“MAGNIFY THE LORD WITH ME AND
LET US EXALT HIS NAME TOGETHER”
Ps. 34:3
Spring is always welcomed as the season for new life and
new hope. We want to magnify the
Lord and praise Him for the hope and life that He gives all year around.
It was with great joy and expectancy that we returned to
Mindanao in mid-March to start Phase II of the Bible school in Tagum City. The full time workers we had trained in September and October
have successfully completed the teaching of Phase I at the seven teaching points
in the mountains. The many students
who stayed with the program in spite of all the challenges and difficulties
received their certificates of completion for the Basic Bible Course on March
19. The impact on their lives and
the effectiveness of the training is such that plans are being worked out to
teach the Basic Bible Course in all the churches.
In one of the teaching points in the mountains, the
students took what they were learning and put it into practice.
They went out and planted three new churches in neighboring villages.
One of our full time workers in another area has started two new churches
in his home region.
God’s hand has been on this ministry in a powerful way.
When the native pastors came together to incorporate Church Triumphant in
the Philippines a year ago, following our first visit in February, 2001, we had
a total of 13 churches who covenanted together to reach the mountain tribal
people with the Gospel. Most of
these churches were new works that were meeting in homes, on shaded walkways, or
in simple brush arbors. By the time
we had finished the first part of the Bible school training, the ministry had
expanded to 28 churches but only 8 of them had adequate facilities to meet in.
Living rooms and little brush arbors were becoming too small for the
hundreds who were coming to Christ, often 20-30 at a time.
But God was listening to the cries of His children on
Mindanao and His people in America were listening to the cry of God’s heart.
Today, through your generous response to the voice of the Holy Spirit, we
now have 35 churches established on Mindanao and 28 of those churches have
buildings either completed or currently under construction.
We are now in the process of negotiating to buy land for two other
churches who have outgrown their currently rented facilities.
The work is literally exploding with new locations and new souls being
born into the Kingdom of God
One veteran missionary we met from New Zealand said he
could not believe we could have accomplished so much so quickly.
He had been coming to the Philippines for 15 years and has only been able
to start 12 churches during that time. Later,
the thought hit me. Probably the
reason he had not seen the same results was because he could not believe those
kinds of results were possible. But
the Bible says all things are possible to those who believe.
Whether building a church or praying for a lost loved one, we need to not
be afraid but just believe in the miracle working power of God.
We wish you could have traveled with us up the narrow
winding road to the village of Sua-on, one of our teaching points in Cumval
Province. The Believers there are so poor they were literally dressed
in rags. We had come to dedicate
the church which they are now building using the nails and metal roofing
materials you provided and the lumber they have cut down from the surrounding
forest. We also brought them Bibles, a treasure they never could have afforded
to buy for themselves. They had
nothing to give in return but insisted on sharing their simple meal of coconuts,
bananas, and the sweet potatoes our workers had taught them how to grow.
The head chieftain of the tribe who had given his heart to Christ on
January 1 sat and watched amazed at the goodness of God to him and
his people. Yes, we need to
magnify the Lord together and exalt His name – Provider.
The following day we traveled again by rented van to
visit many of our churches in Sarangani, South Cotobato, and Sultan Kurturat
Provinces. The drive from Tagum
City direct to Santo Nino is only two hours but we had to travel for six hours
to get there by way of General Santos City in order to avoid the areas
controlled by the Abu Sayyaf and other Muslim groups.
At one point in our journey we were just blocks from the Muslim
Autonomous Region. But through your prayers God was with us.
The churches we visited were so grateful to us for coming to encourage
them. They were so grateful to God
for using you to provide them with the building materials they need to build
churches to reach out to their unsaved neighbors.
As we preached on Good Friday in the church in Santo Nino where the top
portion of the front wall was knocked down by the recent earthquake, we
magnified the Lord and exalted His name – Protector.
Back in Tagum City, we took part in the interdenominational
Easter Sunrise Service, building bridges of unity within the Body of Christ as
together we magnified the risen Savior. The following day we baptized 12 new
Believers from Kipalili in the Pacific Ocean then traveled to a village outside
of Mawab to pray over another new village church that is also under
construction. Through it all we
magnified God for His faithfulness.
Tuesday, April 2, marked the start of Phase II of the Bible
school, training the full time workers in the advanced course for church
planters. We will be teaching 9
hours a day Tuesday and
Wednesday and 5 ˝ hours on Thursday morning so the workers have time to return
home to pastor their churches Friday through Monday.
There is much work to be done to prepare workers for the harvest while
establishing new Believers on a solid Biblical foundation.
It is thrilling to see the impact the Word of God is having on open
hearts everywhere we turn.
We praise God for all that He has done in the hearts and
lives of the tribal people in this past year.
We stand amazed at all that has been accomplished.
We know none of it would have been possible without your help.
There is more that needs to be done – more churches to be planted and
built, more agricultural projects to be established to teach farming skills,
literacy programs to be implemented. We
still need to purchase the property for the Bible school.
We need reliable transportation to be able to visit churches and
transport building materials and produce. We
can purchase a 15 passenger like new two year old van for $5,000.
We know that the God who has blessed so abundantly in the
past will continue to meet all these needs as we continue to be good stewards of
His Kingdom resources. We want to
give Him all the glory and to thank you for your faithfulness to obey Him in
supporting this ministry with your prayers and your finances.
Together, we are making an eternal difference in so many lives as we work
together for that day when every nation, tribe, and tongue shall confess that
Jesus Christ is the Risen Lord to the glory of God the Father.
| 
