Blessings for Bentat Cariz

The Bentat Cariz Team with team members, Jacob and Analisa Favila and Reynante Alvarado had finished the two-year church planting training on the second week of April 2007. The believers felt very sad when the team had to return to their sending churches. Yet the team promise to visit them regularly. They still had to wait for their respective churches’ decision on who will be sent to Bentat Cariz to assist the new leaders on the newly planted church.

On May 6, 2007, the team’s graduation was held on Iniaran Gospel Hall, the sending church of Jacob and Analisa. Almost 40 people witnessed the graduation who came from the different assemblies in Sofronio Española and Brookespoint. The team leader, Jacob Favila, shared the how the team started and the things that they have gone through as a team. It is indeed only by God’s grace that they were able to reach out to the people in Bentat including the chieftain. Their experience together, made their faith in God stronger. Faith that God would provide all their needs in spite of all the needs they saw around them. They saw how God worked in them and through them. They were able to reach out to people beyond their expectation. Reynante and Analisa also shared their testimonies on how gracious God is who very patient with them, molding them in His image whenever there are issues in personality differences, and conflicting issues in their community.

The brethren in Iniaran, including the leaders expressed their appreciation on the partnership and the relationship established between them and ECPM. They are grateful that the trainees they’ve sent has been developed and leadership abilities has improved. As a result, they expressed their desire for possible partnership in the future.

Polillo Team Update!

Responding to God’s call of proclaiming the Gospel and to minister the residents of the agricultural and fishing village of Salipsip in Polillo Island is what brought the five team members of the ECPM team in Salipsip. The team is composed of two couples and a 56-year old widower namely, Anthony and Heldy Sabudugo, Homer and Elizabeth Boragay and Nilo Gunio from Floodway Christian Church in Cainta, Rizal. The two couples came from the partnering church in Polilio Island “The Church of the Good Shepherd”. They had their first training module last August. They are now settling in the target community with the purpose of establishing a new assembly within 2 years.

For their 7th month of stay in Salipsip, the team has established more than 40 contacts and has started 11 Home Bible study. Part of relationship-building is helping their contacts in building and repair of their houses, helping in gathering copra, fishing with the fishermen and burning coal which is the common source of living. They found this method effective especially to the men which generally would like to provide for the family. They simply could not resist the help offerred to them, and thus, made a way for a good friendship. The women in the team build friendship in the community by visiting them in their homes and introduce themselves as new neighbors. After some time of acquiantance, they eventually became friends with the woman in the community. They can now openly talk about raising kids and the joys and pains of married life.

Last February 15, the team organized a parenting seminar to teach on how to raise their children in discipline and fear of the Lord. The team find this seminar very helpful as most of their contacts has more than 2 children.

The goal of the team for their two-years training is “To have 50 baptized believers attending the newly planted church at the end of August 2008.