Martin Family Update, August 2011

PRAYER BREAKFAST

Our team has been praying about a way that we can influence the Municipal leaders (Mayor, Vice Mayor, and councilors) of our town with God’s Word. We proposed to hold a prayer breakfast before the start of one of their weekly meetings, and they accepted! The event was a great success. All of the councilors were there, the Mayor, Vice Mayor, Police Chief and the Parish Priest. We had a time of worship, prayer, and a short message by one of the town’s hero athletes on vacation here from California. We also had all of the leaders write down their prayers for the town. Everyone was impacted when the prayer requests were read, as many of them were similar, and the mayor and vice mayor both gave speeches about unifying the towns deep political divisions through prayer. They invited us back to do this again, and we are hoping to start a regular time of prayer with the leaders before the start of their meetings. Please pray that through this, the leaders will start a Bible study and the town will be transformed through the leaders transformed lives and obedience to Christ.

FIESTA 2011

Imogen and Arwen were in the Payo Fiesta Parade again this year. Being a part of the community is one way we make new contacts to start Bible studies.

MEN’S RETREAT

It was time once again for our quarterly men’s retreat. This time would be a little different, though. Not only did we choose a different spot to have the retreat at, but we gave the leaders we are training the responsibility to lead the entire time we were there. One of the reasons for this is that our team leader, Teng, has a broken foot and was unable to come. Our other teammates are on home assignment, which just left me to represent the missionaries. It was so great to see the leaders take on the vision of seeing other men mature in Christ and become men of God in their families and community. Our theme this time was “Matatag sa Panginoon”, or strong in the Lord. The men were challenged by the lives of Joseph and Daniel to live for God rather than the opinions of others, to take steps to avoid the temptations that cause them to fall, and to remain faithful to God even through the hard times. Of course, we also had a lot of fun eating, fishing and swimming in the tropical water. For all of the men who came, this is the only time they have ever taken a “vacation” from their daily lives. Continue to pray for these men , that they will be transformed by the Gospel, and their testimony will be used by God to bring others to faith in Him.

OF WOLVES AND SHEEP

At the induction ceremony for the Christian kindergarten started by the church in a neighboring town, I challenged the parents attending to "get to know the owner of the house", referring to those who attend mass every week at the Catholic Church, but have no relationship with God. I challenged them to sign up to have a Bible study in their homes. 9 families requested a Bible study, and Dennis, a faithful believer in the church, followed up and started 2 separate Bible study groups with the 9 families. Last week I found Dennis in the hospital, his face badly beaten and unable to eat due to the soreness of his jaw. A teacher at the kindergarten has been having a dispute with Dennis, who wanted some of the tuition money to go to the church as a tithe. The teacher felt she deserved all of the tuition money for herself. The teacher resigned, and her husband went to the church and tried to kill Dennis with a knife, but was only able to beat him badly. The teacher then proceeded to go to each of the nine families who had been studying the Bible for 2 weeks now, and convinced them to stop studying. Please pray for Dennis and his family, for this teacher and her husband, and especially for the 9 families who have stopped studying God's Word because of the "Wolves among us". Acts 20:29, "I know that after my departure savage wolves will come in among you, not sparing the flock".

Martin Family Update, June 2011

Transformed Lives and Evangelism
As our lives are transformed by the Gospel, there will be evidence of
this in the way we live. The evidence are the fruits of the spirit,
mentioned in Gal. 5:22-23. Practically speaking, there will be a
difference in how married couples treat one another, how parents treat
their children, and how they treat others in the community. Those
around them will notice this change. This has been one of the best
'soil preparation' methods I have seen. In the small communities we
live in, there are no secrets. Everybody knows almost everything that
everyone else is doing. So, when the Gospel changes someones life, it
is immediately evident and genuine, because there is no hiding. One
married couple used to fight with one another, frequently shouting in
anger in range of the listening ears of the community. When the
fighting stopped (or, almost stopped), everyone in the community
noticed. And some people asked, "Why don't you fight like you used to
anymore?". They already knew the answer, because everyone also knew
that the couple had started studying the Bible, and that the fighting
stopped around the same time. Several people came to them and asked if
they could study the Bible also, because they want what this couple
has. And this is the prayer I am praying for myself, that the fruit of
God's Spirit in me would be so attractive to others that it would lead
them to seek Christ.

Marriage Seminar
We hosted a seminar on marriage at the municipal building in the center
of town. We were fortunate to have the head of ABCCOP (Association of
Bible Christian Communities of the Philippines), Chito Ramos, as our
main speaker, and the a leader of the missions department of ABCCOP,
Delfin Angad to assist. About 40 couples attended and everyone enjoyed
learning about what God says about marriage from His Word, and also
learning about one another as husband and wife. A Bible study was
started as a result of the seminar, and we are hoping to see this new
group invite others. Working in partnership with our Filipino brothers
and sisters is the most effective way to reach Filipinos for Christ.

Asia Area Conference
We were privileged to have been a part of this great gathering of
missionaries across Asia. While Jacinda was taking care of a lot of the
organizational details of the conference, we were still able to connect
with a lot of missionaries that we have met in the past and we were able
to make some new friends. World Team has missionaries in the
Philippines, Cambodia, Taiwan, Singapore, and Papua, and this was the
first time that all of us were gathered together in one place. We had
great times of worship and fellowship and learning about one anothers
ministries - the ways that God is moving in the hearts of people all
over asia, the struggles that missionaries face, and God's glory as
displayed in indigenous churches that are being planted. We were also
privileged to have Dan Olson and his daughters Shannon and there as
guests at the conference from Oceanside Christian Fellowship. It was
great to see someone from "home", and nothing beats hanging out with our
fellow Californians! We want to thank all of you who helped financially
so that we could attend this conference.

School Starts
Summer is over for us, and school is back in full swing! This is one of
the best ways that we can be a part of the community, and our kids are
making a lot of friends. This year, Elias is starting to attend
"daycare" which is like pre-school for 2 hours every morning. So far he
likes it, but not enough to have his mom leave him there! Imogen is now
in 5th grade and Arwen is starting 3rd grade. Our teammate Edna tutors
them to help bridge any language issues they may have, and we stay
involved with the various projects they have for their class and of
course, the PTA.

Martin Family Update, February 2011

Insider Movements
An insider movement is a way of reaching people where they currently are
in society. Our town is almost 100% animistic Roman Catholic, meaning
they mix spritism and other traditional beliefs with the Catholicism
that was brought to them by the Spanish hundreds of years ago. There
have been evangelistic attempts in the past in this region of the
Philippines, but most of these efforts were confrontational of the
existing beliefs of the people. While this method of evangelism was
successful in other parts of the Philippines, it has not proven to be
effective in this area. An insider movement does not focus on what is
WRONG with the peoples existing beliefs, but focuses on what is RIGHT
about the Bible. As we have seen people develop a love for God's Word
and doing what it says, they have in the process discovered some of the
traditions and beliefs they hold are against what God says in the
Bible. At this point, they have a choice - they can continue studying
the Bible and not obeying it, continuing in their religious practices
that are against God, or they can choose to be obedient to what God has
called all of us to in His Word. This kind of change does not happen in
a two day evangelistic "crusade", or a 1 week vacation Bible school, or
a short term visit and presentation of the Gospel. Strongholds that
have been in place for centuries do not fall in one day. The question
is: are we willing to take the time to walk with people through the
process of breaking down the strongholds of lies told to them their
whole life, and see them put their faith in Christ alone?

One such family recently decided to end a decades old tradition in their
family - their participation in one of the religious processions that
involve worshiping idols that are paraded through the streets. When
their family members came to them to tell them that is was their turn to
host the preparations and lead the idols through the streets, they had
to make a decision. Would they do what was expected by many of the
people they care about, or would they decline and follow God's Word?
The pressure was intense, but after praying together the couple decided
they had to break ties with the traditions that God hates and end the
decades of idol worship in their family.

We are thankful to God for the faithfulness of people to stand up and
obey God rather than men, in spite of the consequences that will
undoubtedly come. We are also thankful to have the opportunity of
walking with them through their journey. Pray for the believers here as
they are constantly faced with these trials and temptations.

New Bible Studies
We are thanking God for a number of new Bible studies that have started
over the past month. One Bible study has been started in a very poor
community, where we are still assessing the amount of literacy and
adjusting the method of Bible study accordingly. This Bible study is
being started by a team of leaders we are mentoring and taking through
the process of MAWL: Model, Assist, Watch and Leave. We have modeled
Bible study to them, and now we are assisting them to start one of their
own. Next, we will step back and watch them as they do it on their own,
and finally we will leave and give complete responsibility and oversight
to them. Another Bible study was started with a group of professionals
including a husband and wife who are dentists. This group is being
started by another group of professionals who have been meeting for a
year now, which include a doctor and a former vice-mayor. It gives us
great joy to see the excitement they show when they are the ones leading
the group. I can't help but wonder about the countless Christians back
home who have yet to experience the joy of being used by God to bring
others closer to Him. If anyone is bored in their spiritual life,
encourage them to step out and share their faith with a non-believer -
an instant cure to boredom!

Authentic Christianity
One of our main goals for the Bible studies that are started is to move
them into genuine Christian communities of believers. What does that
look like? When people get together and discover God's truth in His
Word, there is a bond that begins to form. It is not so much a bond of
"knowing" things together, like one would in a classroom at school. The
bond that forms when people study God's Word is formed as the Holy
Spirit moves in each person to apply the truth to their lives. It
becomes less an academic exercise and more a shared experience. As
believers journey through their lives together, being aided and guided
by the Holy Spirit and God's Word, they begin to bond with each other in
ways that are different from any other group they have been a part of in
the past. This bond further serves to encourage and disciple one
another as "discipleship in community" happens. Here's what I mean:
One woman shared her burden with her Bible study group one night when
she asked the group to pray for her and her husband as she had
discovered him having an affair with another woman. In a culture that
loves to gossip, it was a brave thing to confess, and only a loving
community like she had with this group could be trusted with such a
prayer request. She was judged by no one, and was offered advice,
support and prayer. Another time a family lost their son in a
motorcycle accident, and the community they were involved in gathered
around them and gave them support and prayer through their grief. Of
course, these dramatic events don't happen every week. The regular life
of these communities are filled with laughter, joy and the strength that
comes when they learn God's Word together, find ways to live it out in
their daily lives, and hold one another accountable. This is one of the
ways that a Bible study becomes a house church - a living, changing,
real community of believers who are lights to all those around them.