This weekend we put on a Youth Summit for student leaders sent from different churches in the Toledo area. The material presented was intended to encourage a personal relationship with Jesus and disciple-making to a young, upcoming generation. In each session, students watched a short video teaching in a series called “Follow Me”, heard the US team talk about their personal experiences of discipleship, then broke into smaller groups to discuss the material more in-depth. Members from Street Level Ministries Cebu facilitated a few of the discussion groups too. Our goal in all of this, was to give students boldness to bring these teachings back to their home churches, seeing discipleship as a truly personal calling for them as Christians.
This week we have taken the group that is here from the US and have travelled to Toledo for a Ministry Training Institute (MTI) which we are holding at our Toledo office. These trainings are a continuing education that we have been providing on a regular basis for years. It is geared toward pastors and other leaders at local churches here in the Philippines. Please pray for the leaders that are attending the sessions – that they will be blessed by the teachings.
During the same time as the MTI sessions, some of the group has been going out and doing outreaches at some of the colleges here in town. The goal with these outreaches is to let students know about our college ministry, (as you may know is Street Level Ministries) as well as inform them that we are doing a movie night Friday night. We have had a lot of varying levels of engagement, through coffee, lemonade, and a hint of awesome personalities. A couple of new people actually came to our Street Level meeting last night due to the outreach, which is always a win.
A couple of very near things that will be happening are an outdoor movie tonight with popcorn and hot dogs, a youth leader summit tomorrow, and church on Sunday back in Cebu – at 5PM.
Please keep us in prayer especially for the next two weeks while the team from the US is here – as we plan to travel to do other MTI and Street Level events. Thank you for your support in this way. It means more that you probably know.
Our missions team to Southeast Asia has returned from a very successful venture…the prize being our second major translation and print project in a tribal language that has had no commentaries. This year we printed and began distribution of 2000 sets of an Old Testament and New Testament commentaries to pastors throughout this language region.
Our team participated in a national conference of pastors, taking the teaching lead for the gathering.
The team also taught over two long days, before Masters in Divinity and doctorate students at a national Bible College…
The end of September marked 2 years of Believers Church Cebu – it is amazing how quickly that time has passed. It seems just yesterday we held our first service, not knowing if anyone would show up! We have been very blessed to see God growing our fellowship – in strength and number. In addition to Sunday service, we have begun a class, focused on discipleship and doctrine, for those who have committed to serving at church.
We are currently working our way through 1 Corinthians on Sunday evenings, which is proving to be an insightful look at what real life Christianity should be, and how messy it can be.
STREET LEVEL MINISTRIES
In September, we held a special informational meeting for SLM – to explain who we are, and why we do what we do as an organization. We also hosted a board game tournament in Cebu, which proved to be a good night of friendly competition and lots of laughs. With the recent earthquakes, university life in Cebu and Toledo has been majorly disrupted, with most schools being entirely online for over a month. We are continuing to meet for dinner and Bible discussion in both locations and are currently studying the gospel of John. We are also looking forward to our upcoming summit in November!
SHOFAR MISSION
We are gearing up for the arrival of the next U.S. team in a few weeks! While they are here, we will be hosting more Ministry Training Institute classes, “Staying Strong: Abiding in Christ Through Prayer and Bible Study” in three locations. We will also be gathering some youth who are stepping up as leaders on the west side of Cebu Island for a summit discussing David Platt’s “Follow Me” material. And, as previously mentioned, hosting a Street Level summit as well! Those are all things we have planned, but God always surprises us with other opportunities or changes in our plans, so we look forward to what He has in store for us.
