Preaching activities for the month of October 2020

 October 4, 2020 (Sunday worships)

Our situation in our town is getting worse again and so our Mayor proclaimed that we will be on a two weeks lockdown which they call MECQ (Modified enhance community quarantine). Limited people are only allowed to go out and those who want to go out needs to secure Covid Pass in their own village halls. Our worship is affected here in Tuguegarao and only our family attended the worship. We are about 20+ only. We also have another problem, the whole town have no electricity but we managed to have the live streaming by using the phone of brother Jun and using his data as our internet. He preached about "The destiny of man". All our live streams are posted in the page of the congregation in facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/212295806642969). Only me, Jun Gumpad, Jay Gumpad and James Attaban are the man in the congregation who helped together to make the worship be done. Sorry for the picture posted below, I only took a photo of our live stream in facebook. 

In the afternoon, brother James and Jay joined me in the work at Palca and Dagupan. We also have no electricity and so we used a tarpaulin printed outline in Palca that James used to preached. He preached about Death-When-Then? Jay helped in the song leading while I did the rest of the works.

In Dagupan, brother Jay's turn also to preach. He shared Luke 10:25-26. I also added some points after his preaching that will direct our lesson to those visitors who are with us. 

October 7 (Midweek bible study)

  The lockdown protocol is still there and so we cannot have the bible study on evenings. We again had our bible study in the house of brother Rody. We studied Acts 24. 

October 11 (Sunday worships)

We are still under the MECQ protocols and thankfully the total lockdown which they announced earlier of the week that supposedly be October 10-12 is revoked. We can still have our worship, but then again, only our family is in attendance. Live streaming continues. I am the one who preached and I shared the lesson "What if we treat sin like the virus?" In my powerpoint presentation, it is in our language so that our brethren here can easily understand even if they are watching the live stream in poor connection. 

In the afternoon, at Palca, brother's Jay, James and also Macky Miguel joined me. When I heard about the total lockdown in our town, Tuguegarao, I called brother Macky if he can go to Palca and be the one to preach because we cannot get out of town. But because it was not push through, we still went to Palca and brother Macky insist if he can also come. He was the one who preached in Palca and he shared "Know what you need to do".  A lot of brethren are sick and asking for our prayers. Sister Emy told me that his father just got a stroke and very weak and according to the doctor, he might not recover. Thankfully, up to this day of writing this blog (October 29), he is still fighting for his life but with improvements already.

In Dagupan, I am the one who preached and I also shared the lesson "What if we treat sin like the virus?". All my outlines and pictures of the preaching in Palca and Dagupan are posted in our page in facebook (https://www.facebook.com/groups/639178010206711). You can visit it also view those english outlines. 

October 14 (Midweek bible study)

We again had our bible study at the house of brother Rody. This is the last week of the MECQ and we will return to MGCQ (Modified General Community Quarantine) wherein anyone except those below 15 and above 65 are allowed to go out. Those who have fever, cough, flu and any symptoms of sickness are not allowed to enter any establishments.  I do not know when we can have the bible study in the chapel again. For this time, we studied Acts 25.

October 18 (Sunday Worship)

We are hoping that many of our brethren will already join us in worship because the protocol is lightened but only a few joined us because there are villages under total lockdown in the town. The authorities chooses to have a total lockdown on villages where there are a lot of covid cases. Thankfully, our village is clear of any case. I led our singing and brother Jun preached the sermon about "Examples of Samuel".  I again took the pictures on the live stream.

In the afternoon, I alone went to Palca. It is very hard for me again because I needed to work on three different congregations for a single day but I know everything is very fulfilling because it is for the glory of God. I preached in Palca and Dagupan about "How are we saved?" It is the similarities on the days of Noah with the way we are saved today. I am using my phone to project the presentation in Palca and also to view my outlines that's why the pictures taken are a bit late or not good. And I only got the picture of brother Lino Quines while he is leading our worship songs in Palca. I also do not have the picture in Dagupan because while I am preaching, my phones battery died and I need to continue preaching until the end without my outline.

October 21 (Midweek bible study)

It is the birthday of the daughter of brother Jerome and as we celebrate her birthday, we still had our bible study. We studied Acts 26.

October 25 (Sunday worships)

Our situation here in Tuguegarao is again getting better. Our brethren came to join us in worship. Brother Rody is with us right now and he preached about "What to pray?". 

In the afternoon, at Palca, I preached the lesson "What are the things happy people do?". In Palca, I viewed to them in my outline the one in our language, but in Dagupan, I gave them the copy which is in English. I first made the outline in English and printed them, but then, I decided to translate it in our language when I made the presentation. 

To end my report, I also want to include the days where I wanted to visit the brethren at Palca and Dagupan (October ,13,15,19, 22 & 26). Sad to say that when I reached the checkpoints, they stopped me from going. I tried different days of the week hoping that I can pass the checkpoints, but always fail. Thankfully, I can go to that town on Sunday because there are no checkpoints on the way. Towns in the Philippines right now have different protocols to follow. There are towns that you cannot enter without getting Travel pass first from the town where you live like here in Tuguegarao. In Palca and Dagupan (Town of Tuao), they also have other protocols.

My online study with brethren at Palca and Dagupan everyday still continues except those who have already started their online classes(students). Many still cannot go out in their area and it is still hard to earn money for a living. The authorities are strictly reinforcing the law by giving fines to those who violate the protocols.  

Preaching Activities for the month of September 2020

 September 2 (Midweek Bible Study)

We are back to having our midweek bible study again in the house of brother Rody and we studied Acts 19. We are back on the level of lockdown that we call GCQ (Enhance community Quarantine). All above 60 and below 20 are not allowed to go out. Sickly, pregnant and PWD are also not allowed to go out that's why we are not allowed to gather on church on Wednesday evening. Public vehicles are also few and it will be hard for many of our brethren to come especially because it is night time. The last week of August, we are at MECQ (Modified Enhance Community Quarantine) that only allowed one individual to go out of their house to buy basic necessities and because of that, I am not allowed to go to Palca and Dagupan and pass the checkpoints.

September 6 (Sunday worships)

Any lockdown won't stop us from having our worship here in Tuguegarao. We continue to have our live streaming on facebook using the page of Metro Tuguegarao Church of Christ. Brother Rody was the one scheduled to preach the sermon and he shared about "Paul's Prison Epistles.

In the afternoon, after not having our worship because of the MECQ, we are happy to be together again. No more checkpoints on my way to Palca and Dagupan. I preached in both places about "The choices we make". Many of our brethren at Palca did not come because of the current situation on the area and the protocols that we need to follow. But in Dagupan, we continue to have the same number of attendance because the situation there is better.

September 9 (Midweek bible study)

We continue to have our midweek bible study at the house of brother Rody. Together with our whole family, we studied Acts 20. We included in our prayers all those brethren whom have a family member that died and also many are sick and have the covid-19 here in the Philippines. 

September 7-12 (Work in the chapel)

For the whole week, we've been working in our chapel, fixing many things because we weren't able to move freely the previous months. As the time of publishing this blog (October 1), we have a scheduled meeting with all the men of the congregation on Saturday (October 3) for the possible plans we will make during this time of pandemic. This pandemic might take longer and so we will plan what ways we needed to do to help edify our brethren.

September 13 (Sunday worships)

In our worship here at Metro Tuguegarao, many of our brethren still cannot come. Three villages in our town is on total lockdown and one of it is Linao East. Four families that are our brethren are from that area. Brother Jerome preached the sermon and he shared about "Recharging your spiritual passion".

In the afternoon at Palca,brother Jun Gumpad came to me and asked me if he can come join in the preaching. We divided our work in the two places where I am preaching. He preached the sermon in Palca and I preached in Dagupan. We have an attendance of 32 in Palca and 16 in Dagupan.

September 14 (Bible study)

I have a bible study with our sister in Hongkong. It is through facebook messenger and by an audio call. I cannot do video call because of the slow internet connection. They are also currently in a lockdown. Sister Charlene is a faithful member of the church in Palca and is currently working as a domestic helper in Hongkong. I shared some edifying verses to her to strengthen her faith. They cannot go out and have their worship in the city area right now and I hope that the call I made gave her spiritual strength.

September 16 (Midweek bible study)

We again had our midweek bible study at brother Rody's house. We do not know how long we are going to do this in their house because the number of cases of covid is rapidly increasing in our town. We studied Acts 21.

September 17 (Bible study)

This time, I made a group chat that includes three young individual in Palca and Dagupan (Geraldine, Gaile and JM). I am sharing to them the basic concepts of the church and salvation. Geralding is the only one among them who experience bible learning through my wife in their children's class while the other two are just new. They just joined us about three weeks ago in Dagupan. Until now (October 1), I am still teaching them about the bible. I am praying that one of this days, they will also obey the gospel. They are asking me bibles but unfortunately, I do not have any available right now.

September 20 (Sunday worships)

Our worship in Tuguegarao's attendance is getting low lately because of the current situation of our town. Many are hesitant to get out of their houses. On this day, five villages are already in total lockdown and three more are on process of having it. We continue to have our fellowship with all those who came and thank God that no one from our brethren from Tuguegarao, Palca and Dagupan have the covid. Brother Rody preached about "What Jesus said abour prayer?"

In the afternoon, at Palca, I preached about "The new normal". It is not about the covid situation but having a new normal in our life as a christian. I also preached the same lesson in Dagupan. We have on visitor there and she is the one with the purple clothes on the right side of the picture(3rd picture below) beside our sister with the blue shirt and with glasses.(I forgot her name). She is a catholic and is interested in the study. She also joined us the next week. Please help me pray that through my preaching efforts, God will touch her heart and soon be one of our faithful brethren. 

September 21 (Bible study)

We went to the house of brother Randy Viernes. They invited us to have a bible study in their house and also pray for their daughter Nicol who just celebrated her birthday September 20. Sorry for my mask, my sibling just gave it to me and I do not have anything to use at that time.

September 22 (Bible Study)

We also went to have the bible study at the house of brother Lino Darauay. It is a bit scary because the next village from their area have a few cases of covid and the number of people who joined us is a bit much. It is also the birthday of brother Lino and we joined together to pray for him.

September 23 (Midweek bible study)

Our bible study remains to be very important to us especially to help our children learn more about the bible. It is not only because it is scheduled but because we needed spiritual strength to battle Satan everyday. We studied this time Acts 22.

September 27 (Sunday worships)

Our attendance in Tuguegarao went low with just 49. Many areas of the town are closed with barricades right now. In just a 6 days, our town will look like a ghost time once again. Our City Mayor already announced of the MECQ, or a total lockdown in the whole town. Our worship continues with the sermon preached by brother Jay about "Why there is an empty seat in the church?".

In the afternoon, brother Jay also joined me in the work. He preached in Palca the same lesson and I preached in Dagupan about "Color Discrimination". The next two weeks, we will not have the physical worship in both areas because I cannot get out of our town because of the lockdown but I will make a way for them to hear the words of God. I will record a video and send it to our group chat.

We will not have the live streaming also on Sunday (October 4) because it was announced that the whole town will have no electricity. We will make a way to serve our brethren.