God has given us a wonderful promise and we have seen it come to pass. We are writing to you from Mindanao because we are too excited to wait until we get back to America to tell you the awesome things that God has done. Twice before we tried to return to Mindanao – a year ago in November and again in March. Both times the Holy Spirit spoke clearly and told us it was not yet time.
Finally, in early October, God said, “Go now”. So we left for Mindanao in the Philippines on the night of October 14 our time. And it was on the morning of October 14 their time that our Filipino Director, Allan Asang, went into a new area to bring the Gospel to the Talaingod tribe. He was able to lead the head chieftain to Christ. When the chieftain learned that we were coming from America and would be arriving in two days, he invited us to come and preach the Gospel in his village. He is the leader of 15,000 people. His village is in an area controlled by the communist rebels but he promised to guarantee our safety. Because he is so highly feared, he knew the rebels would honor his word rather than risk tribal warfare.
So it was that yesterday morning, we drove to Kapalong where the chief met us. From there we rode in a large flatbed truck with removable sides to his village where the road ended, up in the mountains. He went ahead of us by motorcycle to lead the way. We had to ford a river and navigate ruts too deep for a car to get through.
At last we arrived at his village built along the sides of the mountain. About 100 families live in this village, with the rest of the tribe scattered in other villages further up the mountain. Altogether this village serves as a gateway to 15,000 people. After he made us welcome in his home, we showed the chieftain the supplies we had brought for his people – two suitcases full of children’s clothes, along with soap, shampoo, toothbrushes, and two 50 lb. sacks of rice. He thanked us warmly then he called the people together to the “village hall”, a large open sided structure overlooking a lake.
There we preached the Gospel and the entire village raised their hands for salvation. God did a powerful work in their hearts. The chief distributed the help to those who needed it most and announced that we would gather together again last night to pray for the sick. Again God moved and touched many lives. The love God has for these poor, simple people was almost tangible.
After the service, over dinner we learned that the lake was called Python Lake and that, up until about 10 years ago, they had an annual animal sacrifice to the demonic spirit that they believed controlled the lake. Although the people were now born again, they were afraid to be baptized for fear of angering the python spirit that lived in the lake.
So at the service in the village hall this morning, Barbara talked about receiving God’s Word in good soil and obeying it. Then Pastor Allan taught the people about baptism and what it meant. Then Howard taught the people about the authority they have in Christ. He taught them that, as born again Believers, they had the Holy Spirit living inside of them and He would protect them from the evil spirits who had tormented them in the past.
Then the village together renounced the spirit of Python and commanded him to leave their lake, their village, and their land in Jesus’ name. Then the chief prayed and dedicated the land, the lake, and the entire tribe to Jesus Christ, entering into a covenant relationship with Him. When he did that, he could sense in his spirit that the demonic spirit left the lake and the oppression over the village was gone. The change was so complete that they even changed the name of the lake from “the lake of the python” to “the lake of the dove”. A supernatural peace descended on the village as God’s perfect love overcame all fear. Truly greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world!
Please continue to pray for us as we travel throughout Mindanao to bring light to those living in darkness and to encourage our Brothers and Sisters in Christ. We are continuing to negotiate with the bank on the purchase of the Bible school property. We know that God is going to supply the need at the right time in His perfect way. As soon as we return home, we will have a more complete report for you including pictures but we wanted to share this victory with you immediately so you can rejoice with us over this village which has been delivered from darkness by the power of the Gospel of Christ, made possible by faithful people like you who support this ministry with your prayers and your faithful giving. God bless you abundantly for making it possible for the Good News to be preached to the poor.