March 2007
"God is our refuge and strength, an ever present help in trouble. Therefore, we will not fear, though the earth give way and the mountains fall into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam and the mountains quake with their surging." Psalm 46:1-3
Philippines
Once again Southern Mindanao in the Philippines is having trouble with the Islamic rebels (Moro Islamic Liberation Front). This is one of two groups fighting a guerilla war against the government with the intent of establishing Islamic law in this area. Our director in Mindanao sends us the following report:
"The situation here in Cotabato City and surrounding towns is not very good at this time. Fighting has been going on for several weeks between the MILF and the Government troops. Bombing is going on again here in Cotabato. One of our church members is a Policeman and while on patrol he had a grenade thrown at him. The grenade did not explode or it would have killed him. Just a few hours before this the Policeman’s mother and members of the church were praying for his protection. We know the hand of God protected him.
Last Saturday afternoon Pastor Aquino (left pic) and the worship team were practicing at the church. Some Muslim rebels came in carrying weapons and told them to stop playing and get out of the church. The worship team was not scared and continued to worship. The Muslim rebels then fired many rounds of bullets outside of the church. The people of the town were scared and upset. Our church members continued to praise God and pray for the protection of themselves and the town. The next day which was Sunday morning 10 newly converted people were baptized.
Even with all the tension in the city we believe that God is showing us new things and that we will have a great harvest of souls this year. These 10 souls are just the beginning.
I had the privilege to give the lecture before the baptism and witness the new converts being baptized. This coming week the Youth of his church will conduct an evangelism concert that will also raise funds. The proceeds will be used to buy children’s chairs as they plan to open their kindergarten school this coming June.
Last week I visited the Student Renewal Ministry in Kabacan. When I arrived at the center I found the leadership including their Chaplain, Pastor Jane Flauta (right pic), busy washing used clothes by hand. These clothes were donated by students to help raise funds for the ministry.
Other students were cooking peanuts and putting them into small bags to sell to students on campus. I asked the purpose of this fund raising and they told me it was to raise funds for our new church plant in Matagabong. I was blessed and moved to see them sweating, cooking and wrapping peanuts. They plan to use the funds to buy cement for the flooring for the Church at Matagabong."
Pastor Lucy Ducoy (left pic), Director of Student Renewal Ministry, reports:
"After the strategic planning seminar I went to the SRM center in Kabacan to sit down with the leaders to discuss the vision of nationwide expansion. We traced about 120 alumni we can contact. Pastor Jane and I went to see as many as possible from South Cotabato to General Santos City. I was able to mobilize 50 alumni and the majority committed to help us with this project. Please pray that we can not only expand the SRM ministry in General Santos City but that we can also plant a new church there. There are already four families who have moved there who were former members of our established churches elsewhere. I spoke with one of these families yesterday and they are excited and happy to help plant a Refuge, New Life church in the area. We even have a Bible School Graduate who is willing to pastor the work; we just need Pastoral support and House Rent to plant this church."
The SRM outreach in Dalican, under Brother Orly Ducoy, is growing tremendously. Hundreds of students are attending the fellowship meetings. (This is in the center of a Muslim dominated area) Since the fellowship center is too small to accommodate all of the students, Brother Orly has divided the students into three groups. They come for prayer, fasting, ministry and fellowship at different times during the week.
The Matagabon church is an outreach of the Kauran church where Pastor Edwin Medalla (right pic) is pastor. In July of 2006 one of the Kauran leaders, Sister Ging Aguilar, had begun a church plant in this area she has also begun a kindergarten class in the unfinished church building. The church has roofing but no walls and only a dirt floor. Matagabong is 15 kilometers from Kauran. Many times Sister Aguilar has to walk there and home again because there is no vehicular traffic. The people there are very poor farm tenants who work the rice fields. Please pray for this church to be completed and for the support we need to plant a church in General Santos City.
Please pray for the safety and protection of these precious Pastors and workers. They are preaching the Gospel under an extreme threat of violence. This is an area where churches have been burned and Pastors have been assonated in the past. There has been a period of relative peace for the past few years but that seems to have changed. Once again the bombing of civilians is becoming common in this area. The people of Southern Mindanao have suffered much over the years at the hands of these Muslim rebels.
We know that we are making a difference in the lives of these people. They may not have much on this earth but they are working hard for the Gospel of Jesus Christ to be spread throughout their land. Please pray for the defeat of these rebels and that the Gospel would continue to be preached freely in this area.
Thank you for your prayers and support. Ron & Bernadette Gartner
25th Anniversary Year
Ron and Bernadette Gartner
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