Mabuhay Church family! (Mabuhay is kinda like Aloha in Hawaii),
As we begin the second week here in the Iba area, the rain is coming down in buckets at times- most of the time. As we had been working with the missionaries to the native Filipinos, we discovered many of their contacts were close to making a decision for God and to become Seventh-day Adventists. Thus, after a few Bible studies to answer questions and to explain our beliefs more fully- it was time decisions and baptisms- below is the photo of the Botolan church members who were able to attend the baptisms of the first 18 people. Thus, this past Sabbath was a high day for soul winning. I preached and Nephlen sang for 2 different services, we visited those who have been attending the Iba meetings, fed the very poor and conducted the baptisms prior to rushing back to preach for the evening evangelism meetings.
The message today was the 2,300 prophecy- I was pleased to see how God made the congregation and guests understand a difficult topic. About the baptisms- the oldest person was 25 and the youngest was 7 years old; one young lady (22 years old) was 7 months pregnant. We are enjoying the fast pace of soul winning here- it seems like the days are flying by....wake up at 5 am- and it seems like the day just disappeared as were are busy all the time; and it is 10:30 pm and we are getting back to the house for the evening. One nice thing here- the folks feel I speak enough of the native language that they asked that we let the translator go free to do his own meetings; now he is able to work a different area without being weighed down by me. Tonight, Nephlen prepared the food for the 80 or so visitors who attended tonight's meeting- so far they are very faithful- even when it rains very hard; then she sang the appeal song at the end of the message. Well, that is it for the "second up-date." God bless each of you and please also keep us in your prayers!
Pastor Shawn and Nephlen Shives
-- Shawn R. Shives, M.Div; MAPM
"Expect Great Things from God;
Attempt Great Things for God!"
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