Praise the Lord!!! The Biao Church is growing and now has around 32 members. The majority of those attending are children, the future of the Biao community. God is good. A seed was planted and we now see evidence of growth. Please continue to pray that the membership grows and finances are available to purchase land and build a church. Currently services are being held in an old Nazarene church.
The Rev. George C. Stull, a member of the Montana Annual Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church and Chaplain of the First Montana Volunteers of the United States Army, held the first Protestant Service in the Philippines on August 28, 1898, with the American soldiers and some Filipinos in attendance. Chaplain Stul preached on the topic: “The Power of God”. Towards the close of the service, eight Filipinos responded to the altar invitation.
To read the full article see the Philippines Center Conference article.
Here are a few pictures taken during chruch services during Cherry's visit in June/July 2010.
Here are a few pictures that Cherry took while in the Philippines in June/July 2010. These pictures were taken during Church Services at the Biao Church.
Here is Pastor July of the new Biao United Methodist Church. Services are held n a small bamboo hut. This small hut is also where the Pastor lives.
During Cherry's visit to the Philippines in June/July 2010 she meet the newly appointed Biao Pastor. The Bishop visited and here is a picture of both. We were blessed to see that things are heading in the right direction. We are now praying that God opens the doors so we can help raise funds to buy a small piece of land and build a church.
We spent a day at Mambukal Mountain Resort. You could walk up the mountain to seven different water falls. A beautiful place. At the close of the day Maria and Sister Judy enjoyed a cable ride down.
On one of our free days we took a trip by boat to Cebu. I love the ocean and enjoy visiting new places.
On Saturday, April 17th we held a graduation service. Here is a picture of the class Cherry and I had performing during the closing ceremonies.
The District Superintendent responsible for area we were in was Irene Respuesto. Her is a picture of Irene, her daughter and the children of Biao during one of our afternoon services.
The children would gather well in advance of the afternoon service at the Barangay Hall. Here is a picture of Bro John with the kids and a picture of the Philippines Praise Team.
We gather at the Biao High School every day at 5:00 PM for a praise and worship service. Here Cherry is talking with some of the children prior to the service. These children were such a blessing.
The evenings were special. It was a time to relax and get some relief from the heat. One of the children brought some Duhat for us to sample. I've had this before and it was fun just sitting back and waiting. I finally had to ask Bro John if he knew his lips and tongue were purple. Here is a special picture with Bro John and evidence of Duhat stain {:)
Maria helped with our class. She would help pass out materials, work with crafts and siting our memory verses.
We meet every morning with the children for two hours. Here is a picture of the class that Cherry, Maria and I had.
Sunday, April 11th, 2010 was our first service in Biao. Here is a picture of Pastor John talking with the children while Cherry translates.
When we got into Bacolod our friends Rich, Lisa and children were visiting from Australia. Lisa and Cherry up together in Biao and we had Lawrence on our pray list at Fort Branch for a long time. It was a blessing that Pastor John had the opportunity to actually meet our friends and see how God has touched Lawrence. God is good!
Gordon, Pastor John, Pastor Ed and Judith Redemer waiting at the Manila airport for our flight to Bacolod.
Pastor John, Pastor Ed, Judith waiting at the Manila airport for our flight to Bacolod City.
On Wednesday, April 7th the rest of the mission team (Gordon Rogers, Pastor John Windell, Pastor Edward Beedle and Judith Redemer) departed for the Philippines. We will have a Sunday service on the 11th and start the following morning classes with children on Monday the 12th.
Monday
An overview of the birth (Christmas), teachings of Jesus Mt 4:18-25, crucifixion (Good Friday) Mt 27:27-50, and the resurrection (Easter)Mt 28:1-10.
Tuesday
The Lost Sheep and Coin - Luke 15:3-10, Fruits of the Spirit - Galatians 5:22-23.
Wednesday
The Lost Boy - Luke 15:10-32, The Roman Road - Romans 3:10-12, 23; Romans 6:23; and Romans 10:9-10, 13.
Thursday
The Good Samaritan - Luke 10:25-37 Discussion on "Who is my Neighbor?"
Friday
The Feeding of the 5000 - Luke 9:11-17 Discussion on "Feeding a Hungry World"
On Saturday, April 17th we will have a afternoon graduation ceremony for those children who attended during the week and will close our mission event with a Sunday service on the 18th and then return to Bacolod City.
On Monday, March 29th Maria and Cherry took off for the Philippines in preparation for our missions trip. The rest of the team will be leaving on the 7th of April. It will be a blessing to join them again, I miss them already - Gordon
I wanted to provide a brief update on our trip for those of you who follow our missions trip. On Sunday, February 14, 2010 we had a Missions meeting to discuss more detailed plans for our April trip. I received a call from Bishop Soriano prior to our meeting, wanting an update on our trip plans. Pastor John will provide the Bishop with details via email. The Bishop will coordinate getting bibles (@ 50) in the local language, which will cost around $150.00. We will hold another meeting on Sunday the 21st., to discuss the program agenda. The back packs we ordered will be shipped directly from Davo, which is being coordinated by Tina and Randy Gibler. I have decided to get my International drivers permit as I am leaning towards renting a vehicle so we have transportation while in Biao. This will also enable us to have more flexibility to see some places before we leave.
Our plans were to stay at the home of Cherry's former teacher. This has changed since here daughter has moved to Manila, she was going to do our cooking. We will now stay in the Barangay Office building and Cherry will find someone to prepare meals from there. I have to honestly admit, this trip has been a real test on my faith. I have learned to just place my trust in the Lord and that He has everything under control. I am not sure where this leading me (Gordon) on a personal level, it is something that is on my mind everyday. I have no doubt that God has a plan in mind.
It is often difficult to find inspirational material now days. Today after I finished praying for our mission trip I opened an email from a friend of mine and behold there was a link to Andie's Isle, which I just have to share. I found the material to be a blessing and pray it will be a blessing for you as well.
Here is a nice overview of the United Methodist Church Central Conference areas. Our mission trip to Biao will be taking us to the Davao Episcopal Area.
The Philippines Central Conference today consist of 3 Episcopal Areas, 21 Annual Conferences, 200,540 Professing Members with an area of 477,181 square Km. More figures are as follows:
In 1908, the General Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church
authorized the organization of the Philippine Islands Mission into
the Philippine Islands Annual Conference, under the jurisdiction of
the Southern Asia Central Conference. The work in the Philippines
grew quickly and in 1936, the General Conference enabled the
organization of the Philippines Central Conference during the
following quadrennium. This act was ratified at the 1939 Uniting
Conference which created The Methodist Church. The first session
of the Philippines Central Conference was held at the Central
Methodist Church in Manila, beginning February 29, 1940.
Following years of growth, the 1960 General Conference
approved a second episcopal area in the Philippines Central
Conference: the Baguio Area (composed of the Northwest
Philippines Annual Conference, the Northern Philippines Annual
Conference, and the Mindanao Provisional Annual Conference)
which joined the Manila Area (composed of the Philippines Annual
Conference, Southwest Philippines Provisional Annual Conference,
and the Middle Philippines Annual Conference). The 1984 General
Conference mandated the addition of a third episcopal area, the
Davao Area.
The Davao Episcopal Area: Resident Bishop: Bishop Leo A. Soriano
Consist of the following: 5 Annual Conferences: Bicol Provisional Conference, East Mindanao Phil. Annual Conference, Mindanao Phil. Annual Conference, Visayas Annual Conference, and Northwest Phil. Annual Conference , 25,396 Professing and Baptized Members, 127 Ordained Clergy, 143 local Pastors, 201 Organized Churches, and 40 Preaching places. This Episcopal area covers an area of 3000,000 square Kilometers.
