Last Lord's day (December 9) was a wonderful time of celebration for the work at Navy Base Christian Fellowship. They celebrated 32 years of God's faithfulness to them. It was a great time of remembrance of our Lord, followed by singing and praise to the Lord for His goodness and faithfulness. Then one of the elders shared the history of the Lord's work among them. He spoke of Ken and Marylou Engle whom the Lord used to begin the work, then of Cyril and Anna Brooks who continued it on, then of Ken Brooks and others who came behind to teach and help in the work. What a wonderful testimony of faithfulness to the Lord that these servants of the Lord demonstrated to the saints in His work here in Baguio. Then Dave Harvey gave a stirring message regarding the responsibility of the assembly to live lives that are pure and given over to the Savior. That "we are not our own, but we have been bought with a price. Therefore (we are to) glorify God in your bodies..." This was followed by a delicious dinner and an afternoon concert put on by the young people of the assembly. It was a long day, but a delightful time.
This coming Sunday I will be speaking for the first time down in Baguio Gold, for their anniversary. We pray that this will be the first of many opportunities to share the Word with them. Please be praying the same for us. Please pray that the Lord would use me in some small way to encourage the saints there this coming week, and that the Lord would open up doors for me to continue to share the word with them.
It appears that the rainy season is finally, completely over. It seemed to linger on a bit longer this year. With the drying season now upon us, Lord willing, we plan on taking our first trip up to Sagada at the end of January. We will be heading down to Manila the first week, to have some repairs done on the truck, and for a visit with the saints there, then the third week we will begin the bible school sessions at the assembly, then the last week we will head up the hill and scout things out. Please keep these things in your prayers.
Continue to pray for Winie, Josie and the family. Winie hit a 5 year old child with his car while doing visitation in the neighborhood and the child has been in the hospital for about a month now. He is improving but has needed two operations! All the burden falls on this poor family who have given themselvesto the work of the Lord full time at the assembly for the past several years. Winie has been visiting the child in the hospital, and has had several opportunities to share the gospel with them. Pray for Salvation to come to this family, and pray for the Lord's provision for the Mata family.
We have a fund set up that helps the poor with medical needs and for situations like this. We are so thankful to those who have sent along funds specifically to help the poor, the Lord is making good use of them to encourage His people here on a regular basis. It is helping those with ongoing medical needs, such as diabetes and those who simply would never go to a doctor because of lack of funds. It has been used to purchase medicines and help purchase food. It is all channeled through the local assembly. Please pray that the Lord would give us wisdom in the use of these funds, for His glory.
Thank you all for praying. Have a wonderful time remembering the birth of the Savior. So often the world will say..."Christmas is in the heart" And for us that is such a reality. For Christ...IS indeed in our hearts 365 days of the year. What a Wonderful Savior!!
