Praise the Lord for 2,080 precious souls receiving Christ as Saviour during March and April.
We have pretty much gotten back into full swing with most of our church activities, including our Bible college, Bible institute, jeepney routes, extension classes, and Bible studies with our local police. We still haven’t resumed our public school or jail ministries, however. Please pray for those to get back online in God’s timing.
Brother Jojo Abian, one of our men, and his wife Riza had made several visits to the Mount Pinatubo region in the province of Zambales and gotten a burden to help the pastors and churches in that area. Mount Pinatubo erupted in 1991 and deposited 20 million tons of volcanic rock and ash, creating a dessert for several miles around the mountain. It was the second-largest volcanic eruption in the entire world in the 20th century. This disaster created an opportunity to reach the people there, members of the indigenous Aeta tribe, who, in times past, had not been very receptive to the Gospel. Several churches have been established through the efforts of various organizations and churches, but most of them have had very little doctrinal or pastoral training. We traveled to the area and stayed in tents in one of their villages and conducted training on Bible basics, such as eternal security, soul winning, discipleship, and the King James Bible. There were 22 pastors there, and several of them walked up to two hours to attend the training. We are planning to return for a longer period of time for more training.
I’m grateful for the kindness of our people on my 65th birthday. They surprised me with a nice party with a lot of food. Many of them sacrificed to buy gifts for me. It was very touching to see their love and appreciation.
Our outreach in Lipa is bearing much fruit, with souls saved on a weekly basis and our three newest Bible college students—Carmila, Joshua, and KC (Kasandra)—all being from the work there. KC is an orphan, as both of her parents have passed away, and she has spent much of her life fending for herself. She was very concerned about her 13-year-old sister CJ (Crizel June); and, because of her concern, CJ now lives with us in the college dorm with her older sister. CJ is a precious young lady with a tender heart for the ministry and the people on her jeepney route. Please pray for her and our new college students as they continue to grow and learn.
Thank you all for your love, prayers, and financial support to keep us in this land of many opportunities!
Courtney & Ester Godsoe
Carmila, KC, CJ, and Joshua