news

Missionaries Safe Through Typhoon

Mon, 19 Dec 2011 12:00:00 EST

Over the weekend, the Philippines' southern island of Mindanao was slammed by Typhoon Washi leaving almost 700 people dead. SEND missionaries in the Philippines are all safe and accounted for. Please pray for the many people in the area who have lost loved ones and homes.

Read a Reuters article for more information on the typhoon and the damage.

Great Results from Evangelism Training

Mon, 16 May 2011 08:40:00 EST

We are now in our 7th week of Evangelism Explosion training and so far we have seen 28 people make a commitment to Christ as we have gone out to share the gospel. Our trainees are making good progress in their ability to share! Three of our original trainees have had to drop out of the class for various reasons, but we have ten students who are committed and eager. Recently, one of our trainees, a middle aged woman, started sharing the gospel with a taxi driver, but ran out of the material she had memorized and she told the taxi driver to read the Bible and listen to what Christ was saying in the Gospel of John! It is amazing to see the many opportunities we have to share. On May 1, we had a baby and child dedication time during our worship service. We had a potluck lunch following the service and invited our many visitors and family members to stay to hear the gospel. Eight people stayed and our six EE teams shared with them individually. Please continue to pray that our trainees will finish this training semester well and that they will have confidence in sharing their faith with others.

Family Camp Success

Fri, 4 Mar 2011 04:34:00 EST

Thank you for praying for our Family Camp! The Lord did amazing things in hearts and lives during the camp. We had 160 in attendance, 15 were baptized and 7 heard the gospel for the first time and made commitments to receive Christ! Our son David did a wonderful job of showing God's heart through a series of messages on the Prodigal Son based on the theme, "The Extravagant Grace of God." One of the women who was baptized, Cora, spent 15 years as a Mormon and heard the Gospel for the first time at our church.

Our son David brought a team to help with the camp and they also did a presenation at a local public elementary school. The team presented the gospel there and Mike had the opportunity to do some "group games" during the presentation. The kids at the elementary school were fascinated by the young people from the States who had come to share with them.

Carolyn and I are really tired after two weeks of ministry with the short term team, but we are grateful for all that was accomplished in sharing Christ with many people. Thank you again for praying!

Churches establish churches

Tue, 2 Nov 2010 11:00:00 EST

The last part of SEND's mission statement is "Establish reproducing churches." Sometimes it's helpful to look back in the midst of moving forward, and see what God has done.

SEND missionaries moved into Batangas province in the Philippines in the early '60's. In many places they faced stiff opposition. It was hard work. In Lipa City, right in the middle of the province, one church was established in the '70's. That church began to reach out to the neighboring towns and villages. Today, God has done miracles in Batangas province.

Dick Walton, a senior SEND missionary who lived in Lipa in the 1970's writes, "In recent weeks we have been in touch with pastors in the Philippines. One of the pastors in Lipa City where we did church planting in the 1970’s indicated that there are now close to 50 churches and church fellowships in the Lipa area. Some of these churches are registered while others are smaller groups meeting in the villages surrounding the city center. Faithful workers have carried on the work and the Lord has added many to the Body of Christ. One of the Lipa churches has started a Bible School in their facility with 40 current students enrolled. This school is for those who can't get to Manila to study. The students are being prepared to serve in the churches and reach out in church planting around Batangas province."

As SEND Philippines visions sending 215 missionaries out by 2015, this is the background to Filipino leaders with ministry experience stepping up to say, "Here I am Lord, send me -- somewhere else."

Values Classes Lead to Bible Studies

Thu, 2 Sep 2010 02:30:00 EST

We are cooperating with SEND’s National “Teaching Values in the Public Schools” project and as a result volunteers from our church are teaching 10 classes each week in two different public elementary schools. As we make friends with the students and visit them in their homes we have open opportunities to present the Gospel to their families. We have also been invited to present seminars on parenting and class discipline to the teachers. These seminars led to a twice monthly Bible Study Class with Public School teachers at our church. The teachers have many questions and it is fun to lead this Bible study. One recent question they asked was, “How can we explain Adam and Eve as the origin of the human race when in our textbooks evolution teaches that we came from apes?” One of the teachers has invited us to conduct a Bible study for all of the teachers in her school. Pray for God’s help to speak directly to the spiritual needs of these teachers.
-Mike and Carolyn Ballast

VOICE Program Continues to Expand

Thu, 12 Aug 2010 12:20:00 EST

The VOICE program, being implemented in Filipino schools to reach children through values education, continues to expand. The latest goal: 210 in 2010…210 churches partnering with VOICE during the school year of 2010/2011, an increase of 60 churches. VOICE staff has been running to keep up with requests for trainings—to the north and south; in fact, curriculum distribution the past six months is more than double that of the same period last year! Some initial print runs have been depleted and reprinted. All of this represents more students hearing God’s Word each week in their classrooms. Praise God!

Perhaps God has more than the Philippines in mind for this Bible values program. Laura Bonney and Ruth Haynes have just returned from a three-week Vision Trip to Uganda. The need for such teaching in “the pearl of Africa” is absolutely overwhelming and the opportunity for Christians to teach it in the schools appears equally great. Children’s curriculum is almost non-existent, even for Sunday schools…despite the fact that about 50% of the population is 15 years or younger. Many questions remain, but we are challenged to “lengthen the cords and strengthen the stakes” (Isaiah 54:2) as God opens the doors. Pray!