Now God is pouring out His Spirit on the island of Mindanao in the Philippines. Now we need your prayers and financial support as never before. Hear the story behind this awesome picture. Now we ask you to sit down and read this newsletter to find out why time is so critical then make the biggest sacrificial gift you can to be a part of this miracle. We believe all who sow into this fertile harvest field will reap the miracle anointing that God is pouring out on Mindanao in this hour.
We have just come back from perhaps the most extraordinary two weeks we have ever spent. Our ministry in Romania had reached a point of maturity where the Romanians were able to carry on with most of the work, applying what we have been teaching them. We felt as though God had a new area of ministry for us _ an expansion of His challenge to "go and make disciples". So when we received an email from a Christian Brother in the Philippines asking us for help we prayed about it and felt like this was a "Macedonian call". We decided after much prayer to fly to the Philippines for two weeks to see what God may have in mind.
We were overwhelmed by what we saw and heard and experienced during those two weeks. The Lord confirmed over and over that this was indeed a Macedonian call to "come over…and help" (Acts 16:9). We found a group of totally committed first and second generation tribal Believers whose hearts were on fire with the love of God and a burden to reach the rest of their tribes and neighboring tribes with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The pastor who invited us, a godly young man named Allan Asang, is the son of the first man in their tribe to turn from paganism to Christianity. We met a group of pastors united by a common passion _ to reach the mountain tribes of Mindanao with the Gospel before they give in to the increasing pressure to embrace Islam.
Many of the young men who have come to Christ from paganism have a burden to plant churches in other villages untouched by the Gospel but they lack training. All the colleges and universities in the Philippines (including the Bible schools and seminaries) require students to pass an English competency exam in order to be admitted since English is one of the official languages in that nation (the other is Tagalog). There are many fine Bible schools and seminaries in the Philippines but only for those who are skilled in English. Most of the tribal people do not have the opportunity to excel in English. This is because they live primarily in remote rural areas where schools are of poor quality or may not exist at all. That is why Allan contacted us.
During our brief time there, we often found ourselves teaching and preaching three to five times a day! The people there are so open and so hungry for God! The Lord blessed in the most incredible way as we trusted in Him to guide our footsteps. The region where we were is considered the most dangerous part of Mindanao for Americans so very few missionaries go there. Because of this, there was a great hunger for someone to come to teach the Word of God. Everywhere we went, the Believers eagerly gathered to be taught from the Word.
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This church in Santiago is typical of the churches where we preached. |
Tribal workers listen intently as Howard teaches on the covenant. |
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We held a two day pastors' conference in Tagum City where we were staying. We expected about 35 tribal pastors, leaders, and workers. 65 came! We taught the basic truths of Scripture from morning to night _ five sessions a day. On the last night, each tribe represented was invited to sing the praises of God in their native dialect. What joy there was as we worshipped the Lord in TEN different tribal dialects! The spiritual leader of the Dibabawon tribe even performed one of their tribal dances in honor of the Lord Jesus Christ.
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Tribal workers sang to the Lord in T'bole, Ata, B'laan, Manobo, and 6 other dialects while two of the leaders from the Dibabawon tribe danced in His honor. |
Throughout the conference and in church after church where we visited, we had awesome times of praise and worship. These people know very well what God has delivered them out of and their hearts are full of praise and worship for His grace and mercy together with a heavy burden for those who are still in darkness.
Over and over God confirmed His promises. In one church, a lady who was going blind came forward for prayer after the service. Now she sees perfectly. The Lord promises that the steps of a righteous man are ordered of the Lord. We were scheduled to go to a second workers' conference in a heavily Muslim area. Because of circumstances, the Brother who had promised to organize the meeting was unable to do so and cancelled at the last minute. Another potential meeting in the same area also fell through. Then, at the last minute, we were invited to speak to a regional convention of health care workers in a different area. There we had the opportunity to share the Gospel with more than 200 government health workers, mostly nominal Catholics. When we challenged them to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, 75-80% responded by giving their hearts to the Lord. They were so hungry for God, they kept us there from 9 AM to 3 PM, sharing Scriptural truths about a personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
Health care workers respond to an invitation to repent and receive Christ as their personal Savior. |
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The last Sunday we were on Mindanao, we had been scheduled to preach in one village but transportation became a problem so we went to a different church in another area. On Saturday there was a terrible mudslide in the area where the first church was located. Homes were swept away and many were killed. Had we stayed with our original plan we would have been stranded by the mudslides and the flooding and been unable to reach the church.
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But the greatest confirmation that God gave us was waiting for us when we returned home. As you can see, we took many pictures while we were there, five rolls to be exact. One of the pictures was of the hill where a new church is being constructed. When we were there, we preached in the pastor's house. Afterwards we walked through the rice fields, climbed the hill, and prayed over the church building that is under construction. We prayed that the power of darkness would be broken, that Allah would be stopped, and that the glory of God would be revealed. When the pictures came back, there was a blood red streak across the sky touching the hill where the church sits, hidden among the trees. (We printed this newsletter in color so you can see it for yourself.) When we were there, the sky was a clear blue. The negative shows a clear blue sky. But the print shows a blood red banner. God is telling us He is pouring out His blood over Mindanao and it is His timing to bring the lost unto Himself. Now is God's time for Mindanao!
Reaching the lost on Mindanao is something that can't wait. Muslims from Indonesia are focusing on the mountain tribes, trying to persuade the chieftains that because they share a common ancestry, these tribes should renounce their idolatry and become Muslim. Muslim separatists are putting pressure on the Filipino government to enlarge the Muslim autonomous region that already exists on Mindanao to include these tribal areas that are 40% Muslim, the very areas where our students will be working. A citizen of Mindanao already needs a passport to travel to Manila! Already the government is trying to restrict access to these areas in the name of "protecting the tribal cultures" from "foreign" influences (Western Christianity). These tribal groups are a closed society. They will not even listen to strangers unless at least two members of the tribe recommend them. We cannot reach many of these tribal peoples but we CAN train tribal Christians in how to reach their own people as well as neighboring tribes. They have an open door and a willing heart. All they lack is someone to come and teach them how.
The challenge we have been given is to start a tribal Bible training center, a place where Christian young people can be trained and equipped with the necessary tools to reach their tribes and/or other tribal groups with the Gospel and to plant churches to disciple the new converts. We will be providing full time training, using the same Bible training materials we used so successfully in Romania. God has already raised up several ordained pastors with a burden for the tribal peoples who are already hard at work translating the materials into the Cebuano dialect which is the common dialect spoken throughout Mindanao. There is a house in Tagum City that we can buy as a mission station for $30,000 to provide housing for us and for the Bible school. Another nearby house is available for $20,000 that can serve as a dormitory for the students.
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We can get this house in Tagum City for $30,000 to house the Bible school. |
This house for $20,000 could provide a place for the students to live while attending the school. |
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The Bible school program will be very intensive and will include practical experience, not only in ministry, but in practical skills such as agriculture, literacy, and computer repair so that the ministry there can become self supporting while providing the students with tent making skills they can use to support themselves in the ministry and help develop the community in which they live, often the poorest and most remote areas of the island.
Our goal is to establish an indigenous work on Mindanao that will include a ministry headquarters and Bible school. We will be working with the tribal pastors to get the work established, developing various projects such as growing rice and raising chickens and pigs that will establish a financial base to provide ongoing support for the work and to provide training for the students. An initial investment of about $70,000 will enable us to buy the two houses, a van for transportation, and a ten acre rice field with the tools and equipment necessary to produce the first crop. In four months it can begin paying for itself and providing for the needs of the school. A ten acre rice field in this region will yield more than a $1,500 profit every four months under normal conditions.
We believe that a large initial investment will provide long term dividends by making the work self supporting. Our goal is to establish the tribal Bible institute as quickly as possible to train these tribal workers, giving them a solid foundation in the Word of God and practical skills to support themselves and train others to improve their living conditions, bringing the abundant life that God has promised to those who have for too long been in darkness where the enemy had free rein to steal, kill, and destroy.
Will you consider a sacrificial gift between now and Easter so that we can begin training tribal Believers on Mindanao to reach out to those who have never heard that Jesus rose from the dead nearly 2,000 years ago? They are ready and willing to risk their lives to take the Gospel to those trapped in Islam or pagan idolatry. They are desperately praying for someone to give them the training in basic Bible truths and equipping them for the task. The fields are ready for harvest. The laborers are ready to go. Let's equip them with the tools they need to reap an eternal harvest of souls and establish the Kingdom of God on Mindanao.
