Update from Lapoc!

This is the most recent photo of our family taken out in town as we were just about to take a very big step as parents, which was to send Jubab off on a big trip without us!

Jubab had been invited by some friends of ours to attend a Youth Camp with them in a place called Baguio which is a 7 – 8 hour bus ride to the north of Manila. Jubab had an absolutely wonderful week, he loved the worship and the teaching he heard from the Word, he made many new friends, he enjoyed the games and the activities…….and he came back home overflowing with a renewed love for Jesus who he is now calling his Perfect Friend. We managed to survive the week without our son, but were more than thrilled to have him safely back home!

 

Arriving back home in Lapoc, we had one afternoon to get ourselves organized before the arrival the next morning of 21 church leaders (including two of the wives) for this month’s workshop/seminar. They arrived at 7 am and the next two days were spent in hours of teaching and studying together.

 Back Row from left: Isling and her husband Gabril, Danoy, Roldan, Rodnie, Marlon U., Duy-Duy.

Second Row from left: Samson, Dan-dan, Ratunil, Tò-Tò, Ronnie and Max (standing, wearing black)

Front Row from left: Dodong (red jacket), Gagang, Marjon, Marlon and Mark and Rostom in very front. (Two of them missed the picture taking.)

Just an update on the places where these servants of the Gospel (and many others are teaching):  The believers in Talid-Talid who were scattered after Jerwin was killed and others of their lives were threatened are still scattered but Jerwin's family are all doing well. Another small band of believers in Gahiton were also scattered after a murder that happened in their village. In Lantod, there was a falling away because of fear – firstly because of persecutions and also because three of their group died one after the other and the people outside the church were blaming these deaths on the believers leaving their old ways. Slowly though, these ones who fell away are returning and the group is growing strong again.

Special things to note for prayer and for praise are the churches in Endulang, Tikalaan and Migpait – they were just small groups of believers but now they are seeing a sudden interest in the Word happening amongst their neighbours and others in these villages and as a result they are busy holding quite a few new bible studies and they are seeing people being added to the faith!

Another special note for prayer and praise is that in the past few months, two brand new outreaches have been started in the villages of San Mateo and in Dunggian (a part of Man-ay where the church here in Lapoc and the church in Cauyunan would love to set up a joint missionary post and send some full-time missionary families.) We do not have exact news yet of what is happening in Dunggian but we just know that each week, the Word is being taught there by Ruel, James and Inocean.

Other news is that in Mauswagon, where the men live who stoned us, there are still about 5 people listening to the Word - Rimi and his wife and Rimi’s father-in-law and some of the children. The other 3 men and their families eventually dropped off saying things like, “We need to work today…….we are going to harvest etc.” (cares of this world.) But we praise God for the truth that they were taught and we know that His Word does not return void. And we are also thrilled that Rimi and his wife and her father and the children appear to have trusted Christ and are new believers! The Lord has revealed that they are the family who He was seeking out using the rock smashed our windscreen. 

Some of you may be wondering about the village of Kaulayanan that a bunch of us hiked to some years ago. The Gospel has still not reached there. Some of the people from this place have relatives who are believers but there has been no invitation from them to go and teach in their village. We still hope that the doors there will open one day.

School.......and Miracles!

It seems a bit strange doesn’t it to speak of school and miracles in the same breath, but this is how God packages up the events in our daily lives – a continual fusion of the marvelous and the ordinary!

During this past week, the following events have happened:

  *  A bolt of lightning passed between Ronnie and Rudil as they were out on outreach. It came in through the window and passed between them and within a foot of them both as they stood talking together in the almost competed church building at Tagbak. It then hit the floor and sent a shower of mud and cement up onto the ceiling along with an instantaneous boom of thunder that shook the whole building. The whole incident passed within seconds and harmed not a hair on their heads.

   *Paul’s 51st birthday came and went along with a quick trip to town, a list of jobs ticked off of our ‘town list’ and a relaxed evening spent with Ben, Leonie and Grace to celebrate the birthday!

        *Jubab had a shorter school week due to the trip out to town. (We are very, very thankful for Ben and Leonie and for their 3rd year now of serving here along with us! Their part in the overall work here is just HUGE as they free us up from the hours it takes each day to teach school.)

               * We had to send a patient to hospital in an emergency trip a few evenings ago. The weight of responsibility is often heavy on us to help families who don’t have the means to go to hospital or the knowledge of what to do when they get there.

   *A neighbour was killed down the hill from where we live, close enough for us to hear the struggle and the tumult that followed......both the murderer and the murdered were neighbours.

  * We visited the family of the bereaved and walked the very narrow line of neutrality. In this place, it is important that we do not take sides.  

        *A beloved brother in the Lord has suddenly slipped from carrying the Word to carrying a gun and we fear for him. He greatly needs our prayers. Our enemy is like a roaring lion who continually prowls around the flock.

        *The church continues to grow – even this very week, there is a new family group who have believed and been added to the believers.

        *The church leaders are increasing in strength and wisdom – evidenced this very week as they go through some very difficult times. The lightning bolt happened on a day when the elders had just gone through a severe trial and to us it was just like God shaking the house that the apostles were in after they went through a severe trial in Acts 4. It was just like God was saying --- “Well done guys. Keep trusting me and pushing on and we will get to the finishing line together”. Normally if lightning passes so close to you … you die.

   *The Gospel has reached Dungguan, a new frontier which is an area we have been praying would open up to the Gospel!!

For us, as a little band of missionaries whose daily lives are caught up in this amazing blend of the commonplace and the miraculous, we have learnt to accept both from God’s hand. The commonplace has become like the backdrop to the continual stream of mighty works that God keeps showing us and doing on behalf of His people here.

“I will ponder all Your work and meditate on Your mighty deeds....”

 Psalm 78:12

 

Season of Building!

Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 speaks of different seasons we have in our lives and this particular season of our lives right now is a season of building.

Building better infrastructure for people to meet in. Here you see the hive of activity as the church building in Tagbak is taking shape even right now as you read this.  

Building up the workers here who are involved in spreading the Gospel. This takes place in many ways like fellowship over meals and coffees, time together in the Word, discipleship, passing on of information, working together for a common goal, loving each other in spite of personal differences, encouraging one another....... 

 

Building up the confidence and abilities of the church leaders through workshop-seminars and by availing them of helpful technology like computers.  Here you see Ann-ann preparing the first of the computers which are for church leaders in the various churches. They will be having a workshop to learn how to operate and use these computers early next month. This computer workshop will be fully conducted by ladies from the church here in Lapoc, who have become adept in the use of computers through their years of helping us on the translation and through their own hard work and study. 

So.....all sorts of building is going on during this season of our lives. Please pray for us that we will be skilled workers and that we have wisdom to keep our hands inside of our Lord’s so that the building we do lasts.  

Psalm 127:1  Except the LORD build the house, they labour in vain that build......