April 1 (Gospel Meeting at San Luis, Tuao)
We were
invited to attend the Gospel Meeting at San Luis where brother Rogelio
Esperanza is preaching. When we arrived, brother Denis Yuson already started
his lesson on “Matthew 6:33”, then followed by brother Rody who preached “The
way of God to save”. When we sung the invitation song, one young lady came in
front to confess her faith and was later baptized in the near river. I was
asked to lead our closing prayer. And after the meeting, we had the time to talk
to the brethren and encourage them more.
April 2 (Lord’s day services at Tuguegarao and
Palca)
In our
service here at Tuguegarao, brother Jerome taught in our bible study on “1 John
2:29-29: Having confidence at Christ’s coming” and brother Rody preached in the
sermon about “Those that we must seek”.
In the
afternoon, at Palca, I preached to them “For to me, to live is Christ, and to
die is gain”. I differentiate the meaning of life from the worldly perspective
and spiritual perspective.
April 5 (Midweek service at Tuguegarao)
We studied
the “4th chapter of the book of Ephesians” where brother Rody
discussed it to us.
April 8 (Gospel Meeting at Toran, Aparri)
We traveled
very early to attend and be of good help in the faith of the brethren at Toran.
When we last visited the congregation, they were looking for a new preacher
because brother Ramirez is already very old and sometimes cannot hear and talk
well. But now, we are happy to hear that brother Fernando Duque is working with
them. It is just about 2 months maybe since he started to go there.
Brother
Jerome first stand to preach and he discussed “5 facts of life” then followed
by brother Rody who preached “7 last words of Christ”. I was asked again to
lead the prayer. When we sung the invitation song, there were 3 precious young
souls who obeyed the gospel. And because we are near the ocean, we traveled for
about 5 kilometers to baptized them there.
April 9 (Lord’s day service at Tuguegarao and
Palca)
I taught in
our bible study about “Hostile witnesses of Christ” about those who are against
the work of Jesus Christ but cannot deny the truth about what He is really
doing and that things He is teaching. In the sermon, brother Rody preached
“Sufferings of Christ: part 1”.
In the
afternoon, at Palca, I preached the same lesson on “Hostile Witnesses of
Christ” but no longer in a bible study form but in the sermon way.
April 12 (Midweek bible study at Tuguegarao)
We continued
we our study on the book of Ephesians and this time brother Rody discussed to
us chapter 5.
April 13
(Gospel Meeting at Sampaguita, Solana)
This meeting
was in a short notice because I was just informed 2 days before the activity.
But with that, I am still happy to be part of this work for the Lord. Brother
Jerome was the first speaker and he preached “According to the scriptures” then
followed by brother Rody who preached “7 last words of Christ” as requested by
brother Jerry Soliva, their local preacher. I was asked to lead the opening
prayer and also a song before brother Rody started to preached. When we sung
the invitation song, there were 6 precious souls who confess their faith and
were baptized into Christ on that day.
April 16 (Lord’s day services at Tuguegarao and
Palca)
In our bible
study here in Tuguegarao, brother Jerome taught “1 Jn. 3:1-3: Children of God)
and in the sermon, brother Rody preached “Sufferings of Christ:Part 2”.
In the afternoon,
at Palca, I preached to them “For what reason Peter was sent?” I use the story
of Cornelius and his conversion to answer the question of Peter, why he was
still needed to be sent if the denominations are correct that if we pray, we
are save, that if we are just righteous, we are saved. This story gives the
truth on how a man can be save.
April 17 (Wedding)
We attended
a wedding here in Tuguegarao of brother Sammy Paet’s sister. Brother Rody
solemnized the wedding, while brother Ron arrived coming from Manila and also
gave a message to the newly wed. I cannot forget the family names of the couple
because it is almost the same. The last name of the bride is PAET and the last
name of the groom is PAAT.
April 18 (Wedding)
It is the
wedding of my wife’s brother, Teddy Boy with our sister Rovina Catubag. Brother
Ron Halbrook gave an inspiring message from the bible before they were
solemnized. And with the help of brother Jonathan Carino and Lordy Salunga,
they were solemnized.
April 19 (Gospel Meeting at Tuguegarao)
The meeting
we have been praying for a long time here in Tuguegarao has finally come. Even
though we have problem with our electricity that us fluctuating, that didn’t
stop us to go on with our studies. We have two big aircons in the chapel but it
won’t work and another problem was our sound system that give a buzzing sound
when brother Jonathan preaches. He was the first speaker and him and brother
Lordy both preached about Marriage and answered the question, when will a
couple be joined together? Then brother Ron Halbrook preached about “Mistaken Views vs False Doctrine".
After the
preaching, we sung the invitation song, and we are happy that there were two
precious souls who confess their faith and was baptized immediately in the
baptistery here in Tuguegarao.
In the
afternoon, the final speaker was again brother Ron and now he preached about “Modest
dress throughout the ages.”
In the evening,
we still had our midweek service and we studied Ephesians 6 with the help of
brother Rody.
April 20 (Thanksgiving service)
Sister Joy
and her husband brought their son here in our chapel and asked for a
thanksgiving service because their son just turned one year old and wanted to
thank God for giving them their first child. Brother Jerome shared a lesson
about why we should thank God and we all prayed together for the child and his
family.
April 21 (Funeral Service at the wake of sister
Celia Casibang)
We went to
the wake of brother Jun Antonio’s sister. Last April 19, brother Jun came in
our Gospel Meeting at Tuguegarao, but upon entering the chapel, there was a
call from his wife saying that his sister has passed away. Sister Celia had an
enlarge heart that they can no longer cure and are only waiting for her time. She
is with the Lord now because she lived a faithful life as a Christian. Brother
Jay led the singing, while I led the prayer and brother Jerome preached about “Facts
of life”. We prayed for the family of sister Celia. He left her husband and three
very young children.
April 23 (Lord’s day service at Tuguegarao and
Palca)
I taught in
our bible study about “For what reason was Peter sent?” and in the sermon,
brother Jerome preached “How well do you listen?”.
In the
afternoon, at Palca, I preached to them about “Jesus’ dying words”. The last
seven words of Jesus before he died and I gave an explanation and encouragement
from this words giving the scriptures to go with it.
April 26 (Wedding at Maguirig)
We attended
a wedding at Maguirig where our sister April got married to a non-Christian. It
is a good thing that the groom agreed that they will be married in the chapel
of Church of Christ because many Christians nowadays, even though they have
been Christian for so long, they still get marry on their husband
denominational churches. Sister April may have started to preach her husband about
the truth and with God’s help, he will become a true Christian too. Brother Teddy
and Jay led the singing, while I opened the program with a prayer. Brother
Jerome preached about Marriage and brother Rody solemnized them.
In the
evening, we had our midweek service here at Tuguegarao and brother Rody
discussed to us “Philippians 1”
April 27 (Gospel Meeting at Adra dy Ilog)
We again
went to another invitation for Gospel Meeting and now in the mountainous area
of the sierra madre. You can search about this mountains and see how long they
were. We crossed a river using brother Jerome’s car because the bridge got
destroyed. They made a wooden bridge but cannot take more load then just a
small motorcycle.
In the
meeting, brother Teddy led our singing, then brother Jay first preached. He
preached “Questions on salvation” then I followed with a lesson about “For what
reason was Peter sent?” The third speaker was brother Jerome who preached “5
Facts of life” and finally, brother Rody preached “Needs of the glorious church”.
We sung the invitation song, and there were 5 precious young souls who
confessed their faith and was baptized in the river that we crossed.
In the
evening, we again went to the wake of sister Celia. I should be the one to
preached but I asked brother Jay to do it because I got very weak from our last
trip. He then preached about Death and I led a few songs to start with it.
April 29 (Funeral service at the wake of brother
Layus)
We heard of
the death of our dear brother two days from this day (29) and so we tried
contacting brother Ranjet, his son so that we can have a service in their
house. The family agreed and so we went there in the afternoon. Together with brother
Teddy, we both led the singing, and brother Jerome preached about “facts of
life”. Brother July and Jay ended the service by leading a song and prayer.
April 30 (Lord’s day service at Tuguegarao and
Palca)
I taught in
our bible study here in Tuguegarao the topic “Unless”. Giving some examples in
the bible that uses the word unless and explaining to them the meaning of it.
In the sermon, brother Rody preached about “Acts of Church worship”. After the
preaching, we sung the invitation song, and we are very happy that three
precious souls confessed their faith and was baptized. One of them is our
niece, KC, the daughter of brother Jun. The two others were students of my wife
in the children class, but now they are 13 years old, and personally decided to
obey the gospel. I immersed them in water and we all joined together in prayer
after the baptism.
In the
afternoon, I also preached to them about the topic “Unless” It was very hot
during our worship, but that doesn't stop us in worshiping God.
May 1-6 (Preaching trip)
May 1 – we traveled
very early at around 6 in the morning to reach our first destination. We
arrived at Pagudpud at 10 a.m. to visit our brethren. The congregation which
stand there was the first congregation that brother Rody started when he was
converted to the Church of Christ and for almost 30 years, the congregation is
still there. We met the brethren especially the first converts of that
congregation and have time to encourage them and prayed with them. After our
conversation with them, we traveled to Vigan and stayed for the night there.
May 2 – Early
morning, we traveled going to Caba, La Union to visit the family of brother
Carlos Domingo. We arrived late in the afternoon, and so we just have bonding
for a moment with them in the hotel where we stayed.
May 3 – we went
to the house of brother Carlos and have bible study with his family. It was not
the house where they stayed before but now a better one. We all prayed together
before we left them. But before that, we visited the chapel where he is
preaching. In the Philippines, it is the biggest chapel of Church of Christ so
far and they are still working on it. We said our goodbyes for now and traveled
to Baguio City.
May 4 – we were
at Baguio with brother Rosendo and his family. We have time to give them also
encouragement and unity in prayer with them. He gave us a tour in Baguio where
the places we visit are all free and you can just see the beauty of God’s
creation. Baguio City is situated on top of mountains that’s why it is always
cold.
May 5 – from
Baguio, we traveled to Labayog, Sison, Pangasinan for the Gospel Meeting.
Again, we needed to cross a river using our car. There is really no other way
to go to the other side. No bridge or any concrete road ahead, but we arrived
safely in our destination. There is no congregation in the area and this is
just the start for them to hear the truth. Most of them are relatives of
brother Rody that’s why we are very happy and eager to teach them the truth.
Here is what
the preaching went:
First
speaker: brother Jerome preached about “What is the church of Christ?”
Second
Speaker: brother Jay preached “Names of the Church”
Third
speaker: brother Jun preached “Organization of the church”
Fourth Speaker:
brother Teddy preached “Worship of the Church”
Fifth
speaker: I preached to them about “How to become a member of the Lord’s church?”
I prepared a presentation which I can use but for some reason, the projector
they brought won’t work, but when brother Rody started to preached, the
projector turned on.
Last
speaker: brother Rody preached “Differences between the Church of Christ and other
denominations”.
After all
the lessons discussed, we sung the invitation song and one came in front to
confess his faith. Most of the audience are wesleyans and Pentecostals that’s
why they have many questions and are still willing to study more, but the one
who confess his faith really said that, he wanted to be with Christ and not
with denominations. He was baptized in the near river that we cross.
May 6 – we traveled
back to Tuguegarao where it took us 12 hours on our trip.
May 7 (Lord’s day service at Tuguegarao)
I taught in
our bible study about “What’s on your mind?” and in the sermon, brother Jerome
preached “The Church of Christ”.
In the
afternoon, at Palca, I preached to them about “Moses and the rock”. I discussed
to them what are the lessons we can learn from the story of Moses and the
reason why he didn’t enter the Promised Land. After the service, I went to
visit sister Valentina Mabborang, who is 84 years old and is sick with
pneumonia. We prayed in their house and also give her encouragements through
the scripture.
May 10 (Midweek bible study at Tuguegarao)
We continued
on our study on Philippians, now on the 2nd chapter with the help of
brother Rody.
May 11 (Gospel preaching at Casabang, Tabuk)
Again, on a
short notice, we went to the invitation of brother Warren Cadater to preach
with our brethren at Casabang. There is a congregation before in this place but
when the preacher left them, the members also stop. But now, with the help of
brother Warren and also brother Ben Vistro, they are reviving the church.
Brother Ben and brother Virgilio led our singing and brother Jerome led the
prayer. Brother Jay was the first speaker and he preached about “Savation”, I
preached second, with my topic “The things we need to remember” then lastly,
brother Rody preached about “Holy Bible”. We sung the invitation song where two
came in front to confess their faith, but when asked, the older lady said, she
was already baptized before and so we just advice her that when she became
unfaithful before, she just needed to repent of her sins. But the younger lady
was baptized in the near river.
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