Wednesday, May 28, Covenant Baptist Church (Antipolo)/Baptist Bible Church of Christ (Cavite Silang)
We appreciate Muriel being on our team as she gives us a detailed overview of our day…
Wednesday was a day full of beautiful fellowship with much travel time in between churches. We met downstairs in the hotel at 7:20 and enjoyed fresh rolls with ham, provided by the Tulabots. We loaded up into the bus and drove to Covenant Baptist Church. Our amazing bus driver navigated our 24-seater bus through motorbikes and trucks weaving across the 9 lanes in Manila. We parked on a very steep, narrow street and climbed out to be greeted by a line of joyous, smiling people ready to greet us. The theme verse for the morning’s pastors/missions conference was Exodus 33:18, Show Me Thy Glory. We gave our introductions and sang our specials. Zab gave his salvation testimony of recognizing that he needed to personally accept Christ, and that now he is committed to living his life fully for God’s glory. Ashlyn C. shared her testimony of salvation and the state of her parents’ ministry in Quebec, especially regarding the need for pastors. Ashlyn P. also shared about her life as a missionary kid in Thailand and her realization that being a missionary is not just moving locations; it’s showing what’s in your heart to others. Several groups from Covenant Baptist Church sang powerful specials exalting the Lord before Brandon was introduced to speak. He began with his testimony and preached a sermon on 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, being broken vessels in the Master’s hands. To conclude the conference, certificates were handed out to all the guest pastors as well as to all of us, and Mr. Fulfer presented three study Bibles to the pastors of Covenant Baptist Church. We enjoyed a feast of Filipino food freshly made in the church’s kitchen and interacted with the teens of the church, who were thrilled to meet us, before we loaded up into the bus for a 2½-hour drive to Baptist Bible Church of Christ.
We fellowshipped with the youth/young adults before the service began. I was blessed by several conversations with young girls already surrendered to the Lord and His will for their lives. The service began with enthusiastic singing exalting Jesus. Our group gave our introductions and specials again, Sophie shared her testimony of salvation and finding assurance, and Joseph testified of getting saved and turning around to be fully yielded to the Lord’s plan for his life. Dr. Cirone preached on how Christ answers our “Now what?” questions in every circumstance. Another certificate and Bible was awarded to the pastor of that church and we were each given mugs. We took selfies after the service with many youths before heading downstairs for dinner, catered from Shakey’s, including sub sandwiches, pizza, and fried chicken. We shared encouraging moments and discussed plans for tomorrow as we made our way back to the hotel. I so love the warmth of the Filipino’s’ love for the Lord and for each other. I wish I could get to know each precious soul deeper. Many times over the past few days, I have been encouraged by the reality that Christians never say “good bye” but rather “see you later,” for we have all of eternity to look forward to, when people of every nation and tongue will praise Jesus together forever!
Having a wonderful time serving our Lord Jesus Christ! Our love to you all! Team Philippines
