On Saturday, I flew from Cebu to Bacolod (on Negros Island) after a 3 hour delay in the airport. The original plan for Sunday was for me to preach in Victorias City where Jack and Adel Jaco and their family labor, but that had to be changed. Jack’s two daughters, Shalom and Shammah, have adopted me as their “Uncle Harry” and they have recently returned from contracts as nurses working abroad. (They hope to come to the U.S. after gaining experience, but their next contract will probably be in England, north of London. If anyone has connections that could possibly get them to the U.S., please let me know.) Since I could not be with the family today, we all went out to eat last night and had a great time catching up. Jireh, Jack and Adel’s son and oldest child (30), knew of a good place where we could talk and have “Chicken Inasal,” my favorite meal over here. We had a few other dishes as well that were excellent. I am also very impressed with Jireh and his growth as he works in a responsible position with a bank, but fills in preaching for Jack whenever he needs to be away.
This morning, Jack took me to the church that meets in the YMCA building. This had started as a sound work and had been such for years before an American from an institutional background came and taught error regarding the organization of the church. He finally left a number of years ago after being very unsuccessful in expanding his work, so the congregation became open to hearing from sound brethren again. I had preached with the congregation several years ago and I see that they are making progress in the truth. This time I taught one lesson on the organization of the church and another on “Am I in the Faith?” from 2 Cor. 13:5-9. The lessons were well received and they invited me back on my next trip. They also made an announcement of the lectures we will have tomorrow in Bacolod. Several promised to attend. By the way, they worship next to a Pentecostal group with the typical blaring instruments, shouting and other chaos. It was a trial preaching and hearing over all of that!
In the afternoon, we traveled to the place of Shem Tagapan where they have built a nice meeting place at the side of their home. (In fact, the meeting place is much nicer than their home suggesting good things about Shem and the family’s priorities.) They had already been meeting and Shem had preached one lesson before our arrival. I was asked to present a lesson and I preached on “The Fully Equipped Church” from Ephesians 3. There was no air conditioning in their place and it was during the heat of the day, so it got extremely hot before we finished. It was a true joy to be with Shem and his family again and see their faith and growth.
We have rented a meeting room in central Bacolod for a full day of lectures tomorrow, the Lord willing. Most will probably be brethren, but we expect some visitors from denominational backgrounds as well. Please keep us in your prayers.
P.S. This is my new friend Neil who is one of the little children in attendance with the church meeting at the YMCA. He came up to me and wanted to know all about me and my work. When I asked his name, he told me it was Neil. So I asked him if he knew that he had the same name as the first man who ever walked on the moon. That thrilled him and he was my companion as long as I was there! Love these added joys that come from time to time. We hated to say goodbye, but I hope we meet again. Jesus said, "Let the little children come unto Me, and do not forbid them; for of such is the kingdom of God." Amen!
