Today was a light day due to the government calling a national holiday for the end Ramadan. We placed scriptures in hotels and motels.
The total for the week is 227,786.
The local team gave us farewell gifts and is taking us out for a dinner tonight.
It is hard to believe that these two weeks have passed by already. I have memories that I will carry for the rest of my life.
In the morning before we go to the airport, the local team is taking us out for breakfast on a nearby island.
Thank you for your prayers, see you soon!
Friday, October 12, 2007
Thursday, October 11, 2007
Thursday 10/11/07
As we were driving this morning we saw a wreck involving a motorcycle and a car, and it appeared that the rider of the motorcycle was killed. As I was sharing the gospel with students from room to room I told them about the accident. I told them we never know the day or hour of our death and after death we will face the judgment of God. You could see many of the students thinking that accident could easily happen to them.
At another high school two girls walking outside asked me where I was from and why I had come far to be at their school. I told them that I had come just to give them a free copy of God’s Word and to tell them about Jesus. They said they were saved, but when I asked them if they were to stand before God today and He were to ask them why they should be allowed into heaven, they could not give an answer. I lead them through the plan of salvation, and they prayed and asked Jesus to be their personal Lord, and Saviour.
At lunch today the local team members had us try a local fruit called a Durian; they told me it smells like hell, but tastes like heaven. I think it must be an acquired taste.
The total number of scriptures place this week is now 221,225.
At another high school two girls walking outside asked me where I was from and why I had come far to be at their school. I told them that I had come just to give them a free copy of God’s Word and to tell them about Jesus. They said they were saved, but when I asked them if they were to stand before God today and He were to ask them why they should be allowed into heaven, they could not give an answer. I lead them through the plan of salvation, and they prayed and asked Jesus to be their personal Lord, and Saviour.
At lunch today the local team members had us try a local fruit called a Durian; they told me it smells like hell, but tastes like heaven. I think it must be an acquired taste.
The total number of scriptures place this week is now 221,225.
Wednesday 10/10/07
Today our distributions have went well, with many students making decisions for Christ as we place scripture and share the gospel from room to room at local schools.
At one school we were waiting for permission to make a distribution and were asked by a teacher who we were and what were we doing in the courtyard of their school. I told her and hen she went back into her room and told the students two Muslim girls came out with chairs for my friend and I to sit down in. I was moved to at the thought of a Muslim serving a Christian. Later these same two girls excepted bibles from me. God is so good!
One of the local team members invited a couple of us to attend the midweek prayer service at his church, and I was moved by the faith of this congregation. They are raising money to build a three story building, to serve as a community training center in the middle of one of the poorer communities here in the city.
My team placed 9,590 scripture today, the daily total was 37,626, and the total number of scripture placed this week is 154,156.
At one school we were waiting for permission to make a distribution and were asked by a teacher who we were and what were we doing in the courtyard of their school. I told her and hen she went back into her room and told the students two Muslim girls came out with chairs for my friend and I to sit down in. I was moved to at the thought of a Muslim serving a Christian. Later these same two girls excepted bibles from me. God is so good!
One of the local team members invited a couple of us to attend the midweek prayer service at his church, and I was moved by the faith of this congregation. They are raising money to build a three story building, to serve as a community training center in the middle of one of the poorer communities here in the city.
My team placed 9,590 scripture today, the daily total was 37,626, and the total number of scripture placed this week is 154,156.
Tuesday, October 9, 2007
Tuesday 10/9/07
This morning when I got up I noticed that the swelling in my left ankle had gone away; thank you for your prayers.
Things got off to a much better start today, we had to drive a little out of the city in to the foothills of a nearby dormant volcano. The school we placed bibles in was so thankful for us coming, as we were getting ready to leave you could look around the schoolyard and see students reading their bibles, and sharing with the younger students. What a blessing to see!
One school we went to was in a Muslim community which was right along the coast which only had 50 christian students, but we were allowed to leave bibles for them. I have been amazed by the dramatic diversity in the terrain in this area. We have gone from a mountain to the ocean in just a hour or so.
We worked up until 6:00p.m. along with all the other teams and it appears that we have made up the shortfall from yesterday and then some; we now stand at over 120,000 scripture here.
I would like to thank each and everyone of you for your prayers, we are depending on them.
Things got off to a much better start today, we had to drive a little out of the city in to the foothills of a nearby dormant volcano. The school we placed bibles in was so thankful for us coming, as we were getting ready to leave you could look around the schoolyard and see students reading their bibles, and sharing with the younger students. What a blessing to see!
One school we went to was in a Muslim community which was right along the coast which only had 50 christian students, but we were allowed to leave bibles for them. I have been amazed by the dramatic diversity in the terrain in this area. We have gone from a mountain to the ocean in just a hour or so.
We worked up until 6:00p.m. along with all the other teams and it appears that we have made up the shortfall from yesterday and then some; we now stand at over 120,000 scripture here.
I would like to thank each and everyone of you for your prayers, we are depending on them.
Monday 10/8/07
This morning things did not go as smoothly as we would have liked. The scriptures were not at the distribution sites, they had to be loaded before we left the hotel. At the first school we presented bibles to a large number of students assembled in a courtyard. I was allowed to speak to the students on a P.A. system, that was the most people I have shared the gospel with at one time. God has opened so many doors for us here in the Philippines.
Our next distribution was at Mindanao University. We distributed 62,509 scriptures today which was short of our daily goal of 84,00. The team in our first city are still placing bibles, and have now reached 504,348.
Tonight was the pastor's banquet, which had a great turnout of around 200 pastors and their spouses.
All things considered, it was a good first day of work here in the city.
Our next distribution was at Mindanao University. We distributed 62,509 scriptures today which was short of our daily goal of 84,00. The team in our first city are still placing bibles, and have now reached 504,348.
Tonight was the pastor's banquet, which had a great turnout of around 200 pastors and their spouses.
All things considered, it was a good first day of work here in the city.
Sunday, October 7, 2007
Sunday-10/7/07
This morning a local team member and his wife picked me up to take me to my church service. The name of the church is Holy Ground Family Worship, they have two services and I spoke in the second service. There were around 1,000 people in each service, and the pastor said they had a lower than normal attendance because of the boxing match that was being televised from Los Veges with the Filipino boxer. The pastor preached from Judges Chapter 7, the story of how God used Gideon.
One of our team members became ill and could not speak in his service, a local team member took his place. Please continue to pray for our health and safety, so as many copies of God's Word as possible can go out.
I know many of you are amazed by the number of scriptures being place by our team, but do not forget that not only our international team of 27 men are working. There were 300 or more men on the local team in our first city.
It is a little after 9:00pm here and I must be at our morning prayer meeting at 5:30am; so good night for now.
May God Bless you!
Rick
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Isaiah 55:11 (KJV)
One of our team members became ill and could not speak in his service, a local team member took his place. Please continue to pray for our health and safety, so as many copies of God's Word as possible can go out.
I know many of you are amazed by the number of scriptures being place by our team, but do not forget that not only our international team of 27 men are working. There were 300 or more men on the local team in our first city.
It is a little after 9:00pm here and I must be at our morning prayer meeting at 5:30am; so good night for now.
May God Bless you!
Rick
So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto I sent it.
Isaiah 55:11 (KJV)
Saturday, October 6, 2007
Saturday 10/6/07
Today has been a day to rest and recharge our batteries. Several of the team meet for breakfast at 8:00am, and we talked about our experences this week. Even though I am here and part of these distributions, it is still hard to comprehend the number of scriptures we have been able by God's grace to place into the hands of the Filipino people here.
This afternoon we will be going to the airport we will seperate into two teams and fly to our secound week cities here in the Philippines.
I want to thank everyone how has gone before our Father and lifted up the work we are doing, the teams, and the people who have recevied the precious Word of God. I ask that you continue to pray for us. Thank you for your encouraging comments, they have been a source of inspiration to me.
To those who have never been part of a distribution like this, I pray that the Lord will give you a burden to do what ever it takes to be part of one of these International Distributions. Take that step of faith, it is worth it and you will never be the same.
God Bless you,
Rick
This afternoon we will be going to the airport we will seperate into two teams and fly to our secound week cities here in the Philippines.
I want to thank everyone how has gone before our Father and lifted up the work we are doing, the teams, and the people who have recevied the precious Word of God. I ask that you continue to pray for us. Thank you for your encouraging comments, they have been a source of inspiration to me.
To those who have never been part of a distribution like this, I pray that the Lord will give you a burden to do what ever it takes to be part of one of these International Distributions. Take that step of faith, it is worth it and you will never be the same.
God Bless you,
Rick
Friday 10/5/07
The first thing I need to do today is to make a correction on yesterday’s distribution numbers. Yesterday’s total was: 131,924; which brings to four day total to- 450,156. Praise God for the increase from the total I had, this happened from me missing the end of the day meeting at 6:00pm due to getting in at 7:30pm and going straight to my room.
Now let me tell you about today. Our team left the hotel at 5:30am and we meet with the local team for more of those delicious hot rolls and coffee. At 7:00am we were at a Catholic school and were allowed to go from room to room giving New Testaments, and share the gospel with students from elementary school through high school. Many students prayed with me to receive Jesus as their personal saviour.
The next stop we made was at the office of the Superintendent of the Catholic schools here in the area. After our team was served coffee and a snack, she asked if we could make a presentation to her staff. The local team leader asked if I would like to speak to the staff, I told them who we were and what we had been doing in the area this week. I also took the opportunity to present them with a clear gospel message. I made a point in telling them they could have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
We next meet back with the local team at a University campus for a distribution. After lunch we were brought back to the hotel to rest and get ready for the Pastor’s Banquet this evening. We meet in the lobby at 6:00pm for a group picture and the banquet started at 6:30. We were blessed when the turnout was greater than what we had planned for with more than 220 present.
During the banquet the moderator shared with us the grand total for this week’s distribution: 499,150, which was just short of our goal of 500,000.
After the banquet we said our farewells to our new friends; the Filipino Brothers and Sisters, and made our way back to our rooms for our last night in this location before dividing into two teams and going too two different locations for another week.
Now let me tell you about today. Our team left the hotel at 5:30am and we meet with the local team for more of those delicious hot rolls and coffee. At 7:00am we were at a Catholic school and were allowed to go from room to room giving New Testaments, and share the gospel with students from elementary school through high school. Many students prayed with me to receive Jesus as their personal saviour.
The next stop we made was at the office of the Superintendent of the Catholic schools here in the area. After our team was served coffee and a snack, she asked if we could make a presentation to her staff. The local team leader asked if I would like to speak to the staff, I told them who we were and what we had been doing in the area this week. I also took the opportunity to present them with a clear gospel message. I made a point in telling them they could have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.
We next meet back with the local team at a University campus for a distribution. After lunch we were brought back to the hotel to rest and get ready for the Pastor’s Banquet this evening. We meet in the lobby at 6:00pm for a group picture and the banquet started at 6:30. We were blessed when the turnout was greater than what we had planned for with more than 220 present.
During the banquet the moderator shared with us the grand total for this week’s distribution: 499,150, which was just short of our goal of 500,000.
After the banquet we said our farewells to our new friends; the Filipino Brothers and Sisters, and made our way back to our rooms for our last night in this location before dividing into two teams and going too two different locations for another week.
Thursday, October 4, 2007
Thursday 10/04/07
We were picked up at 5:00am by our local team member and drove an hour north and arrived at a school to where we handed out 8,300 New Testaments. Next we went to a college and placed 2,559 New Testaments in the hands of students one at a time. After lunch we went to a Providential Hospital; which so far has been the hardest distribution I have been on. The children were 2 to a bed, and the conditions in the hospital made me pray I never get sick in this country. At one bed with two small children in it there was a mother using a rescue breathing bag on her child, because there was no respirator there. When I placed a a Tagalog New Testament on the nightstand she looked up at me with tears in her eyes and thanked me and said "God bless you." I had to go out in the hallway because I could not see to hand out another bible because of my own tears. We placed 561 bibles in that hospital. Next we went to a Providential jail, and visited both the men, and women inmates where we handed out 2,200 Tagalog New Testaments, we were also allowed to present the Gospel to a group of men in a exercise yard. This jail was built to hold less than 1,000 inmates. After this day I will never look at a hospital or jail distribution the same as I did before, I am forever changed. We got back to the hotel at 7:30pm, I went straight up to the room called Sally, skiped dinner and went to bed.
The distribution numbers for the day were 20,536 for our team, 121,924 for the day, and 440,156 for the four days so far.
The distribution numbers for the day were 20,536 for our team, 121,924 for the day, and 440,156 for the four days so far.
Wednesday, October 3, 2007
Wednesday 10/03/07
What a day! The conditions at the college distribution were almost perfect today. There was only one gate that the students could come through, it did not rain, there was a light breeze, we were under a cover out of the sun, and there many opportunities to wittiness to the students. The film crew was with us, and they asked me if it would it be alright for them to film me during the day.
I found a place near the entrance of the gate just past guardhouse where I could set a box on the handrail and hand out two testaments at a time. I was handing out bibles so fast they started calling me "Machine Gun Rick". During a break I went over to a group of girls and witnessed to 7 girls, 5 of them made comments to the Lord for salvation.
Our team handed out 20,070 bibles for the day, the total for the day was 85,597, and 318,232 for the week.
I found a place near the entrance of the gate just past guardhouse where I could set a box on the handrail and hand out two testaments at a time. I was handing out bibles so fast they started calling me "Machine Gun Rick". During a break I went over to a group of girls and witnessed to 7 girls, 5 of them made comments to the Lord for salvation.
Our team handed out 20,070 bibles for the day, the total for the day was 85,597, and 318,232 for the week.
Tuesday 10/02/07
Today our team made distributions at two colleges, we handed out over 8,000 testaments at both colleges. The total for the day was 117,503; making the total so far 232,656. It started raining during lunch and it did not let up until up into the night. But God provided, we were under a covered area at the college. During the team meeting at the end of the day there was reports of several hundred people making decisions for Christ. The team that went into a local prison told that all the inmates were gathered into a common area and we were allowed to share the gospel and several inmates made professions of faith. Please pray for our health; several men are suffering from stomach problems, and my ankle is swelling baldly. But it is worth it all,
One thing that impressed me is the joyful attitude of the local Filipinos despite living in conditions that would make the poor in the USA look rich.
One thing that impressed me is the joyful attitude of the local Filipinos despite living in conditions that would make the poor in the USA look rich.
Monday, October 1, 2007
Monday 10/01/07
We got started at 4:00am this morning, driving for about 1.5 hours. When we got to our distribution area we started distributing scriptures at several schools. These Filipino children are so sweet, they have already stolen my heart. I have never been part of a distribution like these; after a flag ceremony the children lined up single file and we handed out 700 bibles in just a matter of minutes.
The children at these schools are very excited to receive a free copy of God's Word. They have also been quite amazed about me being so much taller than everyone else.
The other type of distribution we did was from room to room. In these distributions we could share the gospel with the students, how exciting to see these students signig their names in their very own copy of God's Word.
It was also a blessing for the teachers to tell me that they would be using the New Testements in thier school work with the classes.
I feel that my eyes are opening more and more to see just how far reaching our ministry is. I also believe that I will be changed forever by what I have seen and experienced this day.
The team I was part of handed out 24,787 scripture today, and there were 15 teams working today.
I thank God for allowing me to be part of this Philippines distribution.
The children at these schools are very excited to receive a free copy of God's Word. They have also been quite amazed about me being so much taller than everyone else.
The other type of distribution we did was from room to room. In these distributions we could share the gospel with the students, how exciting to see these students signig their names in their very own copy of God's Word.
It was also a blessing for the teachers to tell me that they would be using the New Testements in thier school work with the classes.
I feel that my eyes are opening more and more to see just how far reaching our ministry is. I also believe that I will be changed forever by what I have seen and experienced this day.
The team I was part of handed out 24,787 scripture today, and there were 15 teams working today.
I thank God for allowing me to be part of this Philippines distribution.
Sunday 9/30/07
This morning I spoke in the Pamera Wesleyan Church to a congregation of about 60 people. The service beautiful was Praise and Worship to God. At the end of the service the Pastor got up and gave his testimony of how he came to the Lord through reading a small New Testament.
After the service a local family took me out to eat and do some sightseeing.
I just got a call from our team coordinator, and he told me that my starting time for ministry activity would be 4:00 a.m. so I will sign off for now and get some rest.
After the service a local family took me out to eat and do some sightseeing.
I just got a call from our team coordinator, and he told me that my starting time for ministry activity would be 4:00 a.m. so I will sign off for now and get some rest.
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