Read about what we’ve been up to in the Philippines!

Team Prep

By the time you read this, the team will be in Cebu. We’re excited for their arrival and look forward to seeing what God will do. The men will teach three Ministry Training Institute classes for pastors & church leaders on three different islands! One each in Bohol, Cebu, and Bantayan. We’ll also have a Street Level Summit in Balamban. We’ve been getting the word out about these events and slowly collecting registrations. We sent out mass texts, posted online, added commercials to Shofar TV, hung banners, delivered informational packets, and asked people to spread the news by word-of-mouth. We even got to present Shofar and the upcoming events at a gathering of pastors from churches around Cebu City. Please pray for the team’s physical and spiritual safety, as well as for the Holy Spirit’s guidance and fruitful ministry.

Street Level Ministries

It has been nice to get back to weekly meetings after the holidays. Some universities started earlier than others, and the first few weeks are a time of schedule adjustments for students, so not everyone from last semester has been able to return yet. We held a member’s-only meeting at the beginning of January in Toledo. This is something we’ll start doing monthly – for current members and those seriously interested in membership. Next week, we’ll have a special session for the members on the Friday night before the Summit. Please pray for students to work out their schedules and get registered since this Friday is the deadline. Most of all, pray that God would be at work in their hearts and minds leading up to the Summit.

Exploring Creation Science

Classes started the first week of January. Most schools we work with made it clear classes would go on as normal despite the upcoming Sinulog Festival (a large Catholic event happening every year mid-January). Since the Philippines is a very Catholic country public schools partake in many of the Catholic events. Catholic students attending Christian Private Schools we work with were absent during the festival so they could participate. For the month of January, a special lesson was held for students at both Nazarene Schools & Southern Bethany addressing Science & the Bible since it is Bible Month. Plans are in the works to repeat this lesson for students at Cebu Bradford Christian School – a school we worked with before COVID. Please continue to pray for the staff & students at the schools we work with. Specifically, the staff at Southern Bethany & the Wesleyan school as some are not Christians and wonder why we would give up careers & life in the states to be here. Pray for the students that we would be Godly examples (many of them see us at church the grocery store, our barangay on our bikes, etc).