The first two months of 2017 were busy and productive. We saw 857 souls trust Christ at church and through personal soul winning, and 10 people followed the Lord in believer’s baptism. There has been a continued increase in attendance, especially during the Sunday evening and Wednesday evening services. Several new families have become faithful and involved in the church activities.
I have been blessed by the spirit of the people in our church. There is a great sense of unity amongst our members. I believe this has been one of the things that has encouraged newer Christians to become a part of our church family.
We are in the process of getting plans approved for the facilities on our property. We would really appreciate your prayers for wisdom as we go through this process. Please also pray that we will finish enough of the facilities to move our church, staff, college dorms, and Christian school there as soon as possible. We have decent facilities now at a good price of $1,200 per month, but it would still be great not to have that expense. I talked with the owners of our rental facilities a year ago, and they agreed to lower the rent by $100 and not raise it for two years. I expect they will raise it to around $1,450 or $1,500 in March of 2018.
I estimate the total cost to build the facilities to be around $45,000. I believe we could complete enough to move in with around $35,000. Once moved in, we could use the money we were spending on rent to put the finishing touches on the building. We would really appreciate your prayers. If you could help financially, we would be very grateful. Our people are giving sacrificially.
Please pray for my Ester, as she has some medical problems. We’re not sure what the problems are but think they are GI related. She is one of the hardest workers I have ever seen. She is in her sixties and has a jeepney route and does a tremendous amount of work for the church. If I were to list the things she does, it would take several pages for this prayer letter. She still wears out the younger people who work with her. I would greatly appreciate your prayers for her.
We have been going to the Dasmariñas City Jail each week for two years and holding services for the men. Their meeting room is always packed with enthusiastic inmates. They not only attend the services, but they also participate by setting up the room, singing special numbers, leading the singing, and helping out in other ways. We were recently asked to have weekly services for the ladies as well. Daisy, our church secretary, has been holding the services there. The officer in charge of the jail has also asked us to teach their staff (about 20 people) as part of the Philippine’s “Moral Recovery Program” for government employees. There are so many opportunities here to spread the Gospel and teach people God’s Word!
Thank you again with all our hearts for sacrificing to keep us on this tremendous, white harvest.
Yours for souls,
Courtney & Ester Godsoe
