Preaching activities for the month of March 2021

 March 3 (Midweek Service at Tuguegarao)

We are happy that during this time, we are able to gather with the brethren at the chapel. We continue to invite preachers from other congregations to share to us bible message every Wednesday. During that time, brother Jimmy Domingo was scheduled. He is the preacher at the growing congregation at Lanna Church. He shared to us the lesson on "Perilous Times". He also invited his whole family with him.

March 5 (Bible study at Dagupan Church)

We had finally decided that we will go back to our schedules on bible studies during weekdays on Palca and Dagupan. We cannot do it more than once every week because we still needed to follow some protocols. I have requested the brethren that we will have the schedules by switching places every week so that the authorities will not have anything against us. We started to have the bible study at Dagupan. As usual, we have good attendance and continuously growing number. Many of them are still not that knowledgeable about the bible because they came from the Catholic Church. I am happy that on their young age they decided to obey the gospel. Half of the brethren are aging from 12-25 and the other half from 40-65. We are on the  series in studying the book of Acts. I already started the first chapter and this time, I shared to them the second chapter. 

March 7 (Sunday worship at three congregations)

In the morning, here in Tuguegarao, our attendance goes up and down. Since the lighten protocols, the brethren are undecided whether to come or no because the number of cases for covid continue to increase. Sometimes we are about 110, but on other times, we are just 70. Brother Jerome preached to us a good lesson about "Rising above discouragements". A timely lesson because many are discourage of what is happening now in the world. 

In the afternoon, at Palca, I invited brother Mario Garma to help me in the work. He is one of the preachers at Sampaguita Church. I invited him because in Palca, he have many relatives and I am hoping that we can also invite them in the church. He preached in both places (Palca and Dagupan) and I did the rest. After the sermon at Palca, two precious souls obeyed the gospel. Victor Soriano had been joining us for worship for almost 3 months already while Geraldine Gaton is one of the students of my wife in their children's class, but since the start of the pandemic, she is joining us in our services. I am happy that she finally decided to obey the gospel. 

In Dagupan, after the sermon, three more young souls decided to obey the gospel. Only two came in front during the invitation but another one decided to join when we are leaving to go to the baptistery. Princess Fae Simangan, Raquel Casballedo and Gerald Narag had been with us on services for one month. They are all young from 13-15 years old.

March 10 (Midweek service at Tuguegarao)

We invited brother Efren Respicio this time. He is the preacher at Cadaanan Church. He shared a good lesson about "Humility". We have more than 50 attendance. 

March 12 (Bible study at Palca Church)

Second week of bible study on the book of Acts. We are at Palca this time. We also studied Acts 2. I invited brother Rody, Jison Agbuya and Jay. A few of the brethren cannot attend because they are at work. 

March 14 (Sunday worship at three congregations)

In Tuguegarao, one of our elders is scheduled to preach. Brother Flor Constantino shared a lesson about "New Normal". I think it is about 6 years since the last time he stand to preach. The elders decided that every month, we will all have our own week to preach. Brother Jerome is for the first week, brother Flor on the second week, I am on the third week and brother Rody will be on the last week.

In Palca and Dagupan Church, we continue to study the book of Acts. I preached in both places, Acts 3 about the lame man and the second sermon of Peter. We have two visitors at Palca and 6 in Dagupan.

March 17 (Midweek service at Tuguegarao)

Brother Victor Sinon is our invited teacher. He is a preacher at two congregations in the town of Tumauini. He brought with him 8 young people who are members in the congregation he is working. He shared to us "The teachings of Christ". It is difficult for them to come here in Tuguegarao because they are from the other region. Many checkpoints are on their way but thanks God they arrived and joined us.

March 19 (Bible study at Dagupan)

Our series on the book of Acts continuous. This time, with the help again of brother Rody, he taught Acts 4. Brother Jison Agbuya and Jun Gumuiran also joined us. I am happy that there are again new faces who joined us. Most of them are teenagers. I hope and pray that I can guide them to the right path. Teenagers nowadays do not have the desire to join church works but I am happy that in Dagupan, it is not the case. I continue to tell them to invite their friends and hopefully, one of this days, their parents or families also. This pandemic caused most of the adult to focus on looking for money because it is very difficult in their area to live and have a good financial life.

March 21 (Sunday worship at three congregations)

It's my turn to preach a sermon here in Tuguegarao. I made a lesson about the song "Where could I go?" It is the song we always sing in the sacred selections song book. The song have a wonderful message. We are already one year since the start of this pandemic here in our country. We tried to look for solutions in many ways we can think but in the end, we can only go to God for all the answers. 

I also preached the same lesson in Palca and Dagupan in the afternoon. We have again visitors from both places. I only have short time talking to them after the worship because I needed to rush and go to the next place. Lord willing, when this pandemic ends, we will decide on the best time for our worship so that we will have more chance to talk to the brethren. Please include in our prayers, our sister Grace Lamigo at Palca. She was diagnosed with cervical cancer but they are trying to look for second opinion from other doctors. We are praying that it will not be that cancerous. Their family is not financially blessed and it will be hard for them to buy her medicines of even have her operations. Please pray for her.

March 24 (Midweek service at Tuguegarao)

This will be the last time we have our midweek service this month. To this day of writing this blog (March 31), we are already under a very strict lockdown (ECQ). No one is allowed to go out again. We are thankful that we can have the time to have the bible study with brother Rogelio Esperance. He shared to us "The god's of Egypt".

March 25 and 26 (Cancelled activities)

I was invited by brother Sammy Paet to be one of the speakers at the lectureship in Baggao with the theme "How to study the bible" but unfortunately it was cancelled because of the tighten protocols and at the same time, electricity is out for the whole day. I had cancelled my bible study at Palca because I thought this will push through but unavoidable circumstances arose. 

March 27 (Sunday worship at three congregations)

In our worship at Tuguegarao, it was announced in the radio that we will have the lockdown the next two days but because of the heavy number of cases, many of our brethren did not come. Some of our brethren are also in quarantine because they are in contact with those infected by the virus. Brother Rody preached the sermon on "The church at Thyatira". 

In the afternoon, at Palca, I shared to them Acts 4, regarding the arrest of Peter and John. We still have our average attendance because the new protocols did not take effect yet. There are again brethren who are sick.

In Dagupan, I preached to them Acts 5. They are ahead on our study on the book because of the one cancelled day of bible study at Palca. After the sermon, one precious soul obeyed the gospel. She is Nicole Estanislao, a friend of Raquel Casballedo who is also baptized earlier of the month. She is with our services for three weeks already. She is 13 years young. 

Preaching activities for the month of February 2021

 February 3 (Midweek bible study)

As we continue to suffer the lockdown in the entire town, we didn't stop for doing what we know is right. We still had our bible study, but not the usual way where we are in the chapel. We were at brother Rody's house and only our family are in attendance. People are still not allowed to go out of their houses especially during night time where we usually held our midweek service. We studied Romans chapter 8.

February 7 (Sunday worship in three congregations)

The hard lockdown ends last February 3, but we are still under may protocols. Thank God that we are able to worship with the brethren at the three congregations where I am working. We first had our worship here in Tuguegarao in the morning where brother Jerome Forelo preached the sermon about "Blessed Assurance". After the sermon, the invitation of the Lord was extended and we are happy that three precious souls obeyed the gospel.

In the afternoon, at my first destination at Palca, I am very happy to see them all because of not being with them for the past two weeks due to the lockdown. I preached to them about "Ways to ruin your life". It's kinda negative if you think about the topic but it shows us a warning that we shouldn't follow this kinds of attitudes/ways that the world is doing.

After the worship at Palca, I needed to go immediately to Dagupan Church. I have only 5 minutes to do that because we needed to start at 3 p.m. We start the worship at Palca, 1:00 p.m. and usually ends 2:45 p.m. But sometimes I preached long enough that I forgot the time that's why I am rushing. I still needed to talk to the brethren before even going away to know their concerns. I am not leaving without speaking to them.

I also preached the same lesson at Dagupan. Many of them are not in attendance because of sickness. Sorry for not having enough pictures for this report, my phones battery easily dies that's why I needed to talk to one sister at Palca and a brother at Dagupan to take pictures of me for the next weeks.

February 10 (Midweek service at Tuguegarao)

Everything is fine now in our town except on some other areas around our region. Thankfully, we can already have our midweek service at the chapel. Our elders (brother Rody Gumpad and brother Florencio Constantino) decided that we invite other preachers to come and teach to us every Wednesday. For this evening, brother Robert Pader is our invited preacher. He preached about "Laborers in the vineyard". This is the first time also that we have a live streaming on our midweek service. Unfortunately, for some reason we do not know, the video was deleted by facebook.

February 12 (Home bible study)

We went to the house of brother Nelson Nalog because of his invitation that he also wanted his in-laws to hear the gospel. That's a very nice thing to do, showing that you don't want any of your family to be lost in hell but to have salvation. Brother Rody, sister Tessie and I went to their house. Many questions are raised by her mother-in-law because she is a school teacher and also teaching religious subjects.

February 14 (Worship service at three congregations)

In our worship here at Tuguegarao, brother Rody preached to us about "The church at Smyrna". He will be teaching to us the seven churches in Asia every time he is scheduled on Sundays. Our attendance is slowly getting back to normal. We just needed to follow a few protocols. I continue to work with our live streamings. It is still not perfect until this time because the internet in the chapel is weak and our gadgets still needs upgrades. 

In the afternoon at Palca, I preached to them about "Let us not depart from the Living God". We have 6 visitors with us and one of them is an ex-chieftain of the other village. He is around 70 years old already and he just walks about one kilometer just to join us in worship. I gave him a bible after the worship. We are all praying that he will obey the gospel soon. I offered him a ride back to his house but he insist on walking. His reason is, he is already getting older and he needed to exercise his joints. The thing I am worried is, the temperature is about 104 degrees fahrenheit and he might get a heat stroke. 

In Dagupan, valentines day is the scene in the worship. Many of our brethren wear red shirts. I even tease them that they are already ready on their dates after the worship. I also preached to them the same lesson of "Let us not depart from the living God'. There are still some who are not with us because of sickness. Thankfully, not of them have covid.

February 17 (Midweek service at Tuguegarao)

We again have an invited preacher and this time it is brother Robert Rances, the local preacher at the congregation in Lingu, Solana. He is also a member and an elder of the church here in Tuguegarao about 5 years ago, but he left and concentrated on the work in his hometown. He preached about "John 14:1-3".

February 19 (Service at the wake of brother Rolando Agpoon)

We visited the wake of brother Rolando Agpoon. He is one of the first preachers who started the work in the town of Kalinga. One of his fellow worker brother Virgilio Bocarile also died last March 2020 just three days when the lockdown started in the whole country. We didn't have the chance to visit him that time. This time, we wanted to make sure that we visited our fellow worker before he will be brought to his final resting place. He mentored many young preachers and are not working well in the Lord's vineyard. It is sad to loss someone who did a lot for the Lord's work but behind that, he is now in the place where the faithful saints are waiting for the Lord's return, in paradise. We had a service and prayer with his family.

February 21 (worship at three congregations)

This is the day that I needed to preach three times. I am scheduled by our elder to preach here at Tuguegarao in the morning. The easy part is that, I can preach the same lesson. The hard part is, I am almost out of breathe in the last place I preached. 

I first preached here in Tuguegarao in the morning. While preaching, I also needed to monitor our live streaming because I am the only one left to do it every Sunday. Brother Jay already choose to be with his congregation at Minagbag in the morning. No other else can do it except me. I preached about "King Ahaziah". 

In the afternoon, at Palca, I also preached the same lesson. Sister Nicole who is the one taking pictures of me when preaching is out of town because of work and I only noticed she was not in attendance when we finished the worship. We continue to have our visitors and I have a little conversation with them before I left.

In Dagupan, the same lesson was preached. Our brethren at back from their sicknesses and some of them also came back from other town. We also have a visitor and I am happy that she is very interested to listen. Upon writing this blog, she already attended two in a row and hoping that she will also decide soon to obey the gospel.

February 24 (midweek service at Tuguegarao)

Our bible study is again headed by preacher from other congregation. We invited brother Dennis Yuson, the preacher at Aquib Church. He shared a very good lesson about "What were the cities of refuge on the old testament?". 

February 27 (Gospel Meeting/lectureship at Nangalinan, Baggao)

In a short notice, brother Sammy Paet invited us to join them in the lectureship at the congregation of his father, brother Virgilio Paet Sr. They asked the three of us (Jerome Forelo, Dennis Yuson and I) to discuss the entire book of Acts. It was a short notice that we needed to rush our outlines. Thankfully, I've been preaching this book for so many times that's why it is not that hard to do. When we are entering the town of Baggao, we are stopped in the checkpoint. They do not want us to enter the town because we do not have any travel pass. Only that Friday that they imposed new protocols in the area that's why we didn;t know. We stayed in the checkpoint for almost 30 minutes and by contacting brother Sammy, he went to the village chieftain to ask for permission. Thankfully, God is so good that they allowed us to continue with our travel. We still needed to travel at least an hour to reach the destination. We already loss a lot of time that's why we needed to make adjustments with the lecture. I shared to them "Acts 1-5", brother Dennis shared "Acts 6-15" and brother Jerome shared "Acts 16-28". With all the hindrances Satan did, we still successfully finished our lecture. Satan cannot do anything if we have God on our side.

February 28 (Sunday worship at Three congregations)

In our worship here at Tuguegarao, brother Rody continue with his lesson on the series of the churches in Asia. This time he shared to us "The church at Pergamos". I post a picture here a screenshot of our livestream. It still need a lot of improvements.

In Palca, I am happy to see the family of sister Jonalyn Uton back with their new baby. One month after her delivery, they went to the town of Enrile where his husband is from and after four months, they came back. They worship with the brethren at Alibago church in Enrile during their stay there. 

With the previous lectureship I attended, I decided that I will start again to teach the book of Acts. We will do this every time we have to gather. This coming March, we have decided that every Friday, we will have the bible study. First Friday of March, I will be teaching in Dagupan, 2nd week will be at Palca, third week will be back to Dagupan and fourth week, we are still unable to decide because there is a previous invitation for a Gospel Meeting for me. If that will push through, I will attend the meeting, but if not, we will have the bible study at Palca.

For this Sunday, I preached the first chapter of the book of Acts in both congregations. I can see that they are very interested especially the new converts because they haven't heard the full content about it yet. Hopefully, they will learn more from our study and for our visitors to learn that there is only one church that we needed to join, and that is the church that we can read in the book of Acts.