Spreading the Gospel in dangerous regions

Martha sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a dangerous region in Zamboanga City.

People in an area in Zamboanga City gathered on a basketball court to hear the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

The Philippine Marines swept the area before we arrived to preach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. While we ministered to the people at the open-air basketball court in the center of town, local police arrived to keep guard. As we left town, police escorted us from the front and the back of our vehicles.

This happened as we ministered in a barangay (town) in Zamboanga City. The presence of the Marines and police was due to the fact this barangay is a well-known stronghold for the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), an Islamic terrorist group. The MNLF attacked the “City Proper” of Zamboanga City last September in what is referred to as the six-week war. The Philippine military is still looking for some rebels involved in the attack.

Why were we there? The people need to know about the love and peace of Jesus Christ. Everyone needs to hear about Jesus and have a chance to respond to the Gospel, even in the dangerous areas. Jesus says He sends us out like “sheep among wolves.” (Matthew 10:16) He never promised that we would share His message in nice comfortable and safe buildings.

Martha and I had never preached where military and police protection was needed, but this was an area we knew we had to share the Gospel. At least a dozen people responded to Jesus, and a lot of seeds were planted. I think we even shook hands with some of the terrorists and told them that Jesus loves them.

Jesus loves terrorists? Yes. He doesn’t love what they do, but He wants to forgive them and save them just like everyone else. Remember, Jesus said, “whosoever.” Someone just has to tell them. We pray those seeds planted will grow into a great harvest.

Zamboanga City had been on my heart for three years, and we had the great opportunity to visit the area twice during our mission trip to the Philippine island of Mindanao.

The results? More than 300 decisions for Jesus. Will this make a difference? Yes it will. These people not only decided to repent and confess Jesus as Lord and Savior, but they want to follow Him, live for Him. We can help them.

Our indigenous pastors and church workers do an incredible job of follow up after evangelistic meetings. They write down the people’s names, addresses and phone numbers. Then they follow up with Bible studies in houses. That leads to building churches.

The problem is our indigenous team has very limited to no resources. The people in Zamboanga City are already showing up at house church services. They are hungry for the Word of God. We have an opportunity to build two churches now. We need $3,000 to build both of them. We already have the land, and here’s how that happened.

A mother and daughter who were Muslim gave their lives to Jesus. They have a house where a young pastor leads Sunday services and Bible studies. The response to the Gospel is so great they can’t all fit in the house, so services are held outside. They have given that lot to us to build a church. Their congregation grew while we were there.

After preaching, a young couple gave their lives to Jesus and wanted to be baptized. We walked down to the sea shore and I had the great privilege of baptizing them in the Sulu Sea, which is the Pacific Ocean. Along the shore lives people from the tribal group “Yakans.” Their huts are right on the shore and they fish for a living.

The Yakans watched the baptismal service. We greeted them afterward and shared the Gospel of Jesus Christ with them. They responded. Now, 13 of them want to be baptized. All of the Yakans showed up Sunday morning for church. We need to build a church there. It rains a lot in the Philippines, and they won’t be able to have church services and Bible studies on rainy days. 

Another area in Zamboanga City where we saw a great response was in a barangay that has a refugee camp. They are refugees from the six-week war. Their homes were destroyed, and for some of them, if their homes are still there, it’s still not safe because of the MNLF rebels who are in the area.

We ministered twice in this area, and more than 200 people made decisions for Jesus – children and adults. One teenager who attended the first service was so excited that he brought his Muslim mother, father and brothers to the second service. The Muslims are responding to Jesus. They see the love and hear the truth of the Gospel, and they are accepting the Gospel message. After hearing the truth and seeing the love of Jesus in all of us, they realize Jesus really is the “way, the truth, and the life.”

After our first service there, we met with the top barangay official and prayed with her. She was tired, hurting, and requested prayer for love, peace and understanding. Martha did a wonderful job of ministering to her one-on-one.

The officials had a meeting and decided to donate land for a church next to the basketball court we ministered at, just outside the refugee camp. They said the American missionaries came to them with no fanfare, but showed love and helped the people, so they need to help us. Praise God!

These are two churches that will reach hundreds of lives. A $3,000 investment is very inexpensive to reach this many unreached people. Can you help? If you can, please send your tax deductible donation to: Love In Action International Ministries, P.O. Box 85, Dothan, AL 36302, and in the memo of the check write “Zamboanga churches.”

God continues to touch and transform lives through what I’m calling the “Great Mindanao Revival.” Unreached people groups, including hundreds of Muslims are coming to Jesus. We must continue to push forward with resources to continue to spread the Gospel for the sake of souls and make disciples.

Thank you for your prayers and financial support. Together, we are making an eternal difference for the glory of God.

Pastor Jun sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ at in area in Zamboanga City.

A building that was bombed during the MNLF attack on Zamboanga City last fall.

Explaining a LIA Philippines mission trip

Here is a list of churches LIA has either planted or helped in some
way to reach the lost and unreached people groups in the Philippines.

How does one describe a Love In Action mission trip to the Philippine island of Mindanao? That’s a good question, and to be honest, a tough one to answer. To adequately put into words what God is doing in Mindanao and what He does in and through those who come with Love In Action would take volumes. Maybe I’ll write a book one day.

Martha, Mama and I have traveled to Mindanao for three straight years. We try to tell people about each of our trips through words, photos and videos. We speak to churches and share with family and friends. However, we don’t do it justice.

Thankfully, God has used our testimonies to lead a number of people to help us with what God is doing here. Thanks to the financial provisions of those individuals, Harvest Church, Cross Pointe Community Church, and others, we have planted and have made an impact on 63 churches and 30 home churches on the island of Mindanao. We have fed thousands of hungry children, and provided school scholarships for very poor children whose families could not afford to send them to school.  We have even built a school.

We are also thankful for God using our testimonies last year to inspire three people to travel to the Philippines with us this year. Harvest Executive Pastor Keith Frith, his brother Rusty Frith, and Jimmy Moerkerken have spent the last 10 days doing and seeing things they’d never imagine. Rusty leads worship at Crossrooads Community Church in Enterprise.

It’s been fun watching them experience the incredible ministry that takes place here. We do more evangelism here in one week than most churches in the U.S. do in a year, and for some, more than they do in multiple years.

God is pouring His Spirit out in Mindanao like I’ve never seen before. The people – Muslims and those who are not practicing any religion – are open to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. There is a hunger for the Word of God that makes you a shame about the lack of zeal for Jesus that so many American Christians have. I used to be one of them, but not anymore.

You see, when you experience true revival with people who truly love and follow Jesus, there’s no way you can stay the same. Family and friends of Keith, Rusty and Jimmy, these guys have changed. You will see it. They were already great guys, but they have a desire to reach the lost like never before. Please encourage them, and let their excitement rub off on you.

And don’t think it will go away. What God is doing inside of them is exactly what He has done and is doing inside of Martha, Mama and me. And they want to come back next year to get even more of the anointing that God is pouring out here to reach the lost.

I don’t know how many people we have seen make decisions for Jesus in the past nine days, but a very conservative estimate would be 1,200, and we’re not done yet. Mama, Keith, Rusty and Jimmy left today to begin their journey back home to Alabama. Martha I will be here until Feb. 17, and then we head back to Hong Kong and China.

Thanks to my new job, I’ll be back in Asia soon, and when I do, I’m coming back to Mindanao to conduct another pastors/missionary workers conference in an undisclosed location. For safety reasons, I will not say where until it’s over.

If you want to come to Mindanao and help our indigenous brothers and sisters spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ, I encourage you to start praying now and ask God for the finances. Depending on airfare, the costs are between $2,500-$3,000. That sounds like a lot to most people, but think of it this way. Can you put a price on God working through you to lead lost, unreached people to the saving knowledge of Jesus Christ? And, can you put a price on an experience that will truly transform your life forever and show you what it really means to follow Jesus? Ask Keith, Rusty and Jimmy what they think.

The next big trip to the Philippines will probably be February 2015, but we may have one before then, depending on the interest.

You may not be able to travel to the other side of the world or be able to take two weeks off at one time. But you can still impact souls for eternity by praying and helping financially. We need many more people and small church groups to support our indigenous pastors for just $100 month. We need to plant many more churches to help with the rapid acceleration of the spreading of the Gospel.

On average, we can plant a church for $900.  Our goal is 100 new churches this year.

We need more clothing to ship to the children. We need more carpenter tools for the missionary pastors who must also construct their own church buildings. We need more hygiene items to ship to our brothers and sisters. And, some extra Nescafé instant coffee is always welcome for their “Coffee Fellowship.”

The Philippines, it’s a very special place with extraordinary people, especially on the island of Mindanao. You need to experience it to really understand what I'm talking about.

Reaching Zamboanga City with the love of Jesus

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Strong passion at Pastors/Missionary Workers Conference

The speakers and pastors at the LIA Pastors/Missionary Workers Conference.

For the third straight year, Love In Action has held a pastors/missionary workers conference in Sindangan, Zamboanga del Norte, Philippines. And, for the third consecutive year it has been a very encouraging and challenging event.

These conferences are great for a number of reasons. It gives our amazing indigenous pastors and missionaries an opportunity to receive teaching they don't get at any other time of the year. It gives them a much-needed break from the tough mission fields they are in here on the islands of Mindanao and Basilan. It gives us an opportunity to be challenged and inspired by our Filipino brothers and sisters. They are amazing.

Some are pastors and missionaries in Muslim areas. They literally put their lives on the line every day for Jesus. Some have been persecuted and attempts have been taken on their lives. These brothers and sisters have counted the costs of following Jesus.

I asked those in Muslim areas to stand during the last session of the conference. I asked everyone to pray for them. As we prayed, one of them cried out twice, "Spare my life, Lord. Spare my life, Lord." How many of us have ever cried out to God like that because our lives are in danger for the sake of the Gospel?

Our LIA team did such a great job. Martha and Mama are absolutely loved and adored by the women, and they did another great job of leading the women's conference. Pastor Keith Frith, Rusty Frith and Jimmy Moerkerken were wonderful. Keith preach some powerful messages, and led worship with his brother Rusty, who is an amazing musician. They love the Frith brothers here in the Philippines.

The biggest hit of the conference was Bro. Jimmy, who preached his very first message in Sindangan. Everyone constantly encouraged Jimmy. That blew him away. He quickly felt comfortable and did an excellent job getting the message of God's love across to the people. Jimmy is a very lovable guy who has a great sense of humor, and they love him in the Philippines.

Pastor Jun Begafria challenged everyone. Jun is the senior pastor of the Shiloh Bible Baptist family of churches. I have never met a man with such a strong anointing for reaching the lost. He preached the two most powerful messages on evangelism I have ever heard. His heart for the lost is the heart all of us need. He has influenced my life and desire to reach the lost more than anyone else. It has been a great privilege to serve Jesus with him the past three years, and I look forward to a lifetime of ministry with him and all of our Filipino brothers and sisters.

Pastor Greg and his wife Lilia did another outstanding job hosting the conference. The entire church here in Sindangan works non-stop to make the conference a success. Pastor Greg has such a servant's heart. He has great passion and compassion for the pastors and missionaries. He always wants to do all he can to serve them.

At the end of the conference today, gifts were given to the pastors and missionaries. Harvest Church in Dothan did a tool drive for us last year and we shipped them to Pastor Greg. Today, all of the missionaries left with tools. Here on the island of Mindanao, every pastor is a carpenter, so the tools were very much appreciated. We also gave pastors Cebuano/English Parallel Bibles. Hygiene items and food were also given out, so everyone went home with items they all needed.

They also presented all of the speakers with gifts as they do each year.

I love these conferences and look forward to next year's. We're also planning a conference later in the year in an undisclosed area. We won't announce it for safety reasons, but it's going to be great.

I want to thank everyone for their prayers for this conference. Now pray that we will all take the Word of God we heard preached this week out into the mission field God has placed us all in. And especially pray for our Filipino brothers and sisters. They do great work for Jesus every day.

300 students surrender lives to Jesus

Here I am preaching to students at a public high school in Tampisilan, Philippines.

As I stood on the stage looking out over the students in the school yard, my heart raced. I felt the Holy Spirit working. I felt the excitement of the children. I was ready to have some fun preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ at a public high school in Tampisilan, Philippines.

When students saw Mama Tuck, Martha and me walking toward the stage many clapped their hands and shouted with excitement. It isn't every day Americans visit them. I don't know if it's ever happened, but it did today. The result? Around 300 students turning their lives over to Jesus Christ. All praise, honor and glory to God!

This was Day 2 of the Love In Action Philippines Missions trip.

I smiled and told Pastor Raffy Begafria that he had a lot of discipleship to do now. The principal of the school allows Pastor Raffy to teach Bible study at the high school. That's where some great discipleship will take place.

The children listened attentively when Martha shared her testimony and encouraged the students to live for Jesus. They all absolutely loved Mama Tuck. She made them laugh, and they were amazed that a 78-year-old woman would travel all the way from America to tell them that Jesus loves them and so does she.

Speaking to youth is so much fun. They like to laugh, and so do I. Therefore, we had fun. They laughed and shouted, but the greatest sound of all was listening to them pray to Jesus as they turned their lives over to Him. As I tell everyone, it's not just about a prayer. It's about following Jesus.

Pastor Raffy will do a great job of following up and teaching them the Word of God.

We were at Pastor Raffy's church prior to preaching at the high school. That's always a special time. He preached a short message and then turned it over to me. I brought a message of encouragement for the people to understand that we are in a spiritual battle against a real enemy, but we have the victory already and the real power living inside of us. His name is Jesus Christ.

I was also honored to dedicate a baby to the Jesus today. I've dedicated two babies in my time as a minister, and both have been in Tampisilan.

Pastor Raffy's church isn't their permanent church home. In fact, the modest structure isn't even theirs. However, thanks to some generous followers of Jesus in Dothan, Ala., they will soon have their own church on their own land.

Last year, someone gave money to purchase the land. Then, thanks to the generosity of other people from a different church, we were able to give Pastor Raffy the money, in person, today to complete construction of the church.

He will also be able to build a parsonage to give his family a home. It's not the kind of parsonage we think of in America. It will be upstairs in the new church building. It's small, but as they like to jokingly say here, "We are cute, short people."

The other half of our team spent the day and night ministering with Pastor Jun. I haven't heard the results, but I know they saw a lot of people come to Jesus. Pastor Jun is called the 24/7 pastor because he never stops. I've never met anyone like him. I wanted Pastor Keith, Rusty and Jimmy to see and experience the privilege of ministering with him. They will join us here in Sindangan tomorrow for the Love In Action Pastors/ Missionary Workers conference.

Thanks for your continued prayers.

The Great Mindanao Revival continues

I’ve said it a million times that I love the Philippines. Make that 1 million and one.

I love the Philippines for a number of reasons. The people are so wonderful; the island of Mindanao is so beautiful; most of all, there is a great hunger for God here. It’s like living in the early church in the Book of Acts where people are being saved daily.

If our first day of ministry here is any indication – more than 200 decisions for Jesus -  it’s going to be another amazing trip. And, I know it will. I knew it before we came, because God is doing a special work here because of the hunger of the people and the dedication and obedience of the Christians.

We arrived in Ozamiz City around 6:30 a.m. on Monday and a large number of our Filipino brothers and sisters greeted us with smiles and hugs. After a delicious breakfast at the church, we settled into our hotel and at 11:30 a.m. it was time for lunch, and then, none-stop ministry until 9 p.m.

We started at a military camp where Martha, Mama and I ministered in March 2013. It was good to see some familiar faces who made decisions for Jesus last year. The officer in charge was so happy to see all of us, and Bro. Jimmy really enjoyed the camp. Being a major in the U.S. Army, he was even more interested in our first stop. 

Martha and Jimmy shared testimonies and Keith and Rusty sang a worship song, and then Keith preached a great message. Around six men who were new to the camp made decisions for Jesus. Glory to God!

Our next stop was an unscheduled one, but a great one. We visited a public high school. The principal invited us to speak to all eight classrooms and share about the salvation of Jesus Christ. Praise God! Afterward our group talked about how sad it is we would never be allowed to do that in the U.S. 

The students were all very well behaved and attentive. They stood as we entered each classroom and said, “Welcome visitors.”

We divided up in groups of two and went to the different classrooms. I think Rusty was the favorite as he played his guitar. It was great hearing the children sing praises to Jesus with him. The last classroom Martha and I spoke in, Rusty was in the next room. As he started playing his guitar and singing, some of the students in our room began singing.

Around 100 students made decided to follow Jesus during our visit. Praise God!

Monday evening was totally incredible. Pastor Jun, who is the senior pastor of the Shiloh Bible Baptist Churches in Mindanao, said we were going to have an evangelistic service with a tribal group called Subanen. They are tribal people who live in the mountain regions of Mindanao. Getting to them is always an adventure.

Jesus says to go to the ends of the world and preach the Gospel. When we finally made it up the mountain traveling on some of the worst roads imaginable, we felt like we were at the end of the world.

Once again we were warmly greeted by the people, including the tribal elders. Mama and Jimmy shared testimonies and Keith and Rusty led worship with a set of three songs. The one light bulb hanging from the ceiling dimly lit the stage, but the worship brightened the entire open-air public building. 

I was honored to preach the Gospel to those precious people – young and old. I preached on the prodigal son, and to God be the glory, more than 100 people made decisions for Jesus as Pastor Jun gave the invitation. It was awesome seeing that many people stand up indicating they sincerely wanted to live for Jesus as Pastor Keith prayed over them.

This Subanen area has a population of about 3,000 people, and Pastor Jun’s church in Ozamiz sends members there to lead Bible studies. A group of people there have been praying for a church for the past seven months. They need one, and they need a pastor to lead them. We can plant a church for $900. If anyone reading this feels led to help, please mail your tax deductible donation to: Love In Action International Ministries, P.O. Box 85, Dothan, Al 36302.

I know there are many people in the U.S., Myanmar, Haiti and Pakistan praying for us. Thank you all so much, and please continue to pray. Pray for those who hear God’s Word to be drawn to Jesus by the Holy Spirit. Pray for Team LIA as we preach and teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Please also pray for the strength and health of all of us – Americans and Filipinos – and for our safety as we travel to many different cities and villages during our stay.

The Great Mindanao Revival continues. It hasn’t slowed down after two years. If anything, it is spreading faster. We give all praise, honor and glory to Jesus Christ forever and ever.

Jesus touching lives in Myanmar

Our time in Myanmar is over, but as we look back we see what an awesome trip it was as God did many wonderful works.

We saw 61 people make decisions for Jesus, some even though they know they will face hardships from family members who are Buddhists and from other Buddhists. I was honored to baptize six new believers, including one who told us of the ramifications that could happen to her because of her decision to follow Jesus and be baptized. But, she decided Jesus was worth it. Praise God! Now that's extreme faith.

This was the first mission trip where we showed the Jesus Film in a couple of outreaches. It was great. It helped people to understand the Gospel better, and to hear it in their own language was special to them.

Martha and I dedicated the new Harvest Church-Myanmar, named after our home church in Dothan, Ala. They were so excited and told us over and over again to thank Pastor Ralph Sigler and the members of Harvest for accepting them.

We led the first Love In Action-Myanmar/Grace Theological College Bible seminar and taught 68 people for two consecutive days on the theme, "Discipleship: Carrying out the Great Commission." We taught students, church leaders and church workers. It was an awesome time in God's word. We had times of questions and answers, and those were great. It was an excellent time of interaction to dig deeper into the Word of God.

On our last full day in Yangon, Martha and I were honored to participate in the graduation service of five students from Grace Theological College. Martha presented NIV Study Bibles to the graduates and awards to graduates and underclassmen. They gave me the great honor of being the guest speaker for the graduation service. There were 168 people in attendance. It was a beautiful service as God was glorified and students honored.

While we were there, one of the graduates committed to staying at Harvest Church-Myanmar instead of going back home. We were all excited to hear that, because we need a missionary pastor in an area on the other side of the Yangon River where we had a very successful outreach. He is going to that area, and to make it even better, we already have a sponsor for him. Within five minutes of posting the need on our Facebook page, a precious couple who are active with LIA, and already sponsoring two pastors in the Philippines and children in Haiti, committed to fully supporting him. Glory to God!

We will find a house for him and the church will start there, then if the response is good, which we know it will be, we'll build a church.

We met Bro. Solomon, who is a missionary pastor who graduated from GTC a year ago. He was our first indigenous missionary LIA supported in Myanmar. We held a service at his house and the seeds he has planted throughout this past year grew and were harvested. This is where the six new believers who were baptized came from. He is doing a wonderful work. Now we need to build a church in his area. We are praying to be able to do that this year.

We thank our wonderful brothers, Pastors Mang, Siang and Eng and all of the members of Harvest Church-Myanmar and staff of GTC for a wonderful time. Their hospitality was incredible, and their thankfulness truly humbling. Pastor Siang told us it makes him tear up with tears of joy when he thinks about our partnership and that there is a Love In Action Myanmar.

Our precious family in Myanmar are very poor, but they don't let the lack of resources stop their work for God. Their faith in Jesus and dedication to carry out His work inspires us.

We look forward to working closer with them. As partners in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, we will spread the Good News throughout this country, which has 40 million people who have never heard the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Please join us in praying for our brothers and sisters and for Myanmar. And please pray about helping us financially to reach this country that is dominated by Buddhism. It's sad to see so many people deceived. Let's shine the light of Jesus for all to see.