Spent the day yesterday with some of our best leaders on the field – Jack and his wife, and Dan.  Jack and Dan labor in two of the most restricted nations in the world and have done an incredible job in reaching and discipling local students.

Jack is the senior pastor of a church in a restricted atheist country.  He is from that nation and grew up with no knowledge of God.  A few years ago, as a university student, he took shelter under a shed in front of the university library during a sudden downpour.  Taking cover under the same shed was a short term outreach team of Filipinos from Victory.  Jack heard them speaking in English and asked them if they would help him with his English by conversing with him.  Our team was pleasantly surprised and gladly taught him English and shared the Gospel.  Jack was delighted.  When he got home that day, he grabbed a dictionary and looked up the words “God” and “Jesus.”  He had never heard of those words before!  Our team connected him with our Filipino missionary who discipled him, mentored him, and eventually turned the church over to him.

Jack is now a husband and a father.  It is with great joy that I have seen him grow and mature from a student, to a pastor, then a husband, and now a new father.  It is an honor to call him a friend and a co-laborer.  He is one of the finest pastors in all of Every Nation.

Dan is a Filipino missionary in a radically Muslim nation.  His story is inspiring and worth retelling. Dan worked as a finance assistant for a large organization a few years ago.  At the time, we were in the process of putting together a team to send to a closed Muslim nation where we were given a rare open door.  Pastor Steve bumped into him one afternoon and asked him if he would be open to going as a missionary to this dangerous country.  He only had a few hours to decide as we had a deadline to meet.  He needed only a few minutes.

Dan eventually became the team leader.  They established a work in the most prestogious university of that nation and gained the favor of the Muslim chancellor.  At one point, Dan's team was literally running the university!  Eventually, a door opened for him to work in one of the government ministries through an international NGO.  He was not qualified to do what he was doing (he is an engineer and minister by training) but because of his spirit of excellence, integrity, work ethic, and character, his Westerner boss was released and the position given to Dan by the NGO.  His job today entrusts him with the management of millions of dollars on a daily basis because they know he is incorruptible and a man of God.

Dan is one of the finest, most reliable and responsible leaders I have had the privilege of working with.  I am overjoyed everytime I think about his success because he fully deserves it after years of faithful labor. 

I thank God that I get to work with men like Jack and Dan everyday.  Somebody once said something like "find a job that you love and you will never have to work a single day in your life."  If that is true, then call me a bum.  I haven't worked a single day in the last 16 years.

Was just in Hong Kong to minister and encourage our team along with Pastor Scott Douma.  Pastor Sam and Nancy Webb were also in town the same week. KC Liu was also there for a couple of days so we were all able to connect and get together.  Had a great time with Pastor Sam and Esther Ng who are doing a great job. 

Pastor Scott and I spent two whole days with Pastor Sam and Esther Ng (including Benaiah and Abrianna who were both so well behaved) and Tiffany Chin.  It was a great two days of praying and strategizing together.  Pastor Sam has some great plans for EN Hong Kong (EN HK) this year.  They are going to focus much of the early part of the year engaging locals.  Doors are opening for them among university students and young couples.

Arrived just in time to attend Lucia Woo’s wedding reception.  Lucia served on staff in EN HK for several years before she met Jay on Eharmony.  Jay is from Colombia and moved to the US when he was a teenager.  They are now happily married and settled in Louisiana.  Congratulations Lucia and Jay.  Thank you Lucia for your faithful and fruitful labor in EN HK all these years.  You will be missed but we are all very happy for you as you move into this new chapter in your life.

An exciting development is that our HK church is moving to a new location. Our church now meets at 10am, at the Champs restaurant which is located at the Charter House, 209 - 219 Wanchai Road, Hong Kong (Causeway Bay metro station, exit Times Square).  It’s a cool place to have church and is literally taking the Gospel to where the people are.  The only downside of Champs is that all they show on the tv monitors are soccer games and very little NBA, if at all.

Stand in faith and prayer with our HK church.  Hong Kong is such a strategic and important city.  It is critical that we build a strong church here as a base.  Pray for more workers to help bring the harvest in.

I love Hong Kong for the following reasons:
1. There is an energy about the city that I love.  For me, it is the New York of Asia (sorry Shanghai).
2. It’s modern, efficient, and clean but not artificial. The British influence is obvious but still very Chinese and has a local flavor of its own.
3. It's history in the making.  This "one government, two systems" policy that Communist China is trying to pull off is a great social experiment happening in our lifetime.  It's smooth on the surface with a lot of undercurrents and unpredictable results.
4. Most of all, it gave the world Bruce Lee.

Please pray for one of our workers as he is scheduled to return to Kabul, Afghanistan any day next week.  After coming back to Manila late last year for a short vacation, he was unable to return to Kabul when the Philippine government suddenly declared a total ban on Filipino workers and travelers to Afghanistan due to a recent series of deaths of  Filipino workers in the country.  This ban left our worker stuck in Manila uncertain of when he would be able to return and his contract in jeopardy.

This week, he was employed by a multinational NGO with operations in Kabul who has the authority to supercede the ban.  Once the papers are ready next week, he will board the first flight out. Please pray that he would be able to return to Kabul with no problems with Philippine Immigration to oversee our work.

A sad bit of news is that the Filipina, Zennia Aguilan, who was among the victims of the Taliban attack on Serena hotel in Kabul was a very good friend of our workers.  The unexpected suicide attack occurred on January 14 and was allegedly aimed at the Norwegian ambassador who was spared but claimed many innocent victims including Zennia.  Zennia got together with our workers weekly and she would even join them on medical missions.  She was the spa supervisor at the hotel.  Our workers shared the Gospel with her many times but, tragically, she never prayed to receive.

This once again highlights the urgency for us to hold the ropes for all our workers who labor faithfully for the Gospel.

Pastor Andy Jang of Victory QC organized a Christmas party for the international students of the University of the Philippines right in their dormitory.  We have an ongoing outreach among these students and thought a Christmas party would bless them.

When we first approached the dormitory council, Ava, the Indian dorm secretary was very opposed to the idea of having a church come into the dorm.  She said we could only do 2 songs and that only 20 would be allowed to attend.  When we got there, there were close to 100 in attendance and Ava was very excited and accommodating!  On her right is Jerry from Bahrain.

Edwin, the council president, is from Liberia.  I chatted with him for a few minutes before the program and talked about church, Every Nation, and what I do as a pastor.  He works for the Ministry of Economic Development in Liberia.  He is one of those sent by the government to represent the country in meetings with IMF and the World Bank.  Edwin is not a Christian but when we asked him to give the opening remarks, he did all the preaching for us!  He talked about the meaning of Christmas and the importance of church!  We were careful not to be preachy because of the icy reception we got from the council so Pastor Andy and I were laughing in the car after the program at how Edwin did the preaching for us!

Along with other Victory QC volunteers, we sang Christmas carols, showed a Mr Bean Christmas video, had a video greeting from news journalist Cito Beltran, did a song number, I gave a quick explanation of Filipino Christmas, and of course had plenty of food!


I met many very interesting students…

On the right is Kay is from Myanmar.  She has been in Manila for 2 years but has never met a fellow Burmese.  When I told her that we currently have 4 Burmese in church (John & Esther, Veronica, and Nwei Nwei), she was so excited!  I called Mang Gwapo on the spot and arranged for them to meet that Sunday.  She is currently being followed up.  At her left is teacher Jean, one of our volunteers with a heart for internationals.

On the left is Francisco from Chile.  In the center is Bashir from... Iraq!!!  Can you believe it?!  An Iraqi studying in UP!  On the right is Peter from Kenya.  Also a government scholar.  He has been to church every Sunday since the Christmas party.

The world is right at our doorstep when we reach international students.  Please help us reach them while they are in our backyard.

It should have been the perfect night.  I was going to drive my kids home to Quezon City from ballet class at the Fort, and turn right back to make it in time for a dinner honoring over twenty leaders who led short term mission teams in October last year and the past summer.  I was looking forward to the fellowship, sure-to-be-great mission testimonies, food, and honoring the leaders for a job well done and their involvement and commitment to our short term missions program.

That is, until I came home to a flood.  My evening plans were dashed in a second upon arriving home and seeing my son’s bedroom and bathroom flooded in Legoland proportions of Evan Almighty (thankfully our domestic flood was not an act of judgment by God – I hope!).  Turns out that the genius of a plumber we hired “fixed” the bathroom plumbing only to make the problem worse by installing a plastic pipe which burst soon after he left.  Water gushed out of the pipe full force anywhere from 1 to 3 hours.  So instead of enjoying the evening with fellow missions addicts, I was forced to stay home in the company of a pail and wet rags for most of the evening.

Nevertheless, Pastor Mel Calingo, short term missions director, told me the evening was a huge success.  These twenty two leaders led teams to twenty two nations.  There were teams composed of students, singles, couples, all mothers, even all children teams, and everything in between.

There was plenty of food (the ENLI staff helped us finish it), spoof awards (an insecticide for Dane who “screamed like a girl” when he encountered a spider in Laos), inspiring testimonies, a time of honoring, and lots of fun.

A couple of the stories shared:
• Doc Joey Castro shared how three students who are Real Life scholars were able to raise the required finances to join the mission trip.  Most, if not all, of these scholars can barely afford their daily jeep fare, let alone go on an overseas trip.  It was lifechanging for them to see God provide and a lifelong lesson on the goodness of God and his ability to provide for what they need to fulfill their call in life.
• Pastor Mark Tusoy who led a team of seven children, ages 10 to 12 yrs old, in a restricted nation shared how blessed the church members were when the children prophesied over the members.  The words they gave turned out to be accurate and greatly encouraging.  Not only that, they kids taught the adults how to do kid church!

It’s stories like these and changed lives that make mission trips worth all the effort.  It takes a lot of work, faith, organization, and logistics to put together mission trips.  But the end result is always over and beyond all the labor that goes into it.

Although I couldn’t make it, I want to honor all the short term mission team leaders.  You are the backbone of this program.  Thank you for taking time out from your busy lives to lead teams and help fulfill the Great Commission.  We are a small part of what God is doing throughout the world, but a significant part nevertheless.  The important thing is that we are doing our best to reach every nation in our generation.

Mission trips for summer 2008 will be to the nations of India, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Laos, Nepal, Mongolia, Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam.  Training will begin on Saturday, November 24.

Finally, we are inviting everyone who has ever been part of a Victory short term missions team to a Celebration Night on Thursday, November 29, 6:30 to 9pm at Victory Pioneer.  For more information, please call 817-1212 and look for Jonas Esguerra at the Missions Office.  We will relive our missions trips for the past three years.

I’ll be there for sure this time.  We’re getting a new plumber.

Just got back from APEC 2007.  APEC (Asian Pastors Equipping Conference) is our annual Every Nation training conference for pastors, leaders and missionaries in the region of Asia.  Every year is always the best ever and this year was definitely no exception.  There were over a hundred leaders and pastors this year from 22 nations.

Pastor Kevin York, executive director of Every Nation Churches, led us through the process of values based church planting.  It was powerful and thought provoking.  Every one of us left each session thinking and wondering how we can plant and build churches better.  Not a few bubbles were popped.

Pastor Kevin will come to Manila early next year to take the Metro Manila pastors through the same process.  Expect some radical, but necessary and healthy, changes to the way we build churches to help us reach the lost in a more effective manner.

As always it was exciting to hear what God is doing in several nations in the regions of Asia, Africa, Europe and North America.  Always a delight to see, fellowship and be with our EN leaders from all over the world.  Always a special moment.

Another exciting update is that there are over fifty ongoing Every Nation church plants throughout the world!  An existing churchplant means there are at least missionaries on the ground or small groups already in place.  There’s too many to list each one but there are 22 ongoing churchplants in Africa, 18 in Asia, 7 in the Middle East, 6 in Europe, 4 in the Pacific Islands, 4 in North America, and 3 in Latin America.

An Every Nation church plant is coming soon to a nation near you!

Just got off the phone with two of our local pastors in Myanmar.  It was only a few days ago that internet access and calls from outside were restored.  The good news is that things have quieted down temporarily and everyone from our church is safe.  The demonstrations have stopped as people have elected to wait for the results of the United Nation’s intervention.  The curfew is back to 11pm to 4am.

Not that all is well.  In a certain sense, it is scarier and more dangerous now as opposition members, monks, and those who participated in rallies are being “snatched” under the cloak of darkness.  The military government has empowered local officials to point out ordinary citizens who participated in the demonstrations.

They said it got really scary three Sundays ago when as the church was meeting, gunshots were heard down the street.   They immediately had to stop the meeting and shut the lights out.   One of the main gathering points for the rallies is just a few hundred meters from our center.  They had to cancel one Sunday service and a couple of midweek meetings at the height of the chaos but the meetings have resumed since Sunday.  Only half of our members were present as most parents do not allow their children back outside.  They don’t use instruments or the microphone for now so as not to attract unwanted attention.

Our pastors know their meetings are being watched as they suspected a visitor during one of the midweek meetings.  They approached him after the meeting and the visitor openly identified himself as intelligence.  He was respectful and was just making sure it wasn’t an anti-government gathering.  Our pastors explained who they are and what they do and the intelligence agent was appreciative.  He was perfectly fine with our church meeting and even told them that he would inform them if and when they need to temporarily halt the services for security reasons.  The issue is political not religious so there is no problem with churches continuing to meet.

EN Myanmar is officially registered as a church.  It is not illegal to have a church in Myanmar but it is highly restricted.  The government has been known to close churches with no advance notice for little or no reason.  However, God has given our pastors favor with the local officials who they regularly visit and are aware of our activities.  Interestingly, we had just turned the church over to local leadership in May this year.  Within a few months, their leadership capacity is already being tested.  They have done a great job in speaking faith, peace, and hope to our members.

Our local leaders are currently encouraging the members to continue meeting in small groups outside church.  This is no doubt the best strategy to meet under the circumstances.

They specifically ask us from the outside to pray for the following:
1. Strength of our disciples.  Many locals are fleeing abroad having lost all hope.  Our local pastors are preaching faith to our members.  That they would see this as a divine opportunity for change and to allow God to use them in this historic moment.
2. For continued favor with the local officials.  That their hearts would always be favorably disposed towards our pastors and church members.
3. Continued protection over and safety of all of our church members.
4. Wisdom and grace for the local leaders.
5. Quick resolution to this crisis.

It is hard to see how this will be quickly resolved in the natural.  The military generals will hold on as long as they can as they know that their only other options would be either imprisonment, exile, or even death.  It will take an act of God to resolve this crisis.  He’s done it before in the Philippines.  Let’s pray for another miracle in Myanmar.  That this would pave the way for the unrestricted preaching of the Gospel throughout this nation.

North Korea is considered the most restricted nation in the world.  Not only do they persecute Christians within their borders, but they send secret agents out to other nations to target Christian leaders who are involved in taking the Gospel into their hermit kingdom.

I came across a very interesting Newsweek article which features the testimony of a government insider who converted to Christianity and a brief history and update of the Church in North Korea.  Click here to read the article on Newsweek's website.

Shown at left is a satellite photo of Korea taken at night.  At the bottom is South Korea with lights, activity, and life.  On top is North Korea with nothing but darkness.

It is becoming evident that even in a land as dark as North Korea, God's kingdom is advancing.  Let's continue to stand with the North Korean Church in prayer.  It is reported that thousands of South Korean Christians are ready at a moment's notice to move north.  They are preparing themselves for the eventuality that the walls will come down one day.  Once it does, they are ready within twenty-four hours to fan out all over North Korea in pre-designated locations to preach the Gospel, plant churches, and take the Gospel throughout the peninsula.

That's the Kingdom of God in action.  It is this passion, commitment and dedication that has made Christianity the greatest force the world has ever seen.

The demonstrations in Myanmar have escalated into the most open defiance of the military junta the nation has seen in over two decades.  It is reported that 100,000 buddhist monks and citizens have participated in the demonstrations which is huge for a small city like Yangon.  Some have already been shot at and killed by the military.  The situation is getting more tense by the minute.  Observers are anxiously watching if the junta will crack down hard on the rallyists or risk being toppled by a popular peaceful revolution.

A lot of wild rumors have circulated about what is transpiring but one of our Filipino tentmakers in the nation has sent word that what is happening in reality is far worse than what is being reported in the news.  We have a church of over a hundred locals plus two Filipina tentmakers.  Curfew has been declared from 6pm to 5am.  Communication has generally been cut off from email to international calls but we are able to receive word from our members there every now and then.  Attendance has been down at our weekly meetings and Sunday services. 

Please uphold our church and work there in your prayers.  They are counting on us to stand in the gap for them in their time of need.

UPDATE: The Myanmar military government has banned meetings with more than 5 people.  Please pray for wisdom for our leaders in EN Myanmar as they process its effect and implications on our church.

Just had a quick chat with Rev Araneta.  He, wife Gisella, and son Basti are just waiting for their Ukraine visas as they prepare to move to Kiev as missionary-church planters.

It gives me a great thrill whenever I see Rev. His name is short for “revolution” and was named so because his parents were radical left-leaning activists.  I still remember when he joined one of my first small groups around 1994 at our old Vito Cruz office (good memories). He was then studying to be an aircraft mechanic at a local aeronautical school.  He was quiet but alert, low-key but very hungry for God.

He eventually became a Kids Church volunteer at Victory Makati then served as a campus minister in Victory Pasay and Malate.  His wife Gisella happens to be a very good friend of my wife Pia and stood as a bridesmaid at our wedding.

Rev has always wanted to be a missionary to Communist or former Communist nations.  When he heard Mike Watkins share his heart for Kiev, Ukraine, late last year, God confirmed in his heart that he was to be a part of the team.  They are planning to leave by early October and settle for a season in Lviv, Ukraine to help the church and learn the culture.  From there, they will join the Watkins in Kiev.

The Aranetas are a great example of a young family who would gladly dedicate their lives to help bring God’s truth and brand of revolution to the ends of the earth.  This is how you change the world.  His parents would be so proud.

Afghanistan
The nineteen surviving South Korean hostages have finally returned home ending six weeks of tense negotiations.  The original team of twenty-one South Koreans was a short term medical missions team from the Seoul Saemmul Church in Seoul, Korea.  Observers fear that the South Korean government’s direct negotiations with the Taliban, a departure from the international practice of no negotiations with terrorists, will encourage the Taliban to specifically target foreigners.  Despite South Korea’s denials, the Taliban claim they were paid $20 million in ransom which they will use for additional weapons, communication equipment, etc.  Our missionaries are taking extra security precautions but things have quieted down according to them.  

Myanmar
Small groups of protesters have staged street demonstrations in Myanmar against the military junta that has gripped this nation since 1988.  While the demonstrations have slowed in the capital city due to the arrests of antigovernment leaders and demonstrators, spontaneous protests have erupted in various parts of the country and are spreading.  It is the most sustained open defiance of the junta in years.  While continuing its Sunday meetings, our center was forced to cancel its weekday events for the safety of the local students.  

Bangladesh
Two weeks ago, despite a ban on public demonstrations under the state of emergency declared by the military backed interim government, protests and full-scale riots broke out in the universities of Bangladesh.  Universities remain closed but the riots have stopped according to our missionaries.  It has delayed the processing of the visa of another missionary we are sending to help our work there.

Please remember our missionaries serving in cities and nations that are in a state of turmoil.  They are all doing well and are unfazed by the danger they face on a daily basis.  They look to God for their protection and trust that we are holding the ropes for them back home.  

Just heard the amazing testimony of one of our world conference participants from a restricted nation.  Let’s call him Abdul.  Abdul owns a shop which sells commercial paintings and frames back home.

One day a few years ago, one of our church members from that nation walked into Abdul’s shop to look at the paintings.  He was very surprised to find a painting of the Catholic image of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.  He asks Abdul, “Why do you sell such a painting?  Do you know what that is?”  Abdul replied, “I don’t know.  I have no idea what it is.  I’ve always found it weird with the man’s heart sticking out and doing the peace sign.  All I know is that it sells well so I always keep it on stock.”  Our member proceeded to explain that it is an artist’s interpretation of the Christian God.  This piques Abdul’s interest especially as to why many buy the painting.  This paves the way to enable our member to meet with Abdul weekly to explain more about Jesus.

At one point, our member prayed that Jesus would appear to Abdul in a dream. That very night Jesus appeared to Abdul in a dream where he touched Jesus’ nail pierced hands.  When Abdul woke up, he knew it was a visitation from God and an answer to his new friend’s prayer.  He surrendered his life to Jesus right there and then.  His whole family gets saved and they are all worshipping at our EN church right now in his nation.  It is a fact that the primary way people who have very little access to the Bible get saved is through dreams and visions.  God always finds a way to reveal Himself to people who are lost.

Abdul was one of the many faces lost in the thousands who were at the world conference.  I bet there were hundreds of other incredible testimonies represented at that conference that we have yet to hear about.

God is always at work that peoples of all nations may know Him.

Read a very interesting article on how relationships developed in church are critical in keeping young people in the church.  The study was done in the US but the lessons are universal.

Check it out by clicking here.

First stop was Bangkok where I visited with Pastor Jonas and Janice Bernales who are doing an awesome job. Jonas and I are of the same age, got saved, entered the ministry, and married generally within a year of each other. We love talking about our milestones (and martial arts) everytime we are together. However, he has “outproduced” me with his four kids to my three.

Jonas is one of my heroes. Soon after graduating with an engineering degree from DLSU, he moved to Dagupan to help build the Victory church there. In the process of doing so, he turned down a salary offer of P50,000/month (then the equivalent of about $2,000, maybe more) from a Japanese firm for a staff position in Victory Dagupan that paid him P2,500/month (about $100 back then). This was 1990.

When I visited him soon after, I can never forget seeing his bed at the staff house. He placed used carton boxes on top of the spring coils to serve as his mattress. He could have been living it up in Japan drinking all the sake he wants. That image is burned in my memory.

He went on to become the senior pastor of the church in Dagupan and built it into a strong church. It eventually became the first provincial church to send and help support a long term missionary when Pastor Jonas and family moved to Bangkok in 2001.

Today, the Every Nation church in Bangkok has thirty-five solid Thai disciples plus many more who regularly attend their weekly meetings. They have sent three Thai leaders to our Graduate School of World Missions in Manila with many more potential students in the future.

Thank God Pastor Jonas traded the opportunity to make it rich for the opportunity to make a difference with his life in Dagupan, Bangkok, to the ends of the earth...

Saw a very creative short video on what it will take to fulfill the Great Commission. According to the video, if we are serious about making disciples of all nations, we need to:
• Aim Lower
• Think Smaller
• Give Up
• Have a cup of coffee

Huh?!

Aim lower. One out of every three people in the world are under the age of 15, six out of ten are under twenty-five. Ninety percent of all Christians got saved before reaching thirty and seventy-five percent before the age of twenty-five.

Think smaller. The video had a different take on this point but I’d rather define it in terms of small groups. Small groups are the best way to reach a community. Instead of expecting pre-believers to show up in church, through small groups, we take the Gospel where they are – schools, homes, malls, offices, cafes, etc. Most of people’s needs will actually be met in the context of small groups – discipleship, prayer, meaningful relationships, fellowship, etc.

Give up. Let's give up whatever it is that keeps us from fully committing our lives and resources to reach every nation in our generation – small dreams, petty ambitions, etc. We all need a kingdom mentality.

Have a cup of coffee. No one person, church or organization can do it alone. It will take the universal church united to accomplish the task. Let's develop partnerships with other churches, para-church organizations, and mission agencies. Take the time to have a cup of coffee with the church people down the street.