This was the last day for my schedule of preaching here in the Philippines. We traveled to Talisay where Fred Ogario had arranged for our venue at a Jolibee in the Gaisano Mall. We were upstairs in a very comfortable room with the best air conditioning I have ever experienced in the Philippines. While I was comfortable, the Filipinos had on coats and wraps. There was only one problem, from my point of view, and that was the proximity and volume of an arcade just across the hall – complete with karaoke from people convinced they were stars, but sadly lacking in musical ability.
The crowd for our studies was over 80% people that we had never seen before. The vast majority was Catholic, but we also had three Baptist preachers and one Pentecostal preacher. We only had the morning for the studies, so the brethren asked that I preach on “The Inspiration of the Scripture” and then “Salvation & Saul.” We had about 30 minutes for an open forum and dealt with questions on baptism: it necessity and what constitutes acceptable baptism. The preachers in attendance were visibly shaken by the material covered. The sound preachers in the Cebu area circulated among them and arranged further studies. The numerous Catholic visitors were mainly acquaintances of Fred Ogario. They seemed very interested and Fred is following up with them. Since we did not think we had enough time to thoroughly study with those present, no invitation was extended.
After the lectures, Jonathan and Jack took me back to the hotel where I finished packing and checked out. Our trip through Cebu to the airport was hair-raising as usual, but my fervent prayers were answered and we had no disaster. I am now in the hotel in Manila where I will stay Friday and then depart early Saturday morning, the Lord willing. Thanks to all of you for making this effort possible. It has been very fruitful and has opened many new doors of opportunity.
