Wrong IDs, Protection and Happiness in Bible studies!

This post, I will be sharing more inspiring experiences from our PAFCOE students in their outreach!

God really worked marvelously for one student, who reported: “After giving a Bible study on our outreach, we went to a place for me to receive money. At first, I was worried because I had left my official ID at my room and all I had with me was my PAFCOE student ID and my ID from the prophecy seminar we were doing each night at the University of the Philippines. Of course, neither of them are acceptable for receiving money. But God impressed me to try to use them anyways and see what He would do for me. So I showed my two IDs to the lady and she was very surprised! Why? Because she had received a flyer for the seminar and she recognized my seminar ID was the same as the flyer. And she had wanted to attend the seminar, but didn’t know where to go. We told her the seminar was still going on and told her how to get there. And I was so happy to invite her and encourage her to attend. But I was even happier when I received the money that someone had said even though my IDs weren’t the right kind. I really thank the Lord for His leadings!”

God’s protecting angels were over several students as they were traveling to their outreach. One said, “We were really protected and even saved from possible death on our last outreach day! Our jeepney crashed into another jeepney in an accident at a large, busy intersection. Our driver had ignored the red light and when through it even though he was supposed to stop. When the light turned green on the other side, about 10 cars were headed towards us and it was real chaos! Fortunately there were no big cars or buses and most were able to swerve away from us and avoid a collision, but one jeepney couldn’t and we collided with him. I could smell the fuel and yelled to my partner to jump out! But praise God, no one was injured! We thank God for His protection over us!”

One of our foreign students said, “This week, I had my first time to do a Bible study because my student could understand English and I had the opportunity! I was so happy! Even though there was very heavy rain on our way back after outreach and lots of traffic, but I was full of joy in my heart! Praise God!”

Another student added, “This week, when I went to do Bible studies with my interests, they were so busy repairing their house from a recent flood. So I thought I wouldn’t have a Bible study that day. But God is so good! He brought us to the house of one of our church members whose parents were not Adventist and we started Bible studies with them! The time flew by so quickly that soon more than 2 hours had passed by! I was so inspired to see their eagerness in learning from the Bible!”

Bible studies are found in unexpected ways, too! One student said, “I was assisting the late comers in our church Sabbath morning to find a place to sit as an usher. I met a man in his 60s and to my surprise, I learned he was not an Adventist! He had the same local dialect as mine and we really connected. I introduced him to my other friends and then invited him to join our Bible study that afternoon, and he agreed!”

Another student commented on her experience by saying, “After our class, instead of riding a tricycle to go home, I decided to just walk. As I walked along, I was impressed to buy load for my cell phone, but I reasoned that I still had a good amount and didn’t need any. But I decided to stop anyways and the man asked me if I was a Seventh-Day Adventist. I told him, ‘Yes, and only baptized last year.’ He was really amazed that I was already doing outreach. He had noticed my Bible and my uniform with Amazing Facts on it. As we talked, I learned that he was born into an Adventist home, but had been away from the church for many years already. He advised me never to leave the church as he had done. I tried to encourage him to return. God had a divine appointment for me that day!”

And another said, “As we were walking to our outreach place, I felt a bit sad and discouraged. But then I remembered one of the Bible verses our teacher had required us to memorize – Psalms 126:5, 6. “They that sow in tears shall reap in joy. He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.” That verse gave me hope! Just the next person that we met, we offered a Bible study to and he gladly accepted! Praise God!”

And those were just a few of them! God has amazing stories for you to experience too as you work for Him!

7th Session of PAFCOE – Registration Ongoing!

Are you a faithful reader of this PAFCOE blog – enjoying the testimonies of what God is doing here in the Philippines? Maybe God is calling you to come and train at PAFCOE and be a part of the amazing stories He is writing in the lives of His witnesses here in Asia!

The 7^th session of PAFCOE begins January 8 and goes until May 13, 2015. PAFCOE trains and equips clergy and lay people in all aspects of evangelistic ministry. We believe that all Christians are called by God to share His saving love and truth with others!

 

You might like to know you would learn at PAFCOE if you were to enroll. PAFCOE covers 5 aspects of evangelism listed below:

Public Evangelism – Have you ever wondered whether God could use you to be a speaker in a prophecy evangelistic seminar? Are you afraid to speak in public? Would you like to learn how you (yes, you!) can be a public evangelist?

Come train at PAFCOE!

Personal Evangelism – Are you longing to have the confidence when talking to strangers about the Lord or your faith? Are you wondering whether God could use you to be a witness for Him? Are you wishing for more knowledge to be able to give a successful Bible study to others? Are you a seasoned Bible worker seeking to know what to say to bring your Bible study interest to make a decision for Christ?

Come train at PAFCOE!

Child Evangelism – Did you know that God can use you to reach the littlest members of His family – the children? Are you inspired to be a child evangelist, but aren’t sure how to get started? Are you seeking the knowledge of how you can share God’s true church doctrines to the children?

Come train at PAFCOE!

 


Health Evangelism – Have you been hoping to learn how you can be a medical missionary and use the simple natural remedies in your work for others? Do you want to know how God can use you in the health evangelism ministry – even if you are not a medical professional?

Come train at PAFCOE!

Literature Evangelism – Are you looking for ways to share God’s books to others searching for the truth? Are you afraid to knock on doors because of many past rejections? Do you want to be inspired to know you can be a successful literature evangelist?

Come train at PAFCOE!

But that’s not all! There is more!

Daniel & Revelation – Have you ever wanted to really understand these great prophetic books? Have you wondered what practical lessons you can learn from them? Are you challenged to a deeper understanding?

Come train at PAFCOE!

Bible Doctrines – Do you want to know how to answer difficult Bible questions? Are you wanting to witness for the Lord, but afraid you don’t know the answer to someone’s question? Do you want to deeply understand the doctrines of our church?

Come train at PAFCOE!

Those are just some of the many things you will be learning during the 3 month training program! After the 3 months of class instruction and in-the-field outreach, you will be sent on a one-month OJT (On the Job Training) for public evangelism – for adults or for children.

The experiences you will gain during that one month evangelism program are truly priceless! The stories our students bring back with them are truly evidence that God uses anyone in His great work of soul-winning! One student said, “I am so grateful to PAFCOE for all I have learned! During my OJT, all the things I had been taught came back to me just at the right time I needed them and I knew exactly what to do in each situation! Praise God for using me!”

Maybe you are reading this from another country other than the Philippines. Is God calling you to join, but you aren’t sure how you could come to a foreign country to take the training? In every single session, we have foreign students coming from all over the world and God blesses them just as much as the local students!

Also this session is a very privilege session because Pastor Doug Batchelor is coming to Manila and will be one of the teachers during the training! You can meet him in person if you wish!

God is calling you today to work for Him? Will you answer His call? Will you say, “Yes, Lord, I will go”?

You may find more information about the PAFCOE program by going to our website. We look forward to hearing from you and maybe even seeing you as a student in the next session! Hurry now and register before it’s too late!

May God bless you!

Happy Holidays from PAFCOE!

Here is the Hargreaves holiday greetings letter!

Christmas in the Philippines!  This time of year, the familiar songs of Christmas are everywhere—the malls, the stores, the radio—but somehow “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas,” and “Jingle Bells,” seem out of place in the tropics.  The snowmen here are all made out of Styrofoam, and the only snow we’ve seen is a man-made winter scene outside an up-scale subdivision, where the snow is made from cotton!  The little kids love it, and imagine that winter is warm and cozy—like cotton.  Now, a week before Christmas, the only seasonal change is the clogged shopping malls, and traffic-jammed streets of Manila.  It’s a balmy 90 degrees—ah, Christmas in the tropics!

Looking back over 2014, we wonder for a moment what happened to the year.  Yes, the clock still ticks at the same speed that it always has, but somehow 2014 seemed to be set on “fast-forward!”  We rushed past a few milestones in the past twelve months though—Teresa turned 25 this year… and her parents turned… Well, we still don’t qualify for senior-citizen status yet, but with all the “perks” the Philippines offer to those 55 and above… it’s looking more inviting all the time!

The choir

Running PAFCOE (Philippine Amazing Facts Center of Evangelism) has kept us all running, sometimes literally, but the biggest milestone of the year was our 5^th session graduation with Pastor Ted Wilson as graduation speaker.  Eighty-four students marched down the aisles of Manila Center Seventh-day Adventist Church, holding their Bible over their heart to show their commitment to God’s word.  Part of the AUP Ambassadors Choir together with a local choir, sang the Hallelujah Chorus for the processional.  The music itself was unforgettable!

5th session graduating class

Pastor Wilson preaching

Pastor Wilson shared how faithful laymen in other countries were witnessing for Christ, some in the face of great difficulties, and then challenged the PAFCOE graduates to “dream big” concerning what they might do for God.  It was truly a memorable “moment” to look back upon.

Personally, we were deeply impressed with Pastor Wilson and his wife Nancy.  Their humble leadership and genuine Christian witness are a testimony that probably has greater influence then their position.  We were also thrilled to see virtually every department of the church, from the GC and division levels, down to local churches, pastors, and laypeople, all working together in a combined effort to evangelize a major metropolitan area—Manila. 

HOPE Manila 2014, was a big event here in Metro Manila, and PAFCOE students and staff were fully involved.  Of the 120 some evangelistic sites around the metropolitan area, PAFCOE students and staff conducted 55 of them, bringing their interests together with many others for the mass-baptisms conducted during Pastor Wilson’s evangelistic series.  The final weekend of the event brought together nearly 10,000 Adventists from all the surrounding areas for a climactic evangelistic celebration. 

Uchee Pines Wellness Center patients and friends

June and July found us back in the States, “moving boxes” as we vacated our storage unit for a small storage shed among the pines on the property of Lowell’s father in southern Alabama.  Lowell spent two weeks in the Uchee Pines Wellness Center, recovering for a third relapse of pneumonia. 

In early August we were back in the sprawling megalopolis of Manila, and Lowell’s pneumonia symptoms returned.  He was impressed with a simple remedy, and amazingly after just three treatments, all symptoms disappeared, and he has remained healthy for the entire 6^th session of PAFCOE.  Praise the Lord!

Now “batch 6” (as the sessions are called here) is finished and 54 more students in one of three different training programs, marched down the aisles on December 10 for their graduation.  The stories they brought back with them were truly inspiring. 

6th Graduating class

One iShare student went out after twelve Sundays of training in personal evangelism to do his OJT—a 26-topic, in-home Bible study series with no budget.  His group Bible study quickly grew to over 50 attendees, and when he finished, 35 were baptized!  He testified, “I never imagined that I could be an evangelist, but God has used even me.”

If you’ve not experienced the joy of soul-winning, why not pray that God will use you to win someone to Christ this next year.  God can use you too!

To those of you who have helped to sponsor the work of evangelism here in the Philippines, a warm (tropical) “Maraming Salamat Po” – Thank-you very much!  Well over 1,300 people have been baptized here in the Philippines this year as the result of your prayers and support for the PAFCOE School of evangelism here. 

To read more inspiring stories from PAFCOE students, visit the other posts on this blog.

During this holiday season, PAFCOE and our family extend to you our “best wishes” for the holidays and the coming New Year!  May God help each of us to be ready for Christ’s soon return, and to do all that we can to hasten that event.  God bless you!

Happy holidays from the Hargreaves!

Michael, Dad (Pastor Lowell), Mom (Sandra) and Teresa

Unexpected blessings from Typhoon Yolanda!

Late last year, Typhoon Yolanda hit the Philippines as the strongest storm ever to make landfall and wreaked destruction and chaos everywhere it went. Thousands were killed and many more were left homeless with nowhere to go from the huge storm surges that were up to 19 feet high in some places. What devastation and death it caused! To this day, more than one year later, residents of those coastal areas are still struggling to regain a semblance of a “normal” life as starting all over again is very challenging.

Though we know God was not pleased with all the destruction Typhoon Yolanda caused, we know that He does have a way of bringing good out what seems to be extreme disaster. Here is one of those stories! 

Very tragically during Typhoon Yolanda, Marilou lost both her parents, making her very depressed and discouraged. One day, two Amazing Facts Bible workers assigned in her area near the University of the Philippines campus knocked on her door. When she opened it to them, they politely asked her to go through a simple survey, to which she agreed.

During their conversation there at the door, Marilou shared to the two Bible workers about how her parents had died in Typhoon Yolanda and tears trickled down her cheeks as she spoke. Then she told them that she had always tried visiting different churches to find the truth. The two Bible workers invited Marilou to do Bible studies with them to find answers to her many questions and she eagerly agreed! They told her that she could find hope amidst the terrible tragedy she had experienced in her life and she was so excited!

As the two Bible workers began weekly studies with her, they realized she had many questions indeed! Marilou’s questions always revolved around her doubts and God’s love and care and even His existence. She just could not seem to understand why a good God would allow such terrible things to happen to her. But God was working in her heart and Marilou began to sense His great love for her and that bad things that had come to her were not a result of God.

Week by week, Marilou continued to study with the two Bible workers and began finding satisfaction and comfort from God’s Word. When the topic of God’s Sabbath was presented, Marilou began to be convicted to follow what she had learned. Clinging to the Bible promises, she found herself being drawn closer and closer to the Lord. Soon she stopped attending her local Sunday church and started keeping the Sabbath each week in her home with prayer and Bible study. More and more topics were presented and her convictions deepened that what she was hearing was truth and she must follow it.

After the Bible workers had been studying with her for quite awhile, the health expo was scheduled to start and Marilou was given an invitation to attend and learn more about health. She was very hesitant to come at first, but the Bible workers waited for her to come that first day and she did! Then Marilou was invited to attend the opening night of the prophecy seminar and praise God, she came! After that first night, she continued to attend each night, soaking up the truths she was hearing. And she was not the only one being blessed – her children and their classmates also came to enjoy the children’s program and loved to come with her!

During this time, the Bible workers continued to visit and study with her – even if it was pouring rain and flooding outside! Never mind being cold! They had a mission to help Christ reach Marilou for Him! Finally near the end of the seminar, it was time to make a decision for Christ. Yes, she wanted to be baptized but was still hesitating. One night, Dad and Michael were preaching on the Unpardonable Sin topic. As they spoke from God’s Word, Marilou didn’t want to hear it! She closed her mind to the speaker, saying to herself, “Who are you to tell me that? You think that you’re right just because you’re a Pastor? How dare you speak so confidently!” A terrible struggle ensued in her mind as the sermon progressed.

Marilou wanted to follow Jesus all the way, but she was afraid of what her husband would say and what her past church members would think of it. Even after the sermon was finished, she was unsure of her decision.

Sabbath morning came and the Bible workers eagerly waited for her to arrive, but didn’t see her anywhere. They were almost ready to give up hoping she would come, but after praying for her, through the doors, she walked! She had been really struggling to decide for Christ or not. Finally she made up her mind that no matter what others thought of her, she would follow Jesus all the way! That afternoon with wonderful peace resting in her heart, she joined the others who were baptized in the swimming pool. Another soul won to the Lord!

Just a few days after Marilou was baptized, her husband came home from his work abroad in another country. She was fearful what he would think of her joining a new church. Much to her surprise, her children shared to their father all the things they had been learning from the seminar! She had been praying that her husband would be interested to have Bible studies just as she had been and God answered her prayers! Just two weeks after she was baptized, a PAFCOE student started his Bible study practicum (On the Job Training) in a nearby area and she invited her husband to attend the small group Bible study. Night after night, they attended and at the end, her husband and eldest daughter were baptized! Marilou’s joy was overflowing! Now they live in a Christian home with no movies, games or rock music.

But that isn’t the end! Marilou is so inspired with what God has done for her that she is planning to join next session’s training program to learn how she can work for others who might be depressed and discouraged just as she previously was!

God has a way of turning tragedies into beautiful stories and that was certainly the case with Marilou and her family! Imagine the great joy you, too can have as you work for others and see them come to accept Christ as their personal Savior!

The newly baptized members.

Baptism in UP!

Whenever evangelism is done, everyone always looks forward to the baptism at the end of it and seeing people give their lives to Jesus. Our seminar in UP (University of the Philippines) was no exception. October 11, 2014 was the big day for everyone. Our team of Bible workers who had been doing Bible studies to prepare interests for the seminar were excited to see who would choose to follow Jesus all the way.

We rented a pool since there was no church yet on the campus and we praise God for the 41 souls that sealed their commitment to Him through the watery grave of baptism! It started the sprinkle when we started the baptism, so that’s why everyone has their umbrellas. Here are the pictures:

We praise God for what He did there on UP and for the new church to be planted there! Each of those baptized had their own unique story of how God worked in their lives. I will post one of their stories in the future once I write it up.

One student said, “We were so happy that 3 of the children that we had been working with decided to be baptized! It was a little difficult to explain to their parents about it, but God helped us and because of that, we were able to get permission from their parents for their baptism. I am so blessed!”

“My inspiring experience was when I was able to welcome the newly baptized people and see the lady that we had been doing Bible studies with among them! I feel that God is such a loving God to perform this miracle that reached this soul through us and the seminar. I believe all heaven rejoiced!”

Please pray for the newly established church there in UP. God has great plans for it!