August 3, 2011
Dear Pastors, leaders and brethren,
As I write this newsletter, I can still see from my window the rain outside that has kept pouring this past few days and heard news that there are about 10 more typhoons coming up in the near future. We thank God upon receiving news that except for some damaged crops in the Bicol area, the brethren are safe.
When I was in Zamboanga this past weekend, July 30-31, I have felt the big contrast of the warm and humid weather there. I was joined by Mr. Jerome Manriquez, the area superintendent for Mindanao in commissioning Pastor Ted Natividad as the new pastor of Zamboanga City church. Pastor Ted assumes that responsibility from Pastor Joven Jaralve who is moving residence to Sindangan, some four hours away by car. We thank Pastor Joven for his many years of service in the church and we are happy for him as he starts a new chapter of his life, along with his new wife, Helen.
God continues to bless our brethren in Zamboanga City due to the commitment and support of their five-member pastoral team and their core leaders. Pastor Ted's youth and his gifting in music and sense of humor is indeed a dynamic complement to a church that has plenty of young children. Being a father of five young children, he and wife Jennifer sure can identify with the excitement and challenge of raising kids. Since 2005, he has started being involved in the church especially in music ministry, and the brethren gave him the most endorsement to be the next pastor. We are excited for Pastor Ted and Jennifer as they continue to join God in his work of nurturing the church there in Zamboanga City.
The worship service was made special with the special prayer of blessing for the new couple, Mr. Joven and Helen Jaralve, the special dance presentation of the kids, the commissioning of Pastor Ted and the reaffirmation of the present pastoral team, and a hearty pot luck lunch from the brethren.
Visits like this give me an opportunity to share the thrust of the church and to help nurture our leaders as they pursue our common goal of nurturing our brethren in the local church. Before my flight back to Manila, Pastor Jerome and I had a very encouraging and productive dialogue with the leaders. The previous evening gave us a chance to have a relaxing get together with the leaders and a one-on-one meeting with our new pastor and his wife.
During that pastoral team meeting, I focused mainly on our GCI Philippines focus for the year. This is the year of the Local Church - meaning that we are going to invest more time and resources to respond to local church challenges, especially in the area of discipleship, nurture of our leadership teams, facilitating the health and development of our congregations, improving ways we can work together as a denominational team in the Philippines.
Some of the challenges our Zamboanga pastoral team faces are unique in their context, but a number quite similar to what we have in our other local areas. Most of our teams are bi-vocational. Since they assumed these roles, most of them have grown ten years older, and are also experiencing some physical health and family issues as well. There is growing need to press for the development of younger leaders and hopefully some full time pastors in the future. Many of our churches are experiencing plateaus in terms of attendance. We also see some who are growing in number and in impact in their communities. Our desire is to equip and empower them in as personal and relevant ways possible so that they can fulfill the unique, God given ministry potentials.
Another step towards fulfilling this is providing a stream of pastoral development opportunities. We have signed last week (see weekly update) a memorandum of agreement with the International Graduate School of Leadership who will be our partner in providing a masters level program for organizational leadership. This pastoral development program will be modular and can be brought to the field ministry. This program is unique since it incorporates three aspects of our needs summarized as "Know, Be, Do." It will also be practical as possible as it includes internship opportunities especially for emerging leaders. I am excited about this program and we hope to launch it in a few areas starting this month. I would encourage all our pastors and emerging leaders to avail of this opportunity. Dr. Rey Taniajura and Pastor Rex dela Pena, our registrar for the GCI leadership Development Program, will be in touch with you soon about the schedules of classes for the different areas.
Special Bonding Celebrations - Festival updates
In our pursuit of stronger bonds among the brethren, and to nurture our churches, we are preparing for special festivals in the next few months. The first of these series will be for our Northern, Central and National Capital Regions, and the schedule is from September 21 to 25, 2011 at Teachers' Camp in Baguio City. Opening Service is on a Wednesday night and closes with a worship and communion service. The brethren are excited about these special events and we ask that we continue to plan and pray for the success of these events. The dates for the other areas are as follows:
- Visayas: October 30 to November 2 at CICM, Maryshore, Talisay City, Negros Occidental.
- Cagayan de Oro on October 28 to 30.
- Bukidnon on October 27 to 30.
- Davao on October 29 to 31.
Other prayer concerns:
- The successful marriage of Aron Tolentino, associate pastor of our Crossway congregation, and our daughter Joyce Guzon- they are getting married this Saturday. We thank God for his faithfulness to our family through the years, and even to raise a daughter like Joyce is a supreme privilege and blessing. We have seen how God has prepared them for this new chapter in their lives and their ministry. Certainly, life has its challenges, but with God for us and with us, this will be an exciting life journey for the two of them and for Lulu and me. Thank you for being part of our big family.
- MD Conference- Lulu and I will be attending the MD conference sponsored by our denominational headquarters. The venue this time will be in Ottawa, Canada and the MDs will have a chance to join the Canadian pastors for their National Pastors Conference. Dr. Tkach and other leaders from the United States will be there too. Please pray for a productive and spirit filled conference. Before our trip home, we will also be able to visit our US office and a couple of churches in Canada and United States to give some updates about our churches here in the Philippines.
- Condolences to the Babol Family - Mr. David Babol, father of Ben Babol, one of our Pastoral team members in Sta. Rosa, succumbed to cancer last Friday. Mr. David Babol is 79 years old. This is certainly a challenging time for the whole family and our prayers for comfort and peace during this time of pain and grief in the family will be very helpful.
This is all for now, brethren. Every day, we face challenges of different kinds. But God allows events like this for a bigger purpose which we sometimes find hard to understand. There is also a special reason why we are in someone else's life and we want to make that reason count. Let us rest comforted, encouraged by the reality that God is for us in all of these circumstances and every moment is an opportunity He gives us to know Him better and to participate in HIs work! May I share these comforting words for all of us from Paul:
3 We always pray for you, and we give thanks to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. 4 For we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and your love for all of God's people, 5 which come from your confident hope of what God has reserved for you in heaven. You have had this expectation ever since you first heard the truth of the Good News. 6 This same Good News that came to you is going out all over the world. It is bearing fruit everywhere by changing lives, just as it changed your lives from the day you first heard and understood the truth about God's wonderful grace. (Colossians 1:3-6 NLT)
Sincerely,
Eugene
