An extended testimony would have to be told about just how gradually yet specifically God pointed us to to Northern Luzon where we will minister. Starting in 2002 God started shaping us through His word and preaching. Within a few months I knew that I was to be going to Bible Institute but I did not know why. The following April (2004) God made it clear that He was calling me to preach. The following March God broke my heart for missions and then in November (2005) He started directing us to the Philippines. In early 2006 God was working on my heart about the vast unreached people groups in the world, most of them residing of course in the 10/40 window. At this time I started to study out and see that the unreached and least reached groups of the Philippines reside in the tribal groups of the Northern Mountainous regions as well as on some of the southern islands that are predominantly muslim. One thing that I learned from the trip to Manila in 2005 was that the Philippines has incredible potential to be a gateway to all of Asia. I will expound on this further in another post. Later in 2006 before I returned for the second trip I had a conversation with Dr. Charles Keen - Director of First Bible International. The way God put that unplanned meeting together was amazing and it became more obvious that whatever God was going to do with us in the Philippines, it was going to involve training and mobilizing Filipinos to plant churches among the little or unreached both in the Philippines and Lord-willing, beyond. That trip in November was outstanding and a strong bond was solidified with my friend and now pastor, Paul Perkins of Grace Independent Baptist Church. At that time it seemed that God was directing us to begin our time in the Philippines in Baguio. A few months later I traveled for the third trip and upon return our family drove to Tennessee to meet with Dr. Keen more purposefully. Dr. Keen gave me a great education in a short time about basing out of a city close to the groups that you hope to engage for survey purposes and the possibility that some people will come from these groups for commerce, work, education etc. This led us to think that perhaps Baguio or another nearby city would be ideal.
Baguio City is one of the larger cities in the northern part of Luzon Island. There are many opportunities to spread the gospel in many venues in Baguio. In January of 2009 I took my fifth trip to the Philippines and first to the Baguio area. On the same survey trip we went to San Fernando La Union and one of its large suburbs, Bauang. It is here I was introduced to this densely populated area with very little gospel work going on. In addition, there are seemingly dozens of small towns and communities of people with likely little witness all around. The city of San Fernando has 59 barangays in its district. As we continue to pray, we believe this also is an excellent location to begin planting churches and for a solid Bible school to train others to do the same all throughout northern Luzon and beyond. The population of the La Union Province a number of years ago was almost 700,000 souls. There are colleges and universties as well as technical and trade schools. The city also draws tourists especially during the surfing season and for charter fishing. There is an ocean port located in San Fernando as well as a small airport making it more accessible to many and bringing in more people regularly. We look forward to seeing how God orchestrated the details as we all continue to pray and prepare. Although it is on the coast and Baguio in the mountains, both are fairly centralized when it comes to having access to the mountain region for understanding the needs among the tribal peoples.
Baguio City is one of the larger cities in the northern part of Luzon Island. There are many opportunities to spread the gospel in many venues in Baguio. In January of 2009 I took my fifth trip to the Philippines and first to the Baguio area. On the same survey trip we went to San Fernando La Union and one of its large suburbs, Bauang. It is here I was introduced to this densely populated area with very little gospel work going on. In addition, there are seemingly dozens of small towns and communities of people with likely little witness all around. The city of San Fernando has 59 barangays in its district. As we continue to pray, we believe this also is an excellent location to begin planting churches and for a solid Bible school to train others to do the same all throughout northern Luzon and beyond. The population of the La Union Province a number of years ago was almost 700,000 souls. There are colleges and universties as well as technical and trade schools. The city also draws tourists especially during the surfing season and for charter fishing. There is an ocean port located in San Fernando as well as a small airport making it more accessible to many and bringing in more people regularly. We look forward to seeing how God orchestrated the details as we all continue to pray and prepare. Although it is on the coast and Baguio in the mountains, both are fairly centralized when it comes to having access to the mountain region for understanding the needs among the tribal peoples.
No comments:
Post a Comment