Be not weary in well doing...

I smiled as the students filed in the church for another amazing night of Week of Prayer. They had just returned from outreach. I should specify that this was not just any outreach, but it was literature evangelism (selling books door to door). 

"How many books did you sell today?" I asked one of the girls when she went by. "Only one," she said quietly, "today very few were interested."

•  Sometimes the going (the witnessing) is tough.
•  Sometimes the people aren't interested.
•  Sometimes it rains (and rains hard!).
•  Sometimes it's exceedingly hot.

 And yet the students are going out day after day, searching, seeking for those who are interested in God's great message of truth.*

As I sought to encourage the students to keep trying and to persevere, the verse my brother and I had learned at AFCOE last year came to my mind.

"And let us not grow weary in well-doing; for in due season we shall reap if we faint not." Galatians 6:9.

How encouraging is the promise that though it's tough sometimes as we witness for Christ, yet He promises that we will reap if we don't faint!

When the going gets tough, the tough get going.

* Now, of course, the students have sold a good number of books in their time of outreach! But of course, some days are better than others!

PAFCOE has begun again!

(This post was written earlier this week, but due to the busyness of life, didn't get posted until now.)

Praise God for His blessings and leading in the guidance and direction of the second session of PAFCOE!  :-)

We arrived safely here in Iloilo near the end of July and have been very busy preparing for the second session  of PAFCOE. 

And now, today, (Sunday, August 9) I sit in the classroom of PAFCOE and listen to the orientation of Dad to the new students who have come from all over the Philippines and one from Indonesia. Most of them come from other places other than Iloilo, but all are excited to learn how to become better soul-winners! We have around 25 students and they are such a nice group!

Classes have begun this week and so has the week of prayer. The latter sets the tone for the students to keep their spiritual experience alive and growing while studying how to be effective workers for the Lord.

The students went out to sell books yesterday and today and definitely had some divine appointments! They also sold some books, of course! All of them are excited to be involved in God's work!

We are looking forward to seeing what God will do with this second session of PAFCOE!

Thank you for your prayers! :)

Leaving Home; Going Home

“Flight 024 bound for Seoul, South Korea is now ready to board!”

Picking up our carry-ons, we joined the waiting line.  Soon we found ourselves boarding the plane for our first segment of the journey back to the Philippines.

After our first session of PAFCOE was finished in the middle of June, we flew to the US for a few weeks. Since we are American citizens, it is always wonderful to be back in our own country!

We enjoyed our time here and were privileged to share mission reports in various places about what God has done and is doing for PAFCOE.

Now we are on our way back to the Philippines for the second session of PAFCOE which will start on August 9. After living in the Philippines for 5 months, we have come to call Iloilo our home. And so though we are leaving our home (in America), yet we are going home to our mission field in the Philippines!

We are looking forward sharing with you more stories and experiences of God’s working through PAFCOE!

Thank you for your prayers and support!

"OJT" - What's that?

Here's an update that Dad recently wrote:

OJT – What’s that?  When I first heard the term “OJT,” it took a moment for my western mind to translate its meaning.  “On-the-Job-Training” (OJT) is so common in South-east Asia, that virtually everyone understands and uses the expression “OJT.”  For PAFCOE students, “OJT” means an evangelistic series that they are assigned to conduct on their own, as part of their training experience.  Some students opted to do an evangelistic series for children; others put one on for adults. 

When the PAFCOE students returned to our training center at the Riverview Adventist church, after four weeks of evangelistic meetings, they were all fired with evangelistic zeal because of what God had done through their efforts.  For all of them, this was the first time that they had ever conducted a month-long evangelistic series.  It turned out to be a “life-changing” experience, not only for the coverts baptized, but for each of the students conducting the meetings.

Our oldest student, Jovita,  a 66-year-old church member from Baracay Island, reported that many at her site doubted that she could do the series.  “This senior citizen will never make it through four weeks of meetings,” they said to one other, as they listened to her wavering voice.  But amazingly her voice held out, and she reported that her voice was stronger when she finished the series than when she began, and a dozen new souls were added to the little church where her “OJT” took place!

Many miracles happened during the student’s OJT training.  Perhaps the most amazing was of the two projectors that stayed dry during a flood!  One of our student teams reported that while out visiting, preparing people for baptism, there was heavy rain in their area.  They knew that whenever there was heavy rain, the house that they were staying in, flooded.  Then they remembered that the two borrowed projectors they were using for the children’s and adult meetings were both sitting on the floor in different parts of the house.  Earnestly they prayed that God would work a miracle, and save the projectors from getting wet.  Upon returning to the house after their visits, they found the water was ankle deep in some places, but when they picked up the projectors, they found them completely dry, and the flour under them also completely dry!  After recovering the projectors, they proceeded to mop up 50 buckets of water from the rest of the floor!  God still works miracles today.

At the end of PAFCOE “OJT,” two-hundred-and-sixty-three people were baptized, with approximately another 100 preparing for baptism in the future.  At one of the OJT sites, the student evangelistic lectures were broadcast on the local radio.  Because of prejudice in that area against the “Sabbatistas” (Seventh-day Adventists), many were too fearful to attend the live event, but in the privacy of their home, they tuned into the Prophecy Lectures on the radio to learn the truth.  Now some of these are calling the local church and requesting baptism!  One of our PAFCOE graduates has been assigned to follow up on the interests.

Here is a video that HCBN made up for the first batch of PAFCOE.

Perhaps the most “Amazing Fact” about the PAFCOE “OJT” was the cost.  Each of the PAFCOE student teams was given 25,000 Filipino pesos (about $600) or less, for their one-month evangelistic meetings!  Of course, the local churches were responsible for covering the costs of food, housing, and transportation for our PAFCOE evangelists.  But imagine doing a one-month evangelistic meeting for $600!  And what is even more amazing is that when we first started classes at PAFCOE, we had NO MONEY for OJT!  God sent the money at “just the right time” so that our students could conduct their “on-the-job-training” (OJT).  Praise God!

For those of you that have helped to support the evangelistic work and training of PAFCOE with your prayers and funds, thank you so much!  As we say in Asia, “Thank you kindly!”

Your friends,

Pastor Lowell, family, and team,

PAFCOE (Philippine Amazing Facts Center of Evangelism)

PS.  For approximately $1,500, you can sponsor a student AND an evangelistic series (their OJT), at PAFCOE.  If you would like to help out, email my Dad at: lowell@amazingfacts.org.

Come to PAFCOE!

The first session (batch) of PAFCOE ended on June 5 with 23 graduates who were sent out into the Lord's vineyard!

Our family flew back to the US for a few weeks before returning to the Philippines next month.

Now we are taking applicants for the second session starting August 9, 2012 - it will go until December 11, 2012.

God is calling you to be a witness for Him wherever you go! A great way to be trained to be an effective witness is to come to PAFCOE and learn for yourself!

Our course is not limited to students just from the Philippines; it is open to anyone from around the world, from Africa to Nepal from Thailand to Indonesia or South Korea or anywhere else!  As long as you can speak English!

Below is what the President of the Southern-Asia Pacific Division said regarding the second session of PAFCOE.

We welcome you to come and participate in learning how to be a worker for the Lord wherever you go!

For more information, go to http://www.pafcoe.org/wp/ There you can find all the details for how to enroll and other things.

God bless! Keep working for the Lord!  :-)

PAFCOE Graduation!

June 5, 2012 was a day, long to be remembered in the history of PAFCOE and its students and staff.

The day when our students received their hard-earned diplomas and were dedicated to God’s service. 
The day when first session (batch) of PAFCOE ended.  It was such a special service!

Michael and the men who graduated

The ladies who graduated and I.

The preceding two days before graduation, all the students shared their reports from their OJT (On the Job Training) and told us how it went. All of them had many challenges and trials, but many rich experiences, too!

And yet above all the problems and trials that took places in the various places, the students persevered and came back rejoicing that God had used them in winning souls for Him!  Galatians 6:9 says, “And let us not be weary in well-doing, but in due season, we shall reap if we faint not.”  And this is what they did! God did so many miracles for all of them – so many that it would probably take a book to recount them all!

Since their seminars were during the rainy season, pouring rain throughout the day was a common occurrence. In one place, the student and his wife were out of the house at the church, helping to prepare people for the baptism that Sabbath. While they were there, the rain started. Sometimes when it rained, the house they were staying in got flooded. Suddenly they remembered that their 2 borrowed projectors were sitting on the floor in their house. The student’s wife was worried that they would be ruined if the house had water in it. So she started home right away and prayed all the way there, “Lord, please save the projectors and help them not be ruined. Do a miracle for us!”

When she arrived at the house, sure enough, it was flooded with water up to a person’s ankles. Everywhere it was wet. But when she came to the places where the 2 projectors were, she saw that the areas around the projectors were totally dry and when she picked up the projector bag, it was not even damp! God had done a miracle and kept the projectors dry in answer to their earnest prayers!

But of course, the highlight of the whole month of OJT was the last Sabbath when people gave their lives to Jesus and were baptized. Over the whole country of the Philippines, 260 people were baptized on June 2 and joined God’s true church! Seeing people that they worked and prayed for made everything they had experienced so worthwhile!

We asked the students if they would like to do another evangelistic meeting and each one of them said, “Definitely, yes!” Many of them are going into full-time ministry work in some area of the Philippines, praise God!

The first batch of PAFCOE ended in the evening of June 5, with the students’ graduation. Twenty-three students graduated and were sent forth into God’s vineyard to work for Him! Numbers 23:23 sums it all up when it says, “What hath God wrought!”

If you’d like to see more pictures of graduation, click here.

Praise God that every student’s tuition is paid off and now we are looking forward to the next session – starting August 9. Thank you for your prayers and support!

A Caribou chariot, Camps, Adventures, and People

This exciting update was written by my brother, Michael. Sadly the camera was forgotten, so there are no pictures to add to the report.

05-23-12, Wednesday. Ring, ring, ring! Time to get up. Yawning, I looked at my watch.  How I wished I could roll over, go back to sleep, and simply forget about the events of the day.  But I needed the time to prepare for my talk at the Adventist Youth Survival Camp.  With great effort, I forced myself out of my cozy bed.  Then I knelt down and spent personal time with my heavenly Father pleading for strength and wisdom to make this talk valuable and applicable to the youth.  Next, I set to work preparing my talk for the survival camp attempting to survive myself.  God gave me the essential wisdom to prepare the talk and His Spirit taught me that morning.  I prepared a fascinating talk outlining the history of the great controversy from the fall of Lucifer to the flood.  About 7:30, the pastor came and brought me my “sermon”—notes prepared by the church.  It was very exciting to get the sermon notes just a little while before I was supposed to preach!  We were supposed to leave for the camp at 7:30 a.m.  I gulped down a sandwich, swallowed a mango (well, I actually cut it up first!), drank a carton of soy milk and cleaned up in less than 15 minutes.  

But why the rush? Pastor Milore, who was supposed take me to the youth camp on his motorcycle, had a flat tire on his motorcycle and was not ready at 7:30.  At around 8:30, after a prayer for safety, we mounted the motorcycle, fastened our helmets, and we were off!  

At about 9:00, we arrived safely at the place where we had to park.  We parked the motorcycle, and together with our tour guide, we followed the riverbed for a couple of kilometers.  Finally, we ascended a steep hill right to the youth camp—it was already 9:30!  About 60 youth greeted me with shy stares.  A couple of them were brave enough to come shake my hand.  Finally, it was decided that I would speak at 1:00 because I had arrive too late for the early meeting. But this, too, was good because it gave me time to prepare.  At the appointed time, I preached for an hour, did a review, and gave prizes to those who answered my questions.  Afterward, we ate lunch.  Lunch consisted of rice, cooked greens and vegetables, and a few bananas. They invited me to try out a Filipino specialty—young bamboo shoots preserved in a form of vinegar.  It was interesting, indeed! After lunch, we returned to San Jose. Thanks to God’s protection, we arrived home safely.

05-24-12, Thursday.  5:00 AM.  It was time to prepare to speak again at the survival camp.  This time I would do part two of the great controversy.  Since I had the lecture mostly prepared already, I did not have to get up so early.  After studying, praying, and again grabbing a quick bite to eat, we left about 8:00.  Finally, we arrived at the place where we parked. We wandered up the mountains trying to find the camp by ourselves, this time without a guide.  Finally, after prayer, the Lord helped us find our way up to the youth camp (which is at a remote area in the mountains).  I spoke again for another hour on the sanctuary and salvation and the final movements in the great controversy showing the youth how they could have confidence that our church is the true church, a movement raised up by God in response to prophecy.  At the end, I did my quiz, gave prizes, and finished.  Then, we proceeded to lunch where they wanted me to try their famous “bamboo soup”—a “soup” made from the shoots of young bamboo plants with coconut milk.  It was actually quite delicious!

   

The trip home was the most adventurous trip I had ever experienced. Rather than walk back to where the motorcycle was parked, we decided to ride a caribou (native term for water buffalo).  The native assured me that I would not ride on the actual caribou but rather on a chariot.  “A chariot?” I remarked, “How can you get a chariot up here?  Surely it would get stuck.”  “No,” the native replied, “this chariot is wheel-less.”  Still puzzled, I waited with Pastor Milore for the “chariot” to arrive.  Soon along came a huge caribou pulling a hand-made contraption which was termed “chariot” by the natives (a caribou is another name for a water buffalo).  It was really just a seat set up on poles.  Well, we jumped on the wheel-less cart, the driver alerted the animal that it was time to move, and we lurched forward.  The caribou was certainly in no hurry and walked very slowly.  Up and down back and forth the pastor and I were jostled roughly, almost sliding off at times.  We rode up over large rocks, down into the water, and sideways on hills, somehow managing to stay aboard.  Finally, the pastor and I arrived back at the motorcycle. 

We mounted the motorcycle, put our helmets on, and prayed for safety.  We had not gone too far before the rear tire suddenly blew out. Fortunately, we had not been driving very fast. I praised the Lord that we were not injured by the blowout.  We hopped off the motorcycle and pushed it down the highway for a few hundred meters until we found a house by the side of the road where we could temporarily park.  Angry black storm clouds were also gathering in the sky at this time, and I knew it would likely soon rain.  But we knew that “all things work together for good to those who love the Lord” (Rom. 8:28).  We believed and claimed this promise.   

While the pastor rode away with a tricycle driver to buy a new tire (a tricycle is the public means of transportation in the smaller cities of the Philippines), I sat down on a chair outside the house under the eaves of the roof hoping it would not start pouring.  I waited around some time trying to read a book I had brought with me.  Not too much later Pastor Milore came back on a tricycle, we put the tire back on, and were ready to go again.  But before we left, we gave two Great Controversy books away, one to the tricycle driver who helped the pastor get the tire and put it on, and the other to the family who let us stay on their property.  We know those books are silent messengers of truth.  Truly, all thing work together for good. After doing some errands, we arrived home at the San Jose Church safely, thanks to God. 

05-25-12, Friday.  This was a memorable day for me. That night I was to preach the seal of God and the mark of the beast.  Then we decided we would try something new—we would preach the meeting together. It went over quite well, and we may do it again before the end of the seminar.  It seemed to keep people’s attention better. 

Please pray for Victoria, a lady coming to our meetings. She first learned about the SDA church a health program she attended nearly a year ago.  She knew virtually nothing about the Bible and could not understand it.  She was basically unchurched although by profession she would call herself a Catholic.  But she has been absorbing the truth nightly.  She is greatly fascinated by these truths having never heard them in her life before.  It is all so new for her, but thank God, she has been surrendering to the Spirit’s leading.  We expect it will take her more time, but at some point in the future she will make her decision for Christ. 

05-26-12, Sabbath.  The electricity was off for the entire morning—maybe they were trying to fix something in the power company.  We couldn’t just let the devil win, so what did we do?  My father preached the morning meeting without PA.  What an experience! At least, the people were able to hear the message. Fortunately, the power came back on before the evening meeting, but then it poured right before the nightly meeting which was on the true church.  Before the meeting, the rain quit, but as expected, our attendance was way down.  It then picked back up last night when we talked about Babylon.

05-27-12, Sunday. Today I went with a church elder on visitation.  I was a little bit unsure of what to say, but God blessed and helped me remember what to say.  I encouraged the people and prayed for them and they were glad.  Most of my visits took only a few minutes but one of them took more than half an hour.  I always try to encourage everyone to a closer walk with God.  We finished our visitation about 10:30 that same morning.

Keep the PAFCOE students in prayer as we wind down to the close of some 20+ seminars. Pray that Jesus Christ would defeat the devil in this great controversy and many miracles and changed lives can be witnessed. We are looking forward to hearing the testimonies from the various student seminar sites and sharing them with you.  Stay tuned to the blog for future updates! 

So long for now, 

Your penman in Christ,

Michael L. Hargreaves