Wednesday, April 13, 2011

From Tragedy Rises A dream....

       One week ago today we experienced a terrible tragedy at the Berean Bible Baptist Church in Binalbagan, Negros, Philippines.

    The church building that has stood as a lighthouse and a beckon of truth for over 25 years burned to the ground. They believe it was caused by faulty wiring. The fire took down the building in such a quick manner that the Fire Department could not save anything. It has been hard to know that this building that has so many great memories is there no more.



     We praise the Lord though that the building is not the church!! Within 2 days the pastor and all of the members had begun salvaging what materials they could and began making plans to go forward for the Lord. We praise the Lord that there were no injuries and that the members have a vision of what GOD is going to raise up out of the ashes of the past.

    It is going to cost about $50,000.00 to rebuild the church building and replace all of the pews, sound system, Piano, guitars, tile. carpet and fans that were lost also. As far as we know, the only thing they could salvage was the tin for he roof. PLease pray with us that God will supply the need to rebuild this mighty church back up to be that haven of rest and lighthouse this city needs.

Saturday, April 2, 2011

Blessings come in Strange Packages!

For some people they have a preconceived idea on how they think God is going to bless them. It's easy to see a need and think , okay God can answer this need "this way" or "that". We pray and tell God we have a need and then we tell him how we want him to answer our prayers!!  One of our dear pastors in the Philippines was in need of a new motor bike for his ministry.  He uses this with a side car to pick up children and adults for church every Sunday. He also uses it to take food out to all of the feeding sites we have established through his church. At this time he is feeding and teaching the Bible at 12 different areas.
Now, we had been praying and asking God to answer this need but, we had also been trying to figure out how WE were going to do it!! We took a couple from Texas with us in January and when we visited Pastor Catamco's church they were overwhelmed at all he was doing. Brother Gregg said he wanted to take a ride in the side car so we sent him out with the Pastor. He came back telling us how bad the bike was and how there was no way it could run much longer. He returned to Texas and shared this need with the men in the church in within a week he had raised enough money to purchase Pastor Arturo Catamco a brand new bike for the ministry! This is a great need for all of the pastors in the Philippines. We have personally seen them put 16 children on a bike and sidecar for church. Talk about a bus ministry!!!!


Pastor Arturo is also in need of property to build a church building on. He has found this piece of land that we have claimed fort he Lord. In the 2 years we have know and supported Brother Catamo He has had to move his church 4 TIMES! All he can do is pay a person a small rent to use their land, or as they are doing right now, having church in a ladies carport. Help us pray for this land that GOD will give it to us to build a church that will stand true to God's Word and His Truth! The people in the Photo are bro. Arturo, his wife, Emily and their 5 children.


Just to share a little humor on one of our trips...
This is Harrell, me, Carol Jones, Gregg Jones and all of our luggage in a jeepney. It was so crowded that Harrell and our Field Rep, Renie Jun, finally hung off of the back. It was close to 35 minutes to where we were staying and they hung on to the back the whole way!!! The roads were bumpy and the drivers were down right crazy! Just imagine hanging onto the back of a race car, plowing down a bumpy race track with a drive who is trying his best to hit every hole in the road and you have our trip in a Jeepney!!!  It was an exciting adventure and it was all worth it to see the 600 souls saved on that trip. This is not just children accepting the Lord as their Savior but their parents also. We are so blessed that God has allowed us to be a part of the work on the islands of Cebu and Negros, Philippines.
If you would like to help us we would be so grateful. We not only have to raise the money for rice (close to 2 tons a month) to feed the hungry each month but we also do an Annual Youth Camp and Christmas Gift Giving Program every year. God is so good to let us see so many saved through these ministries he has placed in our care.
Don't forget to pray for us if you can't do anything else!!!