We are very grateful for the wonderful privilege of serving God, and we thank Him for His bountiful blessings on our efforts. July and August went by quickly. Praise the Lord for 338 precious souls receiving Christ as Saviour and 10 following the Lord in believer’s baptism.
The people of our church gave us a very wonderful surprise. Ester and I had been saving up to buy another vehicle but put the money towards the purchase of property. Our car was looking pretty rough and needed a lot of work. One of our men took it in for repairs, and I was surprised that they kept it in the shop so long. Come to find out, our people had raised enough money to have the bodywork done, have it painted, and have repairs done. They replaced the broken side-view mirrors, fixed the brakes, replaced the valve cover and oil- pan gaskets, changed the oil, and made several other repairs. It looks like new, and I hardly recognized it when they brought it to us. What a wonderful display of love and sacrifice from the dear people in our church.
I have been featuring different folks in our church in our latest prayer letters. I hope this will give you a feel for the fruit that your giving and prayers have produced. This month I would like to mention one of our dear families that has been in our church for over eight years: Niel Arellano, his wife Leonora, and their children, Curtenay and Christian. I met Niel while soul winning in his neighborhood. He looked like a rough character but was quite friendly. He approached me and asked me what we were doing and then told me that his wife was a Baptist. He pointed to his house and said, “She’s in there.” I asked if he wanted me to visit her, and he said, “Yes.” As I talked to her, I found out that she had been attending Bible studies with Jehovah’s Witnesses, so I showed her some Scriptures concerning the deity of Christ. She came to church the next day and has been faithful ever since.
Niel started coming on Sunday mornings after a few months. He got baptized after two years when Dr. Darrell Moore preached a revival at our church. He quit smoking three years later when Dr. Moore again preached for us. Niel, his wife, and his children have been such a blessing. They attend every service, as well as soul winning. Niel has “adopted” our aging jeepney and has worked hard to get it running and keep it running. He is a postman and personally delivers our mail. His coworkers know me, and whenever they see a letter for me, they toss it to him and say, “Hey Niel, this is for Pastor.” Lenora teaches Sunday school. Their daughter Curtenay graduated from our high school, and their son Christian is currently in our high school. Niel and his family thank you for your investment in their lives.
Thanks again for those of you who helped us purchase property. We are excited about eventually building our own facilities. We expect it to cost about $20,000 for the foundation and about the same for each of the four floors. We hope to get the foundation and first floor in as soon as possible so we can move onto the property and out of the facilities we are currently renting.
Thank you with all our hearts for helping us to work in this white harvest field.
Yours for souls,
Courtney & Ester Godsoe
