Church Planting in the Philippines
I’m grateful for all the wonderful things going on in the lives of the Filipino pastors and those around us. I also have so much great news to share that I don’t really know where to begin!
In May I was fortunate enough to be involved with another church plant through SOS (Summer of Service). It’s the hottest time of year in the Philippines to be walking out in the sun, but it’s worth it! There were about 17 volunteers, and after 3 weeks we had created a church to leave with the new pastor. We didn’t have any new SOS church plants here in Mindoro, so I traveled out to Bicol with a couple of our local pastors, who also volunteered their time there. In our first baptism service in Magarao, Bicol, 21 people dedicated their lives to Christ!
The favor of God was on us. The town’s firemen asked us to pray over their new fire truck, and the police asked me to lead a devotional during their weekly flag-raising ceremony. All glory belongs to God!
After our very eventful trip to Bicol, I volunteered to help one of our pastors here in Mindoro create more Bible studies. I had already gotten used to sleeping on the concrete floor and fetching my own water to bathe with, so what’s two more weeks? It’s all for God anyhow! There weren’t nearly as many of us this time, but 6 of us helped, including some church members from a city in Iloilo. Though we were exhausted from SOS, we did manage to help create some pretty solid Bible studies for the pastor.
I also began to learn from the members from Iloilo how their church had grown at an incredible rate through a discipleship method. I was also able to teach these 4 about praying for the sick. It was incredible! Moments after the teaching, one of the ladies prayed for the other, who had a chronic breathing and allergy problem in her nose, and God instantly healed her! Both ladies were ecstatic, to say the least.
Many others were healed during SOS, but I enjoy sharing the answered prayers of others more. It’s really not about me. Christ empowers us all! It’s about what we can do together to impact the world through Christ and for Christ. With Him all things are possible!
After a week of much-needed recovery and catching up on daily tasks, I planned my trip to Iloilo. It’s just as far from Mindoro as Bicol is, almost 24 hours, but it was worth my time. I was able to really learn from the pastor who had grown his church to over 4,000 members through discipleship. It’s been on my heart, because I felt it was something we were lacking here in Mindoro. I’m so grateful for everybody who helped me in Iloilo, from waiting for me at the bus station to giving me a place to stay while I was on their island.
After I returned, my missionary mentor Ray Miller asked me to teach on the topic at the Wednesday pastors’ meeting. Teaching and discipling these pastors has always been our priority, but now we’re trying to take it deeper and help them in this area of making disciples. The meeting went great, and it’s an ongoing process, but even after a week there has been a great change in their way of thinking and in the steps they are taking to move in that direction.
Livelihood is another thing that has really affected me over the course of my second term here. Mindoro is very different from Cebu, even though it’s part of the same country. Not only do they speak a different language, but they think differently in a lot of ways. Our pastors here feel that their communities and churches would frown on them if they took a job while pastoring a new church. I know that’s different from how many Americans see it. Many American pastors I know have worked a job while getting their churches established. On the other hand, it’s socially acceptable for Filipino pastors to run a business!
In the middle of last year, I was able to slowly inspire Pastor Jimer to start farming for a secondary income. Well, the farming has continued, and Pastor Jimer has been an influence on our other Assemblies of God pastors. This has left the door wide open for us missionaries to inspire each one of them to ‘create wealth’ as the Bible says. I believe this change of thinking can even impact their congregations as the pastors lead by example. They will be able to inspire others to create businesses and jobs, affecting the community in a positive way.
Thank you for taking the time to read my mountain of text! I’m grateful for your prayers and for everything you do for me as my wonderful supporters. I thank God for putting each supporter and prayer warrior in my life. Together we can make a difference, and we are!
