Healing Miracle in Agdao

Many newsletters ago, I wrote about a young man named Kulot who attends our Street Church in Agdao who was thankful for the garbage because when he recycles it, he has enough money to eat the next day. In May, his father, who is the breadwinner for five children suddenly collapsed and was not able to move his leg. They did not have enough money to even see a doctor.

Thankfully our missionary friend Barry went into his house and preached the Gospel to the whole family, and then had the whole family unify to pray for the father’s healing. After the family prayed for supernatural healing, he started to recover and now he is fully healed!  All Glory to God alone!

Not Your Typical Used Car Salesman

1978 Mitsubishi Lancer

This is my former 1978 Mitsubishi Lancer that we affectionately named “Sporty.” For the past six years, I have had many great memories with Sporty doing ministry trips and even using her as an ambulance during the toughest time of my life. We realized that buying parts for a 38 year old vehicle had grown to be too expensive for our meager missionary budget so I reluctantly decided to let her go.

In the Philippines they don’t put the same value on vintage vehicles as in the USA, so I had to sell her for only $1,500 to a nice man named Donnie who happens to live on the other side of the Island of Mindanao. He traveled 12 hours by bus to buy Sporty and fell in love with her the first time he saw her. Donnie had broken his forearm in a freak soccer accident and was not even able to drive at the time. When he finally was able to drive the car across the Island, he brought a mechanic friend with him to drive and help Sporty make the treacherous trip from Davao City to Iligan City.

I was getting all choked up yesterday as they were about to drive away and God reminded me that I had originally bought that cool-looking car to attract people, strike up conversation, and lead them to Jesus. I asked Donnie if I could pray for him before his trip and he agreed. Standing outside the car under the shade of a tree, I laid hands on his broken forearm and commanded the arm to be healed and the pain to go by the Stripes of Jesus and in the Name of Jesus! The pain immediately left Donnie’s arm! After that I asked the two men if they would like to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior and they instantly agreed. I had them repeat a prayer of repentance and salvation with me and their faces glowed with big smiles after they prayed. Donnie even thanked me today for praying for them after they safely reached Iligan City.

Praise God for his miracles and salvation!

Goodbye Old Friend

Goodbye Old Friend.

Back on the Radio

DJ Matt on 104.3FM The Edge Radio Davao

We kicked off a new season of the Cutting Edge Show this month. The show is currently live during prime time Thursday nights. On my evangelistic show we talk about current events and always bring a biblical perspective to the show while bringing a salvation message. I always enjoy going on the air to preach the Gospel to of the Kingdom of God to people. We are having plenty of good feedback from the listeners.

Right after praying the prayer of salvation with my listeners on my most recent show,  I received this text message,

“Thank you Lord for accepting me again. Thank you Jesus for your Blood. God bless you DJ Matt.”

I have been broadcasting on 104.3 FM Edge Radio Davao for about five years now. It’s amazing how many people we are able to reach through the media in a city of two million people.

 

Kapalong Campus Ministry

We were recently given the wonderful opportunity to minister at the Kapalong College of Technology, a two hour drive from Davao City.

The crowd reacting to Emily’s hilarious games.

“The Wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.”  -Romans 6:23

“The Wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ our Lord.”
-Romans 6:23

When I preached, they were very attentive and when I gave the altar call, EVERY single person came forward to get saved, many with tears streaming down their faces. It was WONDERFUL!

EVERYONE came forward for the Altar Call, many with tears streaming down their faces.

EVERYONE came forward for the Altar Call, many with tears streaming down their faces.

The youth were so excited and testified afterwards how God touched them tremendously. We love what God is doing among the youth in the Philippines.

The “Celebrate Baganga” Evangelistic Concert

The "Celebrate Baganga" ConcertOver Easter weekend, we partnered with other ministries and had a big two-day evangelistic blow out in Baganga. We had an outdoor concert, a basketball tournament, free surfing and skim boarding lessons followed by an outdoor evangelistic movie.

The Crowd at the 2014 "Celebrate Baganga" Concert

It was extra challenging because there was a strong rainstorm in the middle of the concert. Filipinos generally don’t like to be out in the rain and it drove some people away, but because we put on a quality concert with good prizes, it kept people from leaving and gave them a chance to hear the Gospel.

"Faith United" playing at the Celebrate Baganga Concert

I was honored with the opportunity to preach to the remaining 150-200 people who all prayed the prayer of salvation with me. I absolutely love these types of outreaches and can’t wait to do more of them in other areas in the future.

The crowd in the rain at the 2014 Celebrate Baganga Concert

Winning Souls Through Music

Jay Locsin Band at the Refuge

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.

The Refuge stairs.

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.

Guys enjoying the concert at the Refuge.

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.

Whitefield at the Refuge

Thank You for Helping Us Help Others

In December the monster category five Typhoon Bopha locally called “Pablo” hit our island and killed thousands of people. It destroyed entire towns, buildings, and infrastructure for miles in every direction. I just want to quickly review what we have been doing in response.
 Typhoon Pablo Destruction
For the past eight months we have focused primarily on disaster relief. From the start, several ministries teamed up together to bring urgent disaster rescue and relief. It is quite amazing how the various missionaries from different backgrounds have come together in unity.
Typhoon Pablo Destruction Cateel
Through this teamwork, we provided medical teams and saved lives. We brought food, tarpaulin shelters, clothing, hygiene kits, toys, and literally tons of construction materials to rebuild.  Along with the natural help, we were also able to bring spiritual renewal as well. Among the countless times we preached, we were also able to hold a big evangelistic concert with approximately 500 salvations with many youth added to the church.
We had to drive over this scary partially-collapsed bridge to get there.

We had to drive over this scary partially-collapsed bridge to get there.

Of the countless trips we have taken, getting there has never been easy. We have driven over partially standing bridges, drove though floods, avoided landslides, survived accidents, and floated on bamboo rafts getting in and out of there.
We had to use this bamboo raft to cross the river.

We had to use this bamboo raft to cross the river.

Also through a lengthy construction project, we have almost rebuilt a 2,000 square-foot church. None of this could have been done without your help and donations.  Thank you so much for your support.
Baganga Church Roofing Project
If you would like to support our work, please take the time to donate online here:

If you would like to support us through the mail, please send your checks, cashier’s checks, or money orders to:

Extreme Mercy International
P.O. Box 72266
Phoenix, Arizona 85050
U.S.A.
 

Thank you and God bless you.

Over One Year of Radio Ministry

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!

Unstoppable in Bulacan

Unstoppable 3

Last January, I was invited to be the guest speaker at a big youth event in  Pulilan, Bulacan. The theme of the event was Unstoppable.

I shared about unstoppable people in history and lead into the unstoppable love of Jesus who died on the cross for them. I also did a human video about the crucifixion for them which really touched their hearts.

Unstoppable 2

120 youth came to the event and all 120 youth responded to the salvation altar call. They have a huge youth group for such a small town. It is remarkable to see what God is doing there. What is happening is nothing short of a revival.

The Refuge Goes On

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.