Lord's Day in Manila (Sunday - 5/18)

  

James Paet came to pick me up at the hotel about 7am on Sunday. We traveled almost an hour and a half south to the city of Trece Martires (meaning 13 Martyrs, an atrocity committed under Spanish rule in the late 1800’s). I had held a one-day gospel meeting in Trece Martires some time ago and was very happy to see the brethren again. They have clearly grown in strength and number.

The building is in the midst of a government resettlement area. It is fairly spartan – just four walls and a concrete floor. Another congregation has recently been started out of this group and one of the men preaches there every Sunday.

The local preacher of the Trece Martires congregation, Junie Samontina, also preaches in a total of 4 congregations every Lord’s Day. He is a hard worker and expressed the hope that I would hold classes on a book of the Bible in the Manila area so he could attend and grow. Both of the groups are looking for funds to buy more chairs. If you are interested in helping with that effort, please let me know.

 

The Trece Martires congregation is made up of mostly young people and young families as you can see. As I recall, the count for attendance was 45 that day. I was requested to preach a lesson on “Living a Godly Life in an Ungodly World.” We based the study on 1 Peter 2:11-12 which teaches us to (1) recognize our place in the world as sojourners and strangers, (2) make our lives characterized by purity in actions, and (3) battle ungodliness in its presence rather than remaining silent. We then made application to our lives in this world regarding its morals, speech, dress, intoxicants, other drugs, gender perversions, dancing, sexual promiscuity, homosexuality and other examples of rampant ungodliness in our culture.

The crowd was especially attentive through the lesson. I noticed several parents talking to their children and telling them to listen to the things being said. Many of the young people came and thanked me for the lesson, saying they had learned many things and had been encouraged. A number of the very young, probably 12 and under, took my hand to their forehead, a sign of respect for older people. Not sure why they did it to me! 😁  Several teenage visitors were also present at the service and expressed appreciation for the lesson.

 

At about 5:30pm, James Paet again picked me up to meet Dr. Teresa Toreja at the Mall of Asia for supper. It had been a long time since I was able to see her and we enjoyed catching up. Teresa’s husband, Jerry, died a few years ago. Jerry was one of the elders of the Kapitbahyan congregation on the far southwest side of the Manila area. Teresa’s brother, Elias Cruz (son of the late Ben Cruz), preaches for the congregation as well as other places and had asked Teresa to raise the possibility of some future work in the Metro Manila area. We will be corresponding about that over the coming months, the Lord willing.

 

Thanks again for your interest in this very fruitful work! God bless.

 

Brotherly, Harry

 

End of Hebrews Classes on Palawan (Friday – 5/16)

All of us were a bit slow moving to start our Friday. During the whole week, I had been getting only 3 or 4 hours of sleep per night. After an even shorter night’s sleep, I was dragging to meet Rody and Tessie at breakfast. It would be easier to blame my next blunder on tiredness than to admit my sheer stupidity in what came next. I drank the “service” (local) water they always pour for everyone. Though I have always warned American brethren traveling with me not to drink it and have never done so before, I made the big mistake. After taking just one swallow, I knew that I was probably in trouble. I always carry a bottle of Flagyl with me to treat a stomach and intestinal problem caused by an amoeba, as I am highly susceptible to it. So, I took a dose in hopes of avoiding any illness.

 

In our final class session, we covered Hebrews 12 & 13. Though it was a little faster than I would have preferred to do it, we got through all of the material at about 12:15pm, taking no breaks from our 9:30am start. We had a short question/answer period consisting of just two questions. We then handed out certificates of achievement, which is a custom in this culture, and had the “remembrance” picture taking which is also customary. The students were extremely attentive all through these classes, despite the stifling heat. Repeatedly, they expressed their gratitude for these classes and those American brethren who had made such possible. Almost all of them asked for classes every year on a book of the Bible and wanted to know when I was coming back.

 

I came to Palawan just a week earlier not knowing what to expect. What I found was 60+ preachers who were anxious to learn and grow. (As I understand it, another 15 to 20 preachers wanted to come, but were not able for various reasons.) Like almost everywhere I go in the Philippines, I found brethren wanting to study despite all of the hardships of overcrowded, hot, and sometimes darkened facilities that many Americans would never accept. Yet, they eagerly engage in Bible study all day long, without any of the creature comforts we take for granted, and are thrilled for the opportunity. I do the best I can in teaching these classes, but I am quite sure that my Filipino brethren encourage and teach me more than I do them.

 

I had to go back to the hotel, finish packing and check out by 2pm. After that, we went back to Dario’s house for lunch. The final task was settling up on the bills for the classes which wiped me totally out of pesos. About 4pm, I said my “goodbyes to the Belviz family. Dario, Rody and Tessie then took me to the airport.

 

Since I switched the airline carrier I had been using to begin using Philippine Airlines, they gave me complementary access to their lounge before all 3 flights I took. So, I went into the lounge, found a private area, and started looking though my carry-on bags for any money I had overlooked. I found $250 in my travel documents organizer! I was thrilled to find that money and change it into pesos upon arriving back in Manila. That is enough to carry me through to my departure for home on Tuesday.

 

When I got to Manila, I collected my bags and went to the taxi stand. After a short cab ride back to the hotel, I got an expedited check-in as I had filled out everything online. I went straight to my room and straight to bed. I immediately passed out though I had failed to eat supper. I slept until after 10am Saturday morning. After getting to the lounge just before they closed the breakfast, I ate, went back to the room, and called Leslie. Everything was fine for about 30 until the effects of the tainted water hit me and I was horribly sick for the rest of the day. Fortunately, by time to go to bed, I felt much better and assured James Paet that I would be ready to make the scheduled preaching on Sunday. More on that in the next report.

 

Thanks again for your support and interest! God bless.

 

Brotherly, Harry

 

Puerto Princesa Hebrews Classes & Baptism (Thursday - 5/15)

 Thursday’s classes started a little later and had several delays – some good and others not so good. We had several power outages, one in the morning that delayed our departure from the hotel and the start of classes in the morning. This put us considerably behind time in covering Hebrews 9 and 10 during the morning session. Dealing with chapters 9 and 10 is always a challenge, even with a full 3 hours. When the time was cut to less than two hours, there was no way to finish it all. Needless to say, there was no time for any break in the morning session.

 

We first dealt with the Hebrew writer’s description of the tabernacle and its furnishings as well as their function which was essential under the Old Law (the Law of Moses). As the “mercy-seat” was the symbolic Presence of God among the Israelites, we asked the same question raised by the writer: Who could draw near to that Presence and when? Only one man (the high priest), once a year (the Day of Atonement), and only to offer the blood for himself and the people. So what does that suggest? That the Mosaic Law did not provide for all men to draw near to God. That example of the tabernacle is used to draw a necessary inference that the Law of Moses was never meant (even from its beginning) to be the final will of God to bring all men near to Him. What a powerful point! And how was it made? In the very same way we come to see teaching from God’s word – an example of the Hebrew writer also teaching use biblical hermeneutics!

 We started to deal with Hebrews 10 in the remaining time, but could not make it all the way through. We stopped after covering Hebrews 10:25 for a very good delay. The man from the “Full Gospel” denominational group had told Dario that he had decided to obey the gospel that day. We wanted him to fully understand what that meant, so Rody gave a lesson on what was involved in obeying the gospel and offered an invitation at the end.

The man named “Jay” responded to the invitation and was immediately baptized into Christ and welcomed by all of us. We were about 20 to 30 minutes late for our lunch break, but very glad for the delay!

 During the lunch break, we had a longer power outage (“brown-out” as they call it here). The air conditioner that had previously broken, then fixed, and broken again, and fixed again, was broken again after subjected to the power problems. This was probably the hottest day so far in the week. Being later to start in the afternoon, we were only able to cover through Hebrews 11 rather than chapter 12 where we were supposed to end according to the schedule. Regardless, we had an excellent class with the students showing very good perception of the material and seeing the essential nature and place of the examples given of saving faith in the eleventh chapter.

 

When we were going back to the hotel, I asked Dario if there was a Mang Inasol around and he drove us to the mall where we ate at one that actually had a working air conditioner. I was thrilled with the food, its price and especially the air conditioner. However, when we went to the car, there was a torrential downpour as heavy as any rain that I have ever seen. We waited for it to slow down and then rain to the car as fast as my two legs and cane could take me. In other words, I was soaked, but it was a good night with these brethren I admire so much for their works sake!

 

That pretty well covers Thursday. Thank again for your interest in this work.

 

Brotherly, Harry

 

Hebrews Classes in Palawan (chapters 5-8)

Our second day of classes continued on schedule. We had 67 students in the class today and that was with wall-to-wall chairs and no seat left vacant. We covered Hebrews 5 & 6 in the morning session which went from 9:15am to noon without a break. We came back after lunch to start at 1:20pm and went until a few minutes after 5pm with only one 15-minute break. The question/answer period at the end was far more lively today as the students are become more at ease in speaking up. Again, they all expressed their thanks for these classes being provided for their edification and their hopes that we could continue to do this in the future.

 

At the end of the class today, a denominational preacher in a “Full Gospel” group (normally charismatic in practice and Calvinistic in doctrine) said that he thought he “might need to be baptized.” Rody Gumpad and Dario Belviz talked with him in the dialect and asked if he was sure of what he was doing. The man answered that he was no sure, but he was thinking about it. Both Dario and Rody encouraged him to be sure of what he was doing first. The man promised to think about it at home tonight and said he would be back tomorrow. We pray that the seed will indeed bear fruit very soon.

 

Today was another scorching hot day with temperatures in the 90’s and humidity at 90+%. The same air conditioner that ceased working yesterday quit again today. Dario and the brethren bought 4 parts and it was working through the night, but it stopped again today. There were power surges and power lulls throughout the day and Dario thinks that may be the problem. I have been coming here to the Philippines for 24 years and I have never seen the almost constant variations in the electrical supply that has happened here every day. On the positive news side, I was moved to a new room and the AC works great, so I’m a happy camper! 😁

 

Thanks again for your support and interest in this work. Please continue to remember all of us in your prayers. God bless!

 

Brotherly, Harry

 

Classes on Hebrews Begin in Puerto Princesa

 

Our original plan was to begin the classes on Hebrews for preachers on Monday here on Palawan. However, Monday was election day here in the Philippines. Since there is no early or absentee voting here, and there is a very strong taboo against not voting in this culture, the brethren had to wait until after voting on Monday before they could travel here. As I understand it, some brethren traveled 6 to 8 hours from the far north and south ends of the island and did not arrival until late Monday night or early Tuesday morning.

 

We began our classes a little after 9am and continued the morning session without any break until about 12:20pm when we broke for lunch. About 1:30pm, we started the afternoon session and had only one short break of 10 minutes, until we finished about 5:20pm. In that time, we covered an introduction to the book of Hebrews and a study of the first four chapters. At about 4:30pm, we opened the floor for questions on the things covered with Rody Gumpad translating several questions, asked in the native dialect of Tagalog, letting me answer in English, and then Rody translated the answers back into their dialect. It was a good beginning to our study and all of the preachers expressed their thanks for this opportunity provided by their brethren in the U.S.

 

We started the day with two air conditioning units, but one broke down in the morning session. As the day wore on, I began to sweat more and more until I was soaked from head to toe. There is no way of conveying how this heat totally saps one not accustomed to it of all energy. I have no idea of how many bottles of water that I drank. I know I had 4 bottles of Gatorade and I had far more water than that. Brother Dario Belviz is trying to fix that air conditioner and I am praying for his success! The Filipino brethren are much tougher than I am, taking the heat without a problem and paying close attention to the lessons. I marvel at their ability to endure all kinds of hardships, and yet stay focused on the teaching.

 

Meantime, at my hotel room, the air conditioning has already ceased working 3 times. When I have called, they have assured me that they have “fixed” it. The latest “fixing” took place about 5 minutes ago while I was writing this report, but it is hot again. So, I called again and this time, they are transferring me to another room. If that room is too cold, I promise that I will not complain!

 

Please excuse this short report, but I have several hours of work to do in studying and making preparations for tomorrow’s classes. Thank you again for your help and support in fellowship with this work!

 

Brotherly, Harry

 

Begin Work in Puerto Princesa on Palawan

On Saturday, Kristine and Nanette Carino came to pick me up at the hotel and take me to the airport for the flight to Puerto Princesa on Palawan. Jonathan was sick and unable to come. Please keep him in your prayers for a swift recovery. The flight was on time and smooth. It took about an hour from take-off to touchdown.

In my 23+ years of working in the Philippines, this is my first time to visit the island of Palawan. The island is very long and narrow as the picture on my blog shows. From the airplane window, the approach to the airport was beautiful with distinct shades of blue water, lush vegetation and an abundance of color from a large variety of flowers. Upon arrival, it reminded me a great deal of Hawaii with flowers everywhere.

 

Dario Belviz met me at the airport with his wife and several members of the local church in Puerto Princesa. One of the elders serving with Dario as shepherds of the church. We had a good conversation on the short ride from the airport to the hotel. They told me they would be back to pick me up around 9am Sunday so we could make the 15-minute ride to the church building and be ready to begin the worship service at 9:30.

 

After a short breakfast at the hotel, I met brother Belviz and we made our way to the church building. It was well off of the main city streets as we turned on to 2 or 3 narrow, dirt roads to make our way back to the final dirt paths too narrow for any vehicle. So, we walked the last 30 to 40 yards to the church building which is also the residence of Dario and his family.

 

Our services began with the regular morning assembly of worship. The congregation seemed to be comprised of a larger portion of younger people and a much smaller percentage of elderly members. I very much appreciated the reverence and enthusiasm of the worship and was asked to preach in that period as well as the Bible class period that followed. During the first hour, I preached from 1 Peter 5:8-9 on “Defeating the Devil.” Immediately after the first hour, we moved into the Bible class period. I preached from Luke 16:19-31 regarding the rich man and Lazarus as we considered “Things a Lost Man Learned Too Late.” Charts for both lessons are posted at the end of today’s blog entry.

 

Please remember our remaining effort here on Palawan in teaching the book of Hebrews to preachers who will be gathered from Tuesday to Friday of this week, the Lord willing. I would also appreciate your prayers for me as I am have a great deal of pain and function of my right leg. It started when I rose from a chair last Thursday and has gotten progressively worse daily. Thanks again for your support and concern in this work. God bless!

 

Brotherly, Harry

Charts: "Defeating the Devil"

Charts: "Things a Lost Man Learned Too Late"

Ecclesiastes Classes Conclude in Cebu City

 

On Thursday, we started our morning session just a few minutes early. In each of these preachers’ class that we have held in Cebu City, I have tried to change something about how we started the classes in order to introduce helpful habits to the students. This week, we have started with me reading a verse or two from a psalm and having them repeat it with me to help instill it in the memory. We ten have about 3-5 minutes in silent, private prayer to set our minds on that spiritual thought.

 

The morning session covered Ecclesiastes 8 and 9 which focus on some words of wisdom in view of God’s providential action in this life “under the sun.” Much of Solomon’s advice in this area deals with our responsibility of respecting the “king” (or appointed government officials) as their place comes from God’s ordaining civil government in its legitimate action. Though officials may not be to our liking at all times, our place is still to respect their place and fulfill our place rather than sowing revolt.

 

There is also a recurring theme in Ecclesiastes that what we may see as expected or fair is not always what occurs. It is not always the skillful or swift that wins the contest. It is not always the one who has worked the hardest or wisest that is successful. “Time and chance happen to them all.” While this life has outcomes we may see as unfair or unjust, we know that God’s final judgment will be totally just and absolutely right.

 

After lunch, we covered chapter ten which takes up a number of particular cases noting the uncertainties of life. Sometimes, the unprepared are given the place of rule, while those prepared for leadership are made servants. Men of folly sometimes made the ruler, while prepared nobles are cast down. The lazy and foolish who gain power do not benefit the kingdom, but often bring great harm to it. Even so, the end of the chapter admonishes us not to curse the king even in private since our words may get back to the king and we will be called upon to answer for them.

 

On Friday, we finished the book of Ecclesiastes with a study of the last two chapters (11 and 12). Most of the final chapters are given to Solomon’s description and advice in light of the aging process that we all experience in this life “under the sun.” We discussed the wise way to spend one’s youth and made pointed application towards the younger students in the classes. We also noted the challenges of the aged and how those of advancing years can maintain a proper attitude and be both an encouragement and source of wisdom for the young.

 

Of course, when we come to the end of the book, Solomon reveals the answer to his search of the purpose and meaning of this life under the sun: “Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all. For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil.” It was a very beneficial study that most students had not been given the chance to engage in previously. They expressed great thanks for being given this opportunity.

As noted earlier, the number of students we have had in the classes has far exceeded our expectations. As a result, this week of classes has ended up being almost double the cost that I had anticipated! I believe the benefits were worth it, but it has totally blown my budget for this trip. However, several brethren sent funds even after I said that I had raised enough and I am now very glad they did. I will not be sure until I get a good feel for the actual expenses next week in Palawan, but I think I will have enough to pay all costs. I am putting what I can on my credit card to pay when I get home because I am running very low on cash. I appreciate all of you who have helped in this effort and want you to know that I am thankful for your fellowship in this effort! God bless!

 

Brotherly, Harry