We received some news from Lapoc just yesterday that was very disturbing
and other news from Tumpagon and Cauyunan that was very encouraging. From Lapoc
we heard that there is a group of evil men whose leader is a young man related
to many believers in the churches there. He murdered an innocent man about two
years ago and became a fugitive from the law, running with some outlaw bands
and has become the leader of one of these gangs. They have just started another
rampage of terrorising, killing, horrible crimes committed against women (one
of the women they attacked died last week from injuries) and they are
threatening to carry out these same atrocities against other women in other
villages getting closer and closer to Lapoc. For the time, it is not safe
for the women scripture teachers to travel to these areas as these marauders
are even holding up vehicles on the road and committing these crimes in
daylight, so the teaching of scripture in several of the schools has been
suspended for a time. PLEASE pray for the believers – especially the women – in
the churches in Lapoc, Tinaytayan and Tagbak. Also pray for the school children
that they will keep seeking out God and talking to Him during this time that
their scripture teachers can’t come to them. Pray for these marauders -
whose families we know – that they will be stopped in their tracks by the
mighty hand of God and their campaign of terror will be cut short. Some time
ago, shortly before we came back here to Australia, we had a close brush with
some of this group when they came to our house at night, still carrying their
guns, wanting to use our vehicle to transport one of their wounded to the
hospital. That is another story of God’s provision and faithfulness.
From Tumpagon and Cauyunan, we also received news and part of the letter
read like this: “….taghangyuay sidan ha kabayà
sidan ogbulig hu mga palagtultul. Aman natuman hai ha planu daw iyan sidan sa
migpatukaw hu mga sulud daw sa mga sulud nababayà daan. Anay ha nakatagu hu
buu. Basin mga 5 kilos ha bugas daw kalambugas, amin mga 10 kilos gaid kamoti.
Amin daw pila ha buuk ha kapi daw sintral. Amin cash 70.00 pesos daw mga
utan ha pila buuk daw amin duma. daw in-ila haan hu palagtultul ha
migtultul taan ha Dominggo. Ayuwà kay gayod nababayà tai ha tagbuhaton hu mga
sulud daw tagkagodam day sa pagpalangga dan kanay.” This is news about
the church in Tumpagon that there were some in the church who begged their
leaders to be allowed to help support them and they presented their plans to
the rest of the church and everyone was happy with the plan. So they put out a
basket and the first Sunday that they did this, there was about 5 kilos of
rice, about 10 kilos of sweet potato, some coffee and sugar, 70.00 pesos and
also some vegetables and other things. This whole basket was given to the
preacher who had taught them that Sunday. The church leaders were so happy with
this plan that their congregation come up with for them and they really can
feel the love of their flock for them. This news was very beautiful to us and
we are so thankful for the love and unity we see amongst the believers.
We have been sending recorded messages from Ephesians back to the church
leaders, but yesterday we received a recorded message from them which we have
been listening to today and hearing for ourselves the results of their
faithfulness to the Lord in studying His Word and really desiring to be
workmen, who have no need to be ashamed, rightly handling the word of Truth.
This also was very encouraging to us and blessed our hearts so much.
One of the elders shared this in a letter he wrote to us: “Natun-an ku ha adagi sa kahingawa yu kanay, sa mga
palanggà kay inyu ha mga sulud yu dini ta Dulangan. Iyan gani mga hinongdan ha
madakol on ha mga pamaagi taw para hu pagtubù hu Iglesia taw dini pinaagi ki
Cristo daw pagpalokop hu Maayad ha Balita….” The translation of this is:
“I know that your concern for us is very great, because you love us brothers
and sisters of yours here in the Dulangan. This is in fact the reason why we
have so many ways now of helping our churches here grow through Christ and in
the spreading of the Good News….” Letters like these are just treasures in
heaven for us as we know that all our years of labour are not in vain and that
even though we are away from them for a time, yet they are living for our Lord
and He is continuing to bind us closer to them in love and in the Gospel.
So these are some of the very recent reports we have heard from our dear
brothers and sisters. On the one hand, dangers and perils, and on the other
hand, great encouragement and comfort in the Lord. So much to pray and to
praise for.
And regarding our dear sister Aling, Ronnie said that last Friday she
started having frequent attacks of dry retching and she is having pain in her
back near the area of her lungs. She is losing some weight though not too much
yet. She continues on palliative morphine which the Lord is providing for them
through a wonderful Doctor and brother in Christ. Please keep praying for
Ronnie and Aling and their family that they will be strong in the Lord, ever
trusting Him and giving Him the glory.
On a personal note, we recently attended a wonderful conference in
Sydney for full time Christian workers called Oxygen. We praise God for a
brother who gave us scholarship passes for this conference as it was such a
spiritually refreshing time and we were blessed to hear some awesome messages
and attend some great workshops. One of the great blessings of this time though
happened early in the morning on a train as we travelled to the conference
site. We got to sit beside a young lady from Japan who is going to University
in Sydney and the Lord gave us about 40 min to talk about Himself to this young
lady. One of the things she asked us was, “What does your God require from
you?” And we answered, “He doesn’t require anything from us, He does everything
for us…..” to which she replied after a moment of thought, “I think the
Japanese people would like your God because He is very kind.” Our God IS very
kind isn’t He? His compassions never fail and His mercy is new every morning
and He does EVERYTHING for us.
Next time we ride the train (or any other public transport) I think
we’ll be more sensitive to the people sitting around us and will be asking God
for more opportunities to share about Himself with people we would normally
just be passing by.
God is working in hearts of people everywhere and maybe not everyone we
share with will want to hear as there are different types of soil – the hard,
the rocky, the thorny and the good – but if we keep sharing, we will find the
people with the hearts like the good soil, who God has been drawing to Himself.
One more bit of news is that Olivier went home to France last week as he
really wants to share the Gospel with his family, especially his grandma. Pray
that he will find other believers to meet with and that he will continue to
grow in Christ and in his knowledge and understanding of everything Christ has
done for him.
