Missionary Report August 2009

Greetings to all in the mighty name of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Multitudes of the inhabitants of this earth are quick to lift their voices against our Savior now, but the day will come when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.  Oh what a day of great joy for the saints and immense grief for the sinners.

NEWS FROM THE FIELD

As some of you may remember there is a man here named Francisco Carasig, Jr.  This brother lives on the distant island of Palawan.  I have made a few trips down there to visit him in the past.

We recently invited Bro. Carasig here to Providence Baptist Church in Marikina to preach in view of a possible call.  While here in Manila, we had the blessing of baptizing both he and his wife.  This brother is still wrestling with whether or not the Lord is calling him to the ministry.  Please pray that the Lord would make things clear to him regarding his call, and also that the Lord would provide a pastor for the Church here in Marikina.

ROMBLON NEWS

After much negotiation with the owner of property where the Church is presently meeting, I am disappointed to say that no progress has been made.  We were hoping to buy his lot which would solve the problem with our neighbor’s wall, as we could have installed our own drive way, and also by purchasing his lot, it would have provided the church with a permanent place to meet.  Our negotiations ended when the owner decided to raise the price of his land from $52,000 up to $72,000 (yes, that price is in U.S. dollars!) This man’s property is presently inaccessible from the road, has many years of back taxes to pay, and the real clincher s that he has no paper work for the land but promises he will try to get it only after he is paid in full!  Yes, I know what you are thinking; I thought the same thing myself.

On a more positive note, we have found another piece of property for the church there. This new found lot is located right in town, all the taxes are current and all the paper work is in order.  The price of this lot in town is $41,000.  I realize this is a lot of money but I as I mentioned before that land there is expensive due to the short supply and great demand. The church there has been able to save approximately $2,000 over the course of the past 3 years.  This may not sound like much, but knowing the economy there as I do, this truly represents sacrificial giving on their behalf.  There is also an Australian man there who is willing to give us approximately $20,000 for our boat which we would like to apply toward the purchase of the land.  The selling of the boat would of course be contingent upon where the Lord is pleased to use us to minister in the months and years to come (more about this in our next letter.)

Please prayerfully consider helping us with the purchase of this land as the Lord leads.
Thanks to each of you who have so faithfully taken part in this ministry.

In the surety of His Blood,
Brent Spears and family