1Th_2:20 For ye are our glory and joy.
HAPPY THANKSGIVING
The SWAT TEAM certainly hopes that all our readers, prayer warriors, friends and supporters had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We do miss our friends and family back in the USA, but we have some very choice people that we chose to celebrate my most beloved holiday with this year. So much to thank the Good Lord for. One advantage to living a long life is that the longer you live the more you have to thank God for. We do have some extraordinary families to help us in this ministry. Without them the ministry would not be what it is at present. I am going to zoom in on one of these families for this report.
THE APOSTLE FAMILY
Yes, you read it right, the last name is Apostle and actually there are 12 siblings in the family and many of them are vital to our ministry. The picture is of the second oldest, Roger, and his family. From left to right are Roger, Meah, daughter (12 years old), Jenny, Roger’s wife, and April, Jenny’s sister. Roger and Jenny have been with us now for 11 years…Meah was just a baby. They have been FAITHFUL through thick and thin…they know both how to abound and to suffer hunger in this ministry. Jenny, along with three of Roger’s sisters are grads from our Bible institute. Roger has been through a lot of the institute but language is more challenging for him. April just turned 18 and came to us about five years ago down from the mountain village. Jenny and Roger were the first ones to dwell on this God-given property. Their house was the only dwelling on the property when we bought it. With no electricity or water or complaints they occupied here for many months till we built our home. The church gathered right outside their home and with prayer the church dedicated this property to the good Lord and His ministry…good memories. Roger is our main driver and is talented in driving very well and safely and believe me that is an important quality in the Philippines. For a good while I wondered if Roger’s quiet spirit would ever allow him to preach on the street. Then one day I noticed him doing a good job in that ministry. If you are a man don’t ever worry about God calling you to preach, you are called. Roger is in charge of the maintenance on the property and can fix or build nearly anything. Due to some recent changes in our ministry we were short-handed in preachers for one of our outreach ministries. Roger stepped up to the plate and hit a homerun the very first time behind the pulpit. Now he preaches there every week and does a great job. Thank God for faithful men. Roger has encouraged his entire family, siblings, and parents to be faithful to the Lord. As to my knowledge there are no Judas’s among the Apostles.
Jenny is a very talented chef…our private chef. She did a masterful job preparing Thanksgiving dinner this year and I smell the leftovers we will eat in about an hour…hmmm. Jenny is gifted in language and has helped us out in a pinch. Jenny is a grad from IBMP and she teaches either SS or children’s church every Sunday. There is no value mark that could be placed upon Jenny and every visitor tries to entice her to come help in their ministry. But she is a permanent fixture here because we treat her like gold and she loves it.
Meah, their daughter, is a very astute student, a beauty among the young people, and our main piano player for church. She also plays well on violin and sings with ability. She really loves her pastor (ME) and I her.
April, Jenny’s sister, has given us the great blessing of observing her her growth in the Lord throughout her teen years. She spoke zero English and had a very poor education (with certificate to prove it) when she came to live with Jenny. She is doing quite well in all her lessons and is usually the first one with the right answer during oral quiz in Bible college. April never misses a street meeting and helps out in all ministries and is an all around blessing in the ministry here. This family is good and lasting fruit in our ministry here and I thought you would enjoy meeting them. Mat_7:20 Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.
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