Last Day at Talisay

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.

Meeting in Mandaue

The last full day schedule for this trip is now over. We left a little after 8am to go to Mandaue, a district of Cebu City, to work with brother Roy Matta. Roy is a former Baptist preacher who has grown tremendously since I first met him. The first time he invited us to preach where he was laboring as a Baptist preacher, he took out a guitar to sing a solo in worship. He now uses his excellent voice to praise God acceptably without the addition of an instrument to the worship. Roy is extremely zealous in reaching the lost all around him, even at great personal sacrifice.

By request, I again preached on “The Inspiration of the Scripture” and “Salvation & Saul” during the morning session. A Baptist preacher walked out very troubled during the second lesson. It had rained in the morning and the sun came out full force at about 10am. By the time the morning session was over, it was as hot as I have ever felt anywhere. To give you a hint of just how hot it was, even the Filipinos were sweating heavily and fanning themselves. They commented on how hot it was! Brethren, when it is hot for the Filipinos, it is really hot!

After lunch, I preached on “Identifying the New Testament Church.” At the end of that lesson, one of the sisters in the congregation almost fainted from the heat. I asked Roy if we needed to end early and he said, “Yes, after question and answer.” That session was lively with a very broad range of questions which lasted for over an hour. By the end of that hour, I was totally drained as were others and we stopped to offer an invitation. Though none responded to the invitation, it was the first time these visitors had heard the gospel message. It usually takes several times of them hearing before they obey. We pray God will grant them time to obey.

It was also great to see Sam Robinson today. Sam is an American who has retired over here in Cebu City. He sends greetings back to brethren in San Antonio, TX and Oklahoma City.

I tried to upload video here, but it failed to process. If possible, I will upload 2 videos on FaceBook for those who would like to see more singing. Tonight, I must pack and get to sleep early as we must get an early start in Talisay because we must end at noon. After the lectures in Talisay, I will fly to Manila, the Lord willing, and file the next report from there.