Travel & Prison Work - 3 Baptized at Prison

Tuesday was a travel day that ended very restfully. After settling all expenses for the trip to that point with John and Jack in the morning, I took a taxi to the airport in Cebu. There was a great deal on walking up and down steps in the airport, a long hike on the tarmac to the plane, and a steep climb up Filipino-size steps to the airplane. With my back and hip already giving me a great deal of trouble, it was a challenge. When I got to Manila, it would only figure that we arrived at the gate on the far end away from baggage claims. By the time I got to the hotel, I took a shower and crashed in the afternoon, sleeping for about 12 or 13 hours until the morning!

Kenneth Pastor was unable to get permission for a full day schedule at the prison since there is a new administrator. We had an afternoon session that was held in the Catholic chapel again, just like last time. They would not allow my camera, so I have posted on the blog a few old pictures from last time there. A few minutes after we got started, we had a brown-out and never regained electricity. I preached from 1 Peter 1 on “The Message, Means & Meaning of Salvation.” (For those in OKC, it will be the sermon for the third hour next Sunday, the Lord willing.) Willie translated the sermon into Tagalog for the audience. Lordy Salunga came at my invitation as well so that he could preach in Tagalog. His lesson was also on first principles regarding the plan of salvation. At the invitation, three made known their decision to be baptized into Christ.

After the meeting, I was able to convey the message to Willie regarding the commitment of some dear friends in the Fort Worth area that agreed to help him. He was relieved beyond expression because the one who had been supporting him had suddenly stopped 3 months ago and has not been in contact. Since the sister is of advanced age, Willie and his wife, Kathy, are very concerned about this sister’s well-being as well as the hardships they have experienced due to a lack of funds.

Just to let you know what kind of man Willie is, I thought you might like to know something I saw. Willie was off to the side talking with a man from the medium security prison who had no shoes. Willie quietly took off his shoes and socks, giving it to the man privately without ever saying a word. I saw it, however, and was talking to the guard and told him what happened. The guard smiled and said that is the way Willie is, always helping others by giving to them. No, giving is not a duty just of the greatly blessed, but is result of a heart that is ready to share whatever it has – little or much. My life has been forever changed by many examples of faith and service seen by numerous Filipino brethren. Yes, there are a few bad apples, but they are far outnumbered by the many dedicated and faithful servants of God!

One quick note, Kenneth Pastor works as an engineer here in the Philippines as well as working in the prisons. Kenneth’s salary is modest, but able to take care of his family. However, the costs associated with the prison work are beyond his ability to absorb. From what I can see of costs, about $100 per month should meet those costs at this time. If you are able to help, please let me know.

Tomorrow is my last full day in the Philippines, the Lord willing. I plan to use it getting ready for Sunday services at home and resting before my flight back home on Friday. Please keep the Lord’s work over here and my travels in your prayers.

Brotherly, Harry O.

Two Baptized in Lapu-lapu

Monday’s schedule was in Lapu-lapu, a district in the metropolitan area of Cebu City. Brother Pablo Espinoza preaches in that place and continues to do a good work as he has for many years. They meet in a very basic building at the edge of the sea. Nevin and Judy Cox provided the funds to build the initial building. Due to growth over the past few years, they have enlarged it some and continue to keep it up very well. The meeting house and the dwellings in the neighboring area are all built up on coral rocks. At high tide, the sea rises to cover every low area and only the built up places and walkways are passable. The aroma of the seaside is ever present.

Due to my voice being very weak and my increasing back pain, as well as the traffic situation in that area, we decided it would be good to “abbreviate” the schedule for today. (I put that in quotes because I doubt that many in the US would consider meeting for over 2 hours before lunch and about 3 hours after lunch an “abbreviated” schedule!) We had about 40 to 50 present for the studies today and many were not very skilled in English, so we decided to have a detailed summary after each lesson I preached. I first preached on “What Makes a Religious Practice Right or Wrong?” Mario Rubio, from Dumaguete, gave the summary of that lesson. After the lunch break, I preach on “Narrow-Minded Truth in a Broad-Minded World” from Matthew 7:13-14. Fred Ogario gave the summary for that study.

At the end of the day, an invitation was extended to encourage any who wanted to obey the gospel to do so. Roy Matta, who had led the singing all day, also gave the invitation. One young man and one young lady responded to confess Christ and be baptized into Him. We are thankful for their decision and pray others will soon follow.

In June of this year, Pablo’s son had an accident. His head was badly injured and a large portion of his skull on the right side was removed – due to swelling as I understand it. That portion of the skull has been implanted in his abdomen until it can be re-implanted to his head. As in all cases here, the doctors will not do the surgery until payment is secured. The cost will be about $800. If anyone is able to help towards this amount, please let me know and I will help you in getting the funds sent to meet this need.

Tomorrow, the Lord willing, I will fly to Manila and will have no schedule of preaching due to the travel. On Wednesday, I am scheduled to preach at the prison with Willie Pastor. I will not be writing a report tomorrow, but will make my next report on Wednesday if the Lord wills. Thank you again for your support and prayers.

Brotherly, Harry O.

Lord's Day in Cebu

It was a very good Lord’s Day in Cebu! We had about 45 to 50 for our worship this morning with the church that meets in central Cebu. John’s son, Christopher John, led the singing and Sam directed our minds in the Lord’s Supper. Both did an excellent job and the congregation was enthusiastic in worship as well. In the first hour, I preached on “Be Not Weary” from Galatians 6:7-9, a lesson of exhortation to continued faithfulness. In the class hour, we studied on 2 Corinthians 5:14-15 noting what “The Love of Christ Constrains Us” to do.

After lunch, several brethren from other congregations joined us for an afternoon study. When this trip was first planned, we had intended to use Sunday afternoon as a time for a training class for the men of the congregation. However, it was changed to a time for all of the area brethren to study on topics specifically for Christians. So, the first lesson was on “Being Perfectly Joined Together” from 1 Corinthians 1:10-13. The second lesson was on “Foundations of the Family,” a basic lesson on the kind of love needed in the home and the actions that such love will produce. The lessons seem to have been well received.

It is always a joy to be with the brethren in the Cebu area. They are a great encouragement to me and have become very close to me through the years. I guess I have spent more time with them and the church in Tuguegarao than any other places in the Philippines and I have grown to love them all very much. The Lord willing, we will continue the work in this area tomorrow as we work with Pablo Espinoza at Lapu-lapu.

Thanks again for your help in this effort. I need to correct one thing from yesterday. There were 2 baptisms (a man and wife) not the 3 reported here in Cebu. The one I thought was obeying the gospel decided she was not ready yet. We hope and pray that she soon will be.

Brotherly, Harry O.

Three Baptized in Cebu

Friday was a travel day providing some much needed rest. We slept a little later and ate breakfast before packing up to leave Ormoc. Lordy started the day with news that a problem had arisen at home and he needed to return for some studies with brethren in Angeles City. We all boarded the SuperCat at about 1:45pm for the two hour trip across to Cebu. When we arrived, Nanette was there to pick us up. When I got to the hotel, I headed for the Starbucks in the mall near the hotel and had a healthy dose of pure joy! Everything was going great until my air conditioning broke in the middle of the night – an especially troubling development over here.

We started the lectures this morning a little after 9am with some singing in the dialect. The venue is the rented room in downtown Cebu where the congregation assembles with whom John works. There were about 90 to 100 people present, including brethren from the area churches and non-Christian who had been invited. I brought the first lesson on “What Makes a Religious Practice Right or Wrong?” It dealt with fundamentals on authority and the cessation of the OT law. Jack Jaco followed with a lesson on “New Testament Baptism” that was delivered in the Cebuano (Visayan) dialect. The final study for the morning session was “They Say & Do Not” dealing with claims made by denominations and how those claims conflict with the truth. Sam Robinson and I had a good chance to talk during the lunch break. (He will be coming back to San Antonio and OKC later this year.)

The afternoon session began with my lesson on “Cornelius & Salvation” from Acts 10 and 11. It was a long lesson because I combined it with another lesson I preach on the “Plan of Salvation.” Jonathan Carino then preached on “The New Testament Church” in the dialect. I completed the studies for the day with a sermon on “Almost Persuaded” dealing with Bible cases of people almost saved, but lost. Jun Apatan extended the invitation, but no one responded. However, before we left two had decided to be baptized and I understand a third also made the same decision. It was a good day and the meeting continues tomorrow!

We also found out today that four more have been baptized in Dumaguete as a result of our lectures there! Thank you again for helping to make this work possible through your sacrifices and prayers. May God be glorified in all that we do! Please continue the prayers.

Brotherly, Harry O.

Two Baptized in Ormoc

We had a much shorter travel to our venue today since it was only a few hundred yards from our hotel. We were able to start earlier as well, so we had more time for teaching than in previous days. The crowd of 70 was again comprised mostly of common people who did not understand English well. Over the past several years, we designed lectures to reach denominational preachers who were able to understand English well, so there was no need for translation or summary into the dialect. While those lectures were very effective, we believe they have served their purpose for this time and we are designing our present lectures for the common people who are invited by members of the church. So, Jonathan Carino needed to summarize each lesson into the dialect.

I again started with the lesson on “Salvation, the Gospel & the Seed” from 1 Peter 1:21-25 followed by the study of “How God Used the Prophets to Speak His Will.” As Jonathan was summarizing both lessons, one man among a group of attendees began to interrupt John and challenge his statements. He came from the “Instrumental Church of Christ” which is also premillennial. These men had been associated with Cyrus Gesulga, formerly the leading preacher among premillennial churches of Christ in the Philippines who recently renounced that doctrine and began working with faithful brethren. So, I inserted a lesson on “The Distinction between the Covenants.” Jonathan summarized that sermon also before we took the lunch.

The afternoon studies began with the sermon on “Salvation & Saul,” dealing with issues about the plan of salvation. We showed that Saul was not saved at the point of faith only, repentance & prayer, a personal appearance of Jesus or a miracle. Rather, the Bible clearly shows Paul was saved at the point of baptism because it is in baptism that we contact the saving blood of Christ. John again gave a detailed summary of the lesson into the dialect. We then considered a lesson on “Identifying the New Testament Church.” The preachers from the instrumental group became very uncomfortable when I dealt with the worship of the church and even more so when John covered the points in the dialect. One of them was trying to argue the point, but John dealt with him very well and the crowd could see the point. In the end, this man helped the crowd recognize the truth as it was apparent in contrast to his error.

The last lesson covered was a very short version of “Counting the Cost.” Jonathan summarized the main points and extended the invitation of Christ. Two young men came to obey the Lord, being baptized for the remission of sins. Since we were very hurried at the end of the service, I did not get to find out the background of those baptized, but I understand they are both from Ormoc.

We had no time left for a long question/answer session, but offered to answer any questions for a short time. The main two men from the instrumental group asked for time to discuss the use of instruments in worship. We did not have that time today, but offered to discuss further at a future time. Though their attitude had not appeared good early in the day, they seemed to manifest a good attitude at the end and we are trying to arrange a time for more study in the future with about 12 or more preachers from this group. I promised that I would make every effort to be there for such a study. Please keep this opportunity in your prayers.

Brother Wilfredo (Willie) Pelino is the local preacher here in Ormoc and has done much to help in this effort as well as other studies. He is a faithful man who has shown years of service to the Lord and dependability in his work. For several years, the church in Centerville, Texas supported Willie. Brother Richard King and other brethren there at that time kept in contact with me about the men they were helping and the work being done in the Philippines. When brother King and some other brethren who knew of the work being done here were no longer present in Centerville, they decided to use their funds in other directions. This has left Willie and several other very deserving Filipino preachers in great need as that was their only support. Willie has taken a teaching job to provide support for his family, but it will take 6 months before he receives his first salary for that job! (Yes, things are done very different here in the Philippines where the number of available workers far exceeds the available jobs!) In the meantime, he is in great need. His talents are needed in the kingdom and he will continue to preach the gospel even without any support, but he could do so with less distraction if he were able to receive some support again.

Thank you again for following the work that is being done in this effort. May the Lord bless each of you as you strive to follow Him and spread His truth to souls in desperate need of salvation!

Brotherly, Harry O.

Lectures in Baybay - No Responses

Today’s venue was about an hour and a half south of Ormoc at Baybay in a building owned by the provincial government. It is built as a lecture hall with the audience seated in stepped up level about the speaker. It had air conditioning that tried to overcome the heat from outside and the fact that doors were rarely closed after being opened. Over 70 were present for the studies of the day – about 20 more than anticipated. They were very attentive, but were limited in understanding of English, so we had to summarize each of the lessons into the dialect.

I again started with the study on “The Word of the Gospel, the Seed & Salvation” from 1 Peter 1:22-25. We emphasized the need for turning to the right seed (the gospel) if we want to produce the right product (salvation in Christ). Without break, I then went into the lesson “How Did God Used the Prophets to Speak His Will?” Jonathan Carino then summarized the lesson into the dialect before we broke for lunch.

The first lesson of the afternoon session was “Salvation & Saul.” This study was chosen because it deals in detail with the issues relating to the plan of salvation and it is the most familiar lesson on that subject to the Filipino brethren traveling with me. Jonathan Carino has interpreted that lesson for me numerous times. Since I crowd was largely limited in understanding English, John needed to give a detailed summary of the lesson. It is always interesting for me to notice the faces of the crowd because it is soon apparent whether they understand what I am saying. More than half of this audience seemed not to understand the majority of what I said. However, when John taught the material in the dialect, their faces lighted up with understanding and they responded when he asked questions and called on them to give a conclusion.

The next lecture was on “Identifying the Church in the New Testament” based on 1 Cor. 1:1-2. We studied the meaning and use of the term “church” in the NT. We then showed identifying characteristics by which one may recognize a local congregation with whom they may rightly work in service to Christ with fellow Christians. John again summarized the lesson in detail for the audience.

The last lesson was on “Counting the Cost” from Luke 14. John also summarized that lecture into the dialect and then extended the invitation for those who were ready to obey the gospel. There were no visible responses to the gospel from these lectures. I believe this is the second or third time I have preached in Baybay and there have been no visible responses in any of those efforts. This place and Tacloban have both been particularly hard to penetrate with the gospel, but we keep trying!

The internet connection at our hotel continues to be a problem. While here in Leyte, we are trying to go to a place that has an internet connection on our way back to the hotel so I can file my report while the other guys eat supper. That means my reports are more hurried than normal, so please excuse my typos and other mistakes. Thanks again for your help in every way and please keep us in your prayers.

Brotherly, Harry O.

Lectures in Tacloban

Our venue today was in the city of Tacloban, famous as the place for the American forces landing under the command of General Douglas MacArthur in WWII. We met in the upstairs function room of a Cindy’s café. It was somewhat air conditioned and served as a good spot with very little disruption present. The members of the small congregation at Tacloban had invited their friends and acquaintances to listen for the day. A little over 50 were assembled to listen to the gospel presented.

The morning session was taken by me introducing the studies with a lesson on “The Word of the Gospel, the Seed & Salvation” from 1 Peter 1:22-25 followed by a sermon on “How God Used the Prophets to Speak His Will.” The second lesson covered the same basic points as my lesson on “Inspiration of the Scripture,” but was arranged differently by taking the order from the points made in 2 Peter 2:12-21. We then took a break for lunch.

The afternoon session began with a lesson on “Salvation & Saul” and was followed by a lesson from Jonathan Carino on “The Church in the New Testament.” I followed with the final lesson on “Grace, Faith & Obedience” then went immediately into another on “Counting the Cost.” Jonathan closed out the day’s study with an appeal for those who understood the lessons and saw the need to obey that they come and do so. Before he even started the song (“Have You Counted the Cost”), one man started towards the front who had been listening very carefully and confessed Christ. After making his confession, he asked to address the crowd and called upon all to make the same decision and related his great joy in obeying the Lord.

After this one obeyed Christ, we had a time for a short question/answer session. One was a denominational lady who asked about denominational baptism and whether one receiving it in the past would need to be “baptized again.” We discussed the Bible teaching on what constitutes true baptism in the name of Christ and hope she will soon obey. One man from a holiness group asked a question clearly aimed at advancing the oneness position regarding God, professing there is only one person that possesses the divine nature. After we answered that question, he jumped to some of his views on what human regulations should be imposed to insure holiness. This was easily answered by noting what the Bible teaches regarding true holiness.

Again, we are thankful to each of you who have shown your concern for this work. Please keep us in your prayers.

Brotherly, Harry O.

Lord's Day in Pagadian Area

After preaching for over 35 years and working in the Philippines for 10 years, it is not often that I have a new experience, but I had one today. This was the first time I had ever preached in five different churches on the same Lord’s Day. It was a long, but fruitful day in the Pagadian area!

The first service of the day was at 9am with the Guipos congregation where brother Leo Armada preaches. I spoke to a full house for about an hour and a half on “Being Perfectly Joined Together” from 1 Corinthians 1:10-13. James Armada extended the invitation following the lesson and 9 came to confess Christ. Before they went to baptize the group, another asked to confess Christ and be baptized for remission of sins. So, they took the 10 to the spillway where all were baptized. We passed on as they went down to the river because we had to get to the next place.

We had a lengthy drive to the next appointment at noon with the Pulacan church where Ernie Colliado preaches. We had a good number assembled for that meeting as well and I preached on “The Life of Joseph.” No invitation was extended, but the brethren were thankful for the visit and seemed to be encouraged.

We were delayed a little reaching the scheduled 2pm meeting with the Manga congregation where Leo and James Armada labor together. The building sets fairly high above the road just in front of it, so there is a rather steep climb up a number of uneven steps in order to reach the meeting place. I preached on “Avoiding an Evil Heart of Unbelief” which included some points for non-Christians, but centered on exhortation for Christians to grow in faith. At the end of the service, brother James Armada again extended the invitation with further instruction towards non-Christians and 3 came to obey the gospel. James took those to be baptized while we went on to the next place to set up.

Our next schedule was with the Danlugan congregation where James Armada preaches. He was a little delayed due to the baptisms at the previous place, so we were well behind the scheduled 4pm time in getting started. Again, a good number was present, mostly members of the church, so I preached a lesson on “Where Is Your Treasure?” from Matthew 6. No invitation was extended at the conclusion of that service.

Our last scheduled meeting was at the Hilltop church where Gadiel Candallo preaches. We arrived a little late, but found only the preacher and one other member there. It seems a large rain had come about 2 hours before the service which prevented most from coming. However, there were 10 of us traveling together plus the entire Armada family that joined us as well as several other brethren from the area. I preached on the “Foundation of the Family” from 1 Peter 3. We had a good study with excellent interest shown. I finished preaching at 9pm – twelve hours after I began at 9am. In all, it was a very tiring, but fruitful day.

The Lord willing, tomorrow is a travel day with no preaching scheduled. My voice can use the break! We are to drive from Pagadian to Ozamis, fly from Ozamis to Cebu and take the fastcraft boat from Cebu to Ormoc on the island of Leyte. Please keep us in your prayers for safe travel.

Brotherly, Harry O.