THE HEART OF ASIAN OUTREACH / Peter U, Chairman

The storms of life

Psalm 57:12

“Be merciful to me, O God, be merciful to me, for in You my soul takes refuge; in the shadow of your wings, I will take refuge, till the storms of destruction pass by.”

 Everyone faces a storm but do not let the storm be in us. Many of us are facing enormous storms in our life right now and at times, we find our circumstances overwhelming. However, it is important we remember that God is bigger, much bigger than our circumstances. The Lord gives us comfort in His word in Joshua 1:9: “Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.” Even though we know this well, it can be especially difficult to hold on to when we are filled with anxiety or fear. Being anxious and fearful can make our problems appear so huge that it causes us to lose sight of the one thing that can pull us through – our faith in Jesus.

 There will be many storms in our life that we cannot control, like this pandemic, but God will give us strength when we are dealing with these storms. We need to acknowledge that there are things outside our control that we cannot change, so instead let us identify, celebrate and embrace what we can learn from the situation. Instead of dwelling on the “what ifs” and the negatives of a given situation, focus on things that God has placed in your heart and how we can fulfil those plans He has for us, even in the midst of the pandemic. When you let go of all that holds you down and creates fear in you, you begin to see the bigness of God and how He can use you, regardless of the circumstances.

In a little village in Andhra Pradesh, Ps Joshua has also been affected by COVID-19. His once thriving church is only half filled now. Many in his congregation contracted COVID and those who did not were too fearful to venture out. Ps Joshua and his whole family are involved in ministry and they decided that the work of the Kingdom had to continue, COVID or no COVID. They had to bring hope to those around them. So, they began visiting the members, praying, sharing the gospel and encouraging them. Many of the members were filled with fear, confusion, anxiety and helplessness as coronavirus cases and deaths surged around them. Ps Joshua visited those sick with the virus, standing outside their homes at a safe distance to pray with them and reminding family members to observe the health guidelines.

He never gave up even when he faced troubles and persecution. He was taken to the police station and accused of forcing people to convert, and his wife was falsely accused of running a brothel business with the girls coming to the church. He and his wife were taken to the police station and interrogated. The police did not treat them kindly but all the accusations proved to be false and the police had to let them go. Roman 8:36: “As it is written, for thy sake we are killed all the day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” He had started building a church when the COVID pandemic started, but due to the lockdown all work had stopped. He decided that it was now time to start the building again, doing most of the work by themselves. Many asked him why he bothered as people were still not coming to church, but he had faith and believed that his faith in God is what gives him hope in the midst of this pandemic.

He told his members he believed that one day they would return to regular services in church and he wanted to be ready for that day. Seeing his faith many members returned to attending service, but he was careful to urge them to follow all health guidelines and social distancing. In order to keep the numbers in church to a safe level, he started a second service in another location 5 km away for the time being. He and his family are the bearers of hope in the midst of pain and suffering.

Ps Munirathnam has been in the mission fields for the last 18 years in a place called Nagalapuram.  He has already planted two churches in this district, reaching out to the least of the least. The people here are daily labourers in the rice fields and sugar cane plantations. People here are very poor.                Ps Munirathnam has faced many financial, political and religious challenges over the years, but he has never given up working tirelessly for the glory of God. During the pandemic he continued his work for the Kingdom. Though things have been cancelled because of the coronavirus, love is not one of them. He keeps his heart open to all those in need, reaching out and helping the poor and the destitute. Churches were closed for almost a year due to COVID-19 and all activities came to a standstill, even agricultural activities ceased. People began to lose hope and started thinking thoughts like, “We are going to die, why must we work?”

Faced with this situation, Ps Munirathnam organized a 40- day fast and prayer for protection from COVID-19. He did not expect many people to turn up, but the church remained open 24 hours, and he stayed in the church the whole time, fasting and praying. Word spread in the village and slowly the Hindus started coming in groups asking him to pray for them; he did and shared the gospel with them. Many came to the church with fear but left free from the fear of death. It was a breakthrough to see the Hindu people enter the church, setting aside all religious barriers. What the devil meant for evil, God turned it around for good. COVID-19 has given Ps Munirathnam the opportunity to serve the people and share the love of Jesus with them.

He shared a testimony about a couple who had been trying for seven years to have a child. The husband blamed the wife and became a drunkard, but last year the wife came to Ps Munirathnam and he prayed for her and shared the gospel with her. She began to feel hopeful and started to fast and pray. After three months she conceived and gave birth to a baby boy recently. Her husband was overjoyed and stopped drinking. Both of them have accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior.

This pandemic presents us with an opportunity to witness how the Spirit works no matter what may be falling apart around us. Our faith invites us to respond to this pandemic in creative and unique ways, born out of love, compassion and self-giving. Let us choose to expand our compassion and be bearers of hope in the midst of pain and suffering. Only this way will we change this story of pain and suffering into one of compassion, love and victory in Jesus Christ.

1 Corinthians 15:57-58: “But thanks be to God, He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord because you know that your labour in the Lord is not in vain.”

 

 

MINDANAO MINISTRY / Ps Angel Majadas 

We welcome into our AO family, Ps Angel Majadas in Mindanao, Philippines. Ps Angel is under the covering of Revival Christian Church Global Outreach and is the brother-in-law of Ps Josephine from our Cebu ministry. He is passionate in serving the Lord and we are blessed to partner with him in Reaching, Touching and Transforming lives in Mindanao. Here is his testimony:

In 1995, I started in ministry under the Foursquare denomination until 2010 but I was new in ministry and faced many setbacks and challenges. I thank God for my sister-in-law, Ps Josephine, who constantly encouraged us and prayed for us. In 2005 God led me to volunteer in a campus ministry, teaching the word of God in a High School to almost 1000 student a week. It was a great challenge to me but God showed me ways to minister to these students and to touch and transform their lives. My reward was to see many of them come to Christ.

When I was in Davao the central part of Mindanao, I was also a volunteer to teach non-formal education to adults from 65 years and below. I ministered to them through these classes in a form of adult literacy, teaching the word of God and bringing them back to the Lord. Again, my reward was to see many give their lives to Jesus. I felt so encouraged and blessed every time one of them accepted Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.

In 2010, I left the ministry as I was getting married and my wife, Jocelyn (who is Ps Josephine’s sister) and I have 2 children. We settled at San Pablo Zamboanga del Sur and to support my family I decided to work as a tricycle driver but I always felt a tug in my heart for ministry. One day I was a taking a passenger, Gloria, and this lady told me she suffered from pain on her right hand because of an injury and I prayed for her right there in my trishaw. I kept in touch with her, sharing the Word and not long after she accepted Jesus. She longed to know and understand the Word more deeply and she encouraged me to conduct Bible study in her house and now we also hold our Sunday services in her house as well. She has shared with her friends and neighbours and now praise God we have 3 families attending our home Bible Study every Sunday afternoon.

Almost 10 years I have been praying and asking God’s direction and plans for my life because I felt something lacking in my heart if I didn’t serve the Lord. Before I started this ministry, I asked the Lord’s intervention and then He answered by bringing Gloria, who was my passenger to help me start my ministry. Gloria was such a blessing to our church and she opened her home to us for our Bible studies, church services and meetings.

The ministry in Barangay Senior San Pablo started last May 2021 with a number of 7 people attending. We also have house-to-house Bible Study with an attendance of 12 people. Now, we are connected and affiliated to Ps. Josephine’s church and she has been sent by the Lord to support us in prayer and encourage us to continue in ministry in spite of the hardships we face. We pray the Lord will continue to use us to win souls and make disciples for our Lord Jesus in this place.

We had one family in our church whom I observed always cried before the Lord during our service. They cried out to the Lord to use them because all they wanted was to know Him and serve Him. I was so deeply touched by how much they loved the Lord and wanted to serve Him. I saw so many people hunger and thirst for God and my wife and I are dedicating our lives to serving him and bringing His Word to the lost. This family starting sharing the Gospel to their relatives and neighbours and they invited us to visit one of their neighbours who was sick. Praise the Lord the woman was healed and she invited us to start another Bible group in her house. She wanted everyone to know what the Lord has done in her life.

If God's willing, we will continue in prayer that He will provide for us to build a church that is our vision for this place. We see lives touched and changed and 4 members of our Bible group have given testimony of healing from sickness. Most of the people here are poor and needy and life is a struggle, made worse by the pandemic. Barangay Senior is part of the San Pablo Zamboanga del sur district and has about 900 people. Thank God, we now have 20 members including children, that's why we are praying for God's provision in order to sustain the ministry.

My wife and 2 children are also involved in my ministry and we work together as a team. The longing of my heart is to reach out to the unsaved, the poor and needy. People here are very poor and during the pandemic many had no food. Thank you Asian Outreach for helping me feed the poor people here. When I gave them the groceries and food some wept for this unexpected help. It was really a miracle for them. As I distributed the groceries to them, I also shared God’s Word to them and I believe seeds were planted. It is not only food that people need but the hope that you have given them by bringing God’s love and showing them, He definitely cares.

I thank you Asian Outreach for your partnership and am honoured to be part of the AOM family.

Romans 10:14

“But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?  And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, ‘How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!’

 

 

Ministry name: Revival Christian Church Global Outreach. (RCCGO)

Asian Outreach is pleased to announce our support for a new ministry in Badian, Cebu, Philippines. Badian is 98 km (61 mi) southwest of Cebu City and it is a hilly topography. We will be supporting Ps Josephine Manilla who pastors the Revival Christian Church Global Outreach Church (RCCGO) in Baranggay (village) Calangcang, about 20 mins from the main town of Badian. Ps Josephine never dreamed she would become a pastor and do the Lord’s work. Here is her story:

I grew up in a poor family and life for us was very difficult. I felt my life was meaningless as I grew and I had no goals because I thought I was too poor to envision a better life. This would be my lot in life- a life of poverty and despair. As I grew up, I had no hope or direction in my life and I felt useless. I started going down a sinful path, having wrong relationships and doing things that I knew were wrong. I also shut Jesus out of my life.

In 1997, I went to Hongkong to work as a domestic helper. Like every young girl I had dreams of working hard and earning enough money to travel and see the world. Within 3 months of my arrival in Hong Kong someone shared the Gospel with me and though I have been a Catholic, I had never experienced God in my life. But one day, God brought me to the place where He encountered me through His messenger. This time Jesus felt so real to me and I felt a deep stirring in my heart. I felt that I needed to be born again and I accepted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour and since then I felt a calling from the Lord to serve Him. The day that I accepted Him as my Lord and Saviour, my life changed. I found new purpose in my life and I felt so loved. I began to seek God earnestly for His plans for me and I had a strong desire to submit to His will and to obey Him in every way.

I decided to obey without knowing how difficult and hard it is as a follower of Jesus. In my 19 years working in Hong Kong, I was equipped by my leader and Pastor to do the ministry as a worship and cell leader. My Pastor saw my desire to serve God and he encouraged me to go to Bible school. When I finished Bible school, my Pastor assigned me to start leading the second service and it grew by God's grace. Before this happened, when I was a new believer, the Lord enabled me to start Saturday cell group which grew and became a regular event till this day. I praise God for my employer who allowed me to go to Bible School  and the freedom to serve the Lord during my off days and free time. To God be the glory!

God was training, equipping and preparing me in Hong Kong to return to the Philippines and on my return I started a children's ministry then followed with an adult bible study and after two years I started regular service as a pioneering house church. As I faithfully served the Lord, great challenges and trials came to me. My husband committed adultery and had a son from another woman. It was difficult for me to accept but by God’s grace I forgave him and I took him back as my husband. At the age of 43 I conceived and the pregnancy was a normal one but I delivered a still born baby. The loss of our baby really devastated my husband and me. We had looked forward to being a family and having children. Before we could heal from this grief more challenges followed. After 6 months of losing my baby, my husband also passed away with a chronic disease.

My situation at that time was a big question mark and I asked God why this was happening to me. I questioned God time and again but I still served Him faithfully. He was my strength during those dark days and when I felt I could not go on, His grace was sufficient for me and I continued doing the ministry that God entrusted me. When the COVID-19 pandemic started and we had a lockdown I engaged myself to equip leaders to help me in ministry. Now we have more bible study groups and I pray that God will sustain them.

My Faith has been tested through trials, problems when my husband committed adultery and the loss of my only son and my husband but God's amazing grace sustained me to continue serving Him knowing that He's all I need.

Every Sunday, we feed the people who attend our service and we conduct equipping classes for ministry. In the weekly bible study, we serve snacks and have good fellowship with our participants too. Every quarter, we have a big gathering and invite speakers to empower the people for one and a half day lessons and it involves feeding all delegates and speakers. These evangelistic meetings encourage the growth of my ministry and people here are eager to hear the Word.

Three years ago, my former employer in Hongkong came with a Malaysian Pastor and this Pastor had a gift of healing and deliverance. We witnessed a miracle when a lady well known in our community for being possessed was delivered and she testified that she saw Jesus. From then on, I too received the gift to heal the sick and deliver the oppressed in the name of Jesus.

The house capacity is only for 30 people but we are praying that God will provide for us a church as our membership grows. I thank Asian Outreach Malaysia for giving me an opportunity to be a part of the AO family and for supporting my ministry. To God be the Glory.

Romans 10:14-15 But how can they call on him to save them unless they believe in him? And how can they believe in him if they have never heard about him? And how can they hear about him unless someone tells them?  And how will anyone go and tell them without being sent? That is why the Scriptures say, “How beautiful are the feet of messengers who bring good news!”

God is faithful to His promises!