The Work Of Jesus Is Continuing Through His Body!

Ronnie, Aling and their family continue to trust God as they journey through Aling’s cancer and pain. They have seen some strange things happening. Aling has been having a lot of pain in her lower pelvic area and recently, a bulge started protruding through her groin and she became unable to walk. A few days ago, this bulge opened up and drained and the bulge has disappeared so the pain is a lot less and she feels like she may be able to start walking around her house again soon. Aling always has either Ronnie or her eldest son Yeng-Yeng (behind her in the picture) with her, caring for all her needs and this has been a very precious time for their family and with the Lord Jesus.

Remember the 7 men who graduated from the bible school in Lapoc last July?  Well in the short 3 months since they graduated, the Lord has been doing GREAT things through them. They are teaching over 1600 people in one place and they also have over 10 followers of the Lord Jesus who have asked to be trained as Evangelists and Bible teachers as they also want to help with spreading the Good News and they have been busy training and discipling these up and coming Evangelists. We can do nothing but shake our heads in amazement at what God is doing. He is opening up doors that we never even dreamed would be opened!

Mourning is going on in the church at Tinaytayan as one of their church family was murdered yesterday and the relatives of the murderer are also part of the church family so things are very difficult at the moment for the church in Tinaytayan. Please pray for Max and Dodong who are the church elders there. They need much wisdom, boldness and grace to keep the church in unity and focused on the Lord Jesus in the midst of such a terrible trial. 

School children are not only hearing the Gospel and getting saved but they are also being discipled and taught key doctrines in scripture to help them grow and to teach them to follow Jesus and obey all of His ways. Yesterday, the scripture teachers in Lapoc spent a whole day training and studying their new scripture lesson plan on the book of Acts. How we praise God for the vision and the passion He has given the scripture teachers that they desire to see the children they teach, not only saved but also grounded in the Word! What hope there is for the children in Lapoc and the surrounding areas, like these twins girls (photo above), born recently in Colawingon, who will grow up with a Gospel witness!(The two ladies in the photo holding the twins are RI teachers who have been faithfully teaching scripture in schools for many years.)

Last month, the believers in Cauyunan sent a delegation to Sinicabog with an offering that they had collected to pay for a church building that the believers in Sinicabog need but cannot afford to pay for themselves. The generosity and the sacrificial giving of the Cauyunan church is a great tribute to the working of the Holy Spirit among them. 

How can we begin to praise God for the Great Things He has done and is doing? We feel like John who said, “Now there are also many other things that Jesus did. Were every one of them to be written, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” John 21:25   The work of Jesus is continuing through His Body!

Jubab has turned 16!

We are praising the Lord for Jubab’s 16^th birthday earlier this month (this photo was taken on his birthday).

Also, wonderful news: the scripture teachers have resumed teaching this week in the schools that had been affected by the marauders!

Jubab got his Learner’s license last week and has been enjoying the new experience of being behind the wheel. 

Aling and Ronnie sent a message to us asking us to please thank you for all your prayers. Aling continues on the palliative care and is in some pain but not too much they said. She is in good spirits and is being cared for beautifully by Ronnie and her two sons. The family is enjoying a special closeness at this time.

Thanking God for you and for your prayers,

We have a lot of news to share this month and a few pictures. Much of this is copied straight from emails and skypes we have had with church leaders from Lapoc and also from Tumpagon and Cauyunan. 

The church leaders from Tumpagon and Cauyunan have increased their study time together and are finding this very beneficial for their growth and unity. These pictures were taken in the church building in Tumpagon where they were studying together last week.

Prayer and praise points from Tumpagon and Cauyunan are:

1.      Praise God for 8 believers baptized in Pigtau on August 7th.

2.      Praise God that Tituy, one of the Tumpagon church elders who fell into sin some years ago, has been fully restored and reinstated in ministry!

3.      Praise God that Udi, one of the church elders from Cauyunan, was not hurt worse when the scythe used for harvesting rambutan (a fruit) fell on his face.  Udi is our son-in-law and we are so thankful he didn’t lose an eye or get hurt worse. In the past two years we have seen Udi on a very steady growth time spiritually and we have been so thankful to the Lord for him and for his steadiness and maturity.  

4.      Praise God that His Holy Spirit is moving in the churches in Tumpagon and Cauyunan in a powerful way.

5.      Please pray for the Youth Conference being organized for October and for Melecio, Junjun, Aiza, Floramae, Jòjò daw Jerrum who are the planning committee for this conference. Pray that this time will be a great encouragement for the Youth and will spur them on to growth and obedience to the Lord Jesus.

6.      Please pray for a church building needed for the believers in Pinatagan as they have grown in numbers and can no longer meet just in homes.

This concludes the news from the Tumpagon and Cauyunan churches and we now move 120 km south-east to the area of Lapoc where God’s Spirit is also moving in a powerful way!

Prayer and Praise points from the Lapoc area are:

1.      Praise God that the group of marauders who were terrorizing the villages and especially the women, are now on the run and are being chased by military.

2.      Pray for the ladies who teach scripture in the schools as they meet on Thursday, Sept 4^th and one of the things they will be talking about is when to resume the scripture classes in the schools that were affected by these marauders.

3.      Pray urgently please for the latest Gospel outreach into the villages that for now we will call “B” and “D”. There have been some huge obstacles and attacks against the Gospel in these areas and even a plan to kill the bible teachers from Lapoc but God protected them.  They continue to endure these dangers each week for the sake of the Gospel and of the twenty-five people who are receiving the Words of the Lord with great hunger and eagerness in these areas. 

4.      Praise God for Ronnie and Aling’s faithfulness and endurance in this difficult time of Aling’s sickness. She continues on the palliative morphine and is not in too much pain apart from in her pelvic area. She is able to eat and get up but is confined to her home.

5.      Praise God for the passion in the hearts of the Lapoc church to spread the Gospel. Last Saturday, several of the church leaders went to survey a new area where they had heard that there are people wanting to be taught and they are making plans to open up a new work in this new place.

6.      Praise God for 8 new ladies who want to help teach scripture in the schools and have started training this month! Judy and Chariza (also in this picture below) are experienced scripture teachers who have taken on the responsibility of training and discipling these 8 ladies.  Some of these ladies are married with children, others are newlywed, and others are teenagers just finished school.  Pray for them that their lives will bear fruit as they serve our Lord Jesus.

News from far away.....!

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.