Is there a Bible School at Lapoc?

With the news we’ve been hearing from Lapoc, we’ve been asking ourselves lately, “Do we have a Bible school now in Lapoc?”

                                                

The leaders of the church in Lapoc have felt a bit like they have been running a bible school as they have been busy teaching in a classroom situation, teaching a group of men who love Jesus and who have been given the job of teaching the employees of a big fruit company. They have the potential to reach thousands with the good news about Jesus and since last year they have been preparing for this job in Lapoc under the teaching and discipleship of Rodil, Ronnie, Duyduy, Gabril, Max and Dodong. As well as the classroom situation, they spent many hours of practical application and experience doing outreach.

A few days ago their graduation day arrived, and this is what took place at the Lapoc Church. We have tried to summarize it just with a few pictures:

Please pray for this team of seven men as they head out to a huge work that God has prepared for them and pray for Rodil and Duyduy who will be doing a lot of travelling each month to continue discipling them and helping them in as they teach large groups (in the thousands) of people in this company as well as families and neighbours. 

Return to 'ordinary' life.....!

After a lot of miles travelled and weeks of being apart as a family, we have returned to ‘ordinary’ life here in Ballina. It is so good to be back together! We still have a lot to share with you about our trip to the Philippines which we’ll do soon, but just wanted to give you a family update quickly today. 

 Jubab is busy as he is into Term 3 of this school year and is also preparing to go on his Teen Missions trip to Hungary which he is really looking forward to.  He plays basketball once a week with a local team and is also taking violin lessons.

A few days ago, Jubab had his first experience in hospital. He was admitted for day surgery to extract four impacted wisdom teeth. (Mum and Dad were a little anxious as he had never had a general anesthetic before.) We waited a bit nervously for over an hour to be called to the recovery room when he was done. After what felt like an age, a nurse came and got us and took us in to see him. We were both there at his side, looking at him and talking gently to him, assuring him that we were right there.....and I was looking carefully at his face and saw the blood stains on his lips and his mouth full of gauze packs to stop the bleeding etc. Next thing I knew, everything started to go grey and it felt like the room was spinning….

….and to my embarrassment, I ended up in a bed next to Jubab. In fact, Jubab got taken back to the day ward and I had to stay in recovery for another 10 or 15 min. Jubab said that it felt so surreal because he woke up from the anaesthetic to see his Mum in a bed beside him and he thought he must be dreaming. Paul ended up with two patients but he enjoyed it in his characteristic great sense of humour, and he did a great job of looking after us both.

Jubab is back at school today and Paul and I are back at work in the office and catching up on quite a back-log.

Tomorrow we have a Bible study with Oliver again and will see how he is going in the Lord. We’ve already seen him a couple of times since we’ve been back.

Breaking News:

Our co-workers in Lapoc have just let us know that three outreaches have been started in the villages of Bisigan, Kibanug and soon will start in Disisiti. These are all villages that are in the Man-ay area that we surveyed last year. Please pray for Ratunil, Rodney and Danoy who are leading these outreaches!!! Pray for their travel each week as they go to these remote villages and for the people that they are teaching that the Holy Spirit will work in their hearts and lead them into the LIGHT!

Ronnie and Aling......

The Philippines trip went wonderful – thank you so much for all your prayers! Every day was different and every day brought new challenges, joys and experiences. Jubab was fine while we were gone and we were so glad to be back together early last week.

We want to update you on many things but for now just wanted to share about Ronnie and Aling so you can pray for them. 

Two days after arriving in Lapoc, and during the time that we were holding a Leadership Development workshop with 35 church leaders, we started hearing news from Ronnie (one of the Lapoc elders and Paul’s right hand man on all the building projects) that his wife Aling was not doing well and things were very difficult for them out in town as they tried to get medical help.

God worked out some miracles for us through a dear doctor friend in Cagayan De Oro and Aling was admitted into a good hospital and God provided for all her medical costs through this dear doctor. Our friend kept us informed through daily emails of Aling’s situation and results of all the tests, but within four days, we had the sad news that her cancer has returned (3 years ago she had emergency surgery for colon cancer and  also chemo treatments before she was given the all-clear. She was then symptom free for almost 3 years until last May when she started getting fevers and pain in her chest.) The doctors told us that there is cancer now in her lungs and through-out her body and that surgery is not an option nor is chemo or radiation.

Ronnie and Aling have been faithful co-workers with us in the Gospel since their salvation in 2001, and did not falter in their walk with God even through the tragic death of their 14 year old son Rodil during a severe asthma attack some years back. Through many tears and hardships, they have served their Lord and have been a great encouragement to the churches.

Now they face – unless the Lord intervenes a we have prayed and asked – a temporary parting from each other as the doctors have given Aling only weeks or months to live. Our only time with them was in the hospital room where we found Aling happy in our Lord Jesus and trusting Him as usual. Ronnie was looking a bit strained and tired but was remaining strong and he told us that they had already prepared themselves that the time may be close that God wants to call Aling home.

It was very difficult for me during our two visits to Aling’s hospital room, to encourage her and express my love when tears kept catching in my throat and I just wanted to put my head down beside her and weep. I love Aling, she’s been a beautiful friend to me and I was not ready for that visit in the hospital room to possibly be my last time with her on this earth.

I was so thankful to the Lord for the special gift He has given Paul of being a real encourager at times like these. He told Aling that she is one of the most cheerful ladies we know and that she lived with great joy from the lord that was evident to all who knew her, and if God chooses to take her home to be with Him then she needs to spend her last days just as happy in Him as she has been all of her saved life. Such a beautiful way to enter the kingdom of heaven! And when Paul prayed, he prayed that Ronnie would be able to cry and Ronnie did……during Paul’s prayer and afterwards as we said our goodbyes. He needs to let himself grieve.

They are home now in Lapoc, and Aling is on morphine which is keeping the pain under control at this time. Every report we hear of how she is doing, we hear that she is happy and smiling as she talks with her family and other visitors – not depressed or withdrawn or upset or fearful.

Please pray for Ronnie and Aling and their sons Rhonnie-Jhon and Ton-ton. Rhonnie-Jhon is the oldest son and he is very close to his Mum. He is in love with a girl he is hoping to marry next year but now it seems – humanly speaking - like his Mum won’t be here for his wedding. Ton-ton, the middle son is married already and has two very young sons, Andy and Adrian, who Aling loves to bits, and she wanted to come back to Lapoc to be with them. It must hurt her to look at them and to think she will probably not get to see them grow up. Rodil, the youngest son, is already in heaven.

We are so thankful to our Lord for His blessings and encouragement. Two verses of scripture that particularly encourage us are Ecclesiastes 7:1 “….the day of death is better than the day of birth….” And Psalm 139:16 “All the days ordained for me were written in Your book before one of them came to be.”