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.