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.