Preaching Activities in the month of November 2020

 November 1 (Sunday Worship at Three congregations)

It is the first Sunday and the first day of the month and it is the best way to start everything by worshipping the Almighty God who gives us all the blessings. The pandemic problem on this day is slowly slipping away and I am happy that none of my family and our brethren are infected by it. Our attendance is still below average. Brother Jerome preached the sermon during this time and he shared to us the lesson "What does it mean to become a Christian?". He posted the sermon on youtube and here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lyahTz16FUA&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR0EVEXwR3Ec2D3t3oEDvoHU1Ndfz3bRp191pAjiAUPrKC8YfaVdubD-a_o

In the afternoon, I preached the lesson "Too much of a good thing" on both places, Palca and Dagupan. I didn't have any pictures taken because my phone battery died.

November 2 (e-bible study)

I called this one e-bible study because we are having the study through facebook messenger and sometimes through phone call or text message. I have in communication with the Tabbu Family (Clarita, Gail and John Mark). They have been attending our worship at Dagupan for several weeks. Not every Sunday, but on times they are there. They've been going to the near village, Naruangan, sometimes and that's the time they cannot attend. Clarita is the grandmother of the two kids. I am happy to be sharing with them even though it is only through phone. It is difficult but nothing is impossible when the gospel is preach. 

November 4 (Midweek service)

We still have our bible study at the house of brother Rody because we are still waiting for the next announcement regarding the protocols. We studied Acts 27 with our whole family. 

November 6 (e-bible study)

I have another phone bible study with an old lady at Dagupan. She is Mrs. Felisa Abad. She is already at her late 60's and it is even more difficult to communicate with her because of her hearing problems. She is a first time visitor in Dagupan the last Sunday and I got her number. I prefer doing this kind of work until maybe everything is back to normal. But if given the chance to have the face-to-face study, I'd be willing to do it every week once again just like before. 

November 8 (Sunday worship at three different places)

In our worship here at Tuguegarao, brother Rody preached to us in the sermon about "The promises and fulfillment of God's eternal plan". I only took the picture of the live streaming we did on facebook. If I am not scheduled to preach, I am the one who is taking care of those who are coming in, to guide them to their seats, taking their temperature and other things to follow the city's protocols regarding covid.

In the afternoon, I preached in Palca and Dagupan, "Some things God can't do/will not do". The weather is getting colder but thankfully, no on is sick. Our previous visitors are not with us this time. 

November 11 (Midweek bible study at Tuguegarao)

Finally, we are again allowed to have the gathering every Wednesday night. Aside from our family, only a few brethren came. It is hard to come because there are only small number of public passenger vehicles allowed to go out. We continue with our study on the book of Acts and we are already in the last chapter(28).

November 13 (Flood)

I do not believe in the myth of Friday the 13th as a bad luck. It just so happen that twice this year that the 13th day landed on Friday, something bad happened here in our country. March 13th, it was announced that the whole country will have the lockdown and November 13th, even though we do not have any typhoon signal, but the worst flood happened here in Tuguegarao. In my 35 years of existence in this world, this is my first time experiencing this kind of flood in my hometown. The entire city is under water but thankfully on our village, it didn't reach our house. Unfortunately, many of our brethren's house are under water. They needed to evacuate for their safety. There are those who died according to the news because of electrocution and drowning but none is our brethren. 

November 15 (Sunday worship at Three congregations)

The whole region is not flooded but the effect hits everyone. We do not have any electricity and brethren cannot come because there are still many areas flooded and un-passable. I am the one scheduled this time to preach. I entitled the lesson "Friday the 13th", but it is from the example of Job having the worst day of his life that even though this happened to him, he still manages to keep his strong faith to God.

I also preached the same lesson is Palca and Dagupan. They also do not have electricity and all the phones are dead. Some didn't come because they thought there are still flooded area that I cannot pass. Thankfully, we still enjoy worshipping God together and thank Him for protecting us from all the dangers.

November 16 (Distribution of relief goods to brethren)

Funds have been sent to brother Rody and our entire family help together to pack the items and distributed to our brethren. On our first day, we went to the families of Delos Santos, Panopio, Bangi, Guiyab, Maramag, Jose, Asistores and Piloca. We should also be going to the house of sister Marvita Ortaleza but the road is still flooded and we cannot pass. My wife and I are the frontliners in the distribution because we are the one who are ahead of everyone of them using our motorbike. We first go to one house and if the family/brethren are there, we will call them to come. When they arrived, that's the time we leave them and go to the next destination.

November 18 (second distribution)

The second part of the distribution was made here in Tuguegarao. Only three of us man came and the other are ladies that's why we are the once who carried the bags of rice and grocery items to the houses of our brethren. Brother Rody's camera have all the pictures, I didn't have the time to took mine because of the works I did. He may have sent you also his reports regarding this one. We distributed to the families of Mabatan, Battad, Nalog, Allapitan, Ignacio, Quines, Constantino and Darauay.

In the evening, we had our midweek service. We studied Romans 1:1-7. There are some brethren who already came. Thankfully, even though we are all tired, it didn't hinder us to study the words of God.

November 20 (distribution to others)

I do not know if I need to include this in my report. I helped my mother distributed relief goods to our relatives in the town of Alcala. Her friend from London sent money to her and that's the one we used for the distribution. Brother Rody, Jerome, Jay and me are all planning to start a new work in that area last March, unfortunately, the pandemic came and it never push through. We are praying that one of this days, we can already do it. I really want to have a congregation there, whoever the preacher is, because I have many relatives in that area.

November 22 (Sunday worship in three congregations)

After the flood, it seems like the pandemic is gone. Many people are already roaming around the city, very bad traffic wherever you go and there are no more social distancing. In the church, we still followed the protocol. Most of our brethren here at Tuguegarao already attended. Maybe 15 or less are the only once who didn't come. I am happy to see them all. Brother Rody preached the lesson "Amazing Grace". 

In the afternoon, at Palca, I preached the lesson "Stop waiting in line". When we handed out relief goods, everyone needs to fall in line to receive one but on this lesson I shared, there are things we no longer need to fall in line like when we pray, when receiving blessings from God, when praising God, when we study the bible, when we obey the gospel and when we received salvation. We have new visitors coming from the near village of Villa Laida. They are the in-laws of sister Lorna. 

In Dagupan, I invited brother Rody to come and preached. All those whom I have bible studies through messenger and by phone all attended. Brother Rody preached "What unites the church?". Sister Carrie came to me before the worship and told me that 8 of those who came wanted to be baptized and so we had the invitation and they all came forward to confess their faith. Two of them are just 11 years old, but when ask why they want to be baptized, they answered straightforward and so we included them in baptism. We brought them to the baptistery at Palca. I asked the help of brother James to immerse them because I have trouble with my back and legs. This are the names of our new brethren in Christ (Felisa Abad, Lyka Basa, Clarita Tabbu, Maria Castro, John Mark Tabbu, Kc Lamusao, Clarence Victorio and Gail Tabbu).

November 23 (Distribution of relief in Palca and Dagupan)

We also distributed to our brethren at Palca and Dagupan coming from the funds given to brother Rody. For those who cannot come, we went to their houses.

November 24 (Ballesteros distribution)

We needed to travel 2 hours to reach the area. The congregation where brother Fidelfin Miranda is preaching also experienced the flooding. The surroundings of the chapel is flooded and so when we reach the place, they are filling sand around it. 

November 25 (Midweek service at Tuguegarao)

We continue to have our midweek service in the chapel. News broke out that those who were flooded and went to evacuation centers all have swab test and if their are many positive tests of covid, we will again have the lockdown. Thankfully, only 6 tests positive and we can continue with what we are doing. We studied Romans 1:8-17.

November 26 (Minagbag and Barucboc distribution)

We also went to the congregations of brother Jay Gumpad at Minagbag and brother Edgar Lingbawan in Barucboc. It is from another region and so we needed to pass many checkpoints. Thanks be to God because we are allowed to go there. In Barucboc, my heart melts when one sister suddenly cried when she got her bag of rice. She told us that the past three days, they do not have any rice. They cannot work because the rice fields are also flooded. She is thanking very much. We cannot do any of this without the help of our generous brethren. This might not cover much of what they needed, but I am sure, it is a big help for their needs. 

November 29 (Sunday worship at three congreations)

For the past 8 months, this is the first Sunday that the chapel is again full. The covid protocol slightly decreases and many can already come. We still need to follow social distancing, but our attendance cannot handle such. Brother Rody preached about "Collection/giving". 

In the afternoon, at Palca, I preached the lesson "Reminders from the book of Galatians". The family from Villa Laida came again and we have additional visitors who are Palca. Three of them are relatives of the Lamusao family.

In Dagupan, I also preached the same lesson. I am very happy of the growth in numbers in that area. Two years ago, there is a congregation here, but because of the decline of number in attendance, they decided to stop. Three of the faithful brethren from that area (Enzo, Gina and Teresita) came to join us in Palca. As months pass by, four from Dagupan were also baptized in Palca. During the time of pandemic, traveling is not allowed but I had the chance to go to them and preach. We divided the worship, one in Palca and one in Dagupan. We started in Dagupan with about 7 brethren and two non-christian. As we continue to have the worship there, three were baptized last August, one in September and 8 this November. We also have brethren who are coming back. This 29th of the month, 4 of them joined us and we also have five non-christians in attendance. 

When everything is back to normal, we are planning that they will no longer need to go back to Palca and join in the worship there. We will just re-established the congregation in the area because our attendance last Sunday is already 29. We are praying that the congregation will continue to grow both in numbers and most especially in the knowledge of the truth. I am praying that our new visitors will also obey the gospel soon. 

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.