Life In Lapoc......

Life in Lapoc is sometimes scary, sometimes hugely stressful, always very busy, quite often bone-jarring (when we’re travelling over the rough roads), is surprisingly noisy, never lacking in surprises and keeps us always thrown upon the Lord.

So what have Howells been doing this past month?

We have helped two people have operations, we have visited our brother who is suffering terribly with liver cancer and have searched for pain medication for him, we have sorrowed for 9 people killed in a terrible truck accident along our own Lapoc road, we have held two newborn babies, we have had had at least 6 nights of lying awake for several hours thinking and praying about things heavy on our hearts. We have worked over 320 hours between us on the books of Acts and Ephesians, preparing bible lessons, revising the translation and working on a correspondence consultant check on Ephesians to finalize this before printing. More hours have gone into preparing materials for the youth group and into a booklet on the prayers the Lord Jesus taught, which is the topic this weekend for a women’s convention in Tumpagon.  As well as this, we have spent about 18 hours on our bone-jarring road, doing a supply buy, picking up visitors from the airport  (which we loved doing!) and visiting the churches in Gahiton and Colawingon.  We have individually and together put many hours into counselling and discipling and we spent a couple of hours one morning making a little girl with cerebral palsy feel special on her birthday. We had a teenage school girl who is orphaned stay with us for two weeks and in fellowship with the church leaders have found her a place to live and have helped her set up home when it became evident that she had no one else to take her in. We are praising our Lord along with Ronnie and Aling that after 6 months of chemo, and 9 months since her surgery for colon cancer, Aling’s test results have come back all clear!  We have visited the flood victims and checked the progress of the houses being built for them. We have done a family photo shoot and also discovered that Dad doesn’t like pumpkin mixed in with pasta (he gives it a lower rating than eating a bat)!  All 3 of us have had our moments of exhaustion where we just couldn’t keep going without a rest and all three of us have seen the Lord’s amazing, constant care as we have faced some heavy trials. We (well actually Paul ) have ordered truckloads (literal truckloads!) of cement and gravel and building materials and is in the process of building several buildings for schools, a clinic and the beginning plans for 3 church buildings. We have taught the Word, shared with friends, prayed and prayed, felt at loss, found the way through, kept on plodding sometimes running, haven’t had a sleep in past 6:00 am for months and months (except for Jubab who sometimes sleeps till noon on a Saturday), have composed two new Tala-Andig songs..........and more! 

Through all of this, your prayers and support are the backbone of us being able to keep on in the work here........you are part of God’s team here! Don’t know where we’d be without you and we sure do praise our God for you!

"I Thought I Could Never Be Saved....."

Please pray!!! Tonight is the Bible Study for the school teachers at Ben and Leonie’s place and the study is about Jesus’ death on the cross and His triumph over sin and death and the full payment that He has made for our salvation!  Pray that many will trust Jesus as their Saviour and their names will be written tonight in the Book of Life!!!!

Also another big prayer point is for the teaching of the Word in a place which is a haven for criminals. There is a group of about 20 being taught weekly and most of these men have killed. Everyone there has a gun....and the place is very hard to get to. One of the bible teachers from here who travels there each week told us yesterday, “When I get there and start teaching this group, I forget how hard the trip was and how tired I am!”  Some of these criminals have been saying, “If I had known this before, I wouldn’t have killed.” Others have said, “This is amazing, God is actually giving me a chance to get saved. I thought I could never be saved.”

Two Things.....

There were two things that stood out to us this last Sunday:

That life is short.

This dear man is Kukuy Bagas and this month he was given 6 months to live by his doctor. He is suffering from an aggressive type of liver cancer. Kukuy and his family are from the neighbouring community, Miarayon and they were taught about Jesus by Rodil, one of the missionary team here, who for weeks went to their home and taught them until they were saved and joined the church here in Lapoc. Since Kukuy was saved his desire has been to serve the Lord and he has been part of the team of bible teachers who are spreading the Gospel in the surrounding areas.

The elders met with him here last Sunday afternoon and prayed with him, along with the leading women in the church. It was really difficult. We all cried with him, we prayed with him, we asked God to heal Kukuy by His miraculous power if it is His will, and we committed Kukuy to God’s hands. Kukuy shared how he misses his ministry and misses going out with the team, he misses coming to church as most Sundays he is too ill. He hates to look in the mirror he said now as he has lost so much weight and looks so unwell.  Please pray for Kukuy and his wife Lisa and their 4 married children and grandchildren.  

The second thing is that the kingdom of God is like a man who scatters seed upon the soil and the seed sprouts and grows – how, the man does not know. (Mark 4:26-29)

This is what is happening here. The seed is sprouting and growing – while we are asleep at night and while we are up by day. It is an amazing work of the Holy Spirit. Please pray for the community of Miarayon. God is doing huge things there right at this moment. Last Sunday, one of the prominent men of Miarayon and his family met with Paul and the elders and they want to be taught each week. The first bible study there starts tonight!! They are coming to church and want to know the Way of salvation!!  Also another bible study starts tonight in the remote community of Sulahugon with a group of 7 young people. These young people are the unsaved friends of Isabel - one of the young ladies from the church here - who she has been witnessing to, and they too want to know the Way of salvation!!

Two weeks in a row now, 25 people of Talid-Talid have also gathered to be taught the Word. “The people of Talid-Talid are hungry for God’s Word” is the report that the bible teachers brought back to the church here!

PLEASE dear co-workers, please take up arms with us through prayer and fight for these souls. It is a huge battle raging here right now!

Pray for our church leaders and for our evangelists too!  Eph 6:18

 

Awesome News!

We had an awesome weekend at Colawingon this past weekend 

and want to share it with you!

Believers from Migpait, Gahiton and Colawingon all gathered 

at the Ticalaan River near Colawingon.

It was a beautiful day and as we sat along the bank of the river, we were able to 

witness some wonderful things:

the bond between brothers and sisters in Christ 

even when meeting each other for the first time;

a young man who preached the Word so beautifully, clearly and confidently

(he is 19 year old Marlon, a disciple of Ronnie and the others who planted the church in Colawingon);

quite a number of old people being baptized, being led into the water 

by their children and grandchildren;

a crippled man on crutches being helped into the water to testify of his faith in the Lord Jesus

....... about FORTY baptisms in all.

None of the amazing wonders in the world can thrill us as much as being on the banks of the Ticalaan River

last Saturday morning witnessing those baptisms!

Praise our God, all you His servants,

you who fear Him, small and great!!

Rev 19:5

Together!

New beginnings amongst the rubble

This little girl and her family were some of the ones we saw, talked

with and helped two weeks ago when we returned

from Manila after our time up there for our

missionary conference.

After spending some time in Cagayan with the flood victims,

we came home to Lapoc and the last two weeks we’ve

been immersed in the many facets and twists

of missionary life:

Discipling the church leaders...... 

A big area of our ministry involves discipleship.

We both spend many hours each week with the men and women

who are involved in ministry and in outreach.

They come to us with reports on the work the Lord is doing through

them, with questions about scripture or for counsel on how to

deal with certain problems they are facing, or just for fellowship.

Using our muscles..........

Last week we worked as a group of believers on cleaning the church

building and it’s surroundings.

Paul’s muscles ached after spending the afternoon cutting off

thick brush in the field.

Children’s ministry.........

Watching the children grow up in the church is one of our joys!

We believe that this next generation of believers will

have great faith in the Lord Jesus and be used

mightily of Him!

Part of our ministry involves discipling and helping

youth leaders and scripture teachers for the school.

We are developing a lot of new study materials for kids at this time

and also making changes in how Young People’s ministry is being done here in

the Lapoc church:  mainly in more discipleship of the young people

themselves and getting them involved in leading Bible Study

groups with their peers and with the younger kids. 

Praise:

·         Ben and Leonie arrived safely back this week and

they have started teaching Jubab Grade 8!

·         We are so thankful for spiritual refreshment and rest

while we were in Manila.

·         God is growing His church here and overcoming all

obstacles!

Prayer:

·         A new outreach starts this Monday – pray for the

Bible teachers as they go out.

This new outreach is a long way away and is in the area of Talid-talid.

Thank You......

for your involvement in this work here!

We need your prayers

and we praise God for your partnership

because the only way to get this job done is:

Together