Philippines

The envelopes were opened one at a time. There were only about 10 pesos in one particular envelope. And when the slip was opened, it said, “That was all I had in my pocket. It’s my bus fare home tonight but I am giving these for the Lord’s use through World Teach. Praise the Lord!” It was like reading another record from the Gospel writers. This person gave all that he/she had for God’s glory.

Miracles like this were abundant in the few days we were there in Manila and Cebu for the launch of World Teach in Philippines. On the first day itself, we saw more than 1500 gathered for Bruce’s first seminar on Teaching & Preaching for Life-change. Even before he started teaching, he shared about World Teach and how it started and gave a challenge to the participants to stand up and to commit themselves to be “World Teachers.” Over 300 came forward and made a commitment. They knelt down and presented themselves for the Lord’s use.

No more than two hours after that, when Bruce called for them to come forward to dedicate their lives to the Lord to repent of their sins so that they may give to God their bodies as living sacrifices. Scores came and knelt down to pray. Amongst them were pastors, church leaders, leading businessmen and lay people. Many were visibly sobbing and crying in true repentance and gratitude for the Lord’s forgiveness in their lives. We left Manila knowing full well that Christians in the Philippines would be growing in God’s word and many more lives would be changed as a result of their growth.

Beyond What Eyes Could See

Philippines – When we cried out to God to “enlarge our territory,” God gave us a vision for a National Convention. In October last year, the 1st National WorldTeach Convention was put together with the theme: “Transformed and Equipped: Fit for the Master’s Use.” It was held in Baguio City, the summer capital of the Philippines. The Teacher’s training was conducted at The Philippine Baptist Theological Seminary (PBTS).
In the Prayer of Jabez seminar, we were taught that to enlarge our territory we must enter into strategic partnerships. We saw the wisdom behind it at the convention whn it was co-sponsored by seven organizations. This alliance contributed to the success of the convention and its tremendous impact to the Filipino Church as a whole.
WorldTeach initially targeted 8 churches to simultaneously host 8 seminars. Eventually, 12 churches hosted these seminars with other churches indicating a strong desire to participate.
In the Teaching with Style seminar, over-crowding led to the decision to vacate the place at lunch break and move back to PBTS. All in all, we had a total seminar attendance of 711!
We prayed for 30 teachers per seminar module to be trained as WorldTeachers (240 delegates in total). But, God gave us 342, fit for the Master’s use.
Overall, the participants came from all over the Philippines: some traveled the whole night to reach Baguio city: others flew in from the far South. The registration team held a 24-hour registration just to receive them. Accommodations at PBTS quarters were insufficient that most of these delegates had to look for alternative places in the city. During the plenary sessions, the worship hall of PBTS was so full that the basketball gym of the seminary had to be used just to sit everybody.
In addition, more than a ton of WorldTeach books and materials were brought to Baguio city. When we left, only a third was left. This National Convention gave birth to 3 regional conventions this year.
Truly, the convention was a testimony of God’s mighty working – that He “is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us” (Eph. 3:20)!
WorldTeach Philippines will not stop praying, even though God continues to enlarge our territories.