Archive

September 2017

This month we have new young people attending the Sunday Service, many of them come from the youth generation. They are from Sangat National High School, and their classmates who have bible studies after school invited them to church. Their names are Diana, Carlo, Jabril, Jaylord, Honey Lee, Luchie, Janna and Sister Grace’s family who joined us last month (September 2017). Sister Grace has two children, Kirsten and Krizen. They are both in high school and attend the youth fellowship on Sunday afternoon. They are participating in Sunday School and the Discipleship Training Course Lesson 1. Their lessons include who is God, Man’s Creation and Fall, Sin and Repentance, the Savior, Salvation, and Water Baptism. After training course 1, they will continue with Discipleship Training Course 2 and 3. Grace’s family are faithful attending this class including her husband I can see their excitement in listening to God’s Word.

Prayer Requests:

• Please pray that they will continue to come to church and finish the discipleship courses so that they will grow spiritually strong.
• Please pray for the young people to stand in their faith even in the midst of persecution.
• Please pray that God will permit us to have a new home Bible study at Sister Grace’s residence. I pray that her husband will allow us so that we can invite some of their neighbors into our fellowship.

My wife and I were so blessed with the life of a young girl named Edjen. She’s studying at Sangat National High School and is in the 11th grade. Among her friends that attended the Discipleship Training Course, she’s the only one who persevered and continued to serve God. Her name is Edjen, and this is her Testimony.

“My name is Edjen, my father works in the city of San Fernando as a family driver, and my mother is a housewife. I have one younger sister, and her name is Jeneva. She’s in 4th grade. I came to know Mae (Pastor Jun’s wife) when I was thirteen years old. I attended their children’s outreach, and during that time I received a Samaritan Purse shoe box. I was excited about my gift and told my classmates about it. I graduated the Bible training course of “The Greatest Journey,” and I received an award for being best in Bible verse memorization. After a while, my mother told me to stop attending this church and told me to join the Flores de Mayo (The Catholic church that all the children in our neighborhood attend.) I tried to reason with my parents that I was already attending a children’s outreach, but they were angry that I did not want to visit the Catholic ministry. I was confused about what I should do, so I joined the Flores de Mayo. I enjoyed the company of my new friends, so I stayed there. Mae visited my house, but I tried to hide from her. Maybe I was ashamed, and my parents forbade me to talk to her and Pastor Jun. I became active in the Roman Catholic Church. I joined the choir and became a leader. I remember my parents used to call me to lead the Rosary not only in our house but also at my neighbor’s house. When I started my third year in high school, I made new friends. One of my friend’s boyfriend is a friend of Justin (Mae’s and Pastor Jun’s son), and he is outstanding in math. At that time, my friend and I were the representatives of the Math interschool contest. She told me that Justin was willing to coach us. So, we went to his house, and we met with Pastor Jun and Mae again. We won the math contest and were so happy that our hard work paid off. Justin invited all my friends for their youth event called Loveday. I joined because my friends decided to attend. Pastor Jun and Mae encouraged us to participate in a discipleship course every Saturday at 3 pm. I was shocked that my friends said yes. So, we had a bible study in the church, and we all completed lesson 1, but during the second teaching, some of our friends began fighting with each other. Relationship problems arose, and this caused trouble in our friendships and our attendance in the discipleship class. We were all counseled, but all my friend’s attention diverted into meeting new friends on Facebook and some of the boys are hooked on computer games. They began avoiding Pastor Jun, and Mae including the youth from the church. Mae continued to teach me God’s word, and I told God that I would follow Him this time and no more turning back. I gave my life to the Lord and continued to attend the Discipleship Training Course 2 even though my friends are no longer participating. Every time I need prayer and advice they always find time to pray and fellowship with me. Now, I am actively worshipping God and actively attending the youth fellowship. I brought my sister in the church and encouraging her to visit children’s outreach. My parents are still against it, but now my grandmother is a Christian. She defends me every time my parents scold me. I am so blessed that I stayed and became closer with the Lord. Now I understand who Jesus is. He is not an idol. He is the Living God. Thank you, Lord!”

Prayer Request:

• Please pray for sister Edjen and her sister Jeneva to continue to grow spiritually and that her whole family will come to know the Lord.

In September 2017, a family came back to our church. They were with us for five years, but they transferred to another church without letting us know or telling us their reasons. We knew that a new Pastor arrived from Mindanao and wanted to start a church here in Carcar, he kept inviting them to join and asking for their help. Later, we heard that they joined the new church. It dampened our spirit and our church as well. The best part was, their youngest child that was still young, he stood with us and began desiring to be involved and trained in the ministry. When the family was part of the church, they were very involved. My wife taught their children in the praise and worship and the children’s ministry. When I saw them, I had mixed feelings. I’m happy to see them because I missed them, especially the children, but I feel sad for the other pastor because I know the feeling of a family leaving the church. I am feeling very cautious in case they decide to move to another church again. The day they came back I had a question mark on my mind, and I was wondered “why are they here?” The young people in our church were asking my wife too.

My wife Mae told the wife to inform their pastor so that he would know ahead of time that they were no longer attending his church, and she said they had already told their pastor. They said that they had a family meeting and their children wanted to go back to our church. The next day, their pastor came to our house, I was in Mandaue with Pastor Cris. My wife spoke with the Pastor, and all he said was “It’s alright sis, I’m happy that they are here and not at the Roman Catholic church, plus they are originally from here.” Even though he positively expressed himself, my wife told me that she could see in his eyes that he was hurting.

Right now, we are observing if they will stay, we are careful of their involvement in ministry. They went to our house on Sunday evening because they are asking us to pray for their son Jeo, he’ll be taking licensure exam for engineering the coming week. Join us in praying they will commit faithfully to God and one church.

Prayer Request:

• Pray that God will help Jeo pass his board exam.
• Pray for the parents to be committed and allow God to work in their lives.
• Please pray for the church to experience healing and forgiveness.

Serving in the Philippines, Pastor Augurio

 

August 2017

Last month, August 27, 2017, we celebrated our Thanksgiving Anniversary. We are so thankful to you our White Field family for praying for us. It was a very successful day. That week three typhoons struck our area bringing heavy rain Monday through Friday ending on that Saturday when the sun poked through the clouds shining brightly. On the Thanksgiving Day itself, we saw dark clouds in the sky right before the event started, but the church continued to pray and praise God the rain did not start until later.

This was the first time we celebrated a Thanksgiving Anniversary where the church was overflowing. We had many young people in attendance. The lists of people that we’ve been praying for attended and they also brought their friends. Some youth went back to their homes and brought chairs because we ran out of seats. We asked the children to give their seats to the teenagers and adults.

The women at the church cooked additional rice and puso (hanging rice) they also bought more fried chicken and lumpia to make sure there was enough food for everyone. The service started at 2 pm. Our guest speaker was Pastor Dutch Manzano from the Good News Christian Fellowship, Cebu City. He too was amazed to see how many new people came to the church. We had singing, interpretative dances from the youth, kids, and adults in addition to ice breakers and games. We had great fellowship on that day, and we are happy to hear reports from the youth that their friends plan to attend this coming Sunday. They said they were very blessed. My wife talked to one of the guests Jib, (he’s the secretary of my daughter’s school and is known as an atheist) she asked him about the service, and he answered, “I was enlightened.” This is a good start for Jib.

One of the youth’s father came during our meal time, and he’s the only one in the family who does not attend church. He commented to me that this was the first time the anniversary got an attendance like this, he said, ” Revival Pastor Jun?” To God be the glory!

Prayer Request:

• Please pray for the new people that came, that they would join the church be dedicated to grow spiritually and serve the Lord.
• Please pray for Jun-Jun (the father that says revival) that God will touch him and he will worship God with his wife and children.
• Please pray that we can buy more chairs and that God will provide for the use of the church.
• Please pray for Jib (the school’s secretary) to be conserved in the kingdom of God. More than fifty percent of the young people in the church attend that school.

On August 17, 2017, I participated in a seminar in the Living Water School of Ministries at San Fernando, Cebu. We learned how to prepare a topical sermon using the study bible that they provided for us. The speaker was an American named Pastor Paul Ellis together with his wife, Patricia. The Bible that they gave us has commentaries, Maps, Charts, Concordance, and Dictionary which are very beneficial to understanding context.

The seminar started at 9:30 am and ended at 3:00 pm. After the seminar, we attended workshops and studied different applications on how to use the bible. The bible they gave us is a Life Application Study Bible by Tyndale House Publishers. I was blessed by the seminar, and I got a chance to fellowship with some of the pastors from different places. I praise God for the opportunity.

Prayer Request:

• Pray that God will continue to strengthen all the Pastors and the bible school students that attended the seminary.

On Thursday, August 24, 2017, my wife and I were so blessed that Pastor Cris Paño came to visit us. He gave us advice and encouragement for the ministries we lead as pastors; our fellowship time was a blessing. He brought me to one of his outreach ministries to show and encourage me of the need for church planting because we still have many people that do not know and need the Lord.

Previously, Pastor Cris and his son came to our church and attended the Sunday Service. It gave me the strength to see a fellow church planter that has the heart for missions and a mentor /leader at the same time. To God be the glory!

Prayer Request:

• Please pray for me that God will continue to give me strength, wisdom, and guidance as I continue to work in the Lord’s field.
• Praying for good health for Pastor Cris and his family. Praying for guidance as he leads the church planters in White Field.

Thank you for joining with me and our church in the ministry of the Gospel. Let us see what the Lord will accomplish!

Pastor Augurio Batista

 

July 2017

Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ! Thank you for your prayers and financial support in the ministry here in Carcar. We have a family that recently arrived from Manila, Florante, and Margie. Florante was part of the youth group at the church when he was growing up, however, he backslid for years and left for Manila, the Capital of the Philippines. He arrived a month ago and brought his wife with him. Florante and Margie dated when they were young, they reunited recently and decided to get married. Margie was a single mother of an eleven-year-old daughter and was also Roman Catholic. The family started attending church each week and decided to attend a bible study every Friday evening near their house. Margie heard the Word of God and opened her heart to the Lord. Her daughter Princess also participated in the bible study and the children’s ministry every Saturday at 3 pm. My wife and I encouraged them to Sunday service as well, and both have been attending each week faithfully.

At this present time, Florante will go back to Manila and prepare his working visa. He worked in an international ship for two years and was forced to go back to our country because he has no working visa in the US. He will soon leave his family in Carcar, he has encouraged them to be faithful in worship. Florante has been a blessing to our church, he donated his bass and electric and acoustic guitar. His family also helped with some church projects, and we can see a transformation in their lives as well. Glory to God!

• Please pray for Florante that God will protect him in his work and he will continue to pray and read God’s Word.
• Please pray for Margie and Princess that they continue to allow God to guide them and continue to serve Him.

There will be a special event on August 27, 2017. We will celebrate our Thanksgiving Anniversary. Our focus is an Evangelistic celebration. We are encouraging all the brethren to write the names of their friend and loved ones whom they are desiring to invite so that the church can begin praying for them. Everyone is excited, and we are now busy practicing for the presentations. The youth, women, and children from different areas are expected to meet on that day. We will be having a Brigada Simbahan (a day of church training) to clean and prepare the church, especially the surrounding areas outside the church. We have weeds that need to be cut. We are also planning to paint the worship hall. This Sunday after worship we will have a short meeting for the food preparation.

We are planning to borrow tents from the barangay, so there will be more space. I thank God for His goodness and faithfulness to His church and us. To God be the Glory!

• Please pray for good weather in August during our event. The area gets muddy when it rains.
• Please pray for our friends and love ones that they would attend our celebration in August.
• Please pray for the salvation of souls.
• Please pray for God’s anointing upon every presentation, pray that the people will be blessed especially the visitors and unbelievers.
• Please pray for God’s provision for August.

I would like to share with you about a young man who is in high schools, and how we are blessed by his life. Last week brother Jerick was late to class, when he arrived, he knocked on his classroom door and kept on knocking, but the teacher didn’t open the door. He was so sad and decided to go to the next room for his second subject. When he entered the room, he was shocked to see his classmates were there. They were also late. One of his classmates knew that Jerick was leading a bible study with some of his friends after class. So he immediately said to Jerick, “since we are just waiting what if Jerick will share with us the Word of God,” Jerick agreed and immediately took his Bible from his bag and shared with them the word of God. He was amazed at what God was doing. While he was sharing one of his classmates started crying, he asked her why was she crying? She told him that she was having problems and was thinking of committing suicide, but as she was listening she was very touched to hear about God’s love. Then another classmate asked brother Jerick if he can have bible study at her house at 10:30 am with them because they want to listen more about God. Brother Jerick agreed together with some of his classmates. He testified to us that God is doing a great work in his classmate’s hearts. He challenged his classmates that there should be a transformation in their lives since they are now studying the Bible and it will only take place when we allow God to reign in our lives.

These classmates have a bad reputation and are known as bad influences among the students and teachers. However, right now many of Jerick’s classmates and teachers are amazed. They have seen a change in the students. These students are participating in class discussions, completing their assignments, being polite and arriving at school on time. They have bible studies Monday through Friday at 10:30 am. School starts at 12:30 pm. Brother Jerick also leads bible study after class from 8 pm to 9 pm and last Sunday two of his classmates from his bible study attended Sunday service. Every Sunday afternoon I continue to share/ mentor brother Jerick, and we pray together. God is so good! To God be the glory.

• Please pray for brother Jerick that God will continue to give him boldness and anointing in sharing the Word of God.
• Please pray for brother Christian that God will anoint him as leads his bible study as well (brother Jerick’s schoolmate).
• Please pray for brother James and Victor that God will continue to touch them and that they will continue to attend bible study in school and be conserved in the kingdom of God (brother Jerick’s classmates who attended last church on Sunday).
• Please pray for Sister Conching. She is having a family problem, please pray that she will continue to be faithful in attending discipleship class in church and worship God every Sunday (brother Jerick’s classmates).

Your co-laborer in the ministry, Pastor Augurio Bautista

 

June 2017

I would like to thank you for your prayers and support to the ministry. It strengthens and encourages me knowing that I have a big family with White Fields. My family is doing well. They help me with the ministry. My children are now leading bible studies among their friends. Jeanine (my daughter) is now in 9th grade and has transferred to Sangat National High School. She wants to experience a bigger School. In her previous school, they only had eight students in her class. She’s adjusting to the new start time at school which is 6 am for the flag ceremony. I’m praying that she adjusts and continue to excel in her studies. My eldest son, Justin is no longer attending school. He didn’t finish his second semester of college and has some school debt he has to pay before he can re-enroll. My wife and I are praying that he can go back to school. He has a high IQ, but because of his ADHD, he has a hard time focusing. Right now, he’s home and is helping me with youth ministry and teaches piano and guitar to some of the young people. My wife is no longer tutoring children, many of her students were not able to attend due to the distance. My wife will usually teach the students during our outreach events. Please continue to pray for my wife, she’s been experiencing high blood pressure, so I am praying that God will heal her completely. Although there are some struggles that our family is facing I can still say that God is good and faithful. To God be the glory!

• Please pray for God’s complete healing for my wife, Mae.
• Please pray for my son Justin that he can go back to school again. Please pray that God will heal him from his ADHD.
• Please pray for my daughter Jeanine that God will help her adjust to school and that God’s favor and wisdom will be with her.

The home bible studies in Maximina and Perrelos are growing spiritually and in number. In the last two weeks, we had another family join us, a couple with one daughter. They are relatives to the host of our Maximina Bible Study. The husband is a Christian, but the wife and daughter are not. My wife and I shared the gospel with them, and they believed in the Lord Jesus Christ. They are now attending Sunday service. The bible study here is unique since everyone who attends is neighbors and related to one another. They scheduled the bible study is various homes, and it’s great to see the support they give. A family arrived from Cagayan de Oro, and the church built them a hut near their houses. They went through Discipleship 1 & 2 with this family, and now they are attending Sunday school. I praise God for these brethren. To God be the glory!

• Please pray for the bible studies in Maximina, pray that it continues to grow spiritually and that they will all bear fruit for the glory of God.
• Please pray for unity and that they will continue to be prayerful.
• Please pray for the head of the family Boyet and Jong that God will protect them as they are now in the Middle East. Pray also for Molo that he will attend church on Sunday.

The third Sunday of the month of June, we celebrated Father’s Day. Although there are only a few fathers in our congregation, the youth prepared a presentation in honor of our fathers. My daughter sang a song ” Para Kay Ama, ” and I was very blessed. It’s about thanking and telling the father how good it is to have a father whom the child can always be with and how grateful she is to have a father. After the song, the congregation prayed for the fathers, we heard a cry and realized that one of our new attendees was crying because she was blessed by the song, and she remembered her father. She tried holding her tears but was not able to. So, I prayed for her that the Lord would give her comfort. That same woman attended bible study and has accepted the Lord since then. The young people and the church prepared a token for the fathers. It was such a blessing that day, and there were many new attendees that Sunday. Thank you, White Fields family, for your prayers. God is blessing the church with souls, and the church is growing. I give God all the glory!

• Please pray that the new people will be faithful to God.
• Pray that the church will be more prayerful and continue to be obedient witnesses.

Yours in Christ, Pastor Augurio

 

May 2017

Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ! Thank you for your support and prayers. God is so good!

This month, there are so many new converts and most of them come from the youth group. One of the new converts is Conching, she moved from Mindanao, after her mother died. A young member of the church is her classmate and invited her to church. Conching is quiet most of the time, but my wife encouraged her to attend the Discipleship class on Sunday. She is beginning to fellowship with other young people and is also very faithful in class and always answers her assignments and memory verses. She is now in the Discipleship Training Course Level II. My wife and I are blessed to see her grow in the Lord. During the graduation of the Discipleship Course Level I, she offered a song to the Lord titled ” I Offer My Life “, we were all blessed to see her sing from her heart. She also testified about the Lord’s goodness in her life and we praised God. She asked my wife to pray that her sister in law would get pregnant, and God answered her prayers, she was happy and excited that God would hear and answer the prayers.

Prayer Requests:

• Pray that Conching will continue her spiritual growth
• Please pray that Conching’s sister in law and her brother would be
• Pray for a safe pregnancy for Conching’s sister in law
• Please pray that her loved ones would come to know the Lord and be saved

I would like to share a personal testimony from our sister May. She first attended church in March 2017, and has been faithful with her attendance each Sunday.

“Before I came to know the Lord, I felt my life was so empty. My mother is a Catholic and my father is Islamic. There were times where I was confused, yet I attended a Roman Catholic Church. I fell in love at the age of 18 and got pregnant by the man I thought would be with me forever. I gave birth to a baby boy by the time I turned 19 years old. I was not married and we eventually broke up. He still supported Daniel, but I was so depressed by my situation and in my mind, I had so many questions about my life. One day, I met a friend, he shared with me who Jesus Christ was, and he invited me to his church. I was so blessed that I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my personal Savior. I entrusted my life and my son’s life to Jesus Christ. I can feel the love of God in the fellowship of the church. I only attended twice because the church was far from my home, however a few months later, I met a Christian at work. I asked her if I can go with her to her church, she told me she worked on Sundays, but she had a sister that attended church on Sunday’s, so I attended with her younger sister Janine. That’s how I met Pastor Jun and his wife Mae at the Good News Christian Fellowship. When I arrived, the church welcomed me and they were very friendly, Mae asked me if I want to attend Discipleship Training Course Level 1 before the Divine Service started and I said “Yes”. I really enjoyed the class and I learned more about Who God Is, God’s Creation and Fall, Sin, Repentance, who the Savior is and Water Baptism. Now, I’m attending the Discipleship Training Course Level 2, and I am happy to be learning more about the Word of God. My relatives and friends see a change in my life, and sometimes they call me names, but I don’t care, I will continue to serve God. Please pray that I would be hired at a call center, my current job does not offer any Sunday’s off.

Sister May attends the Discipleship class and church each week, she is faithful in serving the Lord. Her son and cousin attend church with her.

Prayer Requests:

• Please pray that May will get a job that offers Sunday’s off
• Please pray for continual spiritual growth
• Please pray for May’s loved ones and their salvation

We had a great turn out with our Interyouth camp, seven churches participated. We had five youth join the camp, and now they are charged up and on fire serving God. Their excitement and joy is influencing the Youth Shiners for Christ. They started praying, and reading God’s word, they have also joined us in visiting the young people who are no longer attending church. God has brought back some of the people who no longer attended church and we can also rejoice that he is bringing new people to the church as well. We had an overnight camp in the church for the youth that were not able to join the camp. We had a great service that night, and God blessed the youth ministry. I praise God for reviving the church, and for the impact it has had in the congregation. God is so good. To God be the glory!

Prayer Requests:

• Please pray for our youth to continue to be on fire for the Lord
• Please pray for spiritual growth for the new people who have attended church
• Please pray for continual discipleship and for souls to enter the Kingdom of God

Yours in Christ, Augurio Bautista

 

April 2016

Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ! I always thank God in my prayers for you, my White Fields family. I receive strength from God knowing that you are there backing us up in prayer, thank you very much!

This past month, a family whom we have prayed for and followed up with for months, called and asked if they could attend church. I was surprised because they would always give an excuse every time my wife and I would visit them in their residence. The husband, Brother Jared, is an ex-OFW (Overseas Filipino Worker, Middle East area) and the wife, Sister Marian, is a co-parent in my daughter’s former school. Sister Marian’s daughter was tutored by my wife. When she was a tutor of her daughter Charm, Sister Marian used to help in the children’s outreach. Although she didn’t worship God at that time, she used to prepare cookies for the children’s snacks. Now, they have four children. The eldest is in college, then the second will be in seventh grade, the third will be in second grade, and the fourth will be in kindergarten. Before we lost contact with them, Sister Marian would always ask for prayers and counseling. They contacted us because they wanted to worship God, and told us that they attended church in Bohol Island. Now that they are back to Carcar, they want to attend worship service here. So happy to see them again!

• Pray for this family to be faithfully serving God.
• Pray that God will strengthen their relationship as husband and wife.
• Pray for the family’s health and God’s provision upon them.

Our church this past month was able to give gifts through Operation Christmas Child to 150 children. There are five different areas; two of them were in the mountains. The children were very happy and you could really see the excitement on their faces, especially the ones who are really poor. There was one mountain area where the children and adults attend lessons or The TGJ (The Greatest Journey lessons). A grandmother (Lola) is the one motivating her grandchildren to memorize Bible verses. As the teacher teaches the lesson, they are listening. There are 37 children and 10 adults attending every Saturday.

• Please pray that God will raise up workers in this place. This place is far from the church.
• Pray that God will destroy every spiritual stronghold in that place (Patupat Barili, Cebu).
• Please pray that God will help the teens and kids, that they will be protected, come to know Christ, and grow in their relationship with Him.
• Please pray for good health for the host, Sister Prudencia (my mother). She is 85 years old. Pray that God will give her strength and a long life. She always prepares the place, together with some adults, for TGJ.

On March 25, 2016, the church had an Evangelistic Good Friday Service at 2pm. The young people arrived at 12:30pm and prepared Benignit. It is a local snack food and it is famous here during Holy Week. We invited our loved ones and friends. The youth prepared skits and a song presentation for the event. We are happy that God brought new ones in our midst and that they accepted the Lord. Many of them are youth brought by the Youth Shiners for Christ.

• Please pray for the new ones to grow in their relationship with Christ.
• Pray for the youth to be bold in serving God.
• Pray for the finances of the Youth Shiners for Christ and that they can all join the upcoming Summer Youth Camp from April 5-8, 2016.

 

March 2016

Greetings in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ! Thank you White Fields Family for your prayers and support. We are so grateful to God for all of you!

This month has been quite a struggle for us. It is the end of the first semester of college and final’s month for our son Justin. He is now in his third year of college. The promissory note for school had ended and we needed to pay the remaining balance. Thank God for His grace that we were able to pay it. Our hearts are saddened to know that Justin has not been doing well in school. We didn’t know that he was struggling, and he did not share that with us. He has also missed some major exams. When we did find out, we spoke with him, and then went to his school; we don’t know if it is too late. We informed the Dean that Justin is ADHD. Justin may have to take a break from his studies.

• Please pray for Justin that he will be mature and become serious in his studies. Pray for God’s providence of studies for Justin. Please also pray for God’s healing upon him.
• Please pray for God’s guidance upon us.

Our daughter Jeanine is doing well in school. She has received a certificate and ribbon for being first in her class. She is also on the student council at school. Both of our children are still actively helping us in the work of the Lord. Glory to God!

• Please pray for Jeanine that she will maintain her scholarship.

In the month of October, another Bible study group has started in the Upper Perrelos area. Sister Daday hosts this Bible study. She is the mother of three children that have attended the children’s outreach. She had previously attended another bible study that was not too far from her place, but she was no longer able to go because her children are quite young. They would become restless and sleepy during study time. We have asked her if she is willing to have the Bible study in her home on Saturdays and if it could be during the children’s playtime. We thank God that she is willing! We have invited a few of her neighbors, some of which whose children have also attended the children’s outreach. On our first meeting, four mothers joined! The lesson spoke about our new life in Christ. I would like to encourage them to be discipled and to grow in knowledge of Christ during this series.

• Please pray that these mothers will grow in the Lord, be protected in the Kingdom of God, and for their husbands to know Christ as well. Pray that they will embrace the Truth of the Word. Pray also that they will be set free from traditions.
• Please pray for this Bible study to flourish.

 We are so happy that God has touched Sister Sally’s heart; she was very new in church. She has a son (James) that is asthmatic. These past few weeks, his asthma has been so severe that he was admitted to the hospital. It has been hard for Sister Sally as she has been very concerned. Even though she is a new believer, her unbelieving relatives have offered her advice, reminding her of the old Catholic mindset. They believe that if a baby is not baptized, something may happen to the child. James was not baptized Roman Catholic because Brother Roel (Sister Sally’s husband) already understood the Bible. Now that James is 10 and has been ill, Sister Sally has wanted to baptize her son Roman Catholic out of fear of what will happen to her son and because of her relative’s manipulations. Brother Roel explained to us this problem and we advised him that if they would like, we could dedicate James to the Lord. We spoke with the couple, prayed with them, and they decided to follow our advice. During service on Sunday, they dedicated James to the Lord, and we saw Sister Sally’s face brighten up! We encouraged her to trust God and believe on His promises. The church had lunch together after service to celebrate James’s dedication. Glory to God!

• Please pray for James for complete healing from asthma.
• Please pray for Sister Sally to continue to stand for the Lord and to grow in faith.
• Please pray for Brother Roel to continue to stand as the leader in his household.

Pastor Augurio