Sweet Sunday services

Ken preaching the Sunday morning service at Shiloh Bible Baptist Church in Sindangan, Philippines.

Today marked the first time I’ve ever preached in a country outside of the United States of America, and I will never forget it.

What an honor and privilege it was to preach two services today at Shiloh Bible Baptist Church in Sindangan, Philippines. It was a wonderful day with great music and fellowship.

One thing I want you to understand is people here do not have the resources that we are blessed with in the U.S. These precious people are very poor, but they are very rich spiritually. What they have, they give to the Lord. We have much to learn from our Filipino brothers and sisters. They truly understand that when God is all you have, then you have everything you need.

Some of the members of the church live in the mountains and have to travel through the forest and across a river to make it to church. They don’t have cars and trucks like we have in America. It’s not a matter of convenience. It’s the fact they want to be in church worshiping Jesus and learning His Word.

We sang hymns like many churches in the U.S. do. Then Pastor Greg Begafaria’s brother, Raffy Begafaria, taught Sunday School. While I couldn’t understand everything he said, I understood enough to get a lot out of it. Here in the Philippines, there are many different dialects, so from region to region a different language is spoken. However, they mix English with their words. Bro. Raffy is a very good teacher.

The church service began with more hymns and then their choir sang a special, “Thank You for Giving to the Lord.” Martha, Mama and I cried throughout their singing. They have such beautiful voices, singing from their hearts.

Then I preached the morning service. I talked about Jesus and how it is of the utmost importance that we place all of our trust in Him, and then discussed some ways that God instructs us how to live. When Pastor Greg gave the altar, call people flocked to the front and got on their knees and prayed. I could hear some literally crying out to God. My prayer was for God to hear their cries, and I know He did.

Then we had lunch and fellowship at church. People bring food and they eat and fellowship together each Sunday. If you had to walk or travel from the mountains and other places to get to church, you would really appreciate being able to stay afterward for a good meal.

All of the food was delicious. I can’t pronounce or spell hardly any of it, but I sure could eat it. We haven’t had anything that wasn’t delicious over here.

Then we had time to play with some of the children, which was fun. Most of them speak in their native language, but one thing that translates into any language is laughter, and they laughed and laughed as we played with them.

Instead of night services on Sunday, they have an afternoon service, so people can make it back to their homes before night and before it rains.

In the afternoon I preached on the subject of faith and really encouraged them to have total faith in God that He would provide the money to purchase the land their church sits on and to build a new building. I told them that we understand renting buildings, and then told them how we rented a building and it was sold and we lost our rent. But, the good news was God provided a better building and one that is ours now.

A big difference about their rent compared to ours is Pastor Greg and his family live at the church. There is a bedroom in the back of the church and that is their home. If they lost their rent like we did, not only would they lose their church, but Pastor Greg and his family would be homeless.

That’s a constant worry to many of the pastors here, and some landlords hold that over their heads. But I know the work they do for the Lord and have witnessed it firsthand. I know God will touch someone’s or some people’s hearts to give the $6,000 U.S. dollars to purchase the land to keep Pastor Greg and his family and church safe and secure.

One of my prayers was that the people could understand me, that God would give them hears to hear and understand what I said. He answered that prayer. I could tell they understood, and many shouted “Amen!” If I saw a puzzled look, I would further explain what I was saying. Yes, I explained what “y’all” meant too.

I could see some crying at times as the Holy Ghost touched their hearts. They let me know that the messages encouraged them. I believe that is one of my main tasks here. They need great encouragement. These pastors and missionaries are truly on the frontlines, and they have sacrificed everything to tell others about Jesus. And those they serve literally live day-to-day. But they love God, and I know He is going to do even greater things here in Sindangan and throughout the Philippines.

It was indeed a great honor to preach in Pastor Greg’s pulpit. Now it’s time for the conference. Pastors and missionaries are arriving tonight. It’s going to be a great two days. Praise God!