IS CHRISTMAS NOT THE RIGHT TIME? OR IS IT?

In 2015, I will be taking two teams to the Philippines to preach and teach the gospel plus offer medical camps on the second trip through a partnership with the hospital in Davao City. This task is great and requires lots of resources. I am so thankful to everyone who partners with us. 

I am often challenged by some of my friends about the way we think about things such as “Why do we do things the way we do them?” or “Why do we believe that?”. Last night, one of my friends told me last night that “Christmas is not a real good time to be trying to raise funds…” Is Christmas not a good time for raising money for a mission trip… or is it?

WHAT IS CHRISTMAS? 
Many, if not most, people think about Christmas trees with lights and ornaments plus lots of presents under the tree. I remember a time in a K-mart store that a woman was showing her little boy a manger scene and she said something like “Look at that Christmas scene.” The little boy was confused and looked up at his mom and asked, “But where is Santa Claus?”

The true meaning of Christmas is the birth of Jesus as announced in Luke 1:30 (ESV)  And the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. 31  And behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus. 32  He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, 33  and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.”

So if it is His birthday, shouldn’t we be focused on Him and what He would want us to do? Think about His words in Luke 19:10 (ESV)  For the Son of Man came to seek and to save the lost.”. Or how about His words in Acts 1:8 (ESV)  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”?

I know you have seen the “WWJD” bracelets signifying “What Would Jesus Do?” but how about these questions:

WWJHMD?
“What Would Jesus Have Me Do?” Think about the original question in this post, “Is Christmas not a good time for raising money for a mission trip… or is it?” If Jesus came to “seek and to save the lost.” and we are the body of Christ, shouldn’t we be doing what He has been doing all along? Should we stop supporting missions in December so we can spend lots of money on material things?

How about these verses? Luke 2:10 (ESV)  And the angel said to them, “Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11  For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. The angel told the shepherds not to be afraid because he brought them what? “good news of great joy”! And what is that “good news”? The Gospel of Jesus Christ. 

So “What Would Jesus Have Me Do?” Simple, stay focused on what He was focused on. Seeking and saving the lost.

HMTDWH?
Another question to consider is “How Much Time Do We Have?” Look at the international news stories and you will quickly recognize that we are much closer to the end of time as we know it than we have ever been before. Do we have enough time to take December off?

Ephesians 5:15 (ESV)  Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, 16  making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. 17  Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

Paul said we need to make the best use of time. Time is going by very quickly as if you hadn’t noticed. The next trip is in the spring and the second is in late summer. It won’t be long for it’s time to minister.

WAYWTD?
Last question for you in this post. “What Are You Willing To Do?” Are you willing to support a mission trip like ours as a gift this Christmas? A gift that sharing the gospel, the good news of Jesus Christ? If so, visit www.gofundme.com/hmd2p8 and make your donation of any size. Some are giving so much a month. Whatever you give, thank you for helping us spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Merry Christmas.

KENTUCKY BAPTIST CONVENTION'S ARTICLE ABOUT OUR LAST MISSION TRIP

Here is an article from the Kentucky Baptist Convention's web site about our last trip to the Philippines. I am very thankful for everyone who has shown us support through our efforts to share the gospel in Kentucky and around the world.

Kentucky Baptists minister to Filipino brethren

September 24, 2014
By Debbie Davenport
KBC News

BOSTON, Ky.—A team of Kentucky Baptists brought healing and hope to hundreds of Filipinos still recovering from Typhoon Pablo, a devastating storm that struck the island nation two years ago.

Sue Fannin, a nurse from Elizabethtown, does a blood pressure check during a mission trip to the Philippines. She was part of a team of Kentucky Baptists who spent 10 days in the Philippines on a medical and pastoral training initiative. (submitted photo)

The six-member team, including members of Rolling Fork Baptist Church in Boston, provided medical exams and treatment to nearly 900 people in the Philippines between Aug. 24 and Sept. 2. They also held several worship services and led two pastors’ conferences.

Rolling Fork pastor Bruce Nichols said much work remains for the people trying to rebuild.

“Some of the areas still are wiped out,” he said. “It will take time. They’ll just have to work at it a little at a time.”

Typhoon Pablo was a Category 5 super typhoon with sustained winds reaching 175 mph. Some 1,900 people died as the December 2012 storm wiped out bridges, caused mudslides, flattened entire villages, and left thousands homeless.

Despite the slow recovery, Nichols said Filipinos seemed resilient. At the hard-hit Cateel Southern Baptist Church where only the tile floor remains where the pulpit once stood, local church members worship under a makeshift pavilion. They hope to raise enough money for a new building soon.

Nichols, having completed his fourth trip to the region, said he again was struck by the faithfulness of the Baptist islanders.

“In Cateel, the congregation has next to nothing in terms of resources,” he said, “but they have such energetic worship. Even in the areas where the persecution is, they’re still standing firm in the faith.”

Nichols said the ones serving on the mission trip, especially the first-timers, always return home forever changed by the experience.

“They realize all the things we take for granted (in the United States),” he said, and many come home with a different perspective after seeing how people live in other parts of the world.

Eric Allen, missions mobilization team leader for the Kentucky Baptist Convention, said short-term missions always proves to be eye-opening for Americans.

“I can’t encourage these kinds of short-term mission trips strongly enough,” Allen said. “In every instance, they benefit our churches as much as they benefit the people they’re reaching out to. I appreciate that Rolling Fork and Redeemer Fellowship are so willing to reach out with the gospel in their local communities as well as to the uttermost part of the world.”

Nichols said the mission trip has made him grateful as well. He expressed thanks for Kentucky Baptists’ prayers and financial support.

“Most of all, I am very thankful that God would use people like us to carry out a mission as big as this one was,” Nichols said.

9MARKS IN MINDANAO by Matthew Spandler-Davison

Here is an recent article about our mission trips written by my friend and fellow pastor, Matthew Spandler-Davison, as shown on the 9Marks website, http://9marks.org/ [also check out the other articles and resources on the 9Marks' website to help your church become more healthy]. I invite you to read his article and imagine being there with us and seeing what we saw.

 9Marks in Mindanao

"Looking down at the dusty streets, gazing into the bamboo shacks many call home, noting the bare hillside once covered by coconut trees, its baldness a chilling reminder of the relentless typhoon winds that hit these island shores – I found myself feeling insufficient to speak. Only 100 or so had gathered for this seminar; many walked, and some arrived in overcrowded jeepnies and motorbikes. The 100 consisted of pastors and pastor wives, church planters and church leaders—all from the far-flung tropical island of Mindanao. It’s an island that has been devastated by poverty, natural disaster, and militant Islam seeking to bomb the island out from the hands of the Filipino government.

I found myself asking, “What am I doing here?” Sure, a medical clinic or a food distribution would seem to make sense. But it felt utterly inadequate to come all this way to present a workshop on expositional preaching, biblical leadership, and meaningful membership.

But if I closed my eyes and listened to these men talk I might well have imagined myself in a pastor’s fellowship meeting back home: deacons publicly attacking pastors, church attendance below membership, the church refusing to act when a worship leader moves in with his girlfriend, church splits over the pastor’s pay, an anemic diet of topical sermons. Poor church health is an epidemic that is not contained by borders. It is a contagion that even the unlikeliest of places has been infected with, leaving in its wake weak churches, false converts, distressed pastors, and a poor witness.

For three days, myself and Bruce Nichols, a fellow pastor from Kentucky, led a workshop introducing the 9 Marks of a Healthy Church. And what I found were some of the most appreciative and humble pastors I had ever met. I was reminded that the nine marks are universally applicable and timeless. Just as they were applicable in first-century Jerusalem, they are applicable in rural Kentucky and tropical Mindanao.

These pastors on this troubled island were hearing these truths for the first time. For many years, they have been acting within a church paradigm taught by missionaries fifty years ago. The gospel took root—but so did unhealthy church polity.

A strong gospel witness is the greatest and most urgent need no matter where we are. There is a place for crisis intervention during times of disaster, and there is an ongoing need to feed the poor and build homes for the displaced.

That said, the work of building healthy churches helps to create real change that will not be destroyed when the winds start blowing again and the storm surge returns. We must not underestimate the power of healthy churches to bring about real transformation. It is to the cross we cling, so building healthy, gospel-centered churches that display the glory of Christ to the perishing is itself a mission of mercy.

I left the island struck by many sights and sounds and smells, but none more striking than the beauty of the church. There were moments—I’m afraid to admit—that their voracious appetite for gospel truth, their humility, and their passionate worship felt as foreign to me as their food and language. As one battle weary pastor in his seventies asked at the close of the workshop, “Why have we not heard this before? We have been victims of bad church government, but it is all we have ever known to do.”

Pray for the health of the churches on Mindanao Island. Pray for their pastors living in extreme poverty and with little training. Pray for the witness of the church as they seek to proclaim the gospel against a backdrop of militant Islam, indigenous cults, syncretistic Catholicism, and the prosperity gospel, which gets beamed in through their TV stations. Pray for healthy churches."

Our conference in Cateel

Our conference at Aloha

[I am very thankful for Matthew's partnership and encouragement throughout these trips. Please pray for us as we prepare for the spring conferences. Thank you.]

TAKING THE GOSPEL TO ASIA AGAIN SOON

I am often asked why we keep going back to the Philippines each and there are several answers to that question such as an on-going partnership with Pastor Joe Fernandez and his family. Another reason would be because of the location of the Philippines since they are centrally located in South Asia. By teaching them the gospel of Jesus Christ, they can spread out to the countries around them and teach them. One more reason that I want to make at this time is the fact that they are very supportive of us coming over to their country and teaching them church leadership and theology.

Paul said in Romans 1:15a (ESV)  "So I am eager to preach the gospel to you..." which is another reason why we keep going back to the Philippines. To make sure that they are hearing the real gospel of Jesus Christ instead of a prosperity gospel or something else. We focused on teaching what the gospel is on my first trip as shown in the photos below. 

Teaching pastors at Mt. Carmel

Pastor Joe Fernandez interpreting for me

Each time we go over, at some point we will be teaching what is the gospel and what is not. Paul continues in Romans 1:16-17 (ESV)  For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17  For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith for faith, as it is written, “The righteous shall live by faith.” 

Edmund Ytac interpreting for me at Seaside Baptist Church during my third trip

In the passage from Romans above, Paul said that he was not ashamed of the gospel because it was and still is the power of God to bring forth salvation to everyone who believes and puts their trust in Jesus Christ. There are four thoughts I want you to see in those verses.

1. The word "power" is the driving force of the gospel. The gospel is powerful. More powerful than anything else. What else do you know has the power to take a sinful man and recreate him in a new creation that is in right standing with God?

2. The word "salvation" is the purpose of the gospel. "In the New Testament [salvation] is specially used with reference to the great deliverance from the guilt and the pollution of sin wrought out by Jesus Christ". Easton's Illustrated Dictionary

3. The phrase "everyone who believes" is the target of the gospel. The aim of the gospel is to penetrate the hearts of those who are lost and become the new creations as shown in #1.

4. The word "righteousness" is the result of the gospel. Those who believe and put their trust in Jesus Christ are made righteous, which means they are in right standing with God. Their sins are forgiven and they are His children. 

In just a few months, we will be taking the gospel to Asia once again. I don't know who all is going yet, but I do know there is so much work to do. I am very thankful for everyone who has helped us raise funds in the past and I hope to have a great response from people like you again this time. There are two easy ways that you can help us financially...

1. If you wish to send us a check of any amount, you can mail it out to Rolling Fork Baptist Church and send it to 615 Rolling Fork Church Rd, Boston, KY 40107.

2. If you would like to use your debit or credit card, please visit our fund-raising page, http://www.gofundme.com/hmd2p8 and make your donation. 

I want to thank you in advance for your prayers and your financial gifts. It means a great deal to see my friends and family take part in this evangelistic effort.

IF YOU LOVE KIDS, CHECK THESE OUT

Here are some of the kids that gathered the night that I preached the first outdoor meeting of our last trip. After the service, we had porridge for the kids and as you can see, they were quite happy with that.

I saw this little guy at another street revival we did. Watch the video and see if you can move like that! 

Umbrella Man sitting in my lap. He was pretending that his binoculars was a camera and he was 'taking pictures' like me.

 

Some more kids posing during the street revivals

These children live in a remote area outside of Cateel.

When was the last time you rode a water buffalo through town?

Or rode a motorcycle with 5 people on it?

Darlene loving on one of the babies from the medical camp.

Sue and Judy surrounded by kids and a Filipino soldier.

I may not speak their language yet, but high fives and hugs are universal languages, it seems.

In this last photo, I am using these children to illustrate an important lesson. What is that important lesson?

The lesson is very simple. None of these little children are married yet. None of these little children can drive yet. Why? Because they are little kids. Grown-ups get married and drive. The same is true with Christianity. We start out as babes in Christ and we are supposed to grow up to be like Christ.

1 Peter 2:2 (ESV)  Like newborn infants, long for the pure spiritual milk, that by it you may grow up into salvation— 

Hebrews 5:12 (ESV)  For though by this time you ought to be teachers, you need someone to teach you again the basic principles of the oracles of God. You need milk, not solid food, 13  for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. 14  But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil. 

This is where you and I come in. Ever since my first trip to the Philippines under the leadership of Greg Cochran, I have felt a strong calling to work through our Nelson Baptist Association to train Filipino pastors and help develop strong biblical churches. Churches that will preach and teach the one true gospel to these kids and their families. 

There are many churches in the Philippines that are not preaching the one true gospel. In addition to those who are teaching the Muslim faith, you will find churches that are teaching a prosperity gospel or other false gospels. The next trip, which will be in the spring, will be my fifth trip since the beginning of 2011. We are partnering with Pastor Joe Fernandez and his family to cover as many different areas of the Philippines as we can. And we need your help.

Your part may or may not be to go with us but any of you can help us by making a donation of any size to our fund raising campaign for these mission trips. If you wish to use a debit card or credit card, you can visit http://www.gofundme.com/hmd2p8 which is a secure sight that has an "A" rating with the Better Business Bureau. If you are wanting to make a donation using a check, please make it out to Rolling Fork Baptist Church and send it to 615 Rolling Fork Church RD, Boston, KY 40107.

Please share this information with your friends. The more funds we raise, the more we can do for our Filipino friends.

ALL THAT IN 10 DAYS?

Why do we go to the Philppines? Lots of reasons, such as the Filipinos are very receptive to us. Above, you will see part of the group Matthew and I taught in Cateel. Pastor Joe Fernandez is our partner in the Philippines and interprets for us. In the photos below, Matthew is teaching at our second location.

Some times we see people come to one of our conferences that we have seen before. Some times we get connected with our Filipino friends through facebooks and emails. It is very exciting to see how our Filipino pastors are writing down notes and studying what we are teaching as shown in the next photos.

One of my favorite parts of our pastors' conferences is the question and answer time because you really get to hear what our fellow pastors are going through and they give us an opportunity to walk them through their situations. It is easy to tell that they are listening and trying to apply what we are teaching.

We have so many doors open to us. We just went to the Philippines this past fall and while we were there, we stayed busy preaching and teaching throughout the week. We arrived on a Saturday and I preached both services at Buhangin Baptist Church as well as Monday night.

During the day, we prepared bags filled with toothbrushes, tooth paste, shampoo, etc. to give to the people who came to our medical camps.

Tuesday night, we were given the opportunity to minister on the streets of Agdao. This event took place on a full court basketball course at an intersection of a small community. 

Matthew, Ron and Judy joined us mid-week and we began serving in Cateel and Boston, on the east coast. During the day, Matthew and I taught a pastors' conference and at night, I preached a revival in another covered court and Matthew preached a revival in Boston. This took place Thursday through Saturday.

While we were preaching the pastors' conference, Sue, Darlene, Ron and Judy were busy with the medical camps. In just two days, the medical camps served almost 900 people. Because of the generous financial donations made on our behalf, we were able to purchase enough medicine to treat all of those people plus have some left for the next medical camp. Dr. Joy Sanico was our leader in this effort and the Filipino military assisted her and her staff in leading us in this effort. 

Sunday morning, Matthew and I preached in different churches and Ron gave his testimony at another church. Then it was back towards Davao City to lead one more pastors' conference. 

Ten days, lots of preaching and teaching and yet there is still so much to do. We have so many doors opening to us that we are discussing two trips in 2015. That is why we are starting the fund raising early. You can help us make a difference by visiting gofund.me/hmd2p8 and making a donation of any amount. This website got an A from the Better Business Bureau and you can use your debit or credit card. Please help us. We have so many doors open to us. We just need the resources to get there. Thank you in advance.

A TOWN THAT WAS

It's one thing to have a storm go through that left some tree limbs, some lumber from the houses and some garbage lying around but it is totally different when a storm is so strong that you have to actually start over. Some of the areas that we visited in the Philippines were hit so hard that they had to start over with the roads as well as the buildings. Imagine trying to locate where the roads used to be because of so much damage to the whole area. 

So what do you do? You start building the town over again. The government was very instrumental in helping the small communities in their rebuilding stages. Some areas had been built up quite a bit already and some areas were not as developed yet. This little town was the site of the second medical camp and this is where our team saw the most people in the two-day time.

Lots and lots of medicine was used during those two days.

When asked about the amount of medicine we were able to purchase at Filipino prices, I was told that if we had bought that same amount of medicine over here, it would have been almost triple what we paid over there. This would not have been possible without the Lord blessing us through your generosity. 

Dr. Joy Sanico, far left, was very supportive of our team and we are very grateful for all of her support.

Trying to see what's going on in there.

This little cutie is surrounded by boxes and boxes of medicine provided by people like you.

As we prepare for two trips in 2015, we are inviting you to partner with us by going to http://www.gofundme.com/hmd2p8 and make a financial donation of any size by using your debit or credit card. "gofundme" is safe and received an "A" from the Better Business Bureau. We thank you in advance for helping us reach people like these folks riding a water buffalo to town...