FILIPINO MISSIONS AND MINISTRIES

Report by Dr Jose Lagapa

The Filipino Bible Fellowship (FilBF) is a ministry of True Life Bible-Presbyterian Church (TLBPC). We meet for prayer at 2.30pm every Lord’s Day at Godhill followed by service and 15-minute “Nuggets of Wisdom” (NOW) on the fundamentals of the faith. We then have fellowship over refreshments. Most of the attendees being domestic helpers have to leave at about 5pm to get back to their workplaces on time. The average attendance is 25. We schedule our evangelism at 12.30pm after Sunday worship at TLBPC. We visit places where Filipinos congregate such as Orchard Road (near Lucky Plaza), Toa Payoh Town Park and Dhoby Ghaut (Istana Park).

We thank the Lord for providing us preachers to bring God’s Word. The messengers aside from me are Elder Douglas Ho and Pr Samuel Goh. Pr Joshua Yong came to speak at our gospel meeting. We should not forget the blessed privilege of having the Rev Dr Jeffrey Khoo, our pastor, to speak to us at the start of the year and at our FilBF anniversary thanksgiving on the last Lord’s day of July.

In the beginning of the year, it is our practice to meet with one of the fellowship groups of TLBPC. We had a blessed time with the Adults Fellowship. Our pastor preached to us on Christian Unity (Psalm 133:1–3).

In February, TLBPC-FilBF employed Pr Rodolfo Gayon to be a missionary for BP missions in Trinidad, Bohol.

We held a gospel meeting on March 31 with Joshua Yong as our speaker. The message was “Your Appointment with God” from Hebrews 9:27–28. During this time, Jose went to the Philippines to brief the participating church pastors and leaders concerning the upcoming Vacation Bible School (VBS).

In April we saw Camille Dorothy Igot reaffirming her faith at the Easter service. During the graduation service of Far Eastern Bible College (FEBC), three of our members received their certificates of completion.

Various VBS’s were conducted in the Mindanao and Visayas regions with the help of our Filipino FEBC students. We thank the Lord for the good number of children (2,357 from more than 30 churches and outreaches) who attended the VBS in 2019. The theme of the VBS was “Come to the Saviour” (Matthew 19:4).

The FilBF invited some of our co-labourers from the Philippines to join the Calvary Tengah church camp in June in Bintan, Indonesia. Thank God for Tengah’s love gift so that our brethren could attend the camp for free.

In July the Missions Bible Center (MBC) in Bukidnon was established with Dr Einstine Opiso as administrator, Mrs Pat Solidum as supervisor and Aprilaiza Sible as full-time worker. The objective is to facilitate the various activities of TLBPC’s Philippines Bible Ministries. The MBC office will produce and publish Bible-centred and God-glorifying materials for the various programs and activities, translate important materials, hymns and devotionals into local dialects, design materials for the VBS and teaching aids for Sunday school ministries, and be a learning resource centre for church pastors, leaders and teachers. Currently we are translating Read, Pray and Grow (RPG) into the Cebuano dialect.

The FilBF held her 3^rd Anniversary Thanksgiving last July 28. Praise God for making the way for us to bring the good news to the Filipinos according to the Scriptures, to sow seeds in the hearts of those who have need.

In August, financial support from TLBPC-FilBF was sent to Lunao Fundamental Baptist Church for their church building construction. A total of $9,000 was sent.

In September, pastor and some session members visited our outreaches in Cebu and Bohol. The Christian Bible Fellowship (CBF) remembered God’s goodness in its 1^st anniversary thanksgiving service. The anniversary was blessed with three souls baptized. We also thank God for Pr Jose Mangco who willingly helps us with the pulpit supply in CBF. CBF has just been registered with the authorities and is now named Christ Bible-Presbyterian Church.

The FilBF presented a praise item at TLBPC’s morning worship service on September 22. We also had a Gospel Sunday on September 29 with the theme “Does God Hear Our Prayer?” (Isaiah 59:1–2).

In October, Pr Rudolfo Gayon, with the help of brother Chev Gonzales, decided to look for a new place of residence in Trinidad, Bohol. This move was mainly for the purpose of setting up a church for worship services on the Lord’s Day.

The Pastors and Leaders Bible Conference was held last December 2–5 at Central Mindanao University (CMU), Musuan, Bukidnon with the Rev Dr Prabhudas Koshy as the plenary speaker on the theme “The Supremacy of God’s Word.” The other speakers were the Rev Reggor Galarpe, Elder Eliezer Ortega, Mrs Carolyn Koshy and brother Cornelius Koshy.

On December 8, we thank the Lord for the inaugural worship service of Trinidad BPC in Bohol. On December 11, a team of FilBF members went to Esperanza, Agusan del Sur to conduct a gospel meeting and children’s program. A Youth Bible Retreat with the theme “Am I a Christian?” was conducted on December 13–14 for the fundamental Baptist churches in Gingoog and neighbouring areas. The VBS teachers’ training was conducted in CMU on December 16–18. The speakers were sisters Jenny Kan and Judy Lee. The theme for the VBS this year is “Jesus Came for You!”

A Christmas gospel meeting at Godhill was conducted with four newcomers and some guests. The message was “A Merry Christmas?” (Luke 2:27–32). Thank God also for a gospel meeting at Christ BPC in Cebu with brother Deccarlo Igot as the speaker.

We cannot thank God enough for His many blessings upon the FilBF and allowing us to serve Him. Let us continue to do the work He has assigned for us. Let it be our prayer that we will have the same mind and heart as our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ who said, “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work” (John 9:4).

Letter from Cebu

Dear Dr. Khoo,

Greetings to you in our Lord’s most blessed Name! I am writing this email to share with you some updates from our side.

Firstly, I praise God for the blessed and fruitful time spent at the Bible Conference in Bukidnon (Dec. 2–5). I thank the Lord for the opportunity to minister and fellowship among Baptist pastors and preachers. Praise God for True Life BPC’s commitment to support the Bible Conference organized by Dr. Jose Lagapa.

I also thank the Lord for the opportunity to attend the inauguration service of Trinidad BPC in Bohol last Dec. 8, together with some brethren from Cebu and also our brethren from Tagbilaran and Anda under our brother Edsel. I thank the Lord for the privilege to share God’s Word in the afternoon meeting (Dr. Lagapa preached in the morning service). Indeed, the harvest is plenteous!

We (Eliezer, Edsel and myself) are committed to carry on with the ministry of teaching at GBI. During the Bible Conference in Bukidnon, we have discussed this matter with Pastor Koshy and he also is planning to teach online courses. In addition, we are considering teaching a few more courses and we plan to use your FEBC notes (together with Pastor Koshy’s notes), that is with your permission. I have even asked Dr. Lagapa if there was any possibility of him “dropping by” in Cebu during his trips to Mindanao to teach. God willing, the second semester will commence on 6 January 2020. In the midst of all this, we trust in the Lord to sustain us in our labors in the ministry of the gospel.

Lastly, I would like to take this opportunity to greet you and all our brethren at True Life BPC a “Blessed Christmas and a Joyous New Year!”

Please find attached some photos during the inauguration service of Trinidad BPC and also our 2020 calendar.

Thank you and God bless!
Respectfully,
Reggor
17 Dec 2019

Vacation Bible School Teachers Training Seminar
16–18 December 2019, Bukidnon, Philippines