Activities for the month of May

May 3 (Sunday Worship at Metro Tuguegarao)

The lockdown continues on the entire Philippines and we are still unable to work normally especially in our preaching services. I am happy that I am able to preach here in Tuguegarao. I am the one scheduled to preached during our worship and I shared about “Where is Jesus?” On this time of pandemic, I can see more people searching for God. Most of the post I see on facebook are bible verses, prayers, and many things about God. People are afraid of this virus that they go to God but that is their only reason. They do not search for what God really wants. They are still doing things which they think God accepts, but they never really search or look for what God wants. I am happy that I can preach not only in the church but also with our live streaming. Many friends and brethren on facebook watch the sermon. I hope and pray that I have really opened their eyes about the truth.

Unluckily, the last month (April), I am able to record all the sermons on my phone and upload in on youtube. During my sermon, my phone got broken, I don’t know why, but it didn’t record anything. We used the phone of brother Jay as our second screen and so we cannot record also from there. The only file I have is the live video on facebook. It is still in the timeline of our group page in Palca Church. All of the sermons for this month is in that page and none on youtube.

May 4

I have contacted sister Erlinda Manuel through phone call. She do not know how to use social media apps and only have on old phone (not touch screen). She is living alone in their house in Angang (She is a member at Palca Church). Since the lockdown, I haven’t heard anything about her, even from her daughter, sister Nenita. It is not really a bible study, but I have conversation with her about the situation and encourages her with biblical verses. We ended the call by prayer.

May 5

The same way for sister Marites. I haven’t heard anything from her since the lockdown. If you remember from my previous reports, she is the one who have heart problems but now in a very good condition. I contacted sister Teresita first to ask for her phone number, but she doesn’t have one. Instead, I talk to her using sister Teresita’s phone when she went to their house. I ask about her situation and she told me that everything is ok except problems for their necessities. Food is their major problem because she still cannot work and her husband cannot work in the field because of the lockdown. I also gave encouraging bible passages to her and ended by prayer.

May 6

We had again our bible study at the house of brother Rody. We sung spiritual songs together as a family and studied Acts 3. Brother Rody, Jerome, Jun, Jay and I shared some thoughts about the chapter in front of our wives and kids.

May 7

I made another phone call and this time it is sister Krizel. Her sibling, sister Kenneth is in Cavite (called another day) and cannot go out because the lockdown in that area is more strict. Their parents are Christians also, but since being part of the counsels in that village, they do not have time anymore joining us in services. In short, they backslide and joined worldly people in the counsel. Thankfully, both their kids are faithful. But still I wanted to continue persuading them to return to church. During that time, they are not home with Krizel. They are frontliners and serving the village needs. We just had a short talk because the signal of her phone is weak that we cannot understand all what we are talking. We just prayed for their family.

May 10

In our Sunday worship here at Tuguegarao, brother Rody shared a good sermon. He preached about The True Church. I helped in other works and guided those who are coming in to join us in worship. Our attendance is only ¼ of our regular attendance.

May 11

This time, I made a call to sister Kenneth in Cavite. She is staying alone on her apartment. She is a school teacher but because of the lockdown, she is working home by online teaching. I needed to shorten our conversation because she still have many works for their school. I shared also two passages from the scripture teaching us to be steadfast in the Lord even with many trials. We again concluded the call with a prayer.

May 12

I made a call to sister Girlie Domingo. She is just 34 years old but not a fan of new technologies that’s why I also do not have any updates on her. I just got her phone number from her mother, sister Lorna. Regarding her situation, her family is ok, her husband who is not a Christian cannot work also because the welding shop he is working is close. Same with other brethren, they keep telling me of their struggles for their needs. Thankfully, some brethren who sent me funds for benevolence is given to all of them. I shared to her whole family John 10. We ended the call by prayer.

May 13

We continue with our bible study at the house of brother Rody. We continue to sing spiritual songs and joining in prayer. We studied Acts 4, and the same way, each of us preachers who are there share some thoughts on the chapter. We are happy because our kids are learning from our studies. We ask them questions about the discussion and they are giving good answers.

May 14

I also called the mother of sister Girlie, sister Lorna. Their house is just 50 meters apart but because of the lockdown, they remain at their own homes. Sister Lorna have asthma during my call and I can hear the way she breathes. We just prayed together and ended the call.

May 17

Brother Rody again preached in our sermon, and he shared about “What worship means to us?” We have a better attendance at this time because almost all rows of chairs have someone sitting on it. Our attendance is already half our average. We are about 65. The lockdown is still in play, mass gathering is still not allowed, but we are thankful that we can do worship because they are not that strict anymore.

In Palca where I am locally preaching, they are still very strict. The virus is not the main problem in that town, it is the Governor who doesn’t want anyone from other town enter his vicinity.

May 18

I made a call to sister Noemi, who is with her niece and father who is a member of the Jehovah’s witnesses. This is the longest call I have so far because her father asked many questions about death, soul, spirit and afterlife. I hope with the biblical answers I gave him, we can have more bible studies in their house after the lockdown and that he will also obey the truth.

May 19

I called sister Maria Andrada. She is with her niece during the call. Everything is ok in her family. Her daughter’s who are in Manila and abroad are also good. She is a jolly person and we have good laughs during the call. I also shared biblical passages and prayed together with them.

May 20

We again had our bible study at the house of brother Rody. We again did the same thing and studied Acts 5.

May 21

I made a video call to sister Dina in Taiwan, but because of internet problems on my part, we ended up chatting on messenger. She just ended her contract on her employee and looking for a new one. She is asking our prayers that she can locate a godly employer that will allow her to do Christian things. I just sent her passages on the scripture to think about. We cannot pray by chat but I told her that we will pray for her.

May 24

In our worship here in Tuguegarao, brother Jerome shared a good lesson about Why do we preach the gospel? We again have a good attendance of more than 50 including the kids. Those kids are only from our family, but the kids from our brethren who attended are not allowed to go out of houses as our authorities prohibits.

May 25

I made a call to sister Rowena and with him are other three Christians, her parents, brother Enzo and sister Gina, and her sibling, sister Charice. They’ve been lukewarm before the lockdown and this time; I am trying to encourage them to continue on serving the Lord. During the stretch of this lockdown, I am communicating with them and they are telling me that they already want to be back in the church. I shared passages about returning to our first love, returning to Jesus and to remain faithful. We ended by prayer.

May 27

During our bible study again in the house of brother Rody. We did the same things and studied Acts 6. The kids are now better since we started doing the studies. They can now explain and reason out ideas on the chapters.

May 31

All I thought is that the lockdown will end May 30 and so I already prepared everything I need going to Palca. But the announcement came on May 28 that the lockdown is again extended until June 15. I tried getting travel pass so that I can go and preach in Palca, if not to visit the brethren, but still, the order of the governor, is to not allow anyone from other town enter their area. Sad and disappointing moment for me.

Thankfully, we are still able to worship here at Metro Tuguegarao. Brother Rody preached the sermon, on worship, particularly on singing. I am still in charge of the brethren who are coming in and making sure that we are following the protocols of the lockdown which is social distancing.

And because I am still not allowed to travel to Palca, I joined brother Rody in going to Alibago Church in the afternoon. He got a travel pass from the Mayor’s office and the town of Enrile already allows anyone from other town to enter the place. I help in the work together with brother Jun and brother James.

When we are traveling back home, we heard from the radio that we no longer need to secure any travel pass when we want to go to other towns but be sure that it is only in our state/region. I am very happy to hear that news because I can already go to Palca without any hindrances. The only problem now is, if the governor will allow us to enter their town, and if they will allow us to have church gathering. I am praying that they will all allow this so that we can already worship together in Palca after three months of lockdown.