One year here and the Lord has not only given us a clear mission to keep us busy, but also continued provisions to keep us going and countless blessings to keep us praising.
Just before our family took the big step onto the mission field, we were reminded at our commissioning service that the God who sends is also the God who supplies. The same Jesus who was described as Immanuel at His incarnation is the One who, at His ascension, was self-identified as the God who will be with us always, even to the end of the age. What a comfort to have studied, sensed, and seen that promise to be true over the past 12 months as missionaries, thousands of miles from home.
We especially felt the Lord’s presence at our launch-day service in Santa Maria on Resurrection Day, 9 April 2023. After a time of worship and fellowship, Reuben opened the Bible at Acts 2 – the sermon which was preached on the birthday of the church – which was doubly appropriate to the theme of Christ’s resurrection.
Sixty-two attendees (mostly locals from the region of Bulacan, but also fellow members from our Philippine church) came together to mark this beginning of a new church plant – Grace Plant Santa Maria – the fruit of a year of labour and prayer in establishing weekly Bible studies in several different neighbourhoods around our province. At the beginning of January, one of those groups, which had been meeting at a street vendor’s coffee shop, sadly had to stop because the business went bankrupt. But when one door closed, another door has now opened wide at our family home. From an apparent setback, the Lord set in motion a regular Sunday gathering, which has now formalised as a weekly afternoon worship service and Sunday School.
We value your partnership with us in prayer for this new and exciting phase of ministry, that God would save each of our attendees and send more local believers to come and assist us. May the theme of ‘Grace’ not only be in the title of the church plant, but in all our witness and every message preached.
Watch highlights from the from the launch day of Grace Plant Santa Maria here:
