Ministry presses on…
in Legazpi as well as on the islands. It has been a super busy month, not without struggles, but also with a lot of opportunities to see God work.
Here are some of the doors God has opened this last month:
Generation Christian Fellowship
It’s really been a joy to be a part of GenCF as it God continues to develop and mature it bit by bit in Legazpi. The goal of the fellowship is to truly help those who attend to get solidly grounded in God’s Word as well as in a vibrant life with Christ. Thus, besides the Sunday chapter-by-chapter study through the New Testament, the church continues as well with the Wednesday night Life Group (informal meeting for young pros), mid-week Bible study (doubling with our campus ministry “Life Discovery Group”) on Thursdays, prayer meeting on Monday, and men’s and women’s group on Sunday evening and Saturday afternoon respectively.
I’m thankful to the Lord for those who are helping in this ministry, and encouraged as well to see how God is bit by bit raising up others within the church to assist in different ministries. May He inspire more to step forward and use their gifts as well!
This month, God opened two additional doors for ministry at GenCF.
The first is a high school group we are calling “Teens for Christ.” This is intended to be a transitional group for kids too old for Sunday school but too young for the adult service. At this point we are running this for 7-9th graders.
With God’s blessings and in cooperation with Tiwala Kids and Communities, we were also able to start a Saturday morning children’s ministry at our center. This is intended, not only to share God’s love with neighboring kids on Saturday but to help encourage them to come on Sunday as well.
Bicol University Ministry
Aletheian Student Circle (ASC) is by far one of our biggest thrusts in Legazpi. An arm of GenCF to college students, ASC was blessed this past month with the chance to handle 12-13 events/week for students.
Besides these weekly events, ASC also hosted two special events included a PRO event (film showing), and Round-up (a gathering of all students from various other ministries).
It was a bit of a roller coaster this month, however, because students are becoming more and more loaded with studies, and particularly some of the newer students became a little inconsistent. We could really use prayer in this area.
Booths at Bicol University
One of the highlights this past month of BU ministry (actually the end of July) was the double opportunity to set up two booths at the BU Campus.
The first was for the the College of Science Science-fest. We were actually the only University Based Organization (UBO) outside of the College of Science that was allowed to set up a booth. The door opened because I just happened to run into a student on campus with whom I had shared Christ a couple years ago, Arne . . .
Rainbow created by a flashlight, our homemade water prism, and two mirrors.
Arne had a real heart to see God lifted up on campus. He was on the College of Science planning committee for the Science-fest and so proposed they let us join so that we could bring a spiritual component to the Science-fest.
We set up the booth to show examples of science in the Bible. It included references to the earth hanging in space, light being divided, valleys under the ocean, and expansion of the universe.
We also were able to put together a 20-minute video showing how Genesis 1 and science actually are in remarkable agreement about many aspects of the creation of the earth.
It was a great week and we were able to interact with many students.
The second booth was part of the BU Welcome Event.
We were quite bold in proclaiming Jesus in this booth, and were surprised in the end when we won the “Best Booth” of all UBO’s!
This was the second year that God has somehow allowed us to win that award. We were not shooting for that, but it was an encouragement to all of how open the university is for us to share Christ!
New High School Ministries
God has been good and opened up a new ministry in Pag-asa High School, wherein 12-15 students are attending Fridays Bible study.
We also had the chance to host a joint student outing with students from Bicol University Senior High at the end of the month.
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Discipleship Training School
By God’s grace we were able to launch the next semester of DTS in July and have been continuing strong through August.
This semester the topic is “Foundations of Our Faith,” and is a mellowed-down Systematic Theology Class, geared at helping students understand the basic Christian doctrines.
The whole DTS series (a different topic each semester) is ultimately aimed at helping prepare, equip, and motivate more workers in Christ’s harvest field. Around 20 students and professionals from the church are attending this, and even a visitor from another church. It’s been a lot of fun but also a lot of work to prepare. I’m already up to over 120 pages of notes and materials for the students!
So, overall . . .
It’s been a good month. We do covet your prayers, however, for strength and wisdom as we seek to reach out to those who need Christ. Please pray as well for young Christians to grow and become consistent in fellowship, as well as for the older ones to take steps toward greater maturity and service. Thanks!
(More prayer requests are listed in the prayer section of this blog)
God bless and thanks for taking a look at this blog!
News from the Islands 