Philippines Journal 2007 #11

Today was quite a day. First, we are very happy that the last of our team members, Dr. Dave Thomas, the Dean of the School of Theology arrived safely. He will do the nightly preaching at the Central Church, as well as lecture for the Field School. It is great to have his wit and wisdom around. We all will be blessed by his presence.

The second big thing was the grand celebration at the church in Marbel that started as a result of our meetings in 1998. I don’t know if I mentioned this in a earlier post; but after the meetings W. G. Nelson (WWC President at the time, and my associate for the meetings) and me returned with the story to my Sabbath School Class in Kretschmar Hall. The class purchased a motor bike for the pastor (who had no transportation); paid the salary of 2 associate pastors to follow up on the hundreds that were baptized, and donated funds towards the building of a new church to accommodate some of the new members. The total amount over 2 years was nearly $20,000.00. As you will see from the photos, they have a nice air-conditioned building with nicely tiled walls on the platform and a nice yard outside. Inside and outside was full today. The church also was celebrating the 5th anniversary of the radio program that they have started. And that program has also planted, and is leading out in the building a new church about 30 kilometers away. Part of the budget for the meetings we are presently conducting, go to these churches to prepare persons for baptism. So they will have a large group to be baptized in the mass baptism next Sabbath. Instead of boring you with words, let the photos tell the story of the great time we had today.

The third big thing as that on our way back during a very, very heavy downpour of rain, a large pickup had a break failure and slammed into us. There is no evidence that anyone was hurt, only the vehicles. The team members who were in the minibus were: Carol Hargreaves, Brittany Minden; Elliot Pevida; Vie and me. Also in the van were Pastor Serrano, my translator and Executive Secretary of the Union; the President of the Mission and his wife, and my body guard and his wife. But Praise the Lord we all are safe. If the Devil tried to kill us, he FAILED! Yet the sad news is that another Pastor further north was involved in an accident. He and his wife were on the motorcycle and they sustained serious injuries. They are in critical condition. Keep praying for us all!