Philppines Update #5

It sounds like Satan working against what the YD Team is doing there on the Island of Cujo right now - but we know that With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible. {Matthew 19:27} Thank you SO much for your prayers, and please do continue to pray for the Mission Team as they continue to be a light of the world.

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Dear Friends and Family,

This is going to be a long update, so bear with me! As we approach the end of time we can expect that Satan will intensify his attacks, and we also know that God will begin to withdraw that special holding back of the winds of strife. That means we will experience increasing opposition. That, I believe, is the time in which we are living. So it is not surprising that we are seeing, with this mission trip, more opposition than we have ever experienced before.

Even as we were making plans for the early work of training the local church members, starting the small groups, finding Bible workers and laymen to lay the groundwork, we saw unusual opposition. We had challenges getting the evangelism programs for the small groups, we were almost not allowed to transport the DVD players from Manila to Palawan, and our airline seats were sold to others even though we had confirmed bookings. The printed notes for the evangelism programs for the small groups were a disaster with sections mission and copies that could not be read. But those challenges were all overcome.

When arrangements were finally in place for the team, a week before we were scheduled to leave we found out about the ferry being cancelled and that there was no way to get to the island of Cuyo on schedule. But God helped us find lodging and a restful weekend was a blessing.

On the first night of the meetings we had significant challenges with major equipment failures in both venues. Since that time we have continued to have equipment issues and Ted is very busy each night fixing and adjusting things. We have never had equipment challenges like this before!

By now maybe you are wondering if its time to be discouraged, or if the team members are discouraged. Absolutely not! Through all of this the team members have pushed on with a happy heart and the presentations are strong.

But now the Catholic church in Cuyo has become very upset with our meetings. Last Sunday the priest preached strongly against us and told the congregation not to attend and not allow their children to attend. He has also been going door-to-door to tell people that we are going to enslave the people and they should stay away. Alas, that has had some effect and attendance has dropped. This attendance drop is very unusual, we normally have an increase in attendance. So in the town of Cuyo, our main venue, we are seeing much opposition which is affecting attendance, but its not affecting our team! Praise God for His blessings!

Not so in Magsaysay. There the attendance is holding strong and we have about 120 non SDA’s in attendance, beside the church members. That is very good. In Magsaysay the meetings are being held directly in front of the Catholic church, yet we have not seen the opposition we are seeing in Cuyo. There are more children attending the meetings there every night!

The health team is going out daily with the local Bible workers and laymen and they are doing door-to-door medical missionary work. They have conducted several health expo’s at both venues.

So now I come to the heart of the matter. It was faith, and I’m sure much prayer, that enabled God to part the waters of the Red Sea. Its an amazing story! Imagine standing on the banks and watching the waters separate exposing DRY land on which to walk! That is the kind of result we can expect when we have prayer and faith. I think sometimes we say “I’ll pray for you” or maybe “I’m praying for you,” but its time to do it now!

Will you, with earnest heart, seek the Lord for His special, miraculous blessings on this work. Who knows but this may be the last opportunity for these two communities.

Maybe we should rename Cuyo Island. I propose the name Jehovahjireh. It means

“in the mount of the LORD it shall be seen” (Gen 22:14) I believe we are going to see the work of the Lord in Cuyo. No matter how many darts Satan hurls at Cuyo we know God is there, and He cannot be overcome.

“Thank you, kind Father, for hearing our prayers of faith. Show your power in Cuyo we pray, in Jesus’ name, Amen.”

Will Evert