Wow, what a great two weeks! The Agora team just got back from a great
revival in the Philippines. We were in the province of Bicol in Legaspi
City. Here’s what happened…
Steve Bassler, David Bassler, Pastor Don Frazier and Dr Bob Dudley flew out on the morning of Thursday (March 25). It takes about 24 hours to get to Manila and there is a 12 hour time difference. So we arrived about midnight on Friday. We rested on Saturday and flew the rest of the way to Legaspi City. The big “claim to fame” for this region is an active volcano that can erupt at any moment. We actually saw smoke coming out of it every day and saw some lava one morning.
A few people on our path to the Philippines heard the gospel and made a
decision to trust Jesus. Pastor Don talked to
everyone that would listen.
First Week
Sunday was dedicated to a revival of the Christians in the area. On Sunday, Steve gave a testimony and David preached at the host church, Calvary Independent Baptist Church. Dr Bob and Pastor Don went to churches in the two nearby towns to preach. On Sunday night Dr Bob preached at Calvary. Most of the near 100 members of the church came forward to dedicate their lives to spreading the gospel.
Monday we were scheduled to visit the Military Police training facility
in the region. The Filipino government leans more heavily on their religious
leaders to provide moral guidance than does the US government. So we were
allowed to address the entire class of recruits. There were about 200 men
and women in attendance. It was an awesome experience. Dave had spent time
in the marines and gave a heartfelt testimony about life in the military and
serving God. Then Dr Bob (a retired Air Force officer) got up and gave a
gospel presentation. There was a miracle – the ENTIRE room prayed to receive
Christ as their Savior. Afterward, the 4 men met with part of the training
staff. Over tea and snacks the staff bowed their heads and trusted Christ.
The rest of the day was set aside for sightseeing – at least, that was the plan of our hosts. We used it for an opportunity to go soul winning in areas that we would not normally find ourselves. Steve led someone to Christ at an old Catholic mission that had been devastated by the volcano hundreds of years ago. We also had the chance to lead 4 young ladies to Christ at a lookout near the volcano.
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were dedicated to the Soul Winners’ Directors College in the morning, street witnessing in the afternoons, and evangelistic preaching at night. What a blessing! Eight pastors (yep, from 8 different churches) committed to starting personal evangelism training at their churches. Dozens of Christians learned how to use a simple plan to lead people to Christ. Christians from each church were very motivated to continue witnessing. A multitude of people came forward at the evening services.
Easter Weekend
On Friday we flew back to Manila. Friday night Dr Cathy Dudley arrived at
midnight. Saturday morning Steve and
David flew back to the states. Saturday
was a down day while we recovered from the week before and Cathy caught up
on her sleep.
On Sunday we preached at Calvary Independent Baptist Church in Mandaluyong (a suburb of Manila). We had a special connectino to this church. 5 years ago, Don, Bob and Cathy were there to start a Soul Winners' Club. Years before that, Don was called to preach at that very church. Cathy had bonded with Joy while there before and helped her form the Soul Winners' Club.
It was like being with life-long friends.
On Sunday there were about 24 people that came forward for salvation. We heard that, the next week, 10 of them were baptized.
Second Week
Monday we flew back to the Bicol region to speak at a pastor’s
conference. The conference was part of a summer camp for families. Several
churches were represented. We met with pastors from 18 different churches.
All of them went through the Soul Winners’ Club training and the Directors
College. They were hungry for what we had to teach: techniques in effective
evangelism; methods to lead their people to be soul conscious in all that
they do.
They committed to starting a Soul Winners’ Club in their church. This was such a blessing for our team. We left with the knowledge that our evangelism efforts did not end when we got on the plane back to America. They would continue to reach their area with the gospel.
In all, we saw over 450 salvations and 26 churches starting a Soul Winners’ Club.