Thứ Năm, tháng 11 27, 2008

Philippine Missions for Jesus needs your prayers

GOD IS FAITHFUL. ISSUE NO. 192
November 19th, 2008


Nehemiah 9:6 “You alone are the Lord. You made the heavens, even the highest heavens, and all their starry host, the earth and all that is in it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to everything, and the multitudes of heaven worship You.”

Psalm 146:5 “Blessed is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in the Lord his God, the Maker of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them---the Lord, who remains faithful forever.”

Hebrews 10:23 “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for He who promised is faithful.”

Joshua 23:14 “Now I am about ready to go the way of all the earth. You know with all your heart and soul that not one of all the good promises the Lord your God gave you has failed. Every promise has been fulfilled; not one has failed.”

Dear Friends,
Hi! Emie and I pray for the Lord to encourage and strengthen you, fill you with His joy & peace----and truly grant you the desires of your heart as you faithfully serve Him.
Psalm 17:4 “Delight yourself also in the Lord, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.”

THANKSGIVING DAY in America is always a special occasion in our nation. For many it is a time of fellowship and family and abundant food for dinner and snacks. It is nice to be able to do that & remember the founding purpose of that day is to be a special day of thanks to God.
A lady named Mary Fairchild wrote the following Thanksgiving Day prayer:
“Heavenly Father, on Thanksgiving Day
We bow our hearts to You and pray.
We give You thanks for all You’ve done
Especially for the gift of Jesus, Your Son.
For beauty in nature, Your glory we see
For joy and health, friends and family,
For daily provision, Your mercy and care
These are the blessings You graciously share.
So today we offer this response of praise
With a promise to follow You all of our days.”
There is so much in life to be thankful to God for--when we are careful to remember His many blessings to our lives, and maintain an attitude of gratitude to Him--we are the ones who are blessed in our spirit, soul, mind, body, strength, and emotions. God will bless grateful and thankful people. “Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.” --Psalm 107:1
Emie and I thank God for the privilege of serving Him in the mission’s field for over 16&1/2 years and for the privilege of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ. We thank God for each of you who He has touched, to be faithful partners with us and help us reach people for Jesus.
We always pray (and sometimes fast and pray)---for all of you by name who receive this newsletter. When we have received specific prayer requests we pray accordingly and have been happy to receive messages back from several of you of specifically answered prayer. In our general prayers we pray for the salvation of all your unsaved family and friends, for the Lord to bless your health and all aspects of your family, for God to bless your job, career, (and your retirement if you are retired); for His blessings and anointment on all areas of your ministries (ranging from your local church to international missions)---and we pray that God who specifically knows your greatest needs, will (as you faithfully serve Him) demonstrate to you His word in:
Matthew 19:26b “ with God all things are possible.”
The one thing we can faithfully do for you---who are partnering with us through your prayers, encouragement, and financial investments--- to help us in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ---is to offer effective & fervent prayers to God for you. We do this and always will.
Last night Emie and I attended a funeral service for a 4 year old boy. His name is Charles (Chikoy) Uy, and we have known his mother Grace since the early 1990’s when she was in High School. Her son was a healthy, happy, K-1 kindergarten student who was struck down with dengue hemorrhagic fever which is caused by a simple mosquito bite. (Last April I donated blood to one of Eternal Life’s pastor’s son named Elijah and he recovered from this same disease.) I was one of the blood donors for Chikoy but he was just not able to recover.
Chikoy was Charles Sr. and Grace’s 1st born son, and his loss was shocking and tragic. For people of the world who do not know God, there would be no hope. But at the service last night, while there was sorrow---there was hope and an assurance, that the parents and all who knew Jesus as their Savior and Lord---would most certainly one day in the future see Chikoy again. The grief was real and very much to be expected and the sadness will be there for sometime because of the loss---but all the people’s hope and trust in Christ is real and founded upon the truth. Proverbs 14:32b “..but even in death the righteous have a refuge.” Whether a person lives to be 4 or 104, life on this earth is short, and then we enter eternity---and it is where we spend eternity that counts.
Last night the Christians were able to sing---and praise and worship the Lord. There is only one real hope in this world---and His name is Jesus. That is reality. And that is why we are happy to share the gospel of Jesus Christ. “The fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who wins souls is wise.” ---Proverbs 11:30
In Ephesians 4:11-12 the Bible talks about how God appointed a fivefold ministry “apostles, prophets, evangelists, preachers, and teachers” for “…the equipping of the saints for the work of the ministry, for the edifying the body of Christ.” One of the main purposes of Christian ministers is to train Christians in the church to be able to do the work of the ministry. We would like to share a praise report---that in our local church in Tacloban we are having more and more members who are becoming active in conducting Bible studies, sharing the gospel and leading people to Jesus, and being fruitful in other areas of ministry. Our children’s ministry has grown and improved significantly as a result of increased involvement from committed church members. We praise God for that.
I would like to share a testimony about the pastors of a church we pioneered in Eastern Samar in the town of Canavid. The Pastor’s of the church there are Arnel & Paz Dagami, and they have one young daughter named Micah. They have pastored there for about for about 2 years now and though the church attendance had been down to the low-teens when they took over, and the attendance is now in the upper thirties. They have an extension work on Sunday afternoons up in the hills in a village called Obong which sometimes they hire a motorcycle to go if they have a budget for that, but usually they walk for about 1&1/2 hours for 6 kilometers (about 3.7 miles) to go there. They then lead a service for 10-12 young-people they have led to the Lord and are helping them to grow in their faith.
Arnel and Paz, like many of the pastors in these more remote and poorer areas of the Philippines, work during the week to bring in extra money to support their family. (Many may recall that Paul the apostle worked as a tentmaker and other areas in several phases of his ministry). One of the things that Arnel & Paz do is use their manual sewing machines to make rugs and sell them to the people in Canavid. Eternal Life Ministries also gives them some monthly support that helps them buy a 110 lb sack of rice and some other staples, and we have also helped with medical needs. We have purchased in the past the Church lot, parsonage, and church building there so they have a permanent place to meet. While the apostle Paul worked sometimes, he also was supported by some churches at other times. He wrote to the Philippians about his appreciation for their financial help to one of his ministry outreaches. He thanked them and in Phil. 4:19 he said specifically to those who had helped his mission’s trip: “And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory, by Christ Jesus.”
Please pray for the Lord to help and bless Arnel, Paz, Micah, and the Canavid church; and pray also for us and all of the other churches God has called us to pioneer, and for the their pastors and ministry workers.
Thanks again for your prayers, encouragement, and financial investments in God’s work for the various ministry outreaches that are reaching new people for Jesus. We pray God rewards you and blesses you always.

In Christ’s love,
Gordon & Emie
“For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.” ---Romans 1:16
Please Pray: For the Lord to help us to be increasingly effective in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ in a variety of fruitful ways * For the Lord to raise up more prayer intercessors to pray daily for us and the ministry * For God’s continued protection, guidance, anointing, and financial provision for all the needs of the ministry outreaches. * And for God to reward & help, all who are partnering with us in the ministry outreaches.