Support a Preacher in Mindanao, Philippines

Needs / Support
November 18, 2004
(A Brief History Appears Below the Requests)

In addition to the disaster appeal for our brethren in Mindanao...

Many preachers in the Philippines need our help.  Some of them gave up financial support because of their stand for the truth.  There are preachers who immediately need $150/mo. to support their families and gospel efforts.  For additional information about sending support directly to the preachers, congregations can get in touch with the  Heartland Brethren who are assisting this effort.

Be a Part of Spreading the Gospel
in a Foreign Land that is Ripe and Ready for the Harvest

Please consider individually or congregationally sponsoring one or more Filipino preachers!

A Mindanao native evangelist needs $150 support each month and $40 each month to help him with his traveling expenses.

In some areas, preachers who are working with their local congregations can survive on as little as $50 support each month.

Please note:  There are very needy children in some of these faithful congregations whom you could make part of your own family from a distance.  One person cannot clothe or feed all the poor in the world, or even come close to caring for all of our needy brothers and sisters in the Church, but you can make a huge difference in the lives of children of needy families for only $20 a month.  You may get in touch with David Risener / gospel@nt-c.org  to receive additional information. He can provide confirmation from faithful preachers/ brethren /congregations that the family is part of the Church and in desperate need of help.  You can send the support directly to the family for their children's needs.
 


History of the Church in the Philippines

A person in the Philippines received a copy of the Old Paths Advocate and made a contact with that publication.  In January of 1981, Brother Paul Nichols and Brother Jim Franklin stopped in the Philippines on their way to India and met with Virgilio Danao.  After a productive meeting, Virgilio requested they travel to his home area, and there they met with several other preachers and leaders.  The basic differences were Sunday School, individual cups, instruments of music, and women leading prayer in worship services.  After the meeting, the Philippine preachers stated they were in error and they requested prayer.  These preachers gave up their financial support to take their stand for the truth.

A few months later, Brother Don King made a trip to the Philippines.  Don King and his congregation have played a major role in spreading the Gospel throughout the Northern part of The Philippines including the Island of Luzon and the city of Manila.

Paul Nichols and Jim Franklin made another trip to the Philippines in 1987 with good success.

In May of 2000, an inquiry came through the Internet (NewTestamentChurch.org) from Brother Nestor Naldo who lives in the Southern part of The Philippines (the Island of Mindanao). Email communication took place.  David Risener coordinated that effort with members in Hawaii who were from the Philippines and also communicated the leads to Don King.  At this point, none of our continental US preachers had been to this area (Southern Mindanao) of the Philippines.

The following quotes from Filipino preachers explain what has taken place because of the Internet contact. (Please note that since first contact, many members have helped with this effort; however, the real work and results have been because of the enthusiasm of the local preachers in the Philippines.)

April 2002

15 baptized, 2 congregations converted, 5 preachers converted from different denominational groups.
October 17, 2002

Gospel meeting at T'boli Baranggay Botlihik was very successful. 17 souls were added to the church.
October 29, 2002 The work of the Lord is now growing. 10 churches recognized.
January 5, 2003

Brother Don King, Brother Virgilio Danao, and Brother Duane Permenter were in the Philippines in Luzon.  Brother Danao (a native Filipino) talked to the preachers in the new area and gave the message at worship in T'boli.  There was a baptism and 5 souls added to the church.
January 27, 2003 -- There are now 12 churches.

1.

  

Polomolok Church of Christ / 20 members / Nestor Naldo, preacher

2.

 

Bianan T'boli Church of Christ / 28 members / Asher Kayang, preacher
3.  

T'boli Poblacion Church of Christ / 21 members / Bonifacio Bulawan, preacher
4.  

Acfaon Tupi Church of Christ / 30 members / B. Cambang & Nestor Naldo, preachers
5.  

Botlihik Church of Christ / 21 members / Abing Undan, preacher
6.  

Melibato T'boli Church of Christ / 14 members / Gannie Buan, preacher
7.  

Damlas T'boli Church of Christ / 15 members / Aries Dulang and Chito Blewong, preachers
8.  

Lamtlusong Church of Christ / 20 members / Narlito Buan, preacher
9.  

Lamla Church of Christ / 4 members / Marcos Lawa and Johnny Combali, preachers
10.  

Atbilang Church of Christ / 12 members / Gorio Paglangan, preacher (formerly many cups)
11.  

Landan Church of Christ / 18 members / Narding Malayon, preacher
12.  

Paglangan Reservation Site / Brother Kayang transferring there

October 1, 2003

There are now 57 native preachers in Mindanao and over 55 congregations.
March 8-12, 2004 Preachers' Study in General Santos City w/ U.S. brethren attending: Joe Norton, James Orten, Mike Whitworth, and David Risener.  Over 550 in attendance, 119 baptisms and many converted from multi-cups.  After the study, many additional conversions and baptisms.  See Report / Baptism Pictures
April 8, 2004 To the best of our knowledge, there are now more than 70 preachers in Mindanao,  110+ congregations, and over 3,400 members.
November 18, 2004 See Worksheet  /  Baptism Pictures

On 3/10/2003 at 8:38 PM <old_paths@juno.com> wrote:
Dear David, I forwarded your material to Bro Danao for his thoughts. He has replied that he has met these fellows and they certainly need support. So, I suppose you may go ahead with the project as soon as you can manage.  Thanks so much.  Love, Don King
 

If you want to help in this work, please let us know...

Letter from Nestor Naldo, One of the First "Internet Contacts" in the Philippines
4-15-03

If I am not mistaken, May 2000 was when I first visited the website, NewTestamentChurch.org. I found out that it is the group of one cup. I read the teaching and even explored some of the links, and read every time I went to the internet. So that was my habit, to always visit the website to learn of the teaching. Then I wrote the webmaster, and thank God Brother David Risener responded to me. In addition to continued communications with Brother Risener, he also put me in touch with other brethren who were already involved in the Philippines. Through the efforts of Brethren from Hawaii, they sent me the Old Paths Advocate, and I also received articles from Back To The Bible. So that was the beginning, the study from the website and also the tracts that were sent to me. Brother David helped me by sending tracts through Brother George Hogland. After a thorough study, I started spreading the Gospel, the true doctrine. The first preacher who responded was Brother Kayang. We just go on although we are two in the group. And then Brother Bulawan, after many months of sharing, he also responded. And then we conducted an open gospel meeting together with Brother Libertino from Dipolog. Then after the meeting, five preachers from cups and denomination submitted for baptism. Until this month we were 13 preachers in the group. One preacher from cups turned down his faith from cups, and now is in our group just almost a month now. I can see the needs of our group here, and I am very happy Brother David has a great concern for the work of the Lord here in our area. We are planning to start our Preachers’ Study in May. We really need the teaching because there are some topics which I know only you and our brothers in the U.S. can answer. So again, thank you for your great concern for the work in the Philippines as well as in Southern Mindanao. May God bless you all. In His Service, Nestor Naldo

MINDANAO, PHILIPPINES TRIP
MARCH 5-16, 2004 

Upon request from the preachers of the Churches of Christ in southern Mindanao, Philippines, a trip was arranged and accomplished.  Participants in the trip were David Risener and Joe Norton of Arlington, Texas; James Orten, Tulsa, Oklahoma; and Mike Whitworth, Wichita, Kansas.  The following is a report of our experience. 

In May, 2000, a preacher from the south part of Mindanao contacted David Risener through the NewTestamentChurch.org, stating that he had been studying articles on the website and had committed to the use of one cup on the communion table. He also requested study materials for himself and others. Since that time Brother David has done an extremely good job of follow-up and contact with this and other brethren in Mindanao.  Through communication, Brother David has been able to follow what appeared to be an outstanding growth and opportunity that is rarely seen in the Church today.  In January of 2001, there were only two preachers and two congregations in south Mindanao.  Now this work has grown to more than 60 preachers and 100 faithful congregations. 

As we flew over Mindanao, we noticed a very sparsely populated mountainous land, lush with greenery, big mountains, and neat little farms spread in between.  It was very beautiful.  

When we arrived at the airport in General Santos City, we were warmly greeted by about 20 members of the Church who had painted a banner welcoming the preachers from the U. S. 

General Santos City is a port city rich in fishing and agriculture and exporting products to many places in the world.  It is a large city, the second largest on the Mindanao island.  This is where the four of us spent our entire eight days in General Santos City. 

The following is our joint report: 

I.                   Goals for the Trip

a.      To confirm that there were preachers and Churches here that believe, teach, and practice their faith scripturally.

b.      To teach and encourage on topics that these preachers had requested, as well as other needed topics that we determined were relevant.

c.       To preach the gospel as opportunities arose.

d.      To help resolve a matter causing disunity between these brethren and one preacher from the north part of Mindanao.

II.                Means of Accomplishment

a.      The Mindanao brethren organized a five day study with U. S. preachers doing the speaking; sessions lasted all day.  Five faithful preachers did all of the translating for us.

1.      The first two days were for Christians, non-Christians, and        preachers.  There were more than 360 in attendance at these meetings

2.      The last three days were designed for the faithful preachers only.  However, there were some in attendance from other persuasions.  Altogether there were 60 to 70 who attended these meetings.      

b.      We had an opportunity to visit five different congregations in the   General Santos City area on the Lord’s day (each of us went to a different congregation, and Mike went to two congregations).

c.       We interviewed every preacher in attendance individually and had several visits and meetings with some of the older more experienced preachers.

d.      A meeting was organized and accomplished to mend differences between the north preacher and the south Mindanao preachers. 

III.             Results of Efforts

a.      Altogether there were 564 different people registered and attending the five day meeting.

b.      We gathered satisfactory evidence that these brethren are practicing and believe the Word of God as we do.

c.       During the week on three different days, there was a total of 119 people baptized into Christ.

d.      We worshiped with five different congregations on the Lord’s day.

e.      Peace was established in the matter of disagreement between preachers of north and south.  The difference proved to be over petty and not scriptural matters.

IV.              Conclusions and Recommendations

a.      We solidly believe these brethren are fully convinced of scriptural worship and evangelistic practices.

b.      They are some of the most unselfish diligent workers for the Lord we have ever seen.

c.       Because of the rapid growth, they have many challenges, not the least of which will be to remove the traces of denominational ideas that come over through conversions.  None of these seem to be large obstacles.

d.      This work is very worthy of help from the U. S. Churches.  The Heartland Church of Christ of Wichita, Kansas, has consented to assist as overseers of the needs of this work.  There is great work in progress here and even better work that can be accomplished in the near future.  The field is white unto harvest in this area of the world.

e.      They will need assistance in a number of ways:

1. Support for more of the working faithful evangelists.

2. Some medical help for believers from time to time.

3. Bibles and songbooks printed in their native dialects.

If you would have any interest and desire to help with this work, please contact Mike Whitworth at email address mlwhitwor@aol.com  or  call  316-722-0894. 

We urge the brotherhood in the U. S. to get behind this great work. 

Thank you.

Sincerely submitted,

James Orten
Joe Norton
Mike Whitworth
David Risener 
 

Bro Gorio Paglangan and his family of Atbilang Church of Christ
Atbilang Church of Christ members
Picture of family of Bro Carlos Man and the congregation's building
 
Members of Lamtlusong Church of Christ, T'boli South Cotabato
 
Preacher Narlito Buan of Lamtlusong Church of Christ, T'boli South Cotabato
Preacher Eliseo Cambang from Acfaon Church of Christ, Tupi South Cotabato
Members of Acfaon Church of Christ, Tupi South Cotabato
Preacher Abing Undan of Botlihik Church of Christ
Members of Botlihik Church of Christ
Preacher Gannie Buan (on left) of Melibato Church of Christ
Members of Melibato Church of Christ
Damlas Church of Christ members and Preacher Chito Blewong
Preacher Johnny Camblia of Lamla Church of Christ
Aries Dulang and Family
Bonifacio Bulawan at Poblacion T'boli Church of Christ, South Cotabato
Allain Bonn Bulawan, son of Bonifacio Bulawan, assists his father at Poblacion T'boli Church of Christ, South Cotabato

 

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