Happy Christmas, War is Over

Merry Christmas!

We hope you experience peace on earth, and God's good will toward you.

Meditate on these excerpts from last Sunday's Christmas message:

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Happy Christmas - War is Over...(if you want it)

 Luke 2:14  “...Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.” 

1. We were at war against God (although God has always loved you.)

Romans 5:8, 10 “…While we were still sinners, Christ died for us…when we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son…”

2. Jesus came to make peace (Christ coming to earth forever changed the way God deals with people.)

Colossians 1:20-22 “...He made peace with everything in heaven and on earth by means of Christ's blood on the cross. You were his enemies, separated from him by your evil thoughts and actions. Yet now he has reconciled you to himself through the death of Christ in his physical body. As a result, he has brought you into his own presence, and you are holy and blameless as you stand before him without a single fault.

2 Corinthians 5:19 "God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men's sins against them."

Romans 4:8 “Blessed is the man whose sin the Lord will never count against him."

3.The war is over...if you want it (Your sins have already been paid-off. God is not angry at you.)

 (You might not yet have peace with God, but He is at peace with you.)

Application:

* Choose to make peace with God today

   2 Corinthians 5:20 “…We beg you on behalf of Christ to become reunited with God."

* Rather than focus on sin, receive God's love

   1 John 4:19 "We love him because he first loved us."

    1 John 5:3 “This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome.”

* Tell others the good news that God is not mad

  2 Corinthians 5:18 “He has restored our relationship with him through Christ, and has given us this ministry of restoring relationships.”

Bambi at 7 months pregnant

It's a boy

Bambi had ultrasound today, confirming that we are having a baby boy. (Due date Feb 3.)

Both mother and baby are doing fine, and we thank God for the excellent health.

The picture may not be too clear, simply because he would not lie still for the ultrasound. He is very active.

DMMMSU Recollection (Sept 20-22, 2010)

Pre-graduation Retreat

The recollection event (retreat) we hosted for university students in San Fernando was very fruitful. Thank you for your prayers.

* More pics are here.

* 230 students attended over 3 days; nearly all of them non-Christian. We are fairly sure of this; because you could hear the language used during the Scripture memory activities:

..."For God loved the world so much that He...uh, er, um...Oh 'S-#^@!$', I forgot..."

* 90% were men, however, on the third day, there were numerous homosexuals in the group. This was interesting; watching them have to "cowboy-up" to do the 'Army-crawl'.

* At least one professor and administration staff were always present to observe the sessions. It was great to see them sitting down, listening, and taking notes.

* One student who did not attend the recollection heard great feedback from his classmates, and regretted missing out. Though he had no friends in the other departments, he requested to attend the recollection with another batch on a different day.

* In the 9 hours we had with these students, was saw some miraculous changes in their attitudes and behavior.

Some people were crying, confessing, repenting, and asking for forgiveness. Others came forward to open up the hurts they had been holding on to for years.

One gay, whose father had abandoned the family when he was a child, released his inner hurts and decided to start "traveling light".

A young woman shared her deep-seated wounds of having been sexually molested and beaten by her own father most of her childhood. She was able to for

Overhearing a group of students as they were leaving, I listened to them quoting to each other the Scriptures they had memorized. 

* Administrative staff from the university have hinted that they will request this service from our church again in the future. Please pray that this opportunity will indeed open up again, and that many souls will be saved.

* We felt like the disciples who, after fishing all night, were told by Jesus to cast their nets on the right-side of the boat; and experienced the fish practically jumping-in.

* The harvest is ready. Please pray that we will be able to contain the great multitude of people that will be saved and added to the church. Although many of these students are moving to other provinces to find work after graduation; most still have family in San Fernando and will likely be back.

Bambi and I want to thank you for your prayers and support as we continue this mission work in the Philippines. To God be the glory for the great things He has done.

Evangelistic Outreach to University Students

The Don Mariano Marcos Memorial State University contacted us about hosting and conducting a "spiritual recollection" for their graduating classes of students; mostly male.

Their stated objective was to provide the students some sort of "psycho-spiritual activity to help students reflect on their role in the greater scheme of things".  Please understand, for this institution to seek us out and give us complete freedom with how we conduct the event, is nothing short of a miracle.

Bambi and I have been praying for this university nearly every time we pass by the campus. This is a government-run school; and most of the faculty are not very open toward born-again Christians. Typically, for such an event, they would have conducted an activity in-house, possibly partnering with a Roman Catholic agency. But the Lord's church is becoming well-known in the city as a dynamic ministry of excellence and influence. They seem to have put their confidence in our team to speak into the lives of these students, and have given us carte blanche to evangelize the students during these 3 days and on our own home turf.

Today, we ministered to the first batch of 88 students. Tomorrow a different batch, and the next day yet another batch of students. Around 250 students total. They are all graduating seniors, who are soon to head-off to their respective on-the-job internship trainings with various companies around the country.

This entire group was all-male. They had an amazing time; and heard the gospel so clearly. Most of them were very open, with only one student who walked-out. We discovered he was from a religious cult, and reasoned that he felt guilty just being there. The rest however, got extremely blessed as they experienced God in a real and fresh way. 

Bambi and I have an amazing team of committed, hard-working, Spirit-filled church volunteers that share our passion for lost souls and are giving their time and energies to make this outreach event successful.

From 8am-5pm, there was a non-stop diversity of learning activities and group discussions. We use video clips, ice-breakers, and team-building activities. Each station requires students to memorize and quote Scriptures. The church music and drama teams participated in leading worship, and acted-out some gripping and penetrating evangelistic skits that brought cold chills down everyone's spine. Numerous teenagers stood up to give testimony of how they came to Christ. I taught lessons on how the penalty of our sins has been settled by Jesus at the cross; and how to get rid of unhealthy emotional and spiritual baggages. There were times of asking and releasing forgiveness among the students. One student approached his professor and asked forgiveness. The message of Christ's salvation and hope for reconciliation had a great impact on the entire class.

It has been an awesome first day; as many lives were touched and changed. 

Please keep up the good prayer work. It is effective! We ask that you continue covering all our church ministry volunteers. After the busy weekend of back-to-back church services and mission activities, Monday 6am, began with everyone already a bit tired, and some have started losing their voice. God's grace is available and sufficient to empower the team. We expect more great things to happen in the coming days..

Married Couples' Date Night

Rain did not dampen the attendance to the married couples Date Night. Pairs of husbands and wives came to the church center to dedicate a time to enjoy the company of other Christian couples with songs, games, dinner and even a dance.

The Date Night is designed for married couples committed to God and committed to keep their marriage for better or worse. Part of the night is the sharing of experiences and tips on how to strengthen the husband and wife relationship, like how to effectively communicate with each other.

Says Ellen, a first time attendee, “I attended the date night because I like the activities like this which I know will improve not just my relationship with Brian (her husband), but myself as well. Attorney Danny, also a first timer, enthusiastically shares “My marriage is far different - better different – now that we have God as the center of our relationship. And look at my kids now! They are attending a youth cell group!”

The first Date Night was introduced by missionary –couple Jake and Connie MacLeod from Maryland, USA who visited San Fernando this past summer.

Mayeth, a second-timer to the Date Night joined again because, according to her, “It was fun; and my husband enjoyed it too!”

Tim and his wife Bambi says that their union has a purpose: to fight against the work of the enemy in the lives of married couples. The Date Night is one pro-active approach to doing this.

According to the attendees of the Date Night, they will definitely come back and encourage other couples to join.

...by Dada

Summer mission campaign

Bambi is pregnant

Bambi is pregnant and is starting to "show"; so we are already speaking audibly to our child.

We are praying everyday for a joyful, healthy baby; and that he will become a born-again Christian at a very early age, and grow up to serve God's purposes.

Thank you for your support and fervent prayers; God is really moving.

Maryland Mission Team making impact in Philippines

The Frederick (Maryland) Church of Christ has sent a 6-members mission team to come to the Philippines with us for 2 weeks.

They are making an amazing impact in the City of San Fernando.

Please read all the interesting and encouraging posts on their missions blog, especially their impressions of the Filipino people:
http://frederickchurchofchrist.blogspot.com/

Happy New Year

Allow me to be one of the last to greet you a Happy New Year!

2009 was an incredible year of growth in so many ways for Bambi and I.
By God's grace, our mission work in the Philippines is prospering and expanding. I'm convinced there is nothing God cannot (and will not) do to fulfill His cause.

We will be visiting Texas starting the last week of January; and hope to share with you more.

We are praying for you:
- Excellent health, relationships,work, finances, and an intimate walk with Christ for 2010.