Summary of Work over Last Few Days

As I  write this report, I am back home safely having landed in Oklahoma City last night. Leslie and I went to see my Dad in the rehabilitation facility upon my arrival. He had much better strength and better spirits than when I left. We are very glad to see him more comfortable and we appreciate so many prayers on his behalf. Mom is also doing better with Dad's condition improved. She will continue to be staying with us for some time.

The last few days of my trip to the Philippines did not go as planned. After preaching with Ely Ebuenga amidst rain in the northern part of Caloocan on Monday, I returned home by taxi as the rain increased steadily. That night, however, things got much worse. Rain and winds increased through the night as a weak typhoon moved in. From what I understood of weather reports over the next few days, there were six different typhoons or tropical systems that affected weather during my trip from August 8-23. From my perspective, it just seemed like one long rainy period with very few times of brief clearing.

On Tuesday, I awoke to news reports of massive flooding throughout the Manila area. There were almost no taxis available all day on Tuesday in Pasay where I stayed as travel was impossible. From the hotel, I could see the Philippine Army moving in amphibious vehicles as a state of emergency was declared throughout the area. There was some loss of life with the floods across metro Manila. Though I have lived through hurricanes and tropical systems on the Gulf coast for many years, I have never seen rain as hard as I saw repeatedly over the next few days. There were times when I could not see the ground from my seventh floor window because the rain totally blocked it out. Since I had already paid the venue costs for the lectures on Tuesday, Ely Ebuenga and some other brethren were able to get there and preach. One soul responded to the invitation and was baptized at the time -- another decided to be baptized later.

On Wednesday, I was scheduled to go to the prison in Muntinlupa for the Bible study with Willie Pastor and other brethren at RDC. With high water still being a problem and more rain forecast, that trip also had to be cancelled. The work in the New Bilibid prison is a matter of grave concern for me. Though I hoped some progress had been made in dealing with these problems, the last few days brought great grief to me as those efforts seem to have been largely in vain. Please continue to pray for the situation to improve. Willie Pastor continues to do a great work from the inside by reaching many souls with the truth while being imprisoned for what would have been a clear case of self-defense in this country. The good news is that a new law passed means that Willie will almost certainly be released very soon. The bad news is that his stabilizing influence in that work will be greatly missed upon his release.

Ely Ebuenga managed to make it to my hotel during a brief lull in the storms on Wednesday and was given some funds provided by individuals for use at my discretion. The funds were to provide benevolent help for brethren in the area. Though it was expected that the rain would stop on Wednesday afternoon, that turned out to be far from the truth. Winds and rains increased again that night.

Thursday was my planned day of rest before flying home on Friday. My efforts failed to reach several brethren in the Navotas area about reports of very bad flooding there. Efforts to reach brethren in other areas were also largely unsuccessful as communication seemed to be a problem due to the rains and floods. I was finally able to  talk with Rody Gumpad about what he knew of the flooding in the area. He told me about those in the area that were in hardship from the floods as well as confirming his inability to contact some area brethren that I had been unable to reach. (We did finally reach one from the Navotas area that night while eating supper.) After getting updated on the situation with others, I asked Rody about the situation around the Pasay apartment where he and Tessie are staying. I found out they were without water or electricity and that condition was expected to remain until next week. I asked them to eat with me that night and they did so. I left Rody with the remaining discretionary funds I had to use in meeting benevolent needs in as far as possible.

As I left Manila on Friday morning, another tropical system was moving into the area. We had about 45 minutes of strong turbulence before we were finally clear from the storm. Please pray for the brethren in and around Manila (as well as other areas) that continue to be affected by these conditions.

There were seven baptisms while we were working at the various places. However, as is typically the case, more baptisms occurred at those places after our departure. For instance, three were baptized at the conclusion of the lectures in Bogo on Cebu, but Jonathan Carino has reported and additional six of the attendees were baptized as a result of follow-up work by our Filipino brethren. Though I am not sure of the exact number of baptisms from similar follow-up work already done at the places we visited, it appears at least ten additional baptisms have taken place as people counted the cost and made the considered decision to obey the Lord. We are thankful to God for the amazing power of His gospel as well as the sacrificial work done by our Filipino brethren amidst unbelievable adversity.

Again, I appreciate so very much the support in every way that made this trip possible as it has other trips in the past. Without the financial support so graciously provided by many brethren, these trips could not take place. Without so many prayers being offered by faithful saints, they could not be as fruitful, nor as safe. Thank you again for all of your help and encouragement. The Lord willing, my next trip to the Philippines will begin in late October or early November to do work centering in northeastern Luzon and on Negros. Some of that work had to be postponed from the trip I had to cancel last April. God bless!