“Preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all longsuffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine . . . .” (II Timothy 4:2-3) The Lord certainly has been blessing our efforts in the last 2 months at International Baptist Church of Dumaguete City. Since my last prayer letter, we have seen 63 public professions of faith and 40 baptisms in our church services. We had a big attendance of 310 for Easter Sunday morning. At our Thursday night church-wide soul winning (3 times a month), we are averaging 100 saved each evening.
As part of our soul-winning training at our college, we are visiting the central park of our city during the lunch hour. On one side of the park is a large college, and on the other is the largest high school in our area. On one day in May, our students saw 72 saved in 2 hours. During this time, I had the joy of having Christian DeMoville as my partner, as he was visiting from the States. He still remembered his Cebuano and saw several 8th graders saved. I had the joy of leading Janen, a sweet college student, to the Lord. What a joy it is to see many coming to the Lord, but there are always many more to reach.
I enjoyed teaching modular classes in our college, including the subjects of Baptist History II, New Testament Survey II & III, Names of God and Christ, and Philosophy of Standards.
We are seeing here in the Philippines, as you are, a withdrawal from Biblical standards in many churches. We are making sure that our students are grounded in the Biblical teaching about what used to be considered basic behavior in our independent, fundamental Baptist churches. I taught our freshmen students about the holiness of God and that the Lord expects us to live a holy life. I explained the concept of “worldliness” and not giving in to the lusts of the flesh. I taught them what the Bible says about abstaining totally from alcoholic drinks, refusing tobacco products (or other harmful substances), the sins of gambling, pornography, and exposing one’s self to indecent media. We gave instruction about practicing modesty, turning away from “Christian” rock music, and many other subjects. We warned them of the sins of the spirit and the need to practice good works, to be lights of holiness in this dark world, and to commit themselves to marrying well and raising Godly children. I love the way our students are welcoming this teaching and putting it into practice in their lives.
Thank you for your faithful praying and giving. God is blessing your investment here and I look forward to your being able to meet in Heaven one day those who were saved and fruitful because of your generosity.
Serving Jesus in the Philippines,
Scott Christiansen
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- Christian DeMoville sharing the Gospel
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- Janen trusted Christ.