"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!