The year 2022 flew by at lightning speed, and 2023 is here with new challenges and opportunities! We saw 1,271 people saved during the last quarter of 2022. We saw 8,104 saved, with 44 baptisms, during the entire year.
We were away from our church for more than a year due to COVID restrictions and were able to return in January of 2022. We are thrilled that our church continued to stay strong, despite our absence and the COVID constraints. The COVID restrictions have gradually lightened, and things are pretty much back to normal.
One of the greatest blessings is the great sense of unity and teamwork. As our church continues to grow and mature, more and more of the responsibilities are done by lay workers. For example, Joel Pingoy and Jerry Cuadrante, two of our faithful men who are Bible college graduates, have been teaching in our Bible college. They have been a blessed addition to our faculty.
We had a Soul-Winning Marathon in Hella Village, an area where we plan to start a new jeepney route. The Lord blessed with 267 people saved. The folks were very open, and we’re looking forward to starting a jeepney route there.
We had our annual “All Tracts Day” (our answer to “All Saints Day”) on November 1. It was a tremendous time of sharing the Gospel with people and families who were spending the day visiting the graves of their loved ones. We saw 526 precious souls receive Jesus Christ as their Saviour. What a wonderful thing to see so many people receive eternal life in a cemetery!
We had a wonderful Missions Conference in October. We took on three new missionaries and one local pastor who is starting a church in the Philippines. Our total Faith Promise commitment for the year was $10,300! I’m also excited that our church’s missions giving is ahead of the projected monthly/weekly amount! I really appreciate the ladies in our church and their contribution to our missions program under Ester’s leadership. They do so much, including fundraising, decorating for the conference, and loving our missionary families.
We have been working with the staff and faculty of a large public high school about resuming weekly classes now that the pandemic is not such a factor. The teachers there also requested classes for their deaf students, so we have been having sign language classes in our church on Tuesday evenings and Wednesdays before church for about two months. Please pray that we will be able to resume classes at the public schools soon and that we will be able to reach the deaf students and their families effectively.
Our young people had a great season of Christmas caroling. They raised $820 to help defray the cost of their upcoming Youth Camp.
What an amazing thing it is to be a part of God’s great work and to see the fruit that He will give us if we follow His leading. Thank you all so very much for sacrificing to keep us in this amazing harvest. We are so grateful!
Yours for souls,
Courtney & Ester Godsoe
