This past week a group of nine pastors from Bantayan, Bohol and Cebu Islands gathered at the Shofar Mission office in Cebu City for an intensive week of study and discussion. These men have been committed to furthering their biblical training through our Ministry Training Institute classes over the years, as well as the first PTI class. This week’s topic was “Church Ministry & Administration” which covered many practical aspects of overseeing a church.
We were greatly blessed to be able to spend the week with these fellow pastors in fellowship and discussion, and we will continue to pray for all their ministries and churches.
We are nearing the end of the book of Matthew, which we have been going through verse-by-verse since we started meeting as a church in Sept. 2023. Jesse began teaching a class about what it means to be part of a church before Sunday services to a small group too. Those involved in the class did a lemonade giveaway on our corner a couple weeks ago, which was a good way to meet some of the people working nearby and invite them all to church. Plus it was a tasty way to cool off on a hot summer day!
On a Friday evening we all met up at a local food park – Sugbo Mercado in I.T. Park for dinner, then we hung out in the grassy area there and played some yard games (including kuub). It was a nice change of pace, and a good way to get out into the community too.
STREET LEVEL MINISTRIES
The school year is pretty much over now, but that doesn’t mean much for Street Level – we have still been pretty busy in both locations.
At the end of April, we set up our booth at a youth event where young people from all around Cebu island were invited to come for a two day conference. It was a good opportunity for our group to serve together, and a few good connections were made along the way. We made a special edition mini ‘zine to giveaway at the event, and other outreaches, so the Cebu group got their first experience of a WOTS folding and stapling night as we all worked together to assemble them.
The Toledo group hosted an outdoor movie night, just outside of our space. It was a great night serving together, as we made popcorn, fries, and grilled hotdogs. It felt like a real theatre experience and there were several new students that came. We will be doing it again in a couple weeks.
We just finished going through the book of James at our weekly meetings, so we took a break from the regular routine this week and watched “The Insanity of God” together. We will be starting a new series, “Follow Me” by David Platt next week. Going through this series will be good for our groups, but is also going to help prepare a few of our members to go on a mission trip when the next team is here to Bantayan, where they will be helping to host a Youth Leader Summit using the same series.
SHOFARMISSION
Preparations are well underway for the upcoming team that will begin arriving in mid-July. We have started receiving registrations for the Pastoral Training Institute, and Ministry Training Institute classes already, and will open up the Youth Leader Summit registration soon too.
We appreciate your prayers as we head into a season of preparation – for the team and related activities, and also as we gear up for the next school year.
Last week, a group of pastors from Bohol Island gathered for a 5-day, seminary level training. The course was “Bible Study Methods and Rules of Interpretation” and is the first of many courses Shofar Mission will offer on this level. We enjoyed the time spent together in fellowship and learning, and are blessed to know this group of pastors who are committed to furthering their biblical education to be better ministers for God’s Kingdom.
The next Pastoral Training Institute will be taking place in Cebu City in July. Stay tuned for details coming soon!
We enjoyed our time with the pastors and church leaders who attended the MTI class in Toledo. It was a good couple days of training and fellowship together.
While the MTI was finishing up, Pete, Abby and Chelsey went back to Cebu for Street Level. We are currently working our way through the book of James, so Pete led the discussion on that, and we broke into small groups too. The rest of the team wanted to say one final goodbye, so they all surprised us with one last appearance (and sweet treats) before they got on the plane back to the U.S.
It has been a great few weeks of ministry, and we are looking forward to the next team already. In the meantime, we are continuing on in reaching out to the universities and are planning to do some pastoral level training soon too. Thanks for your prayers.
