Preaching activities for the month of June, 2020

June 2 (Bible Study)

I continue to do what I can to edify our brethren at Palca and feed them with spiritual food. The lockdown is still in effect and it will be until June 30^th. As to this day that I am writing this blog (June 29), I doubt that the lockdown will be lifted. Cases of Covid is increasing in our region unlike the last month where we have none. More highly that the lockdown will again be extended to July 15^th.

To help with the spiritual needs of the brethren, I continue to share to them God’s word through digital ways. Starting this June, we are already allowed to travel outside our town Tuguegarao but not outside our region/state.

For this day, I got the chance to talk to sister Dina who is working in Hongkong as domestic helper. I waited for her free time to have audio call on messenger. I cannot get a good connection for video call. I use 1 Corinthians 15:58 and gave a short message about it. She is a good and generous sister because she does not only provide for her family (Mother and siblings), but also share some help for our brethren at Palca. She sent help last month that I distributed to the brethren. Please include her in your prayers. She is very happy because she found new employers and they are also Christians.

June 3 (Midweek/Family bible study)

Because of this lockdown, we are still unable to have the midweek service in the chapel and so we continue to have the study at the house of brother Rody. We are already on the 7^th chapter of the book of Acts.

June 5 (Bible Study)

I have another call to one of the sister at Palca Church. She is sister Erlinda. She is only living with her granddaughter and is not capable of any social media applications. She only uses an old phone. I got a chance to share a short message on the Psalm 68. Please pray for this sister as he cannot go out for work because of her age. She is not allowed to go out according to the law on the lockdown.

June 7 (Worship at Tuguegarao and Visitation for the brethren at Palca Church)

In the morning, we still have the worship at Tuguegarao. Even since the lockdown started last March 15, we didn’t have any Sunday that we didn’t meet. Thankfully, right now, we already have 50% of our attendance back. Brother Jun preached the sermon and we still have the live streaming over facebook using the account of brother Jay.

In the afternoon, since we are already allowed to travel outside Tuguegarao, my wife and I both went to Palca. But before doing that, I ask the brethren to have a visit to their village chieftain to ask whether we are allowed to have the worship in the chapel. Unluckily, because of the situation, and the chieftain is very strict, he did not permit us so we just have the visitation. We went to the houses of the brethren and had a look on their conditions. Palca Church is composed of brethren from three villages (Palca, Angang and Dagupan). We prayed every house and every place where they are. We didn’t have the chance to visit everyone because some of them are also away, and their houses are locked. We are very happy that after 90 days, we got a chance to be with them again.

June 9 (Bible Study)

Since we are already allowed to go to Palca, I decided to have bible studies through phone twice every week. This time, I called a sister who was not in their house when we went to Palca. She is sister Emy and her daughter, Skyla. Sister Emy’s husband (brother Ricky) is in Wisconsin and according to her, he is also staying only in their house because of the virus and riots. I shared to them 1 Timothy 5 and also more about family.

June 10 (Midweek/family bible study)

We again had the chance to study as a family. We are on the 8^th chapter of the book of Acts. I am happy to see that my kids are learning more from what we are doing.

June 12 (Bible Study)

This is the day of our independence here in the Philippines and it is a non-working holiday. This time, I got a chance to share the words of God to one of our busiest sister in Palca, sister Monet, because she is working as a frontliner in their town hall. I shared Colossians 3 to her. She told me that she just got engage and will have their church wedding by this year. Please pray for our new couple who will both be together serving the Lord. I haven’t met yet her fiancé because she is from the other town. Maybe after the lockdown, we will also have the chance to share to him the gospel.

June 14 (Worship at Tuguegarao and First worship in Palca and Dagupan)

In the morning, our worship at Tuguegarao went as planned. I am happy that many more brethren are attending. Brother Rody preached the sermon.

In the afternoon, after 96 very long days, we finally got a chance to gather and worship the Lord together. We are still not allowed to have the worship in the chapel. We need to have social distancing and our chapel is very small that we will be crowded. It is only limited to 10 people in a building with that size. We had the worship at the porch of the house of sister Bienvenida. We still did not have the distancing that is needed but because we are sure that none have the virus, it was just ok for us. I shared to them “Ecclesiastes 1”. Two brethren at the village of Angang also joined us. Some of them cannot go out of their houses because of the age limit (more than 60 years).

After the worship at Palca, I also went to Dagupan to have the worship service. We stayed in the house of brother Enzo. I am happy that we can also have the worship in their house. From my previous reports, they are the family whom I often visited because they have been lukewarm in the faith since his wife, sister Gina got sick and have problems with their kids. Thankfully, they opened their house for us to have the worship. I also shared to them the same lesson. There was a congregation before in their village but because of some problems, it was stop. And so their family and the family of sister Tersing joined us in Palca. At our worship, I am happy to learn of the Christians who are also worshipping with them before in that area. Two of them joined us. I am praying that after the lockdown, they will also join us in Palca.

June 16 (Bible Study)

This time, I had a conversation with sister Cha who is also working in Hongkong as domestic helper. I also share 1 Corinthians 15. She is telling me that after the lockdown, she will ask her family in Palca to invite me for a bible study. I am happy to hear of her words. Please pray also for our brethren who are working in Hongkong because there is also a rally going around the country against China.

June 17 (Midweek/family bible study)

It is again our opportunity to share to our kids. Not only that we have a chance to read and study the bible, but we also have the chance to pray together as a very big family. We are composed of 5 families who are joining together for this to work. We are now on the 9^th chapter of the book of acts.

June 19

I went to Palca to talk to the village chieftain about our gathering. We are still under the lockdown and so he didn’t permit us to do what we did last week. I talked to the brethren and we all planned a way for us to gather. We went to the chieftain at the village of Angang, and thankfully, he permitted us. In Dagupan, the chieftain also permitted us. The reason we are not allowed in Palca is because the chapel and houses of the brethren are just on the highway but on the other villages, we needed to walk utmost 500 meters to reach their places.

June 21 (Worship at Tuguegarao, Angang and Dagupan).

We continue to have our worship at Tuguegarao together with our live streaming for the brethren who are at their homes to listen also to the sermon. This time, brother Jay preached to us.

In the afternoon, it is our first time to have the worship at Angang. I have planned during the lockdown that I will do the best I can to preach to the brethren at Palca Church. I planned that every Sunday, I will be preaching in Palca, Angang and Dagupan, but because of the responds of the chieftains, I only am preaching in two different places. This time, we gathered in the house of sister Angelina. Brethren at Palca also came and joined us. Five of their neighbors also joined us. Two of them asked for bibles and so I asked brother Jerome to give them. He had supplies of Ilocano bibles. I preached to them Psalm 57.

After the worship at Angang, for the second straight Sunday, we had the worship at Dagupan in the house of brother Enzo. This time, the grandson of sister Tersing and his friend joined us. Her grandson, Gian, is a student of my wife in their children class in Palca. He is 11 years old and knows a lot about the bible. On the other hand, his friend, was his first time. There was a police roaming around the area, but they didn’t stop us. We thank God that He is there guiding and protecting us always. I also preached the same lesson to them.

June 24 (Midweek/family bible study)

During this week, I didn’t call anyone from Palca Church because I went to help my brother and mother. They are moving to their new house and they needed me to help them with all their things.

Even with all the pain in my body, I still joined in our weekly bible study with my family. We studied 10^th chapter of Acts and we also have a little celebration for the baby of brother Jay who is now getting better with her health. Their baby just turned one month and we all have the celebration because God gave her to our entire family.

June 27 (Thanksgiving service)

Brother Dennis Yuson invited us to their house to celebrate with them the birthday of his granddaughter who just turned one year old. She is the daughter of the youngest son of brother Dennis. Brother Jerome shared a good lesson about giving thanks and they asked me to lead the prayer. Other preachers are also with us (Mario Garma, Jerry Soliva, Joeben Jacobo, Edgar Corpuz and Fernando Duque). Police are also roaming around and checking every house and so during the service, we needed to have distance from each other and limited people only in the gathering.

June 28 (Worship at Tuguegarao, Angang and Dagupan)

In the morning, we are still doing the preaching over facebook and in the congregation. We received a notice from our city office that inorder for them to continue to allow us to gather, everyone should be wearing face mask, distancing of one meter from each other, sanitation mat at the entrance, alcohol and temperature check for everyone who enters. If one of them is not followed, and someone will check us, next time, they will no longer permit us. Brother Rody preached in our sermon.

In the afternoon, we again have the gathering at Angang, at the house of sister Angelina. We have the same attendance together with their neighbors. Those who are elderly and below 20 years old from Palca are still not with us because they are not allowed to be going out. I am praying that this pandemic will end soon so that everyone will have the chance to gather for worship. I preached to them Psalm 5.

We also have the worship at Dagupan, in the same place. We are less of two brethren in our attendance because they haven’t arrived yet coming from their work. I also preached to them the same lesson. Sister Tersing told me that Gian and his friend are thinking of baptism and so I talk to both of them. I told them that if they wanted to be baptized, they should know the real reason why. They gave answers to every question that I ask and so the final question is, “Are you both ready?”, they stop and think and just smiled. It means, not yet. I told them that we will study more and if they are both ready, I will not stop them from getting baptized into Christ.