Dear Praying Friends,
Happy 3rd Anniversary to International Baptist Church! We promoted hot dogs and marbles in the morning and a spaghetti feast in the evening, and after it was all said and done, God gave us a great day with over 350 in attendance, 58 salvations, and 19 baptisms! The picture above was taken after our morning service. In the evening service, we had testimony time, and it was neat to hear (in English and in Visayan) what IBC means to some of our members. Church still works, and it is evident in the lives of believers at IBC. Although much work went into the big day, as with all big days, the work really begins afterwards! Please pray for us as we follow up with our visitors and work to train more soul winners.
2014 is here, and a lot is happening. With the college schedule still going full speed ahead and our Couples’ Retreat in February, we’re getting ourselves ready for our first three-day Youth Conference in April. Our conference will have four difference competitions that teenagers can compete in (Bible Memory, Bible Trivia, Preaching, and Singing); we hope the competitions will generate a lot of excitement and will bring many young people from other churches as well. Please pray for God to use this conference to make an impact for eternity.
I’ve had the incredible privilege of leading two different “papas” to the Lord! Pancho, the father of Kyle (I mentioned her in the July/August letter), trusted Christ on December 6; and Joms, Marjon’s dad, trusted Christ on January 4. Many families in the Philippines are broken up because of fathers and mothers working overseas or in major cities. Kyle’s dad works in Saudi Arabia, while Marjon’s dad, pictured left with me, works in Manila. They were both back in Dumaguete for the Christmas season, and each heard the Gospel story and got saved! Soul winning never gets old!
One last but major prayer request I want to ask you to partner with us in is for God to provide us our very own property. We’ve been renting a building now for over three years, and the time has come for us to start looking and seeking a permanent place for us to meet. We thank you for partnering with us in prayer about this great need!
Until the whole world knows,
Jason, Lacy, Mackenzie, & Lindsey