Greetings to all from the Philippines! This report will not have much in the way of pictures accompanying since we will not start the classes until tomorrow.
The flights over to the Philippines this time was worse than ever before. Turbulence was rough between Oklahoma City and Atlanta, but nothing like it was from there to Seoul, South Korea. From the time we were off of the coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula until we landed in Korea, it was a rough ride. It was also my first time to fly on Korean Airlines. The plane was hot for the entire trip – probably somewhere in the mid 80’s and I was sweating the whole way. Add to that the fact that wearing a mask was required for the full 15+ hours of the flight and it all produce a truly miserable experience. I could never get comfortable enough to sleep, so it made the trip seem to last forever. By the time we arrived in Manila, I was ready to get to the hotel, take a shower and crash in bed.
When I woke up on Friday morning, I went to eat breakfast and returned to my room to sleep again. Since it was my only free day, I got as much sleep in as possible. The next morning started with a 3am wake up so I could be at the airport by 4am for a 6am flight to Tuguegarao. John and Nanette Carino met me at the airport for the same flight. Though our flight was delayed, we made it safely to Tuguegarao at about 8am. Rody and Tessie met us and took us to the hotel. After a nap, I got started reviewing my charts for the Sunday sermon and getting things organized for the classes to start on Monday. John and Nanette met me at the hotel café where we ate supper together and had a good time catching up after two and a half years of being separated due to Covid.
Today, John taught in the Bible class period on “Necessary Inference in Establishing Authority.” It was an excellent lesson and especially good for the preacher training students to hear. In the assembly, I preached a lesson on “Claim-Power-Proof” dealing with the purpose and duration of miraculous action. There was good interest shown by all, but no visible responses to the invitation. The rest of my day has been spent in concentration on preparations for 4 hours of classes each day plus some teaching in the evening assembly to include time for a lesson given by one of the students each night.
Please keep the classes, students and instructors in your prayers that the cause of our Lord might be built up.
