What an exciting past two months we have had! God has been so good to us and has shown us His marvelous provision.
We saw 1,749 precious souls profess faith in Christ during the months of July and August while soul winning and during our church services. I often remind our people here how blessed they are to be in a country of such tremendous opportunity. I don’t think there is anywhere on earth where people are so open to the Gospel and where the opportunities are so great. You can preach just about anywhere—public schools, businesses, public transportation, jails, police stations . . . and the list goes on. I really believe our Lord thought of the Philippines when He mentioned the “pearl of great price.” I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the nickname of the Philippines is “The Pearl of the Orient.”
We had our Grand Opening services at a church we are starting in another city, with 76 in attendance. Jayson, one of our Bible college graduates, and several other workers have been going there on Fridays to have Bible studies and outreach classes and then coming back to our church here in Dasmariñas after the Sunday morning services. When I preached there and saw the excitement of the people and how God had prepared their hearts, I felt a sweet sense of God’s confirmation that it was His will to start the church.
My assistant pastor, John Diaz, and his wife are starting a church in the city of Calamba, about two hours away. They have the free use of a small school facility that hasn’t been used for 12 years. We had a church work day for clean-up and repairs, and John is in the process of getting the water and electricity connected. There is a lot of red tape involved, especially since it has been unused for so long. Please pray that they can move in soon and get the work started.
I am so glad I was able to attend the Missions Mastermind in Chicago, sponsored by FBMI. It was great to talk with pastors, Christian businessmen, and other missionaries and benefit from the tremendous amount of experience that was there. I believe everyone who attended went away with greater knowledge, ability, and encouragement to accomplish more for Christ. One of the activities of the event was called “Venture Vet,” where 11 men shared a need and investment opportunity with the other attendees. A panel of men there chose one of the presenters to give $5,000 toward their venture. Our people in the Philippines knew I would be making a presentation and had an all-night prayer meeting to pray for me and for the meeting in general. What an unspeakable joy it was to video call them about 5 a.m., Philippine time, while they were still at the church, to say that we had been chosen to receive the $5,000 toward our Building Fund! A businessman also approached me after the session was over and said that he would give us another $1,000 for our building project.
I mentioned in a previous prayer letter that Pastor Dean Noonan and his church, Faith Baptist Church, offered to match gifts from other churches toward our Building Fund. I am very grateful that, along with their donations, gifts from other churches, the money given at the Missions Mastermind, and the money we had already raised, we have a total of $62,300 towards our building program! We are so grateful and excited! Thank you so much to all who prayed for us and gave toward our building project. We’re so excited as we see our dream becoming a reality.
Please pray for us, as we are applying for our building permit. The process has been very slow, and our folks are excited about breaking ground.
Thank you all again for your sacrifice to keep us on this bountiful harvest field.
Yours for souls,
Courtney & Ester Godsoe
