PHILIPPINES MISSIONS TRIP

Dn Chan Kay Heem

Praise the Lord for the missions trip to the Philippines from 12 to 16 November 2022. The team comprised Pastor Jeffrey Khoo, Rev Stephen Khoo, Rev Jose Lagapa, Rev Zhu Jian Wei, Eld Tan Nee Keng, Dn Chan, Bro Aw Beng Teck and Bro Florante Cabanas.

The aims of the trip were (1) to celebrate the 4^th Thanksgiving Anniversary of Christ Bible-Presbyterian Church (BPC) in Lapu-Lapu City, to conduct a baptismal service, and to ordain Pr Jose Mangco as a Minister of the Gospel; (2) to visit True Word Bible Fellowship at San Antonio Village, Apas, under Jude Gabales and conduct a gospel meeting; (3) to visit Oslob, the future site and ministry of Florante Cabanas, an FEBC student; and (4) to visit Trinidad BPC in Bohol and conduct a gospel meeting.

Day 1 (Saturday, Nov 12)

The team assembled at Terminal 1 of Changi Airport at 9.30am and proceeded to check in for the Scoot flight to Cebu. Since we had luggage space, we brought 60kg of books and hymnals for the church there. The flight was uneventful, and we were received by Pr Jose Mangco who then helped us to check into the hotel. Pr Mangco and his family joined us for an early dinner before we retired for the evening.

Day 2 (Sunday, Nov 13)

The 4^th Anniversary Thanksgiving of Christ BPC was held in a rented hall at 10am and was attended by about 80 adults and children, comprising church members, relatives and friends from other churches. Pastor Jeffrey Khoo was the Lord’s messenger and he delivered the message—“Preach the Word”—from 2 Timothy 4:1–5, with an emphasis on verse 2 for the ordinand. The Ordination Council comprising Rev Jeffrey Khoo, Rev Jose Lagapa, Rev Stephen Khoo, and Rev Zhu Jian Wei then proceeded to ordain Pr Jose Mangco as a Minister of the Gospel and Pastor of Christ BPC.

This was followed by the baptism of 7 adults and children, 1 infant baptism and 1 transfer of membership, officiated by Rev Lagapa. Rev Mangco, now ordained, can conduct the 2 sacraments of Water Baptism and Holy Communion for Christ BPC henceforth. We thank Rev Reggor Galarpe of Gethsemane B-P Missions Church (Cebu City) who had helped to conduct the Lord’s Supper monthly all these years.

After the anniversary thanksgiving lunch, we went to Apas to join in the gospel meeting at True Word Bible Fellowship. This fellowship meets at the home of Bro Jude Gabales, and is regularly ministered to by a young man, Bro Johnny Rey, who is a student at the Gethsemane Bible Institute (GBI). The children recited their memory verses and had a children’s programme. The message for the adults was delivered by Rev Stephen Khoo who based his message—“Is There a Living and True God?”—on John 3:16, a familiar but important verse. Although the available space is small, the fellowship was warm. The message left us with the logical and affirmative conclusion to the title of the message. We had an early fellowship dinner for the 34 adults and children attendees before returning to the hotel at Lapu-Lapu City to prepare for the next day’s programme.

Day 3 (Monday, Nov 14)

Today, the team bade farewell to Rev Stephen Khoo and Bro Beng Teck as they returned to Singapore. The rest of the team met at 4am to make a 4-hour road trip to Oslob. The team made a breakfast stop along the way and was just in time for a gospel meeting organised by the Oslob B-P Outreach under the leadership of Bro Florante Cabanas. Eld Tan Nee Keng’s message—“Are You Ready for the Last Goodbye?”—based on Ecclesiastes 12:1–14 really made all who were present ponder on the sombre topic and reflect if we really feared God and kept His commandments “for this is the whole duty of man” (v13). This meeting was attended by about 16 adults and 7 children.

After the meeting, some members of the team went whale shark watching, and all were full of praise for God’s creation. Looking at the size of the whale shark, there is no doubt that Jonah could have been swallowed by a fish of similar size and survived for 3 days in the fish’s belly. After that, we made a brief stop to see a piece of land (about 300sqm) which had been purchased for Florante’s future ministry. This land is located on a hill with a sea view. After a quick lunch, the team took an outrigger for a 2-hour journey to Panglao Island where we had a short rest before joining the prayer meeting of Gethsemane B-P Missions Church in Tagbilaran, Bohol, under Pr Edsel Locot. Rev Lagapa gave the exhortation to about 21 present in their local dialect. After the prayer meeting, we had a fellowship dinner with Pr Locot and his wife Juvie and daughter Eunice.

Day 4 (Tuesday, Nov 15)

The team met up with Pr Locot and Rev Mangco for breakfast before making our way to Trinidad, about 3 hours from Tagbilaran. Along the way, we stopped for some sightseeing at Hinagdanan Cave, Tarsier Sanctuary (with lunch), and Chocolate Hills. When we arrived at Trinidad BPC, we were met by Pr Rodolfo Gayon and Sis Jenerose Sagayoc who are both serving full time there. Pr Gayon has been serving in Trinidad since January 2019. Jenerose started serving there in July this year after graduating from FEBC. The Lord heard their prayers and brought them together. They announced their engagement to us that very night and plan to tie the knot in the new year. We rejoice with them.

The church and parsonage are presently housed in a 20-foot container after the house they used was destroyed by typhoon Odette in December 2021. The church hopes to build a permanent structure for their activities as well as a parsonage on the 300sqm piece of land which they currently occupy. The estimated cost is expected to be about $50,000. The church currently has about 20 regular worshippers and reaches out to the villagers and college students staying nearby. Trinidad Municipal College has 8000 students. Since there are new students enrolling each year, there is a need for the church to reach out to them.

That evening, Rev Zhu Jian Wei was the speaker at the gospel meeting. He spoke on “From Death to Life” from Romans 5:12–21. We had a delicious fellowship dinner which was joyfully prepared by the church members. We bade them farewell after dinner and made our way to the ferry terminal in Tubigon to catch the 10pm ferry back to Cebu.

Day 5 (Wednesday, Nov 16)

We met up with Rev Reggor Galarpe for breakfast at the hotel and departed for the airport after that. We took the Scoot flight back to Singapore and arrived at 5pm.

Please pray (1) for heavenly wisdom and grace for the newly ordained pastor of Christ BPC, Rev Jose Mangco, to lead, teach and protect the church; (2) for True Word B-P Fellowship and her resident preacher, Bro Johnny Rey, that both can continue to grow in knowledge and faith in our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, that in God’s own timing, this fellowship may blossom into a church; (3) for the need to construct a church building for Trinidad BPC, and God’s leading and funds for this endeavour.

I would personally recommend for more members to go for short mission trips such as this, that we can know our missionaries better, especially their challenges and needs. By doing so, we can pray and give of our substance to missions with more understanding.