Report From Charlie Sabado

The Utap Rd. Church of Christ here in Tacloban held a VBS with 120 children enrolled and is so far the biggest VBS we ever had. The children who enrolled not only learned lessons from captivating Bible stories but were also entertained by games. Our local church youth and LCC students helped us organize the activity. We needed more teachers to handle the big number of children and they willingly volunteered. We realize how equipped and responsible they are now. They could be out there enjoying the school break but they sacrificed their time and energy for VBS. The LCC students even agreed to visit with parents of these children for future Bible studies. Even greater news is the day after VBS, two parents were baptized: Nestor and Gemma Tolio. The Tolio family was one of the recipients of the feeding program conducted in January. Some ladies in the church were having a weekly Bible study with this couple for two months. These two souls have now surrendered to the Lord!
Our congregation also, hosted the 2nd Waray-Waray Christian Camp last May 22-24, with the theme: “Hope in the Midst of Sufferings.” Accommodations for the participants were held at the church building and so were the lectures. Some activities were done in a beach resort. Most of the Waray-Waray speaking brethren from the eight congregations within Leyte & Samar attended this family Christian camp. There were about 150 participants who were encouraged and admonished with great lessons delivered by local preachers. In fact, there was one who obeyed the gospel during this Christian camp: Lucena Gervoso, one of the visitors invited by a sister in Christ in Tunga congregation. It was a wonderful opportunity to listen to encouraging messages delivered by different preachers in different congregations; we heard and learned things having to do with our faith. We met new faces and friends. It was just a great gathering and a good fellowship of Christians. We plan to hold the Christian camp every year in different places. This annual gathering makes our newly convert brethren to look forward to this activity next year. Being the over-all chairman for the recently concluded Christian camp, I felt so happy that everything went well. God has answered our prayers for this event to be successful and fruitful. The Bible school is indeed a blessing to this congregation in terms of the church improved facilities and church membership because of the active participation of our students in the evangelism program.
Here in our country, school break falls in the months of April and May. While most people were relaxing in the beach and enjoying the summer vacation, our local church was busy preparing for VBS and the Christian camp. Since the beginning of the school break, several preachers and interested students have been communicating with me about LCC. I made some trips to several places to recruit students who plan to study at LCC in the first level. Some of them have limited funds to travel to Tacloban for screening. In my journey, I've been to places where transportation is limited. It was exhausting yet exciting. I met new faces and old friends in the brotherhood. While in Southern Leyte, the preacher asked me to speak at a youth gathering and the preacher in Eastern Samar requested me to deliver a sermon on Sunday worship.
We are excited to open the first day of classes this June 15th. The number of our students this year is doubled as we will have 2 levels. We are still accepting students for the 1st level. We need to take advantage of these students who want to learn the Bible more. They will be better Christians, parents, missionaries, preachers, song leaders, and leaders in the congregations in the future. We are also excited to welcome back our 2nd level students. These guys are doing great things in their home congregation. The report about them is amazing. By the time they left LCC for summer break, they have been preaching, conducting Bible studies, and gained more self-confidence in song leading. Their home congregations are grateful to LCC as they see their young men growing in the knowledge of faith. I thank God for the things He has done through LCC. To our valued supporters, we commend you for your great participation in this mission work. God’s word has been preached and heard because of the joint effort we spend together in this ministry. Once again, my family and the whole team of Project Philippines would like to express our deepest thanks for what you have done and contributed in this noble work. Though we are losing some personal support, good things are happening in LCC as the work grows. My family and I are so grateful to those who continuously support us here in the Philippines. May God bless your efforts in His kingdom.