jeepnies |
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Learn to stick fight Filipino style |
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Cut up coconuts with a machete |
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Eat sticky rice, squid, goat, backyard chicken, mango,
bananas, and piglets |
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Play 2 regulation basketball games (I was the tallest
person!) |
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Lead two women to the Lord on two separate islands! |
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Travel through Muslim territory with a towel over my head so
I wouldn't be recognized as a white American |
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See,
firsthand, the processing of Charity Baptist Foundation containers when they
reach the Philippines |
This trip was not a pleasure cruise, but I did get to have
much pleasure in it. Pastor Gresham and I helped missionary Howard
Hunter move into the small radio station outside of Lipa City, in Papanga.
That was a joy to have a hand in the very beginning stages of a ministry
that will reach millions of broadcast listeners.
On the
island of Mindanao, we were greeted by an entourage of pastors and friends at
the airport! It was the best reception I've ever seen. We visited
over 10 churches, and met nearly 100 pastors on that island. We took boxes
of Gospel tracts to the churches and distributed them freely to all who would
take them. The pastors could not believe that they were FREE. Look
at the pictures and see their smiling faces. They transported them back to
their churches anyway they could. Mostly by tying bags of tracts onto
their motorbikes.
We went to a very poor village and held an
outdoor meeting amplified from speakers in the back of a pickup truck.
There were numerous kids in attendance, with others listening too numerous to
count. After pastor Gresham preached through the interpretation of one of
a Filipino Pastor (Pastor Andre), numerous kids and adults received Jesus Christ
as their Savior. One of them was the village leader, a very prominent
representative of the village. He faithfully attended church the rest of
the time we were there. After that, we fed all the children from 5 gallon
buckets containing chicken and rice soup. The kids received one serving
into whatever container they brought...bowls, cups, plates, etc. It was a
very emotional event.
I had much sadness when I left because of
the love I developed for the people and the work of the ministry there. It
was great to see what God was doing, and what the future holds for CBF.
Our goal is to expand our outreaches in Manila and Davao. We want to get
the Gospel out to those who cannot come in and get it. We plan to saturate
all the islands of the Philippines in two years (with God's help, we can do it).
Central Baptist Church of Davao has formally invited me to be the guest speaker
at the 2006 Youth Conference in December. There will be nearly 500
teenagers attending the conference. I will be needing your prayers and
support as I raise the money to return. I'm excited about it, and thankful
to the Lord for blessing me with this opportunity.
I told the Pastor that I have been in 23 countries around the world.
Twenty of them while deployed as an Army Special Forces operator over the last
11 years, but I never expected God to send me around the world like He has
chosen to do this year. Once to the Philippines with a return trip in
December...on to Mexico in April and again in September, and the great opportunity to go to Cuba as
well! God is good.
As of now, I have arranged a Power Point
presentation and DVDs for Charity Baptist Foundation. I am calling churches to
schedule meetings to present the burden for this ministry. Matthew Gresham
has surrendered to be the future representative for CBF, and he hopes to be
full-time by the end of this year!
Here is the itinerary for the
presentations (look for more added throughout the year):
April
26, 2006 Freedom Baptist Temple - Xenia, Ohio
December 3, 2006 Cornerstone Baptist Temple - Dayton, Ohio
Pictures from the Philippines. Click photo to enlarge...
Q: What is CBF?
A: CBF stands for
Charity Baptist Foundation.
CBF is our church's shipping ministry that has sent over one-hundred 20'-40'
containers to third world counties around our globe. Our primary focus is
the Philippines. We have flooded the Philippines with millions of Gospel
tracts, Bibles, and Sunday School material over the last 15 years.
Approximately every 4 months we send a 38,000 pound container. I want to
be part of the processing once the container arrives in the Philippines!
If
you would like to contribute to getting me to the Philippines in December of
2008...
