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February NewsletterVolume 16, No. 2 |
Another perfect BLC inspection by the Philippine Department of Education! |
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February NewsletterVolume 16, No. 2 |
Another perfect BLC inspection by the Philippine Department of Education! |
FAITH IS THE VICTORY!“The righteous will live by faith”- Rom. 1:17 “We are growing by leaps and bounds!” Our church board was pressed with a wonderful challenge: with the potential of planting a daughter church in the next year, our present name no longer describes our congregation. 7 yrs ago we coined the name “Laverna Church” because we are in the Laverna Hills area of Davao City. However, since people are coming from greater distances to attend the church, and since a daughter church may soon enter the picture, we are no longer a “local” neighborhood church. Being more of a regional church now presents the fantastic responsibility of choosing a new name that aptly describes who we are. We toyed for hours with words like “Pilgrim, Grace, Elohim” and others. Our final choice was “Faith Fellowship” FAITH- Being composed of mostly new believers, the congregation is
being discipled and trained to grow in their faith by the grace of God. Introducing: FAITH FELLOWSHIP! |
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YOU KNOW YOU ARE A FILIPINO IF...Fish or meat is desired at every
meal, including breakfast. |
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RAISED TO LIVE“We were therefore buried with Him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.”-Rom 6:4 “Can I be baptized too?” It was a drunkard who had waded over to our baptismal party who had posed the question. Usually we have our baptismal ceremonies at a nice, clean beach. But since there is an entrance fee there, and since yesterday’s baptismal candidates were from poor families, we had this one ceremony at a beach where very poor people live. Ducking limbo-style under clotheslines and dodging low-hanging bamboo pieces jutting out from the walls of shanty-shacks, we wound our way through the maze of alleys to the beach. Once there, we had our final class with the candidates and went out beyond the shallow water of the pier. “I got a fish!” The totally bare & near-naked children swam, hunted shrimp, seaweed spaghetti & crabs for soup while 200 others frolicked in the water. On shore the odor of beer & cigarettes of 100 others blended with the sweet fragrance of copra (coconut meat) being processed in a factory nearby. Drunkards dove into the water from the giant ropes of a cargo ship in the harbor. “Maybe we should go somewhere less populated” someone suggested.
“No, this is perfect. For the whole idea of baptism is that it is a
profession of faith before the common public that you are now identifying
with Jesus as your Lord and Master: an outward sign of an inward change.
Jesus called sinners like these toward repentance!” |
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DO YOU HAVE A NEW YEAR'S PROJECT?
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JESUS MAKES ME CLEAN!“How dirty are you? Would you like to be clean?” Myrlyn was challenging the congregation, as was Elvie, with a kilogram (2.2 lbs.) of soap. A nearby factory sells papaya soap remnants (the edges of the orange soap, after being cut into large rectangles for department stores) to poor people. The ladies’ group at church, to host the women’s rally, (providing food & decorations) bought bags of soap remnants at 60 cents each, reselling them at 95 cents apiece. The project worked! Many ladies from church joined the others, laughing, singing, doing skits and studying the Bible together. As devotional speaker, Elvie challenged them from Scripture. |
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Archived Newsletters -- Return to homepage Last edited
January 17, 2004 |
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