Helping the Hurting, Reaching the Lost
C
enter of Life Children’s ministry which we have freely given use of the Refuge for their home church for years just held their annual Christmas program and celebration. They had about 160 people come to celebrate. They couldn’t fit them all in the Refuge so they moved them by jeepneys to another venue. Of that crowd, 50 people dedicated their life to Jesus! Please continue to pray for Pastors Joshua and Emi Hernandez as they are doing a great job with these kids.
In Matthew 4:19, Jesus said, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.” God has inspired us through that verse to win souls for his Kingdom. When you look at the laws of fishing, you obviously need to have good bait to catch fish.
We have studied the Philippines youth culture for years and realize that young people here LOVE music. I don’t mean they just like it, the whole culture here is obsessed and driven by music. You see and hear the influence of music everywhere from the simplest song of a child the to the unlimited amount of loud karaoke at every gathering.
We realize that the youth here need and want positive music. We recently held an Alternative Rock Concert at the Refuge to bait the youth to come and hear the Gospel. We had a great turnout with several new young people. We also fed everyone for free, and welcomed them with games and free prizes.
During the concert a young man spoke to us and said, “I am a Muslim, but I am enjoying this concert.” In the middle of the concert, I had the honor of preaching the Gospel to this crowd and every person prayed the prayer of salvation with me. These concerts are truly fishing for men.
Our regular worship nights at the Refuge are starting to gain momentum. We are having deep, heartfelt worship nights every time we gather. A typical worship night at the Refuge lasts for more than three hours with only a few minutes of preaching.
It’s really a soaking and refreshing environment. We have everyone from high school students to college students to leaders of other ministries coming to be refreshed.
Our most recent event had several new people come. They left full of the Lord and excited about the next event.
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I just want to praise God that we were finally able to purchase a vehicle!
It is a very reliable 1995 Toyota Tamaraw FX with a diesel engine. These SUV-type vehicles are known for being workhorses and very rarely let you down. Also, the diesel engine is very economical as diesel fuel is much cheaper than gasoline here.
Although it is a 90’s vehicle, I have that feeling like I just drove off the lot with a brand new car.
I am so relieved that we can finally use this large vehicle to transport up to nine volunteers or lots of much needed supplies to around Mindanao. In the past, we have had to leave large amounts of supplies behind because either we didn’t have the space to move them and quite honestly sometimes not enough money for fuel to make the trips.
I’m so thankful to those of you who donated and prayed for us to help make this possible. I know God will reward you greatly.
Elijah is happy that we got what he calls a “Truck.” We probably won’t let him paint it though.
I recently had the privilege of speaking at our home church in the Philippines, His Mission Christian Fellowship, during their retreat and had a wonderful time.
I spoke on the Baptism of The Holy Spirit and He really moved in the church. The whole the church experienced a fresh filling of the Holy Spirit including several people who were filled with the Holy Spirit for the first time.
One was a twelve-year-old boy who reminded me of myself as I was the same age when I was first filled with the Holy Spirit at a similar meeting at a youth camp and it changed my life forever. The cool thing about this is he started coming to the church because of the feeding program there. The church is in an impoverished area and feeds children several times a week.
This awesome church was originally founded by missionaries who came from the historical Pensacola/Brownsville Revival. I think it is just awesome that those same revival fires are still burning in the Philippines many years later. 
About one week ago, we hosted our first 24 hour praise and worship marathon at the Refuge. We had about sixty on-fire youth passionately worshipping God the whole time. It ran continuously for 24 hours from Friday until Saturday night. It was amazing to see the hunger, fire, and passion the youth displayed the whole time. The atmosphere for worship and soaking in God’s presence was just wonderful.
Sheena who attended announced that her friend Khael was healed at the event, “He testified how his sore throat was instantly healed when he joined the 24 hour non-stop worship.”
Another attendee told me she clearly heard answers from God about things she had been praying for months about. She also told me she enjoyed God’s presence so much that it was hard for her to leave.
This event was such a wonderful success. We can’t wait to have the next one.
We have now been doing radio ministry for almost 1 1/2 years and it’s been a great experience.
I had one listener recently text me after I prayed the prayer of salvation over the airways.
This is what he said,
“Thank you so much for the prayer. It’s been a long time since I felt better, communicating with God again. I don’t know why, but I cried saying that prayer with you. Thank you so much!”
That’s what radio ministry is all about. Praise God!
During Easter Week, I had the amazing opportunity to do a drama (human video) about the Blood of Jesus in the biggest and nicest mall in Davao City.
I was told tha
t during the drama the mall traffic on three floors stopped and watched and were captivated during the human video. Many people told me they were brought to tears as the drama depicted the crucifixion. I give all the glory to God for that.
It was all part of an openly Christian music, worship, and book event held by OMF Literature. It is just amazing that the Gospel was openly preached and God was glorified publicly in the mall.
This month, God opened an awesome door of ministry to me. My friend, Pastor Andy, invited me to speak to the leaders of a church in the local Davao City Jail. I was honored to be able to enter the facility and walk through the jail full of men in orange T-shirts.
I spoke to the leaders on faith. The pastor of the church has been in the jail for four years awaiting his robbery trial. Two of his main leaders are serving six years for drug abuse and are still awaiting their trial. The youngest inmate there, Mark, told me he regularly borrows a radio to listen to Edge Radio.
There are three religious places of worship there: a Catholic Church, a mosque, and the born-again Christian church. Until recently, the Christian church had no roof. Thankfully, they just finished the roof the week before I arrived. They were so happy to have a foreigner visit them and were respectful and attentive as I spoke through an interpreter. They invited me to come back as soon as I can.
During the past few months, despite going through a paralyzing time, the Refuge is still running. The Bible and Missions training there graduated their first class of students and Edge Radio is still holding public events there. We are also having evangelistic film viewings.
One of the biggest challenges we have at the Refuge is a lack of equipment. Every time we hold an event, we have to borrow two or three guitar amplifiers, instruments, a LCD projector, drum cymbals, etc. We also have no furniture for our huge downstairs fellowship area. We are hoping to convert the downstairs into a coffee house where youth can come at all hours to study, have fellowship, and receive counseling. We are also hoping to remodel the upstairs with some acoustic foam to help with the deafening reverb during the concerts.
James 4:2 says, “You have not because you ask not.” Well, I’m asking now for help. We immediately need a LCD projector, amplifiers, guitars, and a new drum kit. We also need to furnish our downstairs so we can have a place for the youth to hang out. I envision having a coffee bar with lots of furniture, games, and for it to be a fun place.
With your help, we can transform this place into a greater soul-winning machine with ongoing discipleship and change happening in the hearts of the youth of this city.
