The flights were long- Portland to San Francisco to Tokyo to Manila- but gave me a chance to read 2/3 of Steps to Christ again, hand out lots of Zeke DVDs and literature, take lots of naps, jog in place a few times at the back of the airplane and eat more vegetarian meals than I should have. There were no real hitches along the way and lots of friendly people.
After clearing immigration and customs by 11:30pm Wednesday night I met “Joey,” the Adventist driver waiting to pick up people arriving. He had a giant poster with color pictures of the guest speakers on it so he could recognize us and we could recognize him.
I checked in to the Atrium Hotel in Manila for the rest of the night and met up with our team at breakfast. By 9am we were all on our way to San Pablo City, two hours south of Manila.
Upon arrival at the South Central Luzon Conference of Seventh-day Adventists Office in San Pablo City our group met with conference leaders, pastors and lay leaders who have been giving home Bible studies intensively for the past two months. They had a chalk board filled with details on how the preparations were going for soul winning at each of our 21 sites. They are wonderful, dedicated people who are serious about taking the Adventist message to every one in their territory as rapidly as possible. It is inspiring to have the chance to work with them.
I’ll be preaching at my original location the first week. The local pastor will continue preaching the second week as I change over to the location where Jere Patzer was going to preach.
We have about forty on our team, all staying at the Rockpoint Hotel but going out each afternoon, starting this Friday to eat supper with their host church, review the message with their translator and then presenting it that evening before returning to the hotel.
A fifteen year old young lady from Tok, Alaska, came to help one of the speakers, but when there was a need for an additional speaker she volunteered. I told her the story of my daughter Danesa volunteering to speak in the Philippines when she was eleven and she told me she had just read about it online a few months ago!
I’d better go get my sermons ready. Keep us in your prayers. You can read reports from others of our team on this blog over the next few weeks.
Posted in 2008 Philippines For Christ
