Pray for the Philippines

December 30, 2011 Pictures

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Update - Dec 30, 2011

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Greetings once again, to you all, in the precious name of our Redeemer;

Happy New Year to you! Perhaps this coming year we will hear the shout and be caught up to meet the Lord in the air. But while we wait to hear His sweet voice may we be about His business for His glory.

It is hard to believe that another year is about to close. It has been a challenging year in many respects, but also a another year in which the Lord has blessed and encouraged our souls. This time last year we were anticipating our trip to Korea to minister to the saints there. What a blessing that was. It was a year full year of conferences, home bible studies, speaking engagements, and bible school sessions. I just pray that the Lord will used His word in the hearts of those who heard, and that genuine change for good will be the lasting result.

This week I was given the privilege to speak at a youth conference here in Baguio hosted by the Navy Base assembly. Eighty five young people along with several elders and workers from assemblies in the North were in attendance. It was a lively group of young people and we enjoyed hearing their special numbers and presentations. I spoke on the theme of “Looking unto Jesus”. They were such an attentive group and I very much enjoyed sharing with them a few thoughts out of Hebrews 12. I trust the Lord will use it for the encouragement and challenge of these young disciples of Christ. The message was followed by a nice meal and then fun and games in the afternoon I am told by the time the conference was over it was like no one wanted to go home. Such a blessing.

On Christmas day I spoke at the Navy Base assembly. We met to remember the Lord, and then went straight into the preaching time after a few songs. I was a nice way to remember the “Word which became flesh and dwelt amongst us”. It is wonderful to remember that He still dwells in our midst.

The week before the assembly at Navy Base celebrated their 36^th year in the building they now occupy. That was a wonderful time of celebration of the faithfulness of God. The youth choir sang, the children performed special numbers and the adult choir sang the Hallelujah chorus and did a wonderful job. Then we all enjoyed a meal together and in the afternoon met together once more for a time of singing praise unto our Lord. A truly blessed day.

This week I will be speaking at the Anniversary Sunday down in Baguio Gold. I plan, Lord wiling, to share some thoughts on the Faithfulness of our God, out of Lamentations 3. This will begin a short series on that subject for the two Sundays a month that I speak down there. Then next Lord’s Day we will begin that last semester of bible school classes on Ecclesiology there as well. Once that is complete we will begin all over again with a new series of bible school lessons on Eschatology, beginning Lord willing sometime in February at Navy Base. So please keep these things in your prayers.

May the Lord richly bless you in the coming year. May He comfort and encourage us all through struggles that will come, may He cause our heart to soar with delight at gems discovered in His precious word, may He teach us and train us in righteousness, may He discipline us when it is necessary, and may we by this time next year have experienced real growth in our walk and relationship with Him.

Update - November 30, 2011

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Greetings to you all once again in the precious and peerless name of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has “…ascended on high (and) led captivity captive and gave gifts to men”. What a gracious victorious Savior we serve.

We completed the last local Bible School semester at Navy Base, a couple of weeks ago, on the Church. It was a profitable series, for which we thank the Lord. Next we will begin a new series on Eschatology which will deal with issues of hermeneutics as well as future events. This new series of 40 hours of lessons will begin sometime in the new year, Lord willing. We still have a semester of Ecclesiology to teach down at Baguio Gold, which will begin in January. This has also produced some good fruit in the assembly there. It is such a blessing to see men and women following the written word with conviction in their hearts.

The weekly home bible studies are producing some long prayed for results as well, which gives us much to praise our Lord for. In two of the studies those in attendance are now in fellowship at the assembly at Navy Base. It is something we have been praying about for a long time. These daily evening studies are a blessing, many of them are evangelistic in nature, and the remainder of them seek to build up the saints. We are thankful for the opportunities the Lord has provided.

The women from the assembly at Navy Base enjoyed a women’s conference down in Malolos Bulucan last week. One of the women who attended was from one of the weekly bible studies. It was her first time to attend such a conference and she was blessed, as were the others. We are just so thankful to the Lord for the fruit that His Spirit is producing in the hearts of men and women. The men’s conference in Pangisanan is this coming Saturday and several of the men are planning on making the trip down. We pray it will be a profitable time.

Thank you all so much for your prayers. We believe in prayer. We believe that the results and fruit that we have been experiencing lately are a result of your prayers. May the Lord continue to bless you as you lift up His work here in Baguio.

Update - October 13, 2011

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Greetings to you all, once again, from Baguio City in the Cordillera Mountains of Central Luzon. I never tire of the beauty of the mountains here. Often times the clouds are drifting through the valleys or covering the peaks of the ranges and providing wonderful scenery wherever you look. It reminds me time and again of Psalm 121, “I will lift up my eyes to the mountains; From whence shall my help come? My help comes from the LORD, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip, He who keeps you will not slumber….” How wonderful to be reminded of His great faithfulness. We have experienced His faithfulness over and over, as you all have. It is wonderful to be able to lift up our eyes and call out to the LORD God Almighty and use the terms, Abba Father.
     This past month we made two trips down to Manila. Both were experiences we did not expect. Most of you know that we were called down to Immigration for a hearing on the extension of our visa. We travelled down the day before Typhoon Pedring crossed the Island of Luzon and dumped lots of rain which caused extensive flooding. Well in the midst of that we were driving down to Manila in order to keep our appointment at immigration. We got to within a half a block of Roxas Avenue on Manila Bay when the flooding became so great we had to turn our car around and begin to find another route to the other side of town. Each turn we made put us into deeper and deeper water, at some turns we could see people walking in water up to their waists. While navigating a road with water up over my wheels, we received a call saying that the government offices had closed. So we navigated our way back toward high ground. It was a good feeling to finally be able to see ground beneath my tires. The following day we had to once again return to Manila where we were ushered into the room of an immigration attorney who asked us several questions, among them “What are the four gospels?, and name eight of the twelve apostles”. I guess we passed the test, as our visa was approved. We are praying that we will be granted at least two more years.
     Following our interview at immigration we were able to travel home for a few days before heading back down to Manila once again to attend a CMPI retreat for expat missionaries. This is held down South of Manila. Between the time of our arrival home and our trip down another CAT 4 Typhoon passed directly over Baguio and dumped more rain. The drive down to Manila took us over some roads that were completely covered with water and flowing rapidly like a river. But the Lord brought us safely through. The drive from Manila to Laguna took us another five hours. But the time spent with our missionary colleagues, from Wednesday through Saturday, was a good time of fellowship and encouragement. We arrived back in Baguio on Monday morning of the following week and this time all the roads were clear.
      The home bible studies are continuing along quite well, for which we thank the Lord. The Go family really missed the study on the two weeks we were away. They said; “It was too long, we really missed not having you over to study God’s word”.   I taught the Tuesday study, the Wednesday study and will teach the Friday night study as well this week, which is about normal for me. This week I will speak only once on Sunday up at Mines View, it will be our last Sunday before beginning the bible school anew at the Navy Base Assembly.   So following this Lord’s Day we will have five consecutive Sunday afternoons of bible school. This will be the final semester for the assembly there as we finish up our study of the church.
       My preparations for Special Studies are coming along slowly. I will be teaching four sessions of two hours each on The Family in the Church. I am praying that it will be a good series of messages that will encourage the saints who are able to attend. I am also preparing for a youth conference that I will be speaking at in December. So lots to keep me busy.
      Thank you all so much for your prayers. I do enjoy hearing from you. When you have a chance drop me a line on FB or via email. It would be wonderful to hear from you and to know that you are praying.

August 29, 2011 Update

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Greetings to you all in the precious name of our Lord and Savior. I want to thank those of you who actually take the time to read through these updates and to pray for the Lord’s work here . We covet your prayers. Things at times can be discouraging and I believe it is your prayers that keep us focused on what things are of eternal value and what things are temporal and passing away. The scriptures never cease to amaze me. The portions that the Lord will use sometimes to encourage sometimes surprise us. Recently the Lord spoke to my heart out of Psalm 73. It was a good lesson to be reminded of. The closing verses say: “Whom have I in heave but thee? And besides thee, I desire nothing on earth….but as for me, the nearness of God is my good; I have made the Lord God my refuge…”

This past week a Category 5 super typhoon made a pass at the Philippines. It skirted the western edge of North Luzon, the main island, and then made land fall on the northern tip of the island. We experienced strong winds and heavy drenching rains here in Baguio and as a result flooding, landslides, and some road cuts. Electricity was out across the entire region for a while but was restored rather quickly. Some of the saints from the assemblies here experienced some flooding in their homes, and a landslide near- by one brought some mud inside, but over-all it was not as bad as it could have been and we are thankful. Some meetings and studies were cancelled as a result of the heavy rains so we hope to get things back on track this week.

The bible school classes down in Baguio Gold will resume again this Sunday. We began a couple of weeks ago, but the storm caused the cancelation of this weeks class. We are currently studying the roles of men and women in the New Testament assembly, then we will take up the ordinances of Baptism and the Lord’s Supper.

The next couple of month’s schedule is rather full. So please keep us in your prayers. With the weekly studies, Sunday speaking, bible school and preparation for upcoming events I find myself spending many hours in my office in preparation, which I enjoy so very much.

There are so many needs around us. Please be praying for the Lord’s provision. And thank you all once again for your prayers.

July 29 Update - Safely Back in Baguio

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We arrived back in the Philippines on Tuesday evening (July 26^th) and we travelled up to Baguio on Thursday morning. We were unaware, when we left Manila, that the typhoon that was tracking in the direction of the Visayan Islands veered north and came right across Baguio on Wednesday afternoon and evening. As we traveled up we were noticing a lot of flooding in the lowlands, and then there were several landslides and downed trees along Kennon Rd, the main road we travel up the mountain. But they were already actively clearing the roads and we had no delays. It is nice to be home, but we are very tired and in need of time to recuperate. For some reason we are not dealing with the jet lag as well this time as we normally do.

Our time at home was a very mixed bag of joyful occasions and very sad times. It was nice to be introduced to our new granddaughter Anna. Abby gave birth to Sharon Anna a few days before we arrived in Chicago so it was very nice to have almost three weeks with them all. Then we were all together for a few days in June for Rachel’s wedding. It was a beautiful time. The weather was perfect that day, after several days of rain. Even the morning of the wedding it was overcast and drizzly and it appeared as if it might be another rainy day. But in late morning it began to brighten, and by about one o’clock the sun was out, and it was a beautiful day, for which we thank the Lord. Our special thanks to Elaine Littlehales for putting us up for those weeks, even though we arrived a few days ahead of schedule and she was not expecting us for several more days. We enjoyed our time with her so very much.

The love of the saints is so overwhelming to us. One dear family rented a car for us to use the whole time we were in Connecticut, it was such a blessing!! Others had us over for meals and fellowship and we thank each of you. It was so nice to be able to visit with the saints at several assemblies in CT, thank you all so very much for the warmth of your love to Joyce and me.

Following the wedding we travelled down to Florida to visit with Joyce’s folks and enjoyed our time there. It was good to be with the saints at Hiawassa Bible Chapel once again. But our time was cut short by the sudden death of my cousin’s son. My cousin is also my best friend and has been for so many years, that we wanted to be there for him and his wife during this difficult time. We were able to change our tickets and travel up for the funeral services. Special thanks to Xavier and Elizabeth as well for taking us in and showing us such Christian hospitality, and for the use of their car for the whole time we were there.

It was hard to leave everyone behind again. Kim and Larry and the grandkids are on a year furlough so we will miss having them here in Manila this year. Abby and Daniel remain in the Chicago area for another year while Daniel works on his second masters program. Rachel and her husband Ian have purchased a house in Connecticut and will continue to live and work in that area. We will miss them all.

We should be back into our regular routine by next week, Lord willing. I have a CMPI board meeting scheduled for next Saturday so we will have to make the trip back down to Manila again next week. We will drive down on Friday and back on Saturday afternoon since I will be speaking here in Baguio on that Sunday. There are a few new bible studies that have started over the last couple of months, we are praying about where the Lord would use me in regards to these new studies. I have a full Sunday morning speaking schedule for the next several months and we will be seeking to finish up the bible schools on ecclesiology over the next couple of months as well, both at the Navy Base assembly and at the assembly in Baguio Gold. So please keep these things in your prayers.

It is evident to us that we must seek to replace our old car. It is a 1991 Mitsubishi Pejero (Montero) that has served us well these last few years. It has been a real work horse, but it is getting rather old and the maintenance is getting more and more frequent. And with the many trips we take we really need a vehicle that we can depend on. We have been reluctant to make any trips across the mountains to Sagada for this reason, and we do have to travel back and forth to Manila and to meetings in the lowlands and lately this has been a concern. We do not know what the Lord has in store, so please keep this in your prayers as well.

Thank you all so very much for all your prayers, they do mean so very much to us. We would love to hear from you as well. Just drop us a short note via our email address. It would be such an encouragement to us.

April 28, 2011 The Latest from Baguio

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“I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me”

A simple verse but one that take many experiences in life to fully appreciate. These last couple of months have been difficult ones in many ways. But the Lord has been our strength and He is teaching us that we can do all things through Him. Thank you all so very much for your prayers for I believe that they very often sustain us.

This past Lord’s day I had the opportunity to speak twice at an anniversary Sunday down in Balaybuayan, Pangisanan. Meetings began at 9 with breaking of bread followed immediately by the teaching time. I spoke on “Looking unto Jesus” in the morning session. Following lunch there were several special numbers sung by groups from the various assemblies in the area which were quite enjoyable. I spoke, a bit too long I fear, on 1 Corinthians 9:24-27 sharing the need to give up our rights for the sake of others and the gospel. I trust the Lord will use His word to encourage and challenge His people.

Last week I spoke down in Baguio Gold. It was nice to be able to visit them once again. The road was finally opened the week before, so it was good to be able to drive down once again. This coming Sunday I will speak there again before we head down to Manila. I was also able to finish the third semester of bible school at Navy Base last Lord’s day. Unfortunately I was unable to finish the entire course, so we will pick it up again in a few months.

The home bible studies were cancelled last week, due to Holy Week, with the exception of the one I teach on Tuesday nights. I am very much encouraged by this study as the family seems to be really appreciating the Word and enjoying the times together.

I had the privilege to speak again this year at a camp on Wednesday of this week. It is a Care Channel’s sponsored camp for young people. It was quite enjoyable to see all the young people singing and listening to the word of God taught. Then I shared a short devotional in the evening at the prayer meeting at Navy Base.

This coming Sunday we will have a baptism and assembly outing down at the Hiding Place on Marcos Highway, a resort owned and operated by one of the families from the assembly. It is always a good time of fellowship. Following the meetings on Sunday morning we will all drive down and spend the afternoon together.

Next Friday (May 6^th) Joyce and I will travel down to Manila to help Kim and Larry pack up their home for their up coming furlough. It is really hot in Manila this time of year. I was just checking yesterday and saw that it was 97 degrees, with a heat index of 107. Not looking forward to being in that heat, but looking forward to seeing the Keating family. On May 11^th we will travel home to the States for a brief visit. Our youngest daughter Abby is giving birth to their first sometime in early June, then our oldest Rachel, will be getting married on June 25^th. So it will be a busy but enjoyable time at home.

For those who have been praying, Maria’s home is in much better shape now than it was a few months ago. I think it is ready now to face the rainy season. We were able to replace all the roofing sheets with new corrugated metal sheets, and the inside floor has been cemented, so they are now off the dirt floor. We are currently seeking to put in a new “septic” and toilet area for the family since the other is not covered over an unusable.

Barney, the woman I wrote to you about from one of our Friday evening studies, has had the testing done that she needed and we are thankful to report that no surgery will be needed at this time. She is on meds to clear up an infection. Thank you for praying for her. The needs remain great in many families, but the Lord is faithful and is supplying according to His will and purpose and so we give Him thanks.

Thank you all so very much for taking the time to read these updates and for your prayers. They do mean so much to us.

March 26, 2011 Update

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“For whosoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in Him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear with out a preacher? And how shall they preach unless they are sent? As it is written “How beautiful are the feet of those who preach the gospel of peace. Who bring good tiding of good things!” But they have not all obeyed the gospel. For Isaiah says, “Lord who has believed our report?” So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” Rom 10:13-17

I am not certain of how beautiful our feet are but the gospel is being preached. Most of the home bible studies which are on going, at this point, are evangelistic in nature. The gospel is being proclaimed. Some hear and receive, some hear and reject, but nevertheless the gospel is being preached and in this we rejoice. Currently there are home studies on Tuesday-Saturday evenings, with some of those day having more than one, and now another one has been requested for Monday. So we would covet your prayers as the gospel goes forth that souls will be saved and brought into fellowship at the assembly.

This Sunday at Navy Base we will be having a singspiration. We have missed the last few singspirations due to commitments at the other assemblies, but this week we are free and will be able to attend. It is always a joy to sing praises to our wonderful Lord. And the voices at Navy Base are beautiful and the choir will probably have a number prepared to share, which will be a blessing.

The road down to Baguio Gold has been closed since last Saturday due to repairs. It will reopen on April 14^th, so I have been unable to get down to speak and will not be able to do so until the third Sunday of April. We had hoped to be begin the second semester of bible school with them before we head home to the States in May, but now it looks like we may have to delay that until we arrive back.

I spoke in Tarlac a few weeks back and very much enjoyed the time with the saints there. This work was started by Cyril Brooks back in the 60s and continues to bring honor and glory to our savior. Their new building is providing them an excellent venue for their meetings.

The last week of April I will be speaking down in Pangisanan at an anniversary Sunday. It will be nice to see the saints there again.

Next Lord’s Day we will finish up the third semester of bible school at Navy Base on the subject of ecclesiology.

We are heading home to the States on May 11^th. It will be a busy summer for us. Our daughter Abby will give birth to their first sometime in early June, and Rachel will be married on June 25^th. Following those wonderful events we plan, Lord willing, to visit with Joyce’s folks in Florida before returning to the Philippines in mid July.

Thank you all so very much for your prayers and support of the Lord’s work here in Baguio. It is such a blessing and a privilege to be here among so many wonderful believers.

Update - February 17, 2011

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Things here are going well for which we praise the Lord. I keep busy at my studies and preparations. Last week we began teaching the third “semester” of classes on Ecclesiology for the assembly at Navy Base. This week we began a two part lesson on Teaching in the local assembly. During the summer this past year someone very graciously gave me a video projector which I was able to put to good use. It is nice to have this new tool for teaching the word. It sure beats all my chicken scratching on white board. It ran so very smoothly, and I am thankful.

The home bible studies seem to be going well. Currently there are four bible studies on going in the old Navy Base just outside of the chapel neighborhood. This is encouraging as it is near by the chapel. One of the women from these studies is also now attending meetings on Sunday morning. Please pray that we would see fruit as well from the other studies. I have been teaching one of the Friday studies over the past couple of weeks and will likely continue to teach that one as the Lord allows. The others studies are being taught by local brethren.

This week I return to Baguio Gold to continue a series on 2 Timothy. We will be teaching twice in the morning. The work there continues to have some difficulties and would certainly appreciate your prayers. They are a wonderful group of saints but are in need of encouragement. Some more work has been done on Maria’s home and we are thankful for that. A new concrete floor has been poured and through the kindness of others we should be able to finish up the needed work this coming month. It is a humble home, but at least she and her children now have a roof over their heads.

This past week Joyce had a full body bone scan to check for any cancer in her bones as well as to seek to discover the source of some of the pain she has been experiencing. All the tests came back with good results for which we praise the Lord. No cancer was detected, just her arthritis which is from head to toe. But we were already aware of that and it came as no surprise. Her blood work was all perfect and the doctor was very pleased with the results of all her tests. I visited my cardiologist as well this week with similar results. All my blood work was good and my meds for my heart have been lowered once again. My heart sounded strong and without any irregularities for the third visit in a row. We are so very thankful. So it looks like we both have a few more miles left in us.

Thank you all so very much for all your prayers and support of the Lord’s work here. May the Lord richly bless you.

Korea Trip January 25, 2011

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Greetings to you all once again. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to read these short updates. It is such an encouragement to us to know that you are praying for the Lord’s work here among us. And as I view the sitemeter and see people visiting from all over the country and around the world it is such an encouragement. Special thanks to those who frequently have dropped us a short note of encouragement, it really does mean the world to us.

Our visit to Korea (Jan 6-18) was a wonderful, but busy time. I spoke fifteen times in twelve days, and there was never a dull moment as we shuffled between different assemblies and special breakfasts, lunches and dinners. We were treated with such kindness and warmth. The women’s conference went well, for which we thank the Lord. We trust that the words shared will continue to be an encouragement to those dear saints who attended. The location of the conference in the mountains of Southern South Korea was absolutely beautiful. It was quite cold for us since when we left the Philippines the temperatures were in the upper 80s and when we arrived in Korea the temperatures were in the single digits, a 70 degree difference. And there was snow!! Something we have not seen in several years. We stayed in different homes almost every night, and enjoyed the hospitality of the saints. Thank you to all my new Korean friends for all that you did for us. And a special thanks to brother Song who traveled with us and translated all the messages for me with the exception of one. It was good to get to know such a good servant of the Lord.

We arrived back in the Philippines late night on Tuesday the 18^th, and stayed in the Manila area until Friday the 21^st when we finally traveled home to Baguio. How nice it was to be home again. This past Lord’s day I spoke at Navy Base. This Wednesday night I will also speak there and Lord willing attend two bible studies on Friday. Then Sunday we will be down in Baguio Gold to speak at two meetings. We plan to begin the next session of Bible School at Navy Base on the second Sunday of February. Next week we will travel back down to Manila for a CMPI board meeting on Saturday the 5^th and will remain in Manila over the weekend, returning on Monday.

Last night a group from one of the assemblies in Pangisanan paid us a visit. It was nice to meet them. They are from the assembly where I taught at the men’s conference in early December. They came to invite me to speak in April at their anniversary Sunday, which I was happy to do.

Thank you all for all your prayers and support. May the Lord continue to bless you in your service for Him.

Korea Pics January 2011

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Happy New Year!! January 1, 2011

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Greetings to you all and Happy New Year! The Lord has faithfully brought us through another year, praise be to His name. The year was full of new challenges and blessings for which we give Him thanks. Thank you all for your prayers for us over the past year, they have sustained us and encouraged us.

Last month was a full month for which we give Him praise. Both Men’s Conferences went well and we trust the Lord will use His word to bless and challenge the lives of those men who were able to attend. At the conference in Pangisanan I was given the opportunity to speak for two hours in the morning and another two hours in the afternoon. At the conference in Bulucan I was the first speaker on Tuesday, so we drove down from Baguio in the early morning and back again in the afternoon. Larry Keating, my son in law, was able to join me for the trip which was nice. The anniversary celebrations at Navy Base, Dau, and Baguio Gold also went well. The celebration in Dau had about 300 or so in attendance and I spoke both in the morning and the afternoon. It was the 50^th anniversary of the work there, what a testimony to the faithfulness of our Savior. The celebration at Navy Base was such a blessing, as there were several special numbers and in the afternoon a cantata celebrating the birth of Christ. I spoke in the afternoon on “Making room for the Lord Jesus in our lives”. Last week we celebrated with the saints down in Baguio Gold. Our daughter Kim, her husband Larry, Larry’s mother Debbie and our grandkids were able to join us to remember our Lord and celebrate with the saints. We trust the words that were shared were an encouragement to all.

This coming Thursday, January 6^th Joyce and I will be heading to Korea for a women’s conference that I will be speaking at. It is quite cold in Korea this time of the year and I am sure we will be freezing. But I trust the fellowship of those dear saints will warm our hearts. We arrive on the 6^th and stay until the 18^th. Please keep these speaking engagements in your prayers.

Kim, Larry, Debbie and the grandkids were able to come up to Baguio for Christmas. It was a wonderful time. It was nice for them to escape the heat of Manila for a few days. Having family close by is such a blessing especially during the holidays.

The great holiday news for us was the engagement of our oldest daughter Rachel to Ian Merrit. Ian and Rachel met at work and began dating about a year ago. We are excited for the both of them and trust the Lord will bless and encourage them. A summer wedding is being planned.

Also our youngest daughter Abby and her husband Daniel are expecting an addition to their family in early June. We are so excited for the both of them.

May the Lord bless you in this new year. Perhaps this year we will hear a shout and be caught up together to meet the Lord in the air. Perhaps this will be the year of our home calling. Even so Come Lord Jesus.

Update - Dec 10, 2010

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“Through the LORD’s mercies we are not consumed. Because His compassions fail not. They are new every morning. Great is your faithfulness. The LORD is my portion says my soul. Therefore I hope in Him! The LORD is good those who wait for Him. To the soul who seeks Him. It is good that one should hope and wait quietly for the salvation of the LORD.” Lamentations 3:22-25

When we consider the background of these wonderfully inspiring verses we realize that all our struggles and discouragements are small compared to what the people of God were facing at that moment in time. And in the midst of all the struggle Jeremiah could look up and know that the LORD sees and knows. That He remains his “portion”. Each day we see the new wonders of the mercies he demonstrated for us on Calvary, each day we experience His grace yet again. Each day our souls experience His goodness. He is so very faithful. May we always remember to wait quietly for Him. May our souls always seek Him.

We had a very good men’s conference last Saturday, for which we thank the Lord. When I arrived on Saturday I was told that I would be speaking for two hours that morning from 10-12. When I finished I was asked if I could speak another two in the afternoon. The response to the messages was very good, so we thank the Lord for His guidance. The following day we were back down in Baguio Gold to speak both in the morning and to conduct the bible school in the afternoon. It was a wonderful weekend and very encouraging.

This weekend is the anniversary Sunday of the work the Lord began at Navy Base back in the 60s through Ken Engle. They have a special meeting planned for both the morning and the afternoon. The children have a program planned and we have a special speaker coming for the morning. In the afternoon several of the saints have been practicing for a cantata which is being used as an outreach to the neighborhood. Invitations are going out especially to those who attended the last medical, dental clinic at the chapel. Following the cantata I will be sharing a gospel message. Pray for the Lord’s blessing, and for the salvation of souls.

The following week I will be speaking twice in Dau Pampanga at their assembly anniversary. The on the 26^th I will be speaking at the anniversary Sunday down at Baguio Gold. On the 28^th I will head down to Malolos Bulucan to speak at the Men’s conference there. Then on January 6^th we leave for a couple of weeks of meetings in Seoul Korea. Please be praying. I have a lot of preparation to complete in the next couple of weeks. I will be speaking five times at the women’s conference in Korea, which I am very much looking forward to, and then at the various assemblies there as well.

Two Days Later

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Update November 9, 2010

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As some of you are aware from the last update, a dear saint from the Baguio Gold assembly lost her home a few weeks ago in a fire. All that she had was destroyed. Since then a small makeshift home has been constructed from the remnants of her old home. The old burnt metal sheet roofing has been used to construct a small one room house. The Lord has enabled us to purchase some building materials to supplement what has already been used. The roofing was leaking badly so we are going to be able to replace that. Plus, some of the inside is now being replaced as well, making a sleeping area for her and her seven children. We hope to have them back into this place by the end of the week. There is still much that needs to be done. If you would like more information or are willing and able to help this dear sister and her family please let me know.

Update, November 2, 2010

2010-11-01T18:50:00.000-07:00

Greetings to you all in the precious name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Today, November 2, Joyce and I are celebrating our 36^th wedding anniversary. What a wonderful blessing she has been to my life. Without her the ministry that we have carried on these past 23 years would not have been possible. She has been my constant source of encouragement.

This Friday we will head back down to Manila for a Saturday morning CMPI board meeting then turn around at noon on Saturday and head back to Baguio for a Bible Study on Saturday early evening and to teach on Sunday morning and afternoon down in Baguio Gold. We hope to, Lord willing, begin the next semester of Bible School there on Sunday afternoon, which will run for the next 5 Sunday afternoons. We will be continuing our study in ecclesiology this time focusing on the Spiritual Gifts and the Role of men and women in the local assembly. It should be a challenging few weeks.

Some of the weekly bible studies were canceled last week due to the holidays and some had traveled back to the province to be with family. We pray that things this week will get back to normal. I am trying to be good, and listen to my doctor, and not attend all the various studies as I once did, but to be more selective. Please pray that the Lord would give me guidance in this.

December will be a rather full month for us. I will be speaking at the men’s conference in Pangisanan on the 12^th, then at an church anniversary on the 19^th, and at the men’s conference in Malolos on the 28^th, my wife’s birthday. That added to the regular schedule of studies and Sunday morning teaching will keep us busy. We are praying that the Lord would give us a good and fruitful couple of months.

Our plans are to return to Sagada in January. We are still seeking the direction and leading of our Lord in this area. Please continue to pray with us.

Maria and her family are still without a place to live since their home burnt to the ground almost a month ago now. Please continue to keep this family in your prayers. Pray that the Lord would provide all that is needed in this situation so that this family can be settled once again.

Thank you all for your prayers.

October 1, 2010 Safely Back in Baguio

2010-10-02T17:18:00.000-07:00

Greetings to you all in the precious name of our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ, the Son of the Living God. How wonderful it is to be possessed by such a wonderful Savior.

We arrived back in Baguio yesterday, (Thursday) and it feels wonderful to be home after two months of travel. We very much enjoyed our time at home visiting with family and with the saints in different parts of the country, but there is really “no place like home”. We are looking forward to getting back into the swing of things and seeing the saints here once again. I am looking forward to teaching a home bible study again this week as well as speaking on the Lord’s Day.

October is going to be a busy month for us. In a couple of weeks we will head back down to Manila for the annual CMPI (Christian Missions in the Philippine Islands) retreat. We have missed this gathering for the last couple of years for various reasons and are looking forward to some time with other missionaries who are serving the Lord in various other location throughout the islands. Jim Fleming, who served the Lord for many years in Columbia, and is currently the Director of the Emmaus Correspondence work world wide, will be our speaker. He is also the father of our daughter Abby’s husband Daniel, so we are looking forward to spending some time together. Following the retreat Jim and Sharon will be traveling up to Baguio with us for a couple of days and then we return to Manila for the 60^th anniversary of the Emmaus Correspondence work in the Philippines, which will be celebrated at the Emmaus Bible Camp in Malolos. This work was started by Cyril Brooks back in 1950 and is the largest overseas Emmaus correspondence work in the world.

Following that we will be beginning our second semester of Bible School for the assembly down in Baguio Gold on ecclesiology, as well as the regular weekday bible studies and Sunday teaching.

Be praying for all the traveling we will be doing this next month. I will have the car in the shop over the course of the next couple of weeks to have several things repaired. Please pray that the work will be done well and that the car will be back in tip top shape for these coming months. We plan, Lord willing, another trip up to Sagada soon and need the car to be in good shape before we attempt that 6 plus hour trip across the Mountain Trail.

Ken Health Update June 12, 2010

2010-06-11T20:19:00.001-07:00

Health Update:

     Thank you all so very much for your prayers concerning my health over the past eight months. Yesterday I had a check up at my cardiologist and for the second month in a row I had a perfect EKG, perfect blood pressure, and my heart sounded strong with no irregularities in its rhythm. She changed my medications to a low maintenance program and scheduled a stress test for this morning. I passed the stress test this morning with flying colors. All was within the normal ranges for which we praise the Lord. She has canceled the need for an angiogram, angioplasty and any need for by-pass surgery. I am feeling great. I have been back to walking over an hour on most days, up and down the many hills at Camp John Hay, even doing a bit of jogging, with no ill effects. So once again I thank you all for your prayers. I have lost over 30 lbs and reached my goal weight last week. We had been praying since the beginning of this new adventure that the Lord would allow, if it was His will, for the meds to do the job so that we could avoid the cost of surgery or angioplasty, He seems to have graciously answered those prayers.

     The work is going well. This week I am teaching on Wednesday night in the book of 1 Peter, Saturday night on Propitiation, and three times on Sunday. Once on “Be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus…” from 2 Timothy 2. Once on Exodus 35, both down in Baguio Gold. And then once on the Ordinances of the church, at the bible school session at Navy Base. So we have been keeping busy with preparations.

      Kim, Larry and the grandkids are now visiting in the States for a few weeks. The end of the school year for them at Faith Academy was, as always, a hectic time. It was a bitter sweet time, as they had to say good bye to several seniors and yet it was good to have another year completed. They had to move into a new dorm before leaving for the summer, which added more stress to an already stressful time of the year. We are praying that they will have an enjoyable and restful time at home. We spent last week in Manila helping them with the transition.

      While in Manila the transmission on our car went. We were so very thankful to the Lord that it occurred while we were IN Manila and not on the roads coming down. We have had a surplus transmission installed and it seems to be working fine. The selector is messed up a bit, but the transmission itself seems to be working and shifting well.

       Thank you all once again for your prayers…The Lord is so very good and kind to us, to give us so many friends and family who pray for us. Thanks as well to those who have supported us, the Lord has used you over and again to meet the needs of not only us, but many of your brothers and sisters here.

In Christ Jesus our Lord,

Ken

Update, May 2, 2010

2010-05-02T18:40:00.001-07:00

Greeting once again to you all from Baguio City. We thank you all for your continued prayer and support of the Lord’s work here amongst us in Baguio and the surrounding areas.

This past Saturday we had a wonderful time at a resort being built by one of the brothers and his family down on Marcos Hwy, one of the main routes in and out of Baguio. The site is located in the mountains and is actually surrounded by mountains and affords beautiful views in all directions. This resort has been dedicated to the Lord and we were the first to be able to use it for our assembly outing. It was actually a combined outing this year with both assemblies, Baguio Gold and Navy Base. It was a wonderful time of fellowship and singing. In the morning we had a brief meeting which was followed by a baptism in which 12 young people were baptized. All those baptized were in their teens or above and there were six girls and six boys. Four were from the Navy Base assembly and eight from Baguio Gold. What a blessing!! Following the baptism we had a brief time of prayer to dedicate these young lives to the Lord. It truly was a blessed time. Then it was a time for swimming, lunch and relaxation. A few of us got together and began to sing…I enjoyed that time very much.

On Sunday this week I spoke down in Baguio Gold both in the morning and afternoon, and used three languages to communicate the Word. I am truly blessed to be able to spend time with those lovely saints. This week they asked if I would be willing to come down two times a month on Sundays to speak. We had already been thinking and praying about asking them if they would like us to come down an additional Sunday, so it was really a confirmation to our hearts when they asked. So beginning next month we plan, Lord willing, to spend both the first and third Sunday of each month with the saints down in Baguio Gold.

We have one more week of bible school to teach at Baguio Gold to end the first semester of classes with them. Then we will take a two or three week break from teaching the bible school classes and then begin the third semester with the folks at Navy Base. It really has been a joy for me to teach these classes, we pray that they have been a help and encouragement to the saints.

I was asked this week to speak later this month at a local Baptist church. So we will be speaking there on the 23rd of this month, please keep these things in your prayers as we prepare all the lessons for the bible studies and Sunday morning meetings. Please also continue to pray for the ongoing bible school sessions.

The school year is winding down at Faith Academy in Manila so Kim and Larry are very busy for the next several weeks. Please remember to pray for them as they finish out the year and have to say good bye to 7 of the boys who will be graduating this year from their dorm. Please continue to pray for them as well as they contemplate a move to a different dorm for next year. They will be moving from an off campus dorm to an on campus dorm and will be changing from an all boy’s dorm to a co-ed dorm. So there will be new challenges ahead for them.

Thank you all so much once again. It is through your kind prayers and support that we are enabled by our Lord to continue in our service here for Him. May the Lord richly bless you all and may you continue to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our wonderful savior.

May 3, 2010 Pics

2010-05-02T18:05:00.000-07:00

April 6, 2010 - Pics

2010-04-06T16:22:00.000-07:00

Easter Sunday morning we gathered together at the chapel at Navy Base for an Sunrise service, Breaking of Bread and breakfast. It was a sweet time of remembering the Lord and of fellowship. This was followed by the family bible hour.

Pics below as follows:

Mr and Mrs. Badilla, They were both in fellowship when the work began back in the 1960s

Ronald, Lean, and Joyce following Sunrise Service

Wini Mata, and Tatay and Nanay Badillia
Breakfast following Sunrise Service Easter Sunday morning
Breakfast, nice and hot.
Family from the bible study at Tip Top.
Jethro and Jairo Mata
Some of the Young People at the assembly
Zeny, such a blessing
Wonderful, sweet fellowship

Update - March 30, 2010

2010-03-30T08:49:00.000-07:00

He is risen!!!   What wonderful words to still proclaim.

Someone the other day said, “I think the symbol of Christianity should be the empty tomb” This coming week here in the Philippines men and women will be reenacting the story of the cross. Some will whip their backs until they are open bloody wounds. Others will carry crosses in long processions down the main streets of many towns and cities throughout the country. Some will even have themselves literally nailed to crosses. The words of the great hymn come to mind as I type. “Jehovah lifted up His rod, O Christ it fell on thee. Thou was’t sore stricken of thy God, there’s not one stroke for me. Thy blood beneath that rod has flowed. Thy bruising healeth me.”   He has done it all. Oh how we praise Him. So sad to see many who have been deceived and who are deceiving themselves into believing that somehow they can atone for their own sins. So the message of the gospel of grace still goes out to a lost world.

The work here in the mountains of Central Luzon is going along well. We continue to thank the Lord for His faithfulness. It seems to me, that so often I begin letters this way. It is wonderful to continue to experience His hand at work and to see His blessing in His work here.   This past Lord’s Day the worship time, as we remembered our Lord, went on for an hour and twenty minutes, and no one seemed to mind. One of the men of the assembly arose after the meeting and was so surprised that we had spent so much time…and he said; “That was a sweet time of worship.”   It was such a blessing. Several men shared and the lifting up of Christ was so very evident. We praise the Lord that when many are abandoning the worship time or changing it into a more “organized” time that the saints here still simply enjoy allowing the Spirit to lead and that the men are standing and participating. It is a blessing. We also have a new hymn book we are using for that time which contains just hymns of worship. So every song given out is exalting our Lord and His finished work. The men’s fellowship is still working through the book “Worship” by A.P. Gibbs, it also has been a blessing.

We recently finished the second “semester” of classes of mini Bible school at the assembly at Navy Base. We call them “semesters” for lack of a better word. Each “semester” runs for five consecutive Sunday afternoon, each lasting between one and a half to two hours.    In the first “semester” we covered the universal church, the local church, elders, deacons and the priesthood of all believers. In the second “semester” we covered spiritual gifts, and the role of men and women in the assembly of the Lord’s people. The third “semester” will be starting sometime in May, Lord willing.   Next week we will begin teaching the same course down in Baguio Gold, so we would appreciate your prayers.

The weekly home Bible studies continue to do well and are producing fruit for His glory. There are studies in homes each night of the week with the exception of Sunday and Monday evenings. Different men are taking up the responsibility for these various studies. I am currently teaching the Friday study down in Fatima, a small village about 20 minutes east of Baguio. Last week we had 13 out at the study which was an encouragement.

The men’s fellowship, ladies fellowship, couple’s fellowship and youth fellowship are meeting on Sunday afternoons on various Sundays throughout the month. We are much encouraged at what the Lord is doing in the lives of His people. The saints here are such a blessing to us. They love the Lord and it is so evident in their lives.

Many have asked regarding my health. I am doing much better, for which we thank the Lord. However, I will need to get some issues with my kidneys taken care of before any further treatment can be sought for my heart. We appreciate all who have been praying for us, and for your kind emails and words of encouragement.   Joyce continues to do well, and to date remains cancer free. Thanks to all of you who have prayed for her.

Update - Feb 27, 2010

2010-02-26T18:34:00.000-08:00

Once again I send you all our greetings from Baguio, which this past month has been celebrating Pangebenga, the flower festival. Today is the day of the big parade in town which will feature several floats made entirely of flowers. This also means that there are lots of tourists and visitors in town which makes getting around a bit more difficult.

Last Lord’s day we began the second semester of classes in Ecclesiology at the assembly at Navy Base. We had 11 out for the class, which is encouraging, and there are others who will be joining us this coming week. Currently we are studying Spiritual Gifts which often times sparks lots of questions. Our desire is to see the saints focused on what the gifts are and if they are exercising their gifts than to focus on the controversial gifts. But we will see how the Lord leads. Following the study on Spiritual Gifts we will look at the New Testament ministers, and those who serve the Lord on a full time basis to see what the scripture teaches concerning them.

Last week one of the former elders from the assembly in Baguio Gold was called home to be with the Lord. He had been sick with cancer for several years, so it came as no surprise. Although I personally did not know him well, he was a source of blessing to many over the years. I was disappointed that I was unable to attend the services for him, since they were down a steep set of stairs, which I am still unable to climb. We drove a group to the location, but after examining where the home was, I had to turn back. This is very discouraging to me, but I know the Lord has His purposes, and we will continue to trust in Him for our health issues.

The mid-week studies are continuing on. Wini, one of the elders at Navy Base, is teaching at the studies at Tip Top, and with the Reed Basket parents. Reed Basket is a pre-school program held at the chapel. Ronald has been teaching the study at Mines View, and I have been teaching the study at Fatima, and on Wednesday nights. Wini and Ronald have been sharing the study at a home in the former Navy Base compound. We still see fruit from these studies and so are encouraged. So please be praying for these dear brothers in Christ as they prepare and teach these classes.

The youth group had a good outing last Sunday afternoon up at Camp John Hay, the former US base here in Baguio. They enjoyed a good time of singing, and sharing and many were out so it was an encouraging time for those leading the group.

We had a lovely couple’s fellowship at our home a couple of weeks ago. We hosted a sit down, candle light dinner for the couples, which was preceded by a time of singing hymns and followed by a time of sharing from the word as we sat around the table. It was a nice relaxing and enjoyable time of fellowship. The couple’s fellowship will be attempting to meet every couple of months. Next time we will be beginning a study in marriage with them, so you can keep this in your prayers as well.

Many of you have inquired about my health. The result of the heart monitor I had to wear for 24 hours was not good. So my cardiologist wants to schedule an angiogram to find out exactly where the blockages are, and then follow that up with angioplasty as needed. The only problem is that in order to do the angiogram I had to have my kidneys tested. I had an ultrasound and blood work done both on my kidneys and liver a couple of weeks ago. The results were not good. I have two rather large stones and my Creatinin levels are high. So the cardiologist said that if she did an angiogram on me now I would have immediate renal failure. So now I am going to a urologist. He has prescribed some meds to take to try and soften or dissolve the stones which may be the reason for the high levels of Creatinin in my kidneys. On the bright side, my liver was good, which is important because the meds I need to continue to take for my heart can have an adverse effect on my liver, which does not seem to be the case at this point. Thank you all for your prayers. It has been an eventful month and your prayers carry us through. We are looking to the Lord for all of these things trusting Him for His care and will to be done.

Again thank you all so very much for your prayers and support of the Lord’s work here in the mountains of Central Luzon. It would be nice to hear from a few of you, just to know that you are reading the updates and are praying. That would certainly be an encouragement to us.

Update January 28, 2010

2010-01-28T19:30:00.000-08:00

Greetings to you all in the matchless, peerless name, of our wonderful Savior, who provided for us the propitiation for our sins. Now we can approach our Holy God without fear and know that we will always be accepted there because of the propitiation that our Lord Jesus Christ has provided for us.

We finally finished up the final session of bible school for the saints down in Baguio Gold this past Sunday. I was there for three messages this past Sunday. We looked at Exodus chapter 20 and the law, fear and access, in the early morning. Then we shared on 2 Tim 1:13 in the late morning, finishing up with the bible school session on Heb. 12-13 in the mid afternoon. Needless to say I was a bit tired by Sunday evening.

The mid week studies continue to go well. This past Wednesday night we continued in our series on 1 Peter with a reminder to continue to “Gird up the loans of our mind”, and the need to always be prepared. Then on Friday we continued in James and were reminded by the scripture of the sin of favoritism in the local assembly, as well as loving our neighbor as ourselves. The other studies are also moving along well, and we are encouraged.

We will be beginning the next semester of classes on Ecclesiology at Navy Base in a couple of weeks. We had planned to start on the 7th of February but we have encountered a couple of schedule conflicts. On the 7th we will be having our men’s fellowship, women’s fellowship and youth fellowship all at the same time at the chapel. This is something new we are trying with the hope that more will be able to attend. Then on the 14th Joyce and I are hosting a Valentines couples dinner at our house with the couple’s fellowship.

I had my last check-up with my cardiologist on Monday. She has cancelled the stress test that was planned for Saturday instead I will be wearing a holter monitor for 24 hours to check other irregularities that she is noticing with my heart. So please keep these things in your prayers, I so want to have the restrictions, I am under, lifted. But it looks like they will stay in place for the present.

Again, thank you all for your prayers and support of our Lord’s work here in the mountains of Central Luzon. If all things work out, we are planning to take another trip up to Sagada in February or March. Much of this decision rests on being sure the car is in tip top shape for hitting those mountain roads without breaking down in some isolated area.

Update for Jan 8, 2010

2010-01-07T15:23:00.000-08:00

The hectic holiday season is over and we are getting settled back into the regular routine once again. We did enjoy a rather relaxing time in Manila with family over Christmas and into the New Year. The Philippines celebrates the New Year with massive amounts of fireworks. From our perch above the city, at the dorm Kim and Larry live in, we could see all the firework displays simultaneously. It was quite a show, everywhere you looked across the entire city of Manila there were fireworks. But being high above it all we faced little of the noise and breathed little of the smoke, which was a blessing.

While in the Manila area I had the opportunity to speak at the assembly in Antipolo, Rizal. The saints there are a wonderful group of believers, always so happy to have you come and share the word with them. This week, back in Baguio, I am back to the regular schedule of meetings and studies. I taught at the Study on Wednesday night, continuing a series in 1 Peter. Friday I will continue to teach the book of James at the home bible study in Fatima, Saturday morning we will have our Men’s early morning fellowship at the chapel beginning at 6 AM. We are continuing our study of Worship, using A.P. Gibbs book “Worship The Christians Highest Occupation.” It continues to be a source of encouragement and challenge. Sunday I will be continuing the mini bible school sessions down in Baguio Gold. Then in a couple of weeks we will begin the next “semester” of classes at Navy Base on the Church. So things are back in full swing again.

It is only a couple more weeks now until my next series of tests on my heart. Please continue to pray that the meds I have been taking now for almost three months, will have the desired effect and that some of the restrictions I am currently under can be lifted so that I can return to the other weekly studies.

Thank you all once again for your continued prayers for us and the Lord’s work here in Baguio. May the Lord richly bless you in this new year. Perhaps this year we will be caught up to meet Him in the air and be always with the Lord. But until that day may we continue to be active in our service for Him.

Update December 8, 2009

2009-12-09T05:22:00.000-08:00

Greetings to you all in the precious name of our wonderful Savior, who came into this sin cursed world to save us. What a wonderful time of the year. It is always such a blessing to our hearts to remember the Grace of God that brings salvation.

I am sorry it has been so long since my last update. When I checked it yesterday I could not believe it had been a month since my last note. Things here are going well. I am still on several restrictions due to my heart problems but have been able to still carry on teaching at a couple of the studies. The Friday afternoon study in Fatima does not require me to do any stairs and so I am able to continue to teach that as well as the Wednesday night study at the chapel. The Fatima study sees different ones in attendance each week. There are the regulars who host the study then there are always new faces that have an opportunity to hear the word taught. We pray that this study will continue to bear fruit for His glory.

I taught down in Baguio Gold again this week on Sunday morning, but due to a joint Women’s Fellowship we postponed the next bible school class until this coming Sunday. This Sunday is also the 34th anniversary of the Navy Base Chapel at its present location. The meeting itself was actually started in 1968, by Ken and MaryLou Engle, but moved to its current location in 1975. I will be speaking at the anniversary meeting on the Faithfulness of God, which will be followed by a special celebration and dinner at the chapel. Then in the afternoon we will head down to Baguio Gold to teach the bible school. The following week Baguio Gold will be celebrating their anniversary and I have been invited to speak there as well in the morning, and will have the bible school as well in the afternoon. So we have a couple of busy weekends coming up.

I went to my cardiologist this past Monday and had my first normal EKG in a while. It appears that the meds are beginning to work so please keep praying. I will remain under the same restrictions until my next stress test in late January. It is our prayer that the meds will continue to have the desired effect, and that no surgery will be needed at this time. So we would covet your prayers as well.

Our Ilokano lessons continue. It appears that we are beginning to make some progress as I am able to use more and more of it among people in town and in the market etc. We still have a long way to go, but it is always nice and comforting to know that progress is being made. I still am using three languages as I teach down in Baguio Gold and that is a challenge. Thank you for all your prayers.

Lord willing, we will make our next trip to Sagada in February. This will depend on whether or not the doctor lifts certain restrictions I have on travel. So keep that in prayer as well.

Update Nov 4, 2009

2009-11-03T22:37:00.000-08:00

Greeting to you all. These last couple of days have been absolutely beautiful. The sun is out and the sky is a wonderful blue and it appears as if the rainy season is finally coming to an end. Not to say we will not still have the potential for storms, but if appears that the rainy season has closed for another year.

I am feeling so much better these last couple of days and have been sleeping well once again. I had a few bad days due to the side effects of one of the new meds I was put on, now that I am off it and on different drug my body has adjusted and I am feeling fine. We will continue this course of medicines for two months to see if they will produce the desired results. It is, of course, our prayer that they will. If not, and certainly the Lord already knows the answer to that question, then we will be forced to pursue some other procedures to deal with the heart problems I have been experiencing. Thank you for your prayers I am feeling so much better.

I am resuming this week some of the studies that I have been teaching. I was able to teach this past Sunday and will be teaching on Wednesday night and Friday afternoon down in Fatima. All of these studies require no climbing of stairs or steep hills. I can just park the car and walk in. After two weeks of little to no activity it really feels good to be back teaching again.

The last typhoon that was pointing right at us moved south and even missed Manila as the eye crossed about 60 kilometers south of the city. They still had some strong winds and rain and some flooding, but it was not as bad as it could have been.

Joyce and I celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary this past Monday. The Lord sure blessed me when he put that wonderful woman into my life.

Thank you all once again for your prayers. Lots to look forward to in the next months…we are excited about what the Lord has in store for us.

Tues Oct 27, 2009

2009-10-27T08:38:00.000-07:00

Greetings to you all in the precious name of our Lord. He who is light and life.

We are so thankful for all of your prayers over the past weeks. I believe it was the prayers of the people of God that moved the last typhoon out to sea just hours before it was due to make landfall north of here. Instead, on the day that we were expecting stormy weather there were blue skies and sunny warm weather.

This weather has given the family from the assembly at Navy Base, who lost half of their home in a landslide, time to get some necessary repairs done. It will be another week or two before the work is completed but we are so thankful to the Lord for providing what was needed to get this work completed. Many of you sent gifts to help and for that we are so very thankful. Not only were materials for repair and securing this house made available but much needed food and supplies.

The recovery work is still on going in the Manila area. Some areas are still flooded a month after the first storm hit. But for the most part things are beginning to get back to normal. Much building and repairs are still needed, but things are beginning to dry out and chapels are being restored.

Last Saturday while returning from Tip Top, I began having chest pains again. These had been occurring on and off since Thursday. This time however my throat began to constrict and a cold sweat came over me. I immediately turned around and went to the ER in town. After some initial tests I was sent home.

Monday I returned to see a cardiologist who confined me in the hospital for further tests. It turns out that I have a number of heart problems at present. I had a stress test today and that confirmed some problems. I have not had a heart attack, for which I am thankful, but I have been diagnosised with Coronary Heart Disease, Arteral Fibrillation, unstable angina, and a few other things.

So, I am on rest for the time being. I am being treated with meds currently and will continue to be monitored for the next two months. Then depending on how well I respond to the medicines other courses of action will be considered.

So I would appreciate your prayers. It is very hard for me to just sit and rest. But I know it is what I must do at the present time.

In a couple of weeks, I am praying I can be back to doing some teaching. But for the time being doctors orders are for rest. So please be praying. I will try to keep you updated as I get information.

I spoke at Navy Base this past Sunday. But have cancelled my visit to Baguio Gold, due to the step climb down and back up. And others will continue the bible studies for these next couple of weeks.

Update Oct 15, 2009

2009-10-15T08:20:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for your prayers. Things have settled down here at the present. We have had a few dry days. But the earth is still very soft and we had some rains again last night but it was not strong or continuous. There is however another storm on its way. It will be arriving here sometime next week. It is still a long way off but according to the latest models it is pointing right at us again. Pray with us that it will make a turn and head out to sea.

It is crucial for us to get the home of one of the believers secure before this next storm gets here, if not we fear we may lose it completely. We have had their situation evaluated and now know what needs to be done. As of yet we have been unable to begin the necessary repairs. We pray that before this week is out we will be able to buy supplies, which are becoming scarce due to demand, so that we can get started at least on the drainage and pipes we need to begin to secure this home. Another big storm could be devastating in many ways. We pray that it will move out to sea and away from us. There is too much death and sadness already in this town.

Reports in the news today is that they are going to be releasing more water from a dams north of us there and down south…and they are warning people in Pangasinan, La Union, Rosales, Bulacan and other locations of possible flooding in their towns and cities as a result. I suppose it is needed so that the dams do not burst and with a new storm coming it becomes critical. These areas were just beginning to dry out and clean up and it seems they are in for another round of trouble.

My main concern, of course, is to care for and look out for those in the two assemblies here in Baguio. We are very thankful to the Lord that none were injured and there were no fatalities as a result of the last storm. Baguio Gold had some minor damage to water supply and, of course, you already know of the one family whose situation regarding their home is critical. Continue to pray for the Lord’s protection in the coming weeks…

We will try to keep you up dated as we are able. But your prayers are much needed still, both for those in the Manila area, where Dave Harvey is carrying a great deal of responsibility with so much relief work there, and also for us here in Central Luzon.

Typhoon Followup Update, Oct 10, 2009

2009-10-10T21:29:00.000-07:00

While I have an internet connection I wanted to send out a quick up date on the conditions here in Baguio. The typhoon crisscrossed the island three times over the course of last week and the last three days were the worst for us here. The rains caused several landslides and currently all roads in and out of Baguio are blocked. Which means no supplies from the lowland are getting through. I do believe that will be rectified today or tomorrow.

The damage is great. One of the families from the chapel, with five children, lost half of their home in a landslide, what remains is critical as well and on unstable ground. One family lost five relatives in one landslide down in La Trinadad. We visited with the family from Navy Base over the last couple of days to bring needed food and supplies. Their home will take considerable work to make it safe again. Others have suffered damage as well, we will know more details as the day progresses today.

We were able to have our study at Navy Base yesterday since the rains have now stopped and we finally have some sun to help dry things out. We received over 2 meters of rain in one week…so it will take a while for everything to stabilize again and to dry out.

Continue to pray. There will be a lot to deal with in the coming weeks. Pray that the Lord will continue to bring comfort and strength for the days ahead.

Joyce and I are fine. Flood waters came up to our door step in the front and back…but nothing entered. We have several leaks in the roof but nothing compared to what others have suffered.

Update October 6, 2009

2009-10-05T20:03:00.000-07:00

Thank you all for all your prayers. The typhoon which threatened Northern/Central Luzon has moved across the extreme northern sections of Luzon and it now rotating out in the South China Sea. It remains stationary and so we remain under a storm signal warning. But all indications are that it will move south west and away from the islands. Although it spared us a direct hit it did cause a great deal of damage north of us. Many have lost homes and several deaths were reported.

We had some strong winds and lots of rain, which began Saturday afternoon and continued through Sunday. I was able to travel down to Baguio Gold to speak on Sunday morning. The roads were passable and we were able to drive down fairly close to where the chapel building is. The remainder of the way we walked but both on our walk down this rather steep staircase, and our walk back up the rains let up. From Baguio Gold we went straight to Navy Base for their meeting which we much enjoyed. Then in the afternoon we had our fourth session of bible school. So the routine has returned to normal.

Today we continue our study of Ilokano. It is a long hard road, and we would continue to covet your prayers. We are trying to use what we know, but currently that is still quite limited. I will continue to translate outlines and main points into Ilokano for my teaching down in Baguio Gold, this will greatly help with my vocabulary. I have found it very hard at this point in my life to get a hold on this new language, but the Lord is gracious, and the people so very happy to hear us using it.

Again, thank you all so very much for your prayers. There is still much need down in the Manila area because of the floods. Several chapel buildings were destroyed and many believers lost everything. Please keep that recovery effort in your prayers.

Update on Typhoons - Oct 2, 2009

2009-10-02T05:07:00.000-07:00

We are bracing for super typhoon Pepeng. It is due to landfall tomorrow afternoon, but we are beginning to feel the effects of it already. The storm itself has slowed, which could indicate, according to the meteorologists, that it may change direction. Currently it is heading a bit north of us here in Baguio. But the other scenario is that the high pressure system currently over Hong Kong, could block it and cause it to track more south, or across Central Luzon, which is where we are. We are praying that it will continue to track north, although sometimes you feel guilty praying for such things as it will mean much suffering for others who live in those regions. We pray that His will would be done.

I am writing this update now because I am not sure if we will continue to have electricity tomorrow or internet service for a while if the storm tracks this way. We will try to keep you updated the best we can. Thank you all for praying. It is really our prayer that this storm will spare Manila of more heavy rain. They have already suffered much. So many of our brothers and sisters lost everything and several chapel buildings are completely destroyed. This is a huge storm and will bring rain over all of Luzon. So much suffering.

Keep praying…and we will up date you again when we can.

Typhoon Ondoy - Sep 28, 2009

2009-09-28T08:20:00.000-07:00

Most of you are very aware of the recent floods that struck the Manila area. Kim and Larry live in that area but their dorm home is on a hill above Faith Academy and they experienced no floods. But right below them there was devastation everywhere. The waters are receding still, and the clean up will take a long time. Many of the believers’ homes as well as missionaries homes were totally submerged for many hours, and mud has filled most of those homes. Cars were literally moved along and piled up by the rapid waters that were flowing by. Several chapel building have experienced damage, and I am sure, although this has not been verified, that the chapel in Cainta was under water. It is raining once again in Manila today, and there are two more storms heading in this direction. We are praying that both will veer north and by pass the islands. The first one, which is expected to develop into a typhoon by weeks end, is currently tracking to strike the extreme northern sections of the island of Luzon, and may produce a lot more rain. But it possible strike areas still includes most of the island of Luzon.

Rescue efforts and relief efforts are underway. So many have been effected, we do not know what to expect when we travel down tomorrow. Please keep these things in your prayers. Dave and Ruth Harvey experienced just mild flooding in their living room and Aunt Rose Brooks had no flooding to speak of, so we are thankful for that. Holly Lucas is also safe and above the flooded areas.

So many are suffering and have experienced the loss of everything. Food shortages, water shortages, lack of clean water, electricity still in some areas is off, so there is a long way to go before things return to normal, if they ever really can for some folks. When Kim saw it raining hard again today and knew that there was the potential for more storms heading our way she said, “It makes my stomach churn, for these poor people who have already lost so much” Larry went out on Sunday to try and gather together and bring some relief supplies to the squatters down below where they live, and when he asked if any of the dorm boys wanted to help, every one of the volunteered and went.

Just keep the saints in your prayers. Keep praying for the relief efforts. Pray for wisdom of the government officials who have the responsibility to coordinate the relief efforts. Pray for the US agencies that are already involved in the relief efforts as well.

Typhoon Ondoy - Video

2009-09-28T07:58:00.001-07:00

September 15, 2009 Update

2009-09-15T06:31:00.001-07:00

Greetings once again to you all in the wonderful name of our gracious and faithful Savior. We have had a full month. The bible studies are going well and producing some fruit for the Lord. In one of the study three made a profession of faith in Christ, at another almost all of those attending were out on Sunday to hear the word taught. I taught on the Saturday afternoon session concerning the coming of the Lord, several had never heard or understood these teachings, and it seemed to stir a few hearts. In another two have requested baptism. So we are thankful for what the Lord is doing in the hearts and lives of many. Please keep these studies in your prayers. We will begin, at the study in Fatima, some lessons on the eternal security of the believer and Christian living in the weeks to come.

These last couple of weeks the chapel building at Navy Base has been rather full. Seems we may have to expand the building. When it rains, all those who would normally sit outside or by the windows are forced inside which really packs the building both for Sunday School and the teaching time.

We began the first session of the new bible school this past Sunday. We had 16 who were in attendance. This bible school will run on consecutive Sunday afternoons rather than consecutive weekday evenings. The elders decided this might allow others to come out for this important series of teachings. We are encouraged.

The heavy rains associated with a typhoon that moved north of us brought caused a couple of the bible studies last week to be cancelled. They are in areas that are not easily assessable. We are still in the typhoon season here until October, so this will not be the last of the heavy rains.

Thank you all for your prayers.

Update, August 24, 2009

2009-08-23T15:24:00.000-07:00

Greeting, once again, to you all. I know it has been a long time since the last update, but we have once again returned to our home in Baguio. It is good to be home. We are finally caught up on our sleep and getting back into the regular routine.

It was great to see the saints at Navy Base this past week. They are all doing well, for which we thank the Lord. I shared with them on Wednesday night about our travels and the many greetings that came their way from the saints in the States. Saturday I very much enjoyed being at a new bible study up in the old Navy Base, from which the chapel derived its name. One of the old couples from the assembly are now having a study in their home. This past week there were about 15 in attendance, for which we praise the Lord. This coming week I will also join the saints at another new study in town. Both of these studies are reaching out to several who still have not trusted Christ as savior, mostly family members of believers, so please keep these studies in your prayers that we might see some coming to Christ.

Yesterday, the Lord’s Day, I had the opportunity to speak to the assembly at Navy Base. Our texts came from John 14:1-2, Eph 6:10-11 and Psalm 93. I have begun a new Sunday morning series on the armor of the Lord, and this served as an introduction to that topic.

We will begin our next bible school sessions on Sept 13th. They will run several consecutive Sunday afternoons. Our topic will be the church. We are so looking forward to teaching this most important subject. Please be praying that many will come out, especially those who have had questions in the past concerning different aspects of the meetings of the local church.

Thank you all once again for your prayers and support of the Lord’s work among us. We are looking forward to what the Lord will be doing in these next months.

Pics with Update June 9, 2009

2009-06-09T05:09:00.001-07:00

Update June 9, 2009

2009-06-09T05:06:00.000-07:00

Greetings to you all in that precious name. We have been in Manila for the last week or so, watching our grandchildren while our daughter Kim and Larry (Keating) went to Korea with a group from Faith Academy. Larry and Kim had 10 Korean boys in their dorm last year and this was a chance for them to understand the culture a bit as well as visit with the family of one of the boys.

We are excited to be coming home for a brief visit to visit with our daughters Abby and Rachel. Abby is living in the Chicago area with her husband Daniel Fleming and Rachel is living in Connecticut. It will also give us the opportunity to visit with Joyce’s mom and dad, Ken and Elaine Brooks in the Orlando area of Florida.

It will also allow us to visit with our home assemblies, as well as others, to bring a report of the work and to share the word. Since we no longer take furloughs it is nice to have these brief visits home to touch bases with folks at home.

Plans are now well underway for the next series of bible studies at both Navy Base and Baguio Gold. Our next concentration will be on the church local and universal. Many have already expressed that they are looking forward to this series as many things have come along over the years and have been introduced to the assemblies and they are looking forward to seeing what the Scriptures teach in these areas, especially in the area of church leadership, men’s and women’s roles and spiritual gifts. So we are looking forward to this series. Please begin praying with us that this would be a profitable study for all.

Language study is moving along well. But I must admit it will be nice to have a short break. I think we have made some good progress, but I know from my past experience with Tagalog that it will be a while yet before we feel comfortable speaking and conversing in Ilokano. Keep this in prayer as well.

Update May 13, 2009

2009-05-12T20:47:00.000-07:00

Greetings to you all in the precious name of our wonderful Savior. Well my latest health saga has finally ended. On Thursday of last week I passed a rather large kidney stone and the relief was almost instantaneous. The hospital never checked me for stones and so I was unaware that this was the cause for all my severe back pain until that time. Since then I have had an ultra-sound which revealed that I still have three more in my left Kidney but they are all considerably smaller than the one I passed, and should not cause great discomfort.

The works continues to go well, it was hard to be on the sidelines for a couple of weeks and to miss a couple of studies that I enjoy teaching, but it was also a learning time for me. For the first time in my life I learned what it was to be totally dependent on another for my care. Joyce was so patient and comforting to me while I lay on the floor in spasm.

I taught this last week at the assembly at Navy Base. It was good to be back teaching again. Currently we are down in Manila with Larry and Kim and the grandkids. We are here for a couple of celebrations. One celebrating 25 years of service of some old friends at Faith Academy, and then this week end we bid farewell to a special couple who have faithfully served the Lord in the assemblies both here in Manila and in Samar since the late 80s. They are returning to New Zealand due to Shane’s health and for two of their children to attend college. We will miss them, although we do not see them often they have had an impact on many lives.

This coming Sunday I will be with the saints at Hillcrest Christian fellowship. Then the following week back to Baguio for some studies and to speak at Baguio Gold on the Lord’s Day.

Thanks so much for your prayers during my hospital stay and home recovery and for the notes that so many of you sent which were so very encouraging to me.

Update May 1, 2009

2009-05-01T05:44:00.000-07:00

Well, I arrived home yesterday, late afternoon, from a four day hospital stay.

It all began on Saturday, by our best understanding, when I lifted a LPG tank of cooking gas and three bottles of water. My back was feeling the strain but seemed ok.

When I woke on Sunday morning I knew my back was feeling the effects and I was in some pain. I simply worked through it and spoke at Navy Base in the morning, and Baguio Gold for two hours in the afternoon. I was feeling a bit uncomfortable.

Monday it was still hurting and seemed to be getting worse. Joyce had a PT appointment at 10:30 AM and I drove her up for her appointment and while I was there I tried to walk off the pain and stiffness but it continued to get worse. Finally just by the door to the PT office I had waves of cold sweats and began to get very dizzy and felt as if I was going to pass out. They took me into the ER, where spasms began and I was writhing in pain. Finally the pain reliever was injected and I had relief. I was admitted and remained for the next four days while tests were done, and X-Rays and a CT scan were performed. At first they believed that I had a back fracture, but on further examination by one more experienced at reading the CT scans, it was determined that it is a herniated disk. I really struggled with pain for several days. The Physical Therapy is beginning to help, but I have a ways to go yet.

But it is so nice to be home. I will not be able to do a whole lot these next days and I will not enjoy that, but I know that you will be praying for me.

I was reading this morning; “Though the vine needs sunshine it must also have the darkness." During the night it is said to rest; it does not grow; but it recuperates itself and prepares for the putting forth of fresh energy. During the day it consumes more sap than it can draw up from the root; and during the dark hours of night it is accumulating stores on which to feed. And this may suggest why sometimes after periods of much activity the great husbandman draws down the blinds and plunges us into the black night of hardship…and we need that time in order to recuperate our exhausted vigor and to gather up stores for days to come.”

Encouraging words which my heart needed to hear this morning. He is always so gracious to give what we need when we need it.

Today the assembly at Baguio is down for the chapel retreat down by the shore. Sure wish I could be with them, but our Father knows what is best. I will be out of commission for a few more days. Please be praying that the PT will help ease this problem so that I can get back to work again. I have a lot of things coming up and have left it in His hands.

My prayer is that the PT will get me back on my feet soon. Thanks for your prayers.

I will send another update when I know more.

Update - April 15, 2009

2009-04-15T08:13:00.000-07:00

The temperature today in Manila was 95, (Wednesday the 15th) but with the heat index it felt like 108. I am not looking forward to traveling back into that heat tomorrow morning. We have been back and forth to Manila so much these last few weeks that I am growing a bit weary of the trip. But we thank the Lord that He has continued to give safety and blessing on each of our ventures down.

Laarni has had her surgery and all things went very well. Thank you all for praying. The nodules on her vocal cords have been removed and tomorrow in Manila we will learn if she can speak again. It is then that we will learn whether or not the surgery has been a total success or not.

The last session of evening bible school at Navy Base went very well, for which we thank our Lord. We were able to finish up the book of Hebrews and the saints have found the 40 hours we spent in study profitable to their spiritual growth. We still have two remaining classes to teach down in Baguio Gold. This Sunday and next we will finish up the third session for them. Again, we are much encouraged in the desire of the saints to study the word.

Our daughter Rachel paid a short visit to us these past two weeks. It was a joy to have her here with us. She spent a week in Manila with her sister and us and a week here in Baguio.

This morning we had another two hours of Ilokano, and it is beginning to click. I am able to form sentences relatively easily now and our vocabulary is expanding for which we thank the Lord. On my last visit to Baguio Gold I did the entire introduction to our lessons in the letter of Paul to the Ephesians in Ilokano. Again, we used a combination of four languages as we shared with the saints there last week. This week I will be speaking to the assembly at Navy Base. We will be beginning a new series on the life and ministry of Elijah.

Joyce is doing much better. Thank you for all your prayers for her. The medications she is on seem to have really made a difference. The Physical Therapy for her neck continues as well and she goes for several days with out headaches now, which is a blessing indeed.

Some of you will remember Tia Elizabeth Bundok. She is the woman for whom a wheel chair was purchased over a year ago. She has gone home to be with the Lord she loves after so many years of hardship and struggle.

Thanks again for all your prayers, and may the Lord richly bless you.

Update March 25, 2009

2009-03-24T20:33:00.000-07:00

Up date 3-25-09

Greetings to you all in the precious name of our wonderful Savior.

I just finished over three hours of translating my next message for the saints at Baguio Gold from Tagalog into Ilokano. So my brain is just a bit fried right now, but I did want to get an update to you all because we can use your prayers.

I am in the midst of teaching the last ten hours of Evening Bible School to the saints at Navy Base this week. We are attempting to finish chapters 10-13 of Hebrews during the course of the week. It is the fourth and final session of this segment of the Evening Bible school. At the end of this week the saint would have received forty hours of lessons in this wonderful book which so exalts our Savior. Currently we are in the practical application part of our study and I am very much enjoying teaching it. Please pray for these next two nights. We have a lot to cover and we want to be careful to keep a good balance and not, in our haste to make sure we cover the material, leave out that which the Lord would have the saints to learn concerning Himself.

On Saturday we leave in the early morning for Manila. Some of you have been praying for Laarni, one of the women from the assembly at Navy Base, who is in need of surgery on her vocal cords. This Saturday she and her husband Bong will travel with us to Manila once again for a final check up and blood work, so that we can schedule her surgery hopefully for sometime in mid April. Continue to keep this in your prayers.

As many of you also know Joyce has been dealing once again with a host of medical problems. After much testing, X rays, ultra sounds etc she has been diagnosed with Hypothyroidism, GERD, and she has deterioration of the bones in her neck, which is the cause of her many headaches. So she is now on meds for her hypothyroidism, which has been the cause of many of her other problems, and she is on meds for the GERD problem. She has been on these meds for a couple of weeks now and we are already seeing some positive results for which we thank the Lord. She is going weekly, three to four times a week for Physical Therapy and traction for her neck, and the results there have been mixed, so please continue to keep her in your prayers.

Our daughter Rachel arrives from the States for a brief two week visit next week. We are so very looking forward to having her with us. It has been 14 long years since she was here last. She is looking forward to seeing all her old stompin’ grounds. Pray for a safe trip for her. She leaves on Sunday and will arrive here late Monday night.

Again, thank you all for your interest in the Lord’s work here among us, and for your prayers. May the Lord richly bless you.

Update March 2, 2009

2009-03-02T16:35:00.000-08:00

Greetings to you all in the precious name of our wonderful Savior. Things here are going quite well, for which we thank our Lord.

The week of Special Studies down in Mololos Bulucan was fun to teach and the students were enthusiastic. There were about 28 who came out for this week of special teaching. They are all those students who in the past have completed the three year bible school at the camp, so are well versed in the scripture which made it a very enjoyable time. We taught eight hours on Servant Leadership. It seemed to be well received.

Also, during that week in the Manila area we had the next series of tests and doctors visits for Joyce and are happy to report that currently she is cancer free. We thank you all for your prayers for her.

Last Lord’s day I spoke at the assembly at Navy Base, this Sunday I was down in Baguio Gold both in the morning and afternoon. This Sunday morning I actually used three different languages in my morning message. That was a new experience. I am attempting, as the Lord allows, to use more Ilokano in my message preparation, for when I speak especially down in Baguio Gold. I prepare my message, then do some translation work, our tutor corrects it, and goes over my pronunciations, then I try to integrate it into my speaking. It is the process I used when learning Tagalog so many years ago. Thanks for praying. We, Joyce and I, were also able to greet the folks down there in both Kankanaey and Ilokano. So we actually used four different languages to communicate with the saints yesterday. My mind is tired just thinking about it.

In the afternoon we began our third session of bible school with the saints in Baguio Gold. This session we are studying chapters 7-9 of Hebrews. Yesterday we were “considering how great” the man Melchizedek was. It was fun to once again consider the wonderful types and antitypes we see in these most enlightening chapters. We had two hours of study yesterday and have another 8 needed to complete this session.

The regular weekly studies are going well. Last Thursday night we looked at the second prayer of Paul in Ephesians chapter 3, as we work our way through that wonderful book.

We are planning to schedule surgery for Larnni in April. Thank you for praying for her. We are praying the upcoming surgery will restore her voice.

Thank you all again for your prayers.

Sagada Visit Feb 6, 2009

2009-02-06T07:07:00.000-08:00

Joyce and I returned Wednesday from another trip north to Sagada (pictures will be up soon). We were quite surprised when we arrived to find a street festival on going and crowds filling the streets of this normally quiet mountain town. The noise of stereos and live music filled the air until well after curfew, when things finally settled down on that first night. We were able to make a few new friends at a couple of the local establishments that first evening as we tried out our new Ilokano and Kankaney phrases on them. They were quite surprised and giggled at the fact that we were learning. I was quite surprised at how well most of them understood and spoke some Tagalog also, something that was not true only a few years ago. English still works very well as they are very well educated and converse easily and comfortably in English.

On our second day in town we traveled down to Bulugan to try and find a couple of Mike Smits’ old friends who are in the Lord work there. It was quite a drive down some pretty rough roads over some fairly large rocks and over a few sections of very narrow rutted roads. But we slowly descended into the beautiful valley of rice terraces. We found John and his brother Roy doing well and happy to see us. We were invited into the house and sat for a while and reminisced about the past and the days when Mike and Bev Smits served the Lord in Sagada. We saw the small chapel building where over 15 family meet each week to hear the word taught. It was quite an encouraging visit. Roy rode with us back into town and we stopped along the way to visit with another old friend of the Smits, Nancy Likigan. She welcomed us as well, into her home and we sat and chatted a bit and learned the whereabouts of her sister who lived with the Smits family for many years. The morning was quite encouraging for Joyce and I. It was nice to have some warm and friendly contacts in town with whom we can visit when we return. John and Roy warmly opened up their homes to us and desire that we return again for a visit next time.

We arrived back in Baguio Wednesday very tired but refreshed in spirit. Then we learned that the dates that we had been given for the Special Studies sessions down in Manila (Malolos Bulucan) were incorrect and that I would be teaching next week and not the week after. So tomorrow we must head down to Manila a little over a week earlier than we expected. This has put a bit of stress on Joyce, but she is doing well. I will be teaching each day next week for two hours a day on the subject of Servant Leadership. A subject that is near and dear to my heart. We would ask that you pray for me that the Lord would use me to speak to the hearts of the men and woman who will come for this special week of studies.

We had a very nice Bible Study last night in the home of Florie Rimando. Last night nine were out to hear the word. We continued our study in the book of Ephesians, last night completing the first half of Chapter three.

Thank you all so much for your continued prayers. We are still unsure of what the Lord’s plans are for us regarding Sagada, but we will continue to make trips over the trail and wait to see what He will do. And we continue to study both Ilokano and Kankaney which we can use here in Baguio as well.

Joyce will have some further doctor visits and tests the week following Special Studies. Pray that the Lord’s will be done. We are praying that no further cancer will be found. But our lives are in His blessed hands.

Larnni will definitely be needing some surgery on her vocal cords so please keep that in your prayers as well.

May the Lord richly bless you all for His glory.

Update January 28, 2009

2009-01-27T13:51:00.000-08:00

Greetings to you all once again in His precious name. Yesterday we began what will be a very arduous study of Kankanaey along with our study of Ilokano. Kankanaey is the language of Sagada, and of many in the Cordillera, but it is also spoken by many here in Baguio, particularly down in Baguio Gold. Ilokano has little in the way of exhaustive dictionaries as only small and incomplete ones are available, but it does have the complete bible translated and available. Kankanaey, on the other has neither. No dictionaries and no complete bible, as far as I can ascertain. There are, however, portions of the Old Testament translated and the New Testament has been translated and is in print, so that will be helpful. So unlike in the past where we had very good and very complete dictionaries in Tagalog and several good and dependable translations of the scriptures we have much less to work with in Kankanaey. So we become very dependant on others to teach us. We will definitely need your prayers as we continue to learn Ilokano, and begin this long study of Kankanaey. It will be years before we are comfortable in either, but feel we must begin even though we understand the difficulty and challenges of this new beginning. It took many years to become fluent in Tagalog, and it will take many again to become comfortable in teaching in these new languages. But begin we must. Please keep us in your prayers.

We are heading, Lord willing, up to Sagada once again on Monday for a short visit. We will begin scouting out a place to live this time around. We are not in a position to make the move yet, but we do want to see what is available and what it will cost to make the move. Pray with us in this as well.

Things here in Baguio are going very well. It is a continued blessing to be here with the Lord’s people. They are a constant source of blessing to me. The studies are going well and I will be teaching down in Baguio Gold this coming Lord’s Day.

We will be heading down to Manila in a couple of weeks for Doctors appointments for Joyce and we will be staying in that area while I teach at Special Studies at the bible school. I never look forward to going to the lowlands, but having Kim and Larry there along with our grandkids makes the visit most enjoyable. Keep Special Studies in your prayers as I will be handling a subject that is near and dear to my heart. Pray that the Lord would use my time there as a source of encouragement and challenge to His saints.

Update January 18, 2009

2009-01-17T15:38:00.001-08:00

Greetings to you all, once again, in the precious name of our Lord and Savior…Jesus Christ.

I was moved once again this morning when reading several passages of holy scripture….Isaiah 52:14; “Just as many were astonished at you, so His visage (face) was marred more than any man and His form more than the sons of men.”

Matthew 26:67 “Then they spat on His face and beat Him and others struck Him with the palms of their hands”

It is in that beloved “face” that we find “….the knowledge and the glory of God.” It is that “face” that we will once day behold. (1 Cor 13:12, Rev 22:4) And the “face” from which the earth and the heavens will flee away, when Judgment strikes. And those who reject Him shall call upon the mountains and rocks to fall on them and hid them from the “face” of Him who sits on the throne.

Oh my friend, how wonderful that His perfect love has cast out fear for us. And that we now long to see His face, and do not fear His coming. What will it be like to look into that beloved face that was so marred for us, that suffered the degradation of spitting and buffeting? “He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities and the chastisement for our peace was upon Him and by His stripes we are healed.” Oh what a wonderful savior.

Today, Sunday Jan. 18, I will be speaking at Navy Base in the morning and Baguio Gold in the afternoon. This morning I will be continuing the series on the priesthood of all believers, looking specifically at our consecrated hearing, service and walk. This afternoon we will finish up the second session of Bible School in Baguio Gold completing, Lord willing, chapter 6 of Hebrews.

We now have reservations at a guest house in Sagada for the first week of February, since nothing was available in January. Continue to pray that the Lord would open doors of opportunity for us there, if this be His will. We will also be looking for a place to rent, so that we can begin to spend more time in that town in the weeks and months to come. So we would appreciate your prayers in that regard as well.

Dave Johnson will be coming for a brief visit with us this week and we are looking forward to catching up with, learning about what the Lord has been doing in his life and through his ministry. He will be speaking at a cottage meeting on Wednesday night here as well.

Larnni’s voice shows little improvement, but there is some. So continue to keep her in your prayers. We continue to pray that she will not require surgery, but we leave that in the Lord’s hands.

Thank you all for your prayers, He is indeed at work among us.

2008-12-28T14:25:00.000-08:00

2008-12-17T16:45:00.000-08:00

Up date 12-16-08

Christmas Greetings to you all in the name of our wonderful savior, whose name is “…wonderful counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father and the Prince of Peace. “ How often we have drawn on His counsel through His word, His power in difficulties, His tenderness as Abba, and what wonderful Peace which passes understanding that He has brought to our hearts. This past year has once again demonstrated to our hearts the abounding grace of God. His faithfulness, gentleness, longsuffering, provision and mercy, which is new every morning, has been experienced again and again. For which we give Him the fruit of our lips.

This past Lord’s day we celebrated the 33rd anniversary of the assembly meeting on Morning Glory street in Baguio. The work actually began well before that time back in the late 60s when Ken and Marylou Engle were used of the Lord to start some Bible studies in which men and women were saved and the assembly established. The theme for the celebration was very appropriate, Ang katapatan ng Dios noon, ngayon at sa hinaharap” (The Faithfulness of God in the past, present and for the future.) The Engles, Brooks (Cyril and Anna, and Ken and Elaine) and others were fondly remembered by some of the old timers. As were Bev and Mike Smits and others who served the Lord among them over the years. We are actually the third generation of our family to have served the Lord here at the assembly in Baguio. Amazing Grace. Indeed He has been faithful in all of our lives and He is our hope for the future. I was privileged to give my personal testimony as a part of the celebration. It was good to once again reflect on the work of the Lord in my own life over the many years. This year I celebrate the 50th year of my new birth.

This week will be a full one. I will have Bible studies each evening, Monday through Friday, then I will speak three times at a conference down in Pangisanan and once on Sunday morning at Navy Base. The conference theme is the responsibility of men in the assembly of God’s people, with an emphasis on worship. A very appropriate theme for the day and age in which we live. Please be praying that the Lord would use the words spoken for His glory.
Larry, Kim, Tyler, Abby, Holly and Aunt Rose Brooks will be coming up to Baguio to spend Christmas with us. So we will have a full house, which is such a blessing after having an empty house last year. We will miss our Rachel, Abby and Daniel, but know they are where the Lord would have them in their service for Him.

Once again I would like to thank you all for your faithful prayers for us this past year, and for being sensitive to the voice of the Lord in your sharing with us. In Philippians 4 Paul rejoiced over that which was received from the hands of the people of God, and I can repeat his words as from my own heart to you all….”Not that I seek the gift but I seek the fruit that abounds to your account. Indeed I have all and abound. I am full having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you a sweet smelling aroma an acceptable sacrifice well pleasing to God. And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.”

We love you all. Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year, Perhaps this coming year we shall see Him coming in His glory, or be called home to Him. Oh that will be glory for me, when by His grace to look on His face. That will be glory…be glory for me.

2008-11-30T20:36:00.000-08:00

It was quite enjoyable this year to have family to celebrate Thanksgiving with. It was truly a blessing from the Lord. Not only did we have Larry, Kim and the grandkids but ten dorm boys to celebrate with us, three of whom never have had a traditional American Thanksgiving dinner before. We had a great meal, and it caused me to remember what a wonderful Lord we have and serve, so much we have to be thankful for.

I spoke yesterday at Hill Crest Bible Chapel here in Antipolo. It was a part of my regular schedule to speak there once a month, while we were still living in the Manila area, so it was nice to see them all again and to share with them from the Word of our precious Lord.

These few days here in Manila have given me many hours to meditate and contemplate the work of the Lord in our lives over the past couple of years. To reflect once again on how the Lord has led, opened doors and provided opportunities for service all along the way, has cause my heart to swell once again in Worship. This morning as I sat on the porch of the Faith Dorm and looked over the city while it still lay in silence, I was remembering all the years the Lord has given to us here. What a blessing to remember His faithfulness!, and to remember how much He has changed us over those same years. It also provides encouragement and hope, as well, for the time which still lays ahead. To remember, once again, that “Jesus is the same yesterday, today, and forever.” That He does not change, and there is “no shadow caused by His turning.” What confidence that gives as we move into the months ahead. His mercies are new every morning and His faithfulness is indeed great. So, as we travel back up the hill to Baguio in the next couple of days I return with a refreshed soul and an encouraged heart.

Thursday we will continue the bible study at Mines View in the letter to the Ephesians. It is a purely expository study, which I love. We will continue to observe the long sentence which draws our attention to the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit and their work in our redemption and future hope. To know that we have “redemption in His blood, the forgiveness of sins” is a wonderful truth that we too often take for granted, when in reality it is the greatest of works done in our lives and that which has placed us In Christ forever…wonderful truth.

The bible school at Baguio Gold will be on hold until after the first of the year. This Sunday is a joint fellowship with the saints from Baguio Gold and Navy Base. The men will once again do some evangelism in the mining area, and the ladies will enjoy a time of prayer and teaching together. Then on the 14th Navy Base will celebrate its anniversary and the following Sunday the assembly at Baguio Gold will celebrate theirs. So the month holds a lot of activities along with the regular Christmas celebrations and programs.

Thank you all so much for your prayers for us. May I ask, if it would not be too inconvenient for you, please take just a moment at the end of this note to pray for us, for the Lord direction for the months that lay ahead for the conferences, bible schools and special studies I will be teaching in the next couple of months. Lots of preparation will be necessary and we desire that the Lord use us not only to feed the mind but the soul, so please pray with us to that end.

2008-11-23T16:46:00.000-08:00

Greetings to you all once again. Yesterday was another wonderful Lord’s Day here in the mountains. The time of worship with the assembly at Navy Base was wonderful. It seems the Spirit was continually leading our hearts to the greatness and wonder of His person and how that praise is due to His name. I feel as if I joined the “ten thousand times ten thousand and thousands of thousands” in the heavenly places crying out, “worthy is the Lamb that was slain”.

Yesterday afternoon we spend a couple of hours with the saints down in Baguio Gold. The roads going down were a bit sloppy due to some rains yesterday but very easily passable. We finished up chapter 5 of Hebrews and I was much encouraged to see these faithful saints coming out, yet once again, to spend a two full hours, non stop, in the study of His precious word. We will return on December 7th to begin a series with them on Sunday mornings and on that afternoon we will be having a joint fellowship with them and the saints from Navy Base. Due to the busy season upcoming with an anniversary Sunday for Navy Base on the 14th, and an anniversary Sunday for Baguio Gold on the 21st, then the holidays, our next session of Bible School will not be until January 4th. We have four hours of classes remaining for this session.

Tomorrow morning (Nov. 25) we head down to Manila. Joyce has a doctor’s appointment in the afternoon then we will have dinner with Rose Brooks and spend the night with Larry and Kim Keating at the dorm at Faith Academy. They are doing very well and the Lord is allowing many different challenges and decisions into their lives as they faithfully serve him there. So keep them in your prayers as well.

We also will be checking out the doctors and procedures needed for one of the ladies at the assembly in Baguio, as I mentioned in my last note to you, she is in need of surgery on her vocal cords and we want to see what is involved in making that happen for her sometime over the holidays. So please keep that in your prayers.

Thanks again for praying. It has been such an encouragement for me to know that you are keeping up with the “goings on” here and keeping us before the Lord. Drop us a brief note if you have a moment, it would be an extra encouragement to hear from you.

Our next trip to Sagada is in the works, so please be praying for that as well.

2008-11-07T19:12:00.000-08:00

Greetings once again to you all, and thank you for your faithful prayers on behalf of the Lord’s work here among us.

This past week we completed session three in the evening bible school series on the book of Hebrews. This session covered chapters 7-9 of the epistle, and it was indeed quite a challenge to complete all those wonderful verses in ten hours of studies. But, what a blessing it was to once again remember the greatness of our Lord Jesus Christ. To be reminded yet once again of the greatness of our Savior’s priesthood, place of service and sacrifice, and to remember once again that it is “not with the blood of goats and calves but with HIS own blood He entered the Most Holy Place once for all having obtained eternal redemption”

This morning we had the men’s breakfast fellowship at the chapel and continued in our study on the value and importance of Worship. It was a wonderful time as we spoke of the greatness and glory of our God once again and exalted the person of His blessed Son. The time ended, as always, with all the men on their knees worshipping the Lord. It is such a time of refreshment and blessing.

Tomorrow (November 9) we will begin the second session of bible school down in Baguio Gold. We will be covering chapters 4-6 of Hebrews with the saints there. This bible school will run for the next 5 consecutive Sundays from 3 t0 5 each Sunday afternoon.

This coming week we also have the regular studies on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday evenings in various homes. Next Sunday I will be teaching at Navy Base in the morning and then at Baguio Gold in the afternoon, so I would appreciate your prayers once again as His precious word is shared; that the Spirit of God would take His word and apply it to the hearts of His people.

On another note for prayer, one of the women of the assembly at Navy Base is in need of some surgery next month. She has some damage to her vocal cords and will need some lazar surgery down in Manila. Please be praying for this.

Again, thank you for your continued prayers and support of the Lord’s work here among us, we are seeing His wonderful hand at work and rejoice in Him.

October 14, 2008 Update - in Manila

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Greetings to you all in the precious name of our wonderful Savior, He whose grace knows know limits and love knows no depths. It is wonderful to have such a Savior. Like one wave after another breaks on the shore, so does His grace and love without ceasing.

I was saddened by the home call of three brothers in the Lord this week and last. Last week my dear friend David Van der Noot went home to be with the Lord he loves and served so faithfully. I will always remember his zeal for evangelism and will continue to hear his voice singing, “Thank you Lord for saving my soul….” But, we know that he is rejoicing with his blessed Lord even as we type these words.

Following that we learned of the death of Noel, a brother whose family have been a special part of our lives for so many years. His suffering is past and He beholds now the face of the Savior who loved him and gave Himself for him. We will be attending services for him later today. (Tuesday).

We had planned while we were in Manila to visit today with Chito, a brother in the Lord who has been a part of the assembly in Baguio over the years. He was an active evangelist and recently sought to train and equip the saints at Navy Base to share their faith. The lessons he taught them and his active example encouraged many. We learned yesterday that the Lord has also seen fit to call him home to his reward. “O Lord Jesus how long, how long ere we shout the glad song, Christ returneth, Hallelujah, hallelujah Amen…”

We are extending our stay in the Manila area in order to visit with the families here who have lost loved ones. We plan, Lord willing to return to Baguio on Wednesday or Thursday as the Lord leads.

We were able to visit with Phil and Mary Parsons at the worship and celebration of the Lord’s grace and provision for the newest building at Faith Academy. It was such a wonderful time of true worship and thanksgiving to our wonderful Lord. It was great to briefly visit with Phil and Mary as well.

We also had the privilege of spending time with Marc and Rosa Grant as they were visiting the Philippines as well. They also are dear friends that we have known for many years it was good to see them again.

The work in Baguio continues to go well. This week there will be studies on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday nights, as well as visiting and a study on Saturday afternoon. I will be speaking the next two Sunday mornings at Navy Base on Zechariah 3 and 4. The mini Bible schools for both Navy Base and Baguio Gold will be beginning soon as well, so please keep those things in your prayers.

We had a brief visit with Kim and Larry and the grandkids in order to celebrate Abby’s 2nd birthday. They are all doing well, and well immersed in the work of being dorm parents, which is an all consuming work.

Joyce is doing well, and we thank you all for your continued prayer for her, and for the work the Lord has placed in our hands.

Travel Pics - On the Road

2008-10-01T07:42:00.000-07:00

Update, Sep 29, 2008 In Manila

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Greeting to you all once again, this time from Manila. This past week was an interesting one in several aspects. As a storm raced through, just north of us, again we received the backlash of monsoon rains which caused several landslides on many of the roads and trails throughout the mountains.

In a mining village near-by 14 were killed as the earth gave way beneath them. So the trail up to Lowakan Atamok remains closed to us and we have not been able to have a bible study there now for several weeks.

The study on Tuesday was cancelled because the home we meet in had water flowing through it on Monday and they were still cleaning up. Wednesday’s meeting at the chapel went on well, and a good group was out, the rains having subsided by Tuesday afternoon. Thursday evening, I started out up the road that winds from our house to the chapel and the fog was so bad that I needed to turn around and go home, so I missed the study on Thursday, the rains began again in earnest that evening.

We traveled down to Manila on Friday morning and encountered several landslides along the way, many of which left rather large boulders in our path. But the crews were out clearing a single lane so that all were passable by the time we arrived. Our trip to Manila was without incident, for which we thank the Lord. We have traveled down here for the last regular appointment that Joyce has with her doctors. If all is well we will not need to see any of them for another six months, which would be wonderful.

We spent the weekend with Kim and Larry, and I get tired just watching them and all the responsibilities they have as dorm parents at Faith Academy. They had such a full weekend!! But they are doing well and seem well adjusted now to life at Faith.

I had opportunity to speak at the assembly in Cogeo on the Lord’s day. It was good to see them all again. In spite of some problems they are continuing to look to the Lord for His strength.

We head back to Baguio tomorrow morning and have studies scheduled for Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday this week, if the weather co-operates. We are anxious to get back over to Atamok, so please keep that in your prayers.

Thank you all for taking the time out of your busy schedules to read these short updates. We know you are praying, and that is such an encouragement to us. Ken

Update - September 19, 2008

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It has been another full week and we are rejoicing in the Lord. The study on Tuesday went well, one of the young brothers lead the study on Faith and did a very commendable job. He is a brother that is showing a lot of potential for the Lord, and we are all encouraging him as he continues to grow in grace and in the knowledge of our blessed Lord. He is active in almost every aspect of the assembly from the music ministry, co-running the Youth Group, teaching on Sundays once a month, doing evangelism, as well as teaching some of the weekly studies. He has been a blessing.

The study on Wednesday night went well and the attendance was very good. After a study on persecution from the letter to the church in Symrna, we divided into six groups of 5 or 6 and had a good time of prayer. This time was followed by an “eatn’ meeting” where the fellowship just continued on for another 45 minutes or so. It is such a blessing to our hearts to be in fellowship with such a wonderful assembly of the Lord’s people.

Thursday night we had another study at the home of one of the saints who lives up near Mines View. Florie’s husband is home from his work overseas in the Cayman Islands, so while he is at home we will have studies at their home. He is a believer in the Lord and these studies are to encourage him in the faith while he is home.

Saturday we will have another study, Lord willing, up at Mines View. This study, as I have mentioned in the past, is sometimes cancelled because of rain. The venue is an open venue and the heavy rains make it impossible to hold the study.

Tuesday we were out doing some visitation with the saints. We were able to visit a couple of the families from the assembly who were unable to get out to meeting the last couple of weeks. We trust it was an encouraging time for them.

Sunday I will be speaking twice in the morning. Teaching first, once again, in the second and third chapter of Acts, then I will be teaching on the Natural, the Carnal, and the Spiritual man at the Family Bible Hour. Pray that the Lord would encourage and challenge His people, for His glory.

At the end of next week we will be heading down to Manila once again for a check up for Joyce and I will be speaking at the assembly in Cogeo, where we served the Lord for many years.

Thank you for your prayers.

Sep 19, 2008 Pics

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Study Group at the Jaleco home.

Bong playing and singing praise to the Lord, following the Wednesday night study.

Fellowship following Wednesday night study and prayer time

Fellowship time

Joyce, Larnni and Nora

Wini and Josie, full time worker at the assembly at Navy Base

Update September 11, 2008

2008-09-10T18:39:00.000-07:00

The weekly studies are going well. While at the Tuesday night study at Mines View the woman who hosts the study received a phone call from the hospital to tell her that her teenage daughter had collapsed and was in the ER at a local hospital. So, obviously, the study stopped and we all rushed down to the hospital. Her daughter, evidently, had had an asthmatic attack and in the panic that that can bring on began to hyperventilate, which caused her to pass out. She was a bit tense still when we arrived but began to settle down and within an hour was released. She was out last night at the Wednesday night prayer meeting and bible study, but will be going to the doctors today for a check up.

The Friday evening, and Saturday afternoon studies will proceed this week as scheduled. Both have those who attend who do not know the Lord, so please be praying as the Gospel goes out to them. Pray also for those who attend who have been away from the Lord that the Lord might use this time to speak to their hearts as well.

This Sunday and next I will be teaching at Navy Base, then the last Sunday of the month we will be down in Manila and I will be teaching, Lord willing, at the assembly in Cogeo, where we served the Lord for many years.

We will begin hosting a couples fellowship at our place starting next month, are looking forward to that time. We so enjoy having the saints visit us.

Larry and Kim have been sick this past week and still have not recovered. Both are experiencing stomach and intestinal discomfort and all that goes with that. We are not certain at this time what is causing it, so please keep them in your prayers. The grandkids are fine, and are not showing any of the same symptoms, pray that that would continue to be the case. Here in the tropics it is quite easy to become dehydrated and weak when you are struggling with these discomforts, so please be praying for them.

Thanks again for all your prayers and kind support of the Lord’s work here among us. Your help reaches out to so many who have needs, the Lord has used many of you over and again to help meet the needs of the dear saints here. For that we give you thanks. Lord bless you all, for His glory.

Update, August 31

2008-08-31T05:14:00.000-07:00

Meetings this Lord’s day at Navy Base were very refreshing. The Lord’s Supper was a good time of remembering our wonderful savior and all that He has accomplished in our stead. The Spirit led us in worship by using the sharing of the first brother on the theme of “choosing what is best” from the account in Luke chapter 10 regarding Martha and Mary. From there we remembered Mary’s outpouring of worship in her anointing of the Lord Jesus in John 12, and wiping his feet with her hair. Then, the Spirit led another to share from the sister account of that anointing in Mark 14. What a wonderful and uplifting time of remembrance.

Following the Lord’s Supper we had our respective Sunday School classes. This week we continued our Look at the first chapters of Acts. I began this series last week with an introduction to the book. I will be sharing this teaching time with another brother from week to week. Again, it was a delight to remember the bodily resurrection and ascension of our Lord and the out pouring of the promised Spirit.

At the family bible hour one of the young men spoke and gave an excellent message on the coming judgments. In which he outlined each of the judgments that are coming in the program of God. He did a very good job and we are quite pleased with His dedication to the things of the Lord. It is only his second time to speak at the family bible hour and he already speaks with confidence and skill. Certainly a Spiritual gift the Lord has given to Him to use for His glory.

We had a good bible study on Friday last at the home of one of the saints, this study is mainly for her family and extended family. I shared on the word pictures describing the servant of Christ in 2 Corinthians.

This coming Lord’s Day I will have the opportunity of speaking once again at the assembly in Baguio Gold, which will be the first time since arriving back home in Baguio. I am looking forward to seeing them again and to scheduling our next session of bible school there.

Tomorrow morning we head back down the hill to Manila. Joyce is still having some on going complications from her surgery and another visit to the doctor is needed. She may need another procedure to stop the fluid retention that she is having above the lower incision. Please pray with us that this added procedure is unnecessary. She has been a bit weepy these last couple of days and could sure use your prayers and encouragement.

Kim and Larry are doing well, and are fitting in quite nicely now at Faith. They are sure keeping busy, but outside of the normal adjustments, are settling in quite well. Thanks for your prayers for them.

I will send an update on to you all regarding Joyce when we return from Manila later in the week.

Back In Baguio Aug 21, 2008

2008-08-20T18:40:00.000-07:00

Typhoon Karen, a category 2 typhoon, has moved by to the north of us these last couple of days dropping several inches of rain on the northern and central sections of Luzon. It has rained non stop for a couple of days and we are finding holes in our roof that we did not know existed previously. We have several new “water features” decorating our home. The storm should move far enough away today or tomorrow to give us a break from the constant noise of rain on a metal roof, which at the first is rather soothing, but then becomes a constant din that causes the soul to desire quiet.

Last evenings prayer meeting was sparsely attended due to the storm, yet it was a good time of prayer and Wini began a series of devotionals on the parables of our Lord. Last evening we were reminded of the Lord’s concern for the lost, from Luke 15.

This Lord’s Day I will be teaching an introduction to the book of Acts at the 10 O’clock adult Sunday school, and then at the 11 O’clock family bible hour I will be teaching on the second advent of our Lord Jesus. So they have put me right back to work, and it is a blessing indeed!

Joyce is recovering nicely. She still does have a small section on the lower incision where she is still leaking, all else has healed up nicely. We will be heading down to Tarlac City, about 2 plus hours down, for a check up on Saturday. So we would ask that you continue to keep Joyce’s recovery in your prayers.

Driving across to some of the new outreaches has been impossible these weeks due to the rainy season and storms. Wini has received some text messages from the folks in Atamok desiring to have a bible study. As soon as the weather clears a bit we will make a trip over. We are thankful to the Lord for the interest these folks are showing in spiritual things. Pray that as the gospel continues to go forth in that area that souls in this family would come to Christ.

It is so good to be with the saints at Navy Base again. Psalm 133 describes it well. “Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!...”

The Lord bless you and keep you my friends. Thank you all for your prayers.

August 13 - Thoughts About the Poor

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August 2, 2008 Joyce Surgery Update

2008-08-02T03:22:00.000-07:00

Greetings to you all. This has been a challenging week for us. Joyce entered the hospital on Tuesday afternoon. After a battery of tests she was all set for her surgery on Wednesday. We both slept well Tuesday night having committed the following day’s surgery into the hand of our Lord.

Wednesday morning at about 5 AM the doctors and assistants came to take Joyce to the OR. She left the room at about 5:30, and I did not see her again until almost 5 PM. The surgery began at 6 AM and was in two phases. The first phase lasted three hours, the second phase was an additional 6 hours, so she did not leave the OR until about 3 PM, nine hours later. She was in the recovery room until a little before 5, when she was finally rolled back into the room, awake but still a bit groggy. It was sure good to see her again. After the first phase the oncologist visited me in the room to let me know that his phase was completed and that it went well. He mentioned that a few of the lymph nodes, that he removed, were a bit inflamed. So we are awaiting the results of the biopsy. After the second phase that surgeon also came and visited with us to let us know that his part went very well. So we thank the Lord for the good work of these fine men, instruments in the Lord’s hand for this moment in our lives.

Larry and Kim had come down from Cainta to spend the day with me and keep me occupied, and I was certainly thankful for them. They were there to greet Joyce as well when she was rolled into the room.

It is now Saturday afternoon here and Joyce was released from the hospital this morning and is resting here at Rose Brooks’ home in San Juan, just about a ¼ mile from the hospital. She is still a bit weak but doing very well. She still has several drains in and we have to care for them for the next week or so, but other than that this phase of things is finally over. Thank you all so much for praying. We will be remaining here in the Manila area for at least another week or two depending on the doctors and Joyce’s progress. We have a follow-up visit on Monday with one surgeon and Wednesday with the other. We long to be back home in the mountains, but the Lord’s timing is best. We will look to Him for His guidance.

We will keep you updated. Thank you so very much for uplifting us in prayer…we certainly have felt HIS presence.

July 23, 2008 Update

2008-07-22T17:44:00.001-07:00

Had a visit with the surgeon yesterday evening and Joyce’s surgery has been postponed until Wednesday the 30th. Evidently there was some miscommunication between the nurse and doctor regarding the date, so his first opening was Wednesday.

So today and tomorrow Joyce has a battery of tests that she must have in preparation for surgery. She must also have a visit with a cardiologist. We are praying that we can get all these tests done today and tomorrow so that we can head up the mountain for the weekend to visit with the saints there and to finally be home, if even for a short weekend.

Thank you all for your prayers and help during this time. The Lord is so very faithful to us. This morning he gave me a verse from Psalm 20. “Some trust in chariots, some in horses, but I will trust in the Lord.”

Update -In the Philippines - July 22, 2008

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Greetings to you all from a very hot and steamy Manila. We arrived safe and somewhat sound last Wednesday evening and have been running ever since. Seems like we have been here for weeks instead of just a few days, we seem to have gotten much accomplished in those few days.

Most of our days have been taken up in trying to get Larry, Kim and the kids settled into their new dorm. They will be taking care of 13 high school boys, at last count. The dorm is quite large but in need of a lot of work. So they have their work cut out for them these next couple of weeks. The students begin arriving on August 11th. There are several maintenance issues that need to be resolved as well as normal preparations. As first time dorm parents there is so much they still need to learn about the normal everyday functions of the dorm, so they are continually learning new things and new responsibilities that they will have…keep them in your prayers.

Joyce and I had to take a quick trip over to Subic yesterday to get our car registration renewed. Because of a new law we were unable to renew it here in Manila but had to take the 2 hour trip over to Subic, and unlike Manila, they are not very modernized and so we had to wait about 1 ½ hours for them to pass paper work from one to another, stencil our car, and then finally issue the new years stickers.

This evening (Tuesday our time) we will be visiting the Doctor for Joyce, and hope to have more information regarding her up coming surgery, scheduled for Friday. Please keep her in your prayers.

We had desired to visit with the saints in Baguio before her surgery but because her doctor’s appointment had to be changed we were unable to make a trip home to the mountains. We are deeply saddened by this, but know that our Lord has all things in His control. So now we will not be able to go home until her surgery is over and she has recovered enough to travel.

We know that you are praying for us and that is such an encouragement to us. Please drop us a short note when you get a chance, it would be an encouragement to Joyce. So many of you already have, and for that we give you thanks.

Update June 9, 2008 - CMML New Jersey

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Greetings to you all. We arrived safe and sound in the States a little over three weeks ago and had an opportunity to visit with Joyce’s mom and dad in the Orlando area. It was good to see them. Her Dad is requiring further surgery this week to repair a hip replacement that he had done a couple of months ago, so please keep him in your prayers. Our oldest daughter Rachel came down to Florida for a long weekend and it was great to have the time with her there.

The Lord opened opportunities for me to speak, at the assembly in Lake Howell, as well has Clermont and Hiawassa Bible Chapel. Then our last Wednesday night was spent with the saints at Satellite Beach. It was so exciting to us to realize just how many folks visit the web site and are keeping up with the Lords work in the Philippines. It is such and encouragement to know that so many have been praying for us, which explains the blessing we have been enjoying over this past year. Thank you all so much for your encouragement while we were with you.

We completed a weekend conference yesterday at Branford Bible Chapel in Connecticut. What a time of personal blessing for me. I so much enjoyed the fellowship of the saints there and they encouraged our hearts in the things of the Lord. Thank you all so much!! We did not realize just how much we missed all of you.

Currently we are at CMML in New Jersey. Our daughter Kim and her husband and the grandkids are down for a short visit to the New Jersey area before heading out to the Philippines with us in July. They will be beginning a work for the Lord at Faith Academy as dorm parents for high school boys starting at the beginning of the next school year. Keep the Keating family in your prayers as they begin this new venture for the Lord. They become the fourth generation from the “Brooks Family” to serve the Lord in the Philippines. What a wonderful blessing to realize God’s grace and faithfulness.

Joyce is doing well, she is had been experiencing some side effects from the Tamoxifen she has been taking for her cancer. But recently those side effects seem to have dissipated, so she is doing much better.

I have a couple more meeting in Connecticut before heading up to Rochester, New York for a wedding and then on to Chicago for about three weeks before heading back to the Philippines on the 15th of July. Joyce’s surgery will be on the 25th. The recovery period is between six and eight weeks so we would certainly appreciate your prayers. We hope to head back up to the mountains for a brief visit before the surgery, then return home as soon as the doctors give their permission for her to travel.

Thank you all once again for your faithfulness to the Lord and to us. Your love and prayers have blessed us and encouraged us.

Update, May 12, 2008, Departure for Brief Visit to US

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This past week we finished up the second session of the Evening Bible School at Navy Base. We had about 15 who came out faithfully, once again, to study the book of Hebrews in depth. They seem to have enjoyed the hours spent looking at each verse, and interacting. After each section of observation and interpretation they have been giving the applications, which has been fun. They have really come up with some good applications based on the interpretation of the texts. It has been a good exercise for all.

Yesterday I spoke at San Juan chapel in Manila. It was good to be with the folks there again. The message was well received and many seemed to be encouraged. Although I inadvertently had Christ in the tomb for three years instead of three days, a language mistake, they were gracious and kind and of course they understood.

Tomorrow we leave for a brief visit to the States. Please keep us in your prayers. Joyce in doing well, and will have her surgery when we return. I know it will be on her mind a lot, so your prayers for her will be much appreciated.

Update, May 3, 2008

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Greetings once again to you all in the precious name of our wonderful Savior the Lord Jesus Christ, who loved us and gave Himself for us.

This past Thursday morning we had a baptism in the South China Sea. Two of the young people were baptized during the assembly outing down in San Fernando. It was good to see these young men making a very public testimony of their faith. They are both solid young men with a good future of service for our Lord.

Tomorrow, Sunday, is the last of four classes of the first session of Mini Bible School down at Baguio Gold. We hope to be able to complete chapter three of the book of Hebrews tomorrow, attendance has actually grown since the first week of classes and they are quite attentive. So we are thankful to the Lord. We pray it would be a time of encouragement for those dear saints.

Monday brings a full week of classes in the second session of Bible School at Navy Base Christian Fellowship. These classes will run each evening from 7-9 PM, our goal in this second session is to complete chapters 4-7 of the book of Hebrews.

Last Saturday we had a good Medical and Dental clinic at the chapel. There were well over 150 who came for treatment, and heard the gospel as well. Tracts were distributed, individual sharing of the gospel and the offer of free courses dealing with Salvation were offered. As a result, there were requests for about 20 correspondence courses from BSA (Bible School of the Air, the Emmaus work in the Philippines) and requests for Our Daily Bread, as well. The courses were distributed last Sunday to each family that requested them. Please pray that this study will bring Salvation to some.

Thank you all for praying. We do feel and see the results in the work of the Lord around us.

May 3, 2008 Medical / Dental Clinic, Navy Base Christian Fellowship

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May 3, 2008 Baptism Pics

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Update April 21, 2008

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Greetings once again to you all. The Lord is so good and faithful and we continue to see His blessed hand at work in our lives. We certainly appreciate your prayers for us, especially with the trips back and forth to Manila, it can be a rather hazardous times sometimes.

We arrived back from Manila on Saturday after spending two days in
San Juan visiting doctors and such. It is always so nice to get back to the mountains after spending a few days in hot Manila.

Yesterday I was the speaker at Navy Base Christian Fellowship in the morning, then in the afternoon we continued our Mini Bible School session down in Baguio Gold. Both went very well, for which we thank and praise our Lord.

I was only able to attend one of the VBS sessions because of the unscheduled trip to Manila. But it went very well and they had about 60 plus kids each day and the gospel was shared both during the week and to the parents on graduation day.

Five from the assembly traveled down to Pangisanan this morning for two weeks of Christian Training Camp. They are five key folks at the assembly and we pray that this would be a profitable time for them all.

My schedule this week is a bit lighter than past weeks so I am looking forward to a time of study in preparation for the week of Bible School I am teaching here the first week of May.

Joyce is doing well, but is facing another more extensive surgery in the months ahead. The doctor has given his ok for here to travel home in May and have the surgery performed when she returns in late July. Since the cancer is in the early stages the delay is not a problem. Joyce is not asking the Lord for healing, but simply that His perfect will be done in her life. She is facing this with strength of character and faith, as she has faced each and every obstacle in her life. The challenges are real, but “The LORD on high is mightier than the noise of many waters, than the might waves of the sea” (Ps, 93)

April 21, 2008 Pics, Part 1, VBS and the Mini Bible School at Baguio Gold

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April 21, 2008 Pics, Part 2, VBS and the Mini Bible School at Baguio Gold

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Update, April 8, 2008

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Greetings to all, and thank you so much for checking in from time to time so that you can pray effectively for the Lord’s work here in the mountains of central Luzon.

We are thanking the Lord for a wonderful week. The bible study in Fatima went very well this week and several of the ladies who were unable to make the last meeting were back for the study. Most of them are believers from the assembly there, but there are a couple of women who attend who, as far as we can discern, have never accepted the Lord as Savior. So continue to pray that the saints would be encouraged in their faith, and that those who have not yet come to know Him will recognize their need for the Savior.

The “children’s worship” Sunday went well. Once a quarter the assembly at Navy Base has the young men of the assembly lead the Family Bible Hour. They did a very good job. I spoke on the heart that Sunday, seeking to explain what we mean when we say, “Ask the Lord to come into your heart” or “The Lord is in my heart”. We trust the Lord encouraged His people through the teaching of His word.

Yesterday we had a joint fellowship with the saints meeting at Baguio Gold, Fatima and Navy Base. We met down at Baguio Gold, with the goal of encouraging those dear saints that have been through so much these last months. The ladies had a good time together in praise, fellowship and a bible lesson taught by one of the women from the assembly at Navy Base. The men used the time to do some evangelism below and above where the assembly in located. It was a profitable time. The area is quite poor with several small homes scattered about. The Lord opened up several opportunities to share the gospel with whole families, two of which desire to have home bible studies started. The assembly at Baguio Gold will be doing the follow-up and the elders will be teaching the home studies. We will be doing some follow-up as well in the next couple of weeks, Lord willing.

I begin a new mini bible school at Baguio Gold this coming Lord’s Day. The first session, which will cover the introduction and first three chapters of the book of Hebrews, will run on consecutive Sundays until May 4th. Then May 5-9 we will have evening classes at Navy Base each evening from 7-9. This is the second session for them and will cover chapters four through seven, Lord willing.

So we are excited to see the Lord at work in the hearts and lives of His people, and in the lives of those who have not yet put their trust in Him. Continue to pray that fruit may continue to be produced in both these areas by means of His Spirit.

Joyce is doing well. The pathology department at the hospital in Manila needed to do further testing on the mass removed a couple of weeks ago as the tests they concluded were deemed inconclusive. So we are still in the waiting period. Continue to pray that the mass will be benign. But our faith and trust is in the wisdom of one greater than us, so we will trust in Him whatever may come. Love to you all, and thanks you so much for your prayers.

April 7, 2008 Pictures - Ladies Joint Fellowship

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Update, March 22, 2008 Loakan, Antamok

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We had a good trip across the mountains to Loakan, Antamok this morning. It was a trip over some pretty rough roads and the car took a beating, but seemed to do well. It is a small gold mining village, which because it is a bit hard to get to, is rather small and quiet. We were able to hand out several tracts and Emmaus correspondence courses on salvation to folks along the street as well as to the contacts that we have there.

Some of you may remember a couple of months ago Wini Mata, one of the elders at the assembly at Navy Base hit a young child who had to be hospitalized for over a month. Well, as it turns out, this family is where we had the short bible study, and they have become our contact family in Antamok. As of yet none of the family has made a profession of faith, but they have welcomed us with open arms and are very happy to have bible studies in their home.

We met with the Barrangay Captain of the town to get permission to hold a VBS program there in May, and to return for a puppet show at a later date. The town seems to be open to it. Please pray for souls to be saved.

The message on Good Friday went well, for which we thank the Lord, the gospel was presented and challenges given. We trust the Lord will use it for His glory.

Thank you for praying for us and our trip. The Lord kept us safe and kept the car running well….

A take-home Gift.

March 22, 2008 Pics Loakan, Antamok Continued

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The only smooth section of single lane road.

The road was quite rough for several miles. Which made for slow going.

Those who attended the short bible study, among them some of the saints from Navy
Base.

Heading into Antamok

Update, March 21, 2008

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It has been a busy week, and next week proves to be full as well. We had a visit from two of our language teachers from Manila this past week. It was quite a helpful time in our study of Ilokano, for which we thank the Lord. That language is coming along painfully slow, but it is much what we expected. Currently Aunt Rose Brooks is up for a visit and a much needed rest.

Yesterday we had our second bible study in Fatima. They are quite pleased to have us coming and the study went well. There were not so many in attendance, as it is a holiday here, but we were encouraged, and we pray that they were also encouraged by the Word of our blessed Lord.

Today (Friday) we have a special meeting at the chapel where the seven last words of Christ on the Cross will be remembered. Several of the men will participate in the reading and explanation of the various texts. Then I will be giving a short message concerning the crucifixion of our blessed Lord.

Saturday several of us will be traveling over the mountains to a new outreach about 45 minutes away. Please be praying for the salvation of souls and the beginning of a new bible study in this area.

Sunday morning we have a sunrise service scheduled for 5 am, followed by a breaking of bread, breakfast, and then the regular schedule of meetings. I will be speaking at the sunrise service and Winie Mata will be speaking at the regular meeting. Please be praying that those who visit this Sunday may be moved by the Spirit and convicted of their need for a Savior.

The assembly in Baguio Gold has expressed interest in having a mini bible school there beginning in April. Thank you for praying. The elders believe that a consecutive Sunday afternoon schedule will work best for them. So beginning April 13 and each following Lord’s Day we will be teaching there. Please keep this in your prayers as well.

We head down to Manila on Monday for Joyce’s procedure and biopsy. Please keep her in your prayers. Whatever the outcome of the biopsy we know the faithfulness of our Lord. Pray for safety as we travel, and for wisdom for the doctors. We will send along another update when we have further information regarding Joyce.

Thank you all for your prayers!! We see the results in the lives of men and women, and in our own lives as well.

Update, March 10, 2008

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Greetings to you all in the precious name of our Lord and glorious Savior.

We enjoyed a good and encouraging Lord’s Day yesterday. I believe we are already beginning to experience the fruit of the Men’s breakfast studies at the Breaking of Bread, for which we give thanks to the Lord. It was a sweet time yesterday morning as several of the men shared on the wonder of the blood of Christ, the Lamb of God.

Thank you for your prayers regarding the new study down in Fatima which began last Friday afternoon. We were very much encouraged by seeing ten women who attended the study, for which we thank the Lord. I spoke mostly in Tagalog, but am quickly realizing that I must use more English and more Ilokano for this study as many of them are not fluent in Tagalog. Continue to pray that we may see fruit for His glory as a result of this study. They need much encouragement down in Fatima as they have experienced some deep disappointments over the course of the last year. This study will be each Friday afternoon at 2 PM and is designed to encourage the women living in that area. Some who attend are not saved, so please be praying that the Lord would use these times to bring conviction and salvation into their lives. There is also another new study which will begin this coming Saturday in the same area. Winie, one of the elders in the assembly at Navy Base will be teaching this study. It will be in the home of one who just came to know Christ a couple of weeks ago as we distributed tracts in that area. Pray for her and her family that all may come to know Christ as Savior and Lord!

This coming week I will be speaking down in Baguio Gold. They have asked that I take both the Sunday School hour as well as the Bible hour. We have offered to teach an Evening Bible School for them in April, so be praying that the Lord would use these times to encourage and build up His precious saints there.

The work of the Lord at Navy Base continues to be a constant source of encouragement to my soul. The saints are all so committed to the Lord and to His work and much activity for the Lord is going on through outreaches, though edification of the saints and children’s works. What a blessing it is to me to simply be around these dear saints. They have encouraged my soul over and over again.

Please continue to pray for Joyce. Evidently the doctors have seen in her mammogram and ultra sound something they did not like. So although the first problem has been resolved we are now looking at another. We will need to make another trip to Manila in the next couple of weeks and Joyce will be admitted into the hospital for some more extensive testing. Please keep her in your prayers.

Thank you all so much for your love and prayers. We are strengthened and encouraged by the Lord as a result.

Update, March 3, 2008

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Greetings to you all. We had to make a run to Manila this past week as Joyce had developed a bit of a problem and we had to visit with the doctors. The biopsy was negative, for which we praise the Lord, but she will still require some surgery in the next few weeks. We will be calling the doctor today for results from further tests, and for the scheduling of her surgery.

I will be beginning a new bible study down in Fatima this coming Friday. The saints there requested it, and we were more than happy to help. Pray with us that the Lord would use this time to encourage them in their walk with Him.

Saturday morning at 5 AM is our second men’s breakfast study. We will be continuing to look at Worship, using A.P. Gibbs book, “Worship the Christian’s Highest Occupation” Then on the Lord’s day I will be speaking at Navy Base.

I was down visiting with one of the remaining elders from Baguio Gold yesterday and I know they are struggling a bit. So please keep them in your prayers. I have offered to teach an Evening Bible School there in April if they desire it. So we will wait to see what the Lord will open up there. I have been asked to come again and share the word this month as well, so it is becoming a monthly event, which is an answer to prayer for me. There is a real need down there, and we are praying how we might help them. Please be praying with us.

Sagada , Feb 16, 2008

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We arrived back from Sagada on Thursday, a bit tired from the trip, but thankful to the Lord for His watch care over us. We left Tuesday morning and were quite surprised to find that much, of what was once rough dirt roads, had now been beautifully paved! The first three hours of the trip across the mountains was a relatively easy drive. Once we past Mt Data things went a bit down hill, as far as the roads are concerned, but the car ran well and handled the rough roads quite easily. There were a couple of areas where landslides were being cleared away and others where new road work was being done, but all in all it was an easy trip. It only took about 6 hours, whereas in the past it was an 8 hour excursion. The views we enjoyed were absolutely spectacular, it is hard to explain unless you travel it yourself, pictures just cannot tell the story.
We made some good initial contacts in Sagada over the three days. Most of the contacts were a result of the time that Mike and Beverly Smits spent there over 13 years ago. Many still remembered them and spoke very highly of them. We pray that we may be able to make further contacts on our next trip up planned for April, Lord willing. We are taking it slow and praying that if it is the Lord’s will for something to develop here that He will open the doors. Please pray with us.

Sagada has changed quite a bit since the last time I was there. It is no longer the isolated village it once was. There are internet cafes, cell phones, satellite TV and much more available than in the past. That is a good thing, I suppose, but also bad thing. There is construction going on in the center of town. Bigger buildings, three and four stories, which block out the beauty of the views from the small town yet meet the every growing tourist travel. It is sad to see, but I suppose it is helping the economy of this small village.

Overall, it was an encouraging trip. We thank the Lord for your prayers for us. Continue to pray that the Lord will give direction for the future. We plan to make a few more trips before deciding whether to seek a place to rent.

I have been a bit under the weather since arriving back in Baguio. I am a bit run down and I have a heavy cold. So please keep us in your prayers. I will be speaking at Navy Base tomorrow (Sunday Feb 17) and will also be joining the saints down in Fatima in the afternoon.

Sagada Pics Feb 2008 - Click on Picture to Enlarge

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The morning clouds over the mountains, in Benguet Province

Moving out of Benguet Province into Mountain Province.

The road across Mountain Province

Rice Terraces along the way.

Sagada

A shop keeper in Sagada, who remembered Mike and Bev well.

An elderly woman who lived with and helped Mike and Bev Smits

The Sagada Rice Terraces

Update, Feb 8, 2008

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Greetings. This coming Sunday I will be speaking once again down at Baguio Gold and would covet your prayers. I have been asked to speak twice on Sunday morning. First in Chapter 4 of Genesis, and then I will be sharing from a wonderful trilogy of Psalms; Psalms 22,23 and 24. Then we will be joining the saints from Navy Base in our weekly visit with the assembly in Fatima.

Pray for the new outreaches from the Navy Base assembly. There is door to door evangelism going on in the neighborhood surrounding the chapel building and it is already bearing fruit as one lady has committed her life to Christ and attended the assembly meeting last Lord’s day. The young people are out sharing the gospel, and the ladies group goes out once a month into the homes of neighbors to share. This along with the various home bible studies are the avenues being used to get the gospel out. Those of the assembly are doing a wonderful job. The word is being sown, it is being watered and we are trusting in the Lord to bring the increase.

This coming Tuesday Joyce and I will be making our first trip up the Mountain Trail to Sagada. Our desire this trip is just to scout things out, as it were. The contact that I thought we had there is no longer living in Sagada so we are going in not really knowing anyone, so it will take a few visits before people become familiar with us. Mike and Bev Smits have given us good counsel, and we will be taking things slowly and asking the Lord to open doors for us. We would appreciate your prayers for safety and His direction.

We spent a couple of days this past week down in Manila. It was good to visit with the saints at San Juan on this past Lord’s Day. It was quite an enjoyable time to see them all again. One of the brothers has asked me to consider taking a trip with him to Palawan to visit with the saints there, so please pray with me for direction.

January 24 Evening Bible School Pics

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January 24, 2008 Update

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Greetings to you all once again. Just a quick up date for all of you that have been praying for the Evening Bible School at Navy Base Christian Fellowship. We are entering our fourth night of classes and the response has been very good, for which we give thanks to the Lord. We have had 15 who have been coming each night, and a couple of others who have come as their schedule has allowed them. We are working our way through the first four chapters of Hebrews and hope to complete all four chapters by weeks end. I must admit I am a bit behind having only completed one and a half chapters with only two nights remaining in this first session.
Each one has shown diligence in completing their assignments and all are on time each night for classes, most arriving early so as not to be late. They are such a pleasant group of saints I just love being with them.
Please continue to keep us in your prayers as we work through these last two chapters.
I will also be speaking this coming Sunday in the book of James and certainly could use your prayers as I prepare for that lesson as well. Then down to Fatima for their afternoon service. What a joy!

Update January 8, 2008

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January 8, 2008

Happy New Year to all. As I reflect back on the past year I am so very thankful to our Lord for His overwhelming kindness to us. Last year at this time we were leaving Hinton, West Virginia heading for South Carolina. This year we are in the mountains of the Philippines. What a difference a year makes. The Lord in His grace has seen us through another wonderful year in His service and we are so very grateful to Him.

A couple weeks ago I was able to speak down in Baguio Gold to the small assembly meeting there. They were celebrating 13 years as a functioning assembly in the present location. They have gone through some hard times of late, but the Lord has preserved them. It was a delight to share with them from the Scriptures. I will be going back again in February and hope to be part of the regular rotation of speakers there. They could sure use your prayers, as can I, as I seek to share the Word of God with them and encourage them in the things of the Lord.

This past week I spoke at the Navy Base assembly twice. Once at their joint Sunday School and then at the regular preaching service. This coming week I will be speaking on Wednesday evening at Navy Base and then Sunday at the assembly in Fatima.

The first session of the bible school at Navy Base will be upon us soon, Jan 21, so please keep that in your prayers as well. There are ten signed up for the classes so we are thankful for that, and others will join as they are able to audit the classes. We plan on covering the first four chapters of Hebrews in this first session.

We are still planning on making our first trip up the mountain trail to Sagada by the end of the month, Lord willing. We are not sure what we will find, so please be praying.

We were not able to get the needed repairs done on the truck this last week in Manila. So we will be looking to do that up here before making the trip up the hill.

We were able to secure our licenses while in Manila, and all in one day!! Just a three hour ordeal, which is nothing compared to what it used to be.

We have a planning meeting at the Navy Base assembly on Saturday the 12th. So be praying as we plan for the coming year. I would love to see a new outreach using the Emmaus Correspondence courses!

Thank you all so much for your prayers for us. We trust this new year will find you walking closer with your Lord than ever before.

Pictures January 8, 2008 - Baguio Gold Assembly

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Navy Base Christian Fellowship Picture

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Update - December 16, 2007

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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!!

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“…the poor you have always.”

I live and labor in a land that has many poor. It is one of the first things that strikes a new visitor when they first venture out past the airport’s custom stations. From the moment they leave the security of the airport in this land they are surrounded by the sights, smells and sounds of poverty.

A new visitor discovers people living in conditions that far exceed anything one might find in the slums of the prosperous countries of our world. Beyond the surface, there are similarities and common denominators such as discouragement, despair and a sense of hopelessness.
Education, perhaps, is the key to moving beyond these confines. But then the “catch 22” of college expenses, and the means to pay for their higher education, assaults them. Many will be born into these conditions and live in them all their lives. They will raise their own families here, and watch their grandchildren grow up in the same conditions they did. Many of them are squatters, living and growing up with the uncertainty of how long they will be able to live where they currently dwell before some major company desires the property they call “home” for another shopping center or lofty overpass.

The Lord stated to His disciples an undeniable fact. “…the poor you have with you always.” The question then, for us becomes: What is our responsibility as believers in the Lord Jesus Christ towards these less fortunate men, women and children? Do we have a responsibility at all? Or, can we simply watch, see the conditions, express our sadness, shed a tear, then turn the channel or divert the eye so as to avoid the pain and twinge we feel in our soul.

The scriptures, which we read and seek to obey, have a great deal to say about how our Lord feels about the poor and His concern for them. It is easy for us to say, “Oh how sad…how very sad that so many must live in such desperate conditions. But what can I do? I cannot meet the needs of the world. After all, are there not many Christian and Non-Christian humanitarian societies working selflessly to meet these needs?” “Are there no prisons, are there no workhouses?”, is what Scrooge, in Charles Dickens classic “A Christmas Carol”, said in response to men seeking charity for the poor. Do our hearts respond in the same manner? We may say, “There are many useful institutions which meet the needs of the poor, and from time to time I have given my dollar to help. What more can I do?” We must learn to be Biblical.

The Lord made provision for the poor, by using the resources of His people, from the blessings they received from His hand: “And when you reap the harvest of your land, thou shall not make clean riddance of the corners of thy field when thou reapest, neither shall thou gather any gleanings of thy harvest; thou shall leave them unto the poor, and to the stranger, I am the LORD your God.” Lev 23:22

You will quickly notice whose harvest it is, whose fields they are, and who owns the gleanings. They are the people’s fields. They are the ones who own the fields, the ones who work them, who labor in planting, watering, and harvesting. They are the ones who pay the laborers. Of their labors, of their harvest, be it great or small, they are to be sure they give to the poor so that those who lack may glean, harvest and eat.

But, they may retort, “But they didn’t work!” The poor, the stranger, didn’t plow their fields; they had no field to plow. They didn’t labor in the fields; they had no one hire them. They are the truly needy, not the lazy or the sluggard, but the poor among you. The LORD said, “care for them.”

“For the poor shall never cease out of the land, therefore I command thee saying, thou shalt open thy hand wide unto thy brother, to thy poor, and to the needy in thy land.” (Deut 15:11)

“Open thy hand wide unto thy brother, to the poor and needy” I think, sometimes, my heart is haunted by the words of James. “If a brother or sister is naked and destitute of daily food, and one of you says to them, “Depart in peace, be warmed and filled” but you do not give them the things which are needed for the body, what does it profit? Thus also your faith by itself, if it does not have works is dead.” (James 2:15-16)

When we live in a land of great prosperity and build walls to shelter ourselves from the slums of the inner city; when we willfully and knowingly separate ourselves from our own brothers and sisters in Christ living in other countries who are in deep need; when we pray for those unable to get the hospital care they need, those unable to put healthy food on the table each day, those unable to meet the meanest of needs, how dwells the Love of Christ in us, if we lift no finger to help? We often times think, I suppose, that in some mysterious way God will bring manna from heaven to feed the poor. We pray for the Lord to meet their every need, but in reality we say with those in James…”Be warmed, be filled…”, and do nothing to help.

Shanties, beggars, the crippled and the maimed line the streets in many sections of the main thoroughfares of this land, as they do in many throughout this world. The sad thing I have experienced, is that after a while you do not see them anymore. They are now blened into the regular fabric of daily life and our soul’s grief for them is jaded. But the word of God and the Spirit of God will just not let it be so. “For the needy shall not always be forgotten, the expectation of the poor shall not perish for ever” (Psalm 9:18) “For the LORD hears the poor….” (Psalm 69:33)

In Deut. 15:1-11 we read of the Law regarding the Lord’s Release.

Once, again, the LORD, in concern for the poor, lest they be perpetually in a state of indebtedness, makes provision for them. In this provision of His mercy, He commands that every seven years they would be free from their debts to their brothers. Their brothers could not, according to this law, try to retrieve money lent to them. This did not mean that there was no moral obligation on behalf of the people to seek to repay, but it relieved them of the burden of continued debt. It was the LORD’S release. He provided it for them.

Verse four of this chapter seems to tell us that this law would keep the poor from being constantly in debt and getting further in debt. But, every seven years the poor would be given a fresh start. What a wonderful provision from the Lord! It is not designed to help the lazy and the sluggard, but those genuinely in need.

The chapter goes on, and in the Lord’s continual advocacy for the poor He says to them, “If there is among you a poor man of your brethren, within any of the gates in your land which the LORD your God is giving you, you shall not harden your heart nor shut your hand from your poor brother, but you shall open you hand wide to him and willingly lend him sufficient for his need, whatever he needs.” (15:7ff)

The next few verses in Deuteronomy seem to echo the words of our Lord in Luke 6:34-35 when He said, “…and if you lend to those from whom you hope to receive, what thanks is it to you? For even sinners lend to sinners that they may receive the like. But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, hoping for nothing in return, and your reward shall be great and you shall be sons of the Highest.”

In Deuteronomy 15:9-10 He says: “Beware lest there be a wicked thought in your heart saying, “The seventh year, the year of release is at hand, and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing and he cry out to the LORD against you and it become sin among you. You shall surely give to him and your heart should not be grieved when you give to him because for this thing the LORD your God will bless you in all your works and in all to which you put your hand.”

Paul, under inspiration of the Spirit, says…”God loves a cheerful giver…” (2 Cor. 9:7) Once again we see the same theme echoed that were in the words of verse 10 above.

Deuteronomy 15 continues with verse 11; “For the poor will never cease from the land therefore I command you saying you shall open your hand wide to your brother, to your poor and your needy in your land.”

Again, the LORD is making careful provision for the brethren. Those with abundance are to recognize the poor brother and open their hand….not stingily, nor tightfisted; not with a list of questions as to the “why?” of their poverty, but open it wide and meet the need. Further questioning and help can be given later to improve the situation , first meet the need. And, they are to give without usury. They are to give without the expectation of profit to themselves.

“The poor shall never cease from the land…” “For you have the poor always with you...” (Mathew 26:11) 1 Samuel 2:7 makes this rather startling statement: “The LORD makes the poor, and makes the rich, He brings low and lifts up”. This is found in Hannah’s song of thanksgiving to the LORD after she gave her son of promise unto the Lord for His service.

I realize that it falls among a group of similes, where one thought is placed against another for emphasis. Yet the truth of the verse remains. Does the LORD make the poor so that the rich can have compassion on them? Does He allow there to be poverty in order to give others an opportunity to serve Him, by not closing their eyes to the poor? Does He allow the rich to have abundance so as to give them an opportunity to share with those less fortunate? These are not only interesting but things to meditate on, but necessary to spiritual growth.

Wealth often is a relative thing. You may not consider yourself to be wealthy when you measure yourself against your neighbors or against others who live in more affluent areas of your country. But, when you place your wealth beside one in Uganda, Pakistan, Nicaragua, Peru or the Philippines, you may indeed appear quite affluent by comparison. In those countries, even a few dollars can make a significant difference.

Proverbs 22:9 states: “He that hath a bountiful eye shall be blessed; for he giveth of his bread to the poor.” Matthew Henry, in his classic commentary on the whole bible, says of this verse:
“The description of a charitable man; he has a bountiful eye , - an eye that seeks out objects of charity, besides those that offer themselves, - an eye that, upon the sight of one in want and misery, affects the heart with compassion, - an eye that with the alms gives a pleasant look, which makes the alms doubly acceptable. He has also a liberal hand: He gives of his bread to those that need - his bread, the bread appointed for his own eating. He will rather abridge himself than see the poor perish for want; yet he does not give all his bread, but of his bread; the poor shall have their share with his own family. 2. The blessedness of such a man. The loins of the poor will bless them, all about him will speak well of him, and God himself will bless him, in answer to many a good prayer put up for him, and he shall be blessed.” Matthew Henry’s Commentary on the Whole Bible. Matthew Henry (1662-1714)

The writer of one of the Proverbs adds to these thoughts, in that, “He that gives unto the poor shall not lack; but he that hides his eyes shall have many a curse.” (Proverbs 28:27) These words are certainly a challenge to my heart and to any open heart. To learn to have a “bountiful eye”, to pray that the Lord would remove the scales if scales there be. To learn, by His grace, to give willingly and with a cheerful heart, lest the poor be further saddened in their plight. To allow the Lord to create in us a heart that; “…considers the cause of the poor...” and does not respond like the wicked and unregenerate made who “…regards it not….” (Proverbs 29:7)

It is said of the Proverbial woman…”She stretches out her hand to the poor, yes, she reaches forth her hand to the needy.” (Prov 31:20) She puts action into her pity. She reaches out with more than prayer.

When the saints in Macedonia and Achaia heard of the need of their brethren in Jerusalem, having never met them, Paul could say of their charity; ”For it has pleased those of Macedonia and Achaia to make a certain contribution for the poor saints which are in Jerusalem” (Romans 15:26)

One of the requests of the elders of Jerusalem, after meeting with Paul and Barnabas to discuss issues concerning the gospel presented by them to the Gentiles, was that they “remember the poor.” And that was, according to Paul, “…the same which I was forward (diligent or zealous) to do.” (Gal 2:10)

The statement of David to Araunah the Jebusite, I suppose, may be a fitting way to end these few thoughts. The story is familiar to us all. David said to Araunah, in response to his offer to give David the threshing floor wherein he was to make his offering unto the Lord for the sin he done and the suffering he had allowed to the people of Israel, “I will surely buy it from you for a price, nor will I offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God with that which cost me nothing…”
Does our offering to the LORD come from that which will cost us nothing? May we search our hearts and count the cost, then give freely and with a cheerful heart. For it is the Lord that we serve, and He will be no ones debtor.

KHH

Ken & Joyce Hardisty serve as missionaries in Benguet Province Baguio, Philippines

Dec 3, 2007 Fatima Home Assembly - select picture to enlarge

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pics looking toward Baguio Gold, and out the window of the home the assembly meets in

some of the saints of Navy Base Chapel walking to the Fatima assembly

another good view toward the home

pic of the area the assembly meets in

inside of the home Fatima assembly meets in, and a few of the Saints.

Antipolo Assembly Pictures, elders, singing, sharing the Word

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Update - Nov 27, 2007

2007-11-27T06:34:00.000-08:00

Greetings to all,

It has been a very good and profitable time since last we wrote. The Lord has opened up some nice opportunities for the teaching of His precious word. We are currently planning to begin the Mini Bible school format starting in January. The elders have decided to have the book of Hebrews taught during these first sessions. The sessions will run Monday through Friday, from 7 to 9 in the evenings, one week each quarter. The book of Hebrews will probably take the first year to complete. Sign up for the classes will begin in December, so please be praying.
I was able to visit with the saints down in Baguio Gold this past Lord's Day. What a blessing it was to meet them. The chapel is down a very steep road that is partially paved and partially mud in the rainy season. So we were able to drive part of the way down, then we walked the rest. It is a beautiful location nestled in the valley with mountains all around. This Lord's Day the most recent typhoon was drawing close so the clouds were hanging low among the mountain ranges, it was just beautiful. The Lord used our brother Bong to bring a good word of encouragement to the saints. I am scheduled to speak at their anniversary Sunday on December 23rd, so please be praying.
The work in Fatima is going on well. This week, due to the rain we were unable to visit with the saints there. But the Lord is blessing there as well and a few of the women from that work will be joining the ladies from Navy Base to go to the women's conference in Malolos Bulucan next weekend.
I continue to teach on Wednesday nights and the saints seem to be encouraged, so please continue to pray. One of the men was mentioning on Sunday how the study has helped him during a recent trial that has come into his life. How good to know that the word is encouraging the saints hearts and strengthening them for the walk of faith.
Last week we were informed that our visas had been approved. They have granted us two years, which is good. This is a 9G visa and is renewable up to ten years. We are still considering our options with a permanent resident visa. There are pros and cons in obtaining one, so we continue to pray for the Lord's direction.
Thanks for all your prayers. The Lord is opening up doors and making the path before us plain. What a wonderful savior!!

Ken

In Baguio - October 23, 2007

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Greetings to you all from Baguio! We moved up last Saturday and are safe and sound. Joyce is still busy unpacking and sorting through things, I am busy repairing things and cleaning, there is much to do. The former tenants left a few pieces of furniture so that has been a help since we brought none of our own over with us. Joyce is making the place look like home.
I spoke this past Sunday at the assembly at Navy Base. We have begun a series on some highlights in the life of Abraham. On Wednesday nights we will be beginning a series on the love of the Lord for Israel and for the Church, using the book of Song of Solomon. Please pray that the Lord would uses these times to the encouragement of His people. For the meantime I am going to concentrate on teaching the saints and wait on the Lord to begin to open up other doors of opportunity. Pray with us for His leading and guidance.
Once the raining season is over we will plan to make a trip up the mountain trail and see Sagada. Pray with us as we pray that the Lord would give clear guidance.
Thanks for all your prayers. The Lord is blessing and encouraging our souls. His name to my heart is "...as ointment poured forth. Therefore...we love Him."

Ken

Tia Elizabeth Oct, 2007

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Tia Elizabeth sitting outside for the first time in over 8 months. She laughed all the way out her door and across the small bridge and praised the Lord as she went up the hill to visit with her friend....thank you all for your prayers for her.

September 27, 2007 Tia Elizabeth's Home and the upcoming move to The Mountains

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Greetings to you all once again from Manila. We wanted to send a short update for those who have been praying for and concerned for Tia Elizabeth, an elderly, poor saint, who was bed ridden 8 months ago because of a fall she took outside her home. Due to the generosity of a married couple who just wanted to help her, we were enabled by the Lord to pour a concrete slab in front of her home and extend a bridge over the small ditch beside and continue the slab to the other side. Next week, Lord willing, we will be purchasing a wheel chair and she will be able, for the first time since her fall, to be mobile. She will be able to be pushed out, across the bridge to visit with the saints! She is so excited. This dear couple provided all that was needed to pour this slab and provide some food and meds for her. She thanks her brother and sister for their kindness to her. The wheel chair was made possible by an assembly in the midwest which send a gift to "help the poor among you". The remainder of that kind gift has been set aside in a fund to be used for emergency medical needs for the poor in the future. Thanks you all for praying.

I have been teaching a series in Antipolo for the last several Wednesday nights, it has been well attended and the saints seem encouraged. This past Sunday I spoke my last message in Cogeo and finished the series on Ephesians four with them. This Sunday I will be speaking in Quezon City, it will be good to visit with the saints there as it has been several years since I saw them last. The following Sunday I will be speaking twice at the anniversary meetings in Antipolo on the topic of "knit together in Love" The following Sunday in the mountains!!

Please continue to pray for us as we make our transition to the mountains. We are so looking forward to finally being settled, we are looking forward to what the Lord has for us in the years to come, if He not come. Once we have made the move we will send another update for you all. Thank you so much for your prayers for us.

September 2 - Ministry in Angono, Baptism in Cogeo

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Greetings to you all once again. It was such a joy to spend this morning among two groups of saints. I spoke this morning in Angono, Rizal and finished up a series of messages. I trust the Lord will use them for His glory and for the edification of the saints. Following that meeting we quickly drove over to Cogeo for a baptism and to celebrate their 24th anniversary. I had the joy of baptizing seven, a older husband and wife, who just recently accepted the Lord as their Savior. As a result of their conversion and testimony now their entire family have come to Christ, even their daughter in law now is a believer. What a joy to see. Then I had the joy of baptizing some younger believers, some whom I have know since they were babies....and now they have matured into nice young Christian men and women. It was such a time of blessing for me personally. Rejoice with me!!!

August 24, 2007 - Baguio Trip 2

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Greetings to you all. Thank you so much for your prayers and for checking in on this site from time to time to keep updated as to our activities for the Lord.

We traveled up to Baguio once again last week in order to get some work done on the new place. It began raining on Monday afternoon after we arrived and continued to rain almost non stop for the next seven days. Super Typhoon Egay (Cat 5) was swirling in the Philippine Sea off the east coast and moving North toward Taiwan. It never made landfall in the Philippines but greatly enhanced the South West Monsoon rains and dumps several inches on the main island of Luzon. This caused several landslides on the roads leading out of Baguio and some bad flooding in the lowlands. We had planned on leaving Baguio on Friday morning but due to the conditions we had to extent until the rains subsided. We were finally able to pull out at 5:15 Monday morning. The trip down Kennon Road was absolutely beautiful. The rains had caused all the rivers to swell producing, what seemed to be, hundreds of waterfalls of various sizes. Some which actually fell over the road and had to be driven through. We arrived safely home in the late morning hours, thankful to the Lord for once again giving us safety as we traveled.

While in Baguio we were able to once again meet with the saints there both on Wednesday night and Sunday morning. I was asked to speak at both meetings and was glad to do so.

Rebecca Coburn arrived from Pennsylvania on Thursday the 23rd and will be staying with us for the next six weeks. She is a delightful young lady and will be doing some student teaching at Faith Academy. She is a much needed PE teacher. Pray for her that this experience would both be helpful for Faith Academy and may be a learning and rewarding experience for her. She will be staying until October 9th. We will be moving up to Baguio on October 13th.

Things, for us, are going well. We continue to study Ilokano twice a week and are busy speaking in the local assemblies. Our hearts continue to yearn for the mountains, both for Baguio and beyond. To finally be settled into a place we can call “home” and to be able to finally unpack all our things will be a blessing.

I am scheduled to speak in Cogeo this tomorrow on the Lord’s Day. Next week I will be speaking in Angono in the morning then traveling quickly over to Cogeo, once again, for their anniversary celebration. Since we served the Lord in that assembly for many years they have asked if I would come and baptize several new believers, which of course I am delighted to do.

Thanks for all your prayers and support. The Lord has blessed us and challenged us in the work here. We look forward with grant anticipation to what He will do in the mountains.

Morning Glory Assembly- Baguio

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Brother Ruperto Jaleco and his wife, were among the first ones in the assembly after Evelyn Balanag was saved in 1968. Today, they are still faithful to the Lord, and the assembly.

Numbers were down this Lord's day because of a typhoon that was nearby

Baguio - August 5, 2007

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Greetings to all.

We were able to visit the mountain city of Baguio last week and the Lord answered several of our prayers on that very first visit, for which we give Him thanks.

When we first arrived we were told how difficult it may be to find suitable housing in Baguio as several others have tried and been unsuccessful in securing housing. We spoke with another single missionary who had been looking for a place, just to get some tips on how to proceed. She spoke of a place she had"checked out" but that was not going to work out for her, but perhaps it would be nice for us. She gave us the name of the owner and directions to it. We visited it, and by the following day we had secured it. What a blessing. It will need some work to make it livable for us, but it will meet our needs nicely.

The following day was the Lord's Day and we visited with one of the assemblies in Baguio. This is the assembly called Navy Base Gospel Chapel, a work the Lord allowed Ken Engle to start back in the 60s. It is the work we have been praying about helping, and felt led of the Lord, for this past year, to work with. When we arrived on Sunday morning we expected that word of our desire to live and work among them in Baguio would have reached them. But to our surprise they had no idea of our plans. One of the elders met us at the door, he is a man I have known for years,and he was so excited to see us. Then when he learned of our plans he was almost in tears he was so happy. Then when he shared it with the assembly there was clapping and excitement all around. We felt so warmly welcomed. What a blessing and confirmation from the Lord to our hearts. Then they read a letter that Ken Engle and his son Kevin Engle had written by way of introducing us to the assembly and they were just so happy to know of our plans. The Lord has indeed blessed us!! Thank you for all your prayers.

We head back up the mountain in a week to do some work on the new place. Our plans are still to move up in October, and we can't wait to finally get settled in there Lord willing. Continue to pray for our visas. We are still awaiting a hearing, and the issuing of our 9G visas, after which we will begin the process of acquiring Permanent Residence Visas.

I spoke in Angono this morning here in Rizal Province. The saints there seemed to listen with much interest to the word of the Lord. We pray that in some small way He will use us to encourage them in their walk for Him. Next week we will be once again in Molabong.

Again, thank you all for your prayers and support, it has indeed encouraged our hearts.

Ken

Update - July 12, 2007

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Greetings to you,

Just a brief update for all of you who have been praying....we will be beginning our Ilocano language study on Tuesday!!! Praise the Lord He has provided a school, about 45 min drive away, where we can take some classes for the next few months. Thanks for praying.

I will begin teaching additional studies at the end of this month at Hill Crest, for their midweek meetings. So between language school, Wednesday night studies and Sunday speaking we have a pretty full schedule right now so would appreciate your continued prayer...

Ken Hardisty

Angono Assembly July 2007

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