Great progress has been made in the building of the Baguio church. At the time of this writing, the top floor concrete has been poured and they are working on the walls now. Some additional funds have been promised and they will soon begin working on the roof system. This church is in a key city in the Philippines to reach a growing number of people and will be poised to make an impact for the Kingdom in the future. Baguio is an educational center with many colleges and universities as well as a magnet for foreigners such as the Koreans who come to the area to learn English.

As with any area such as Baguio, all the ingredients for destruction are present — overcrowdedness, liberal views, young people away from home, lack of jobs, and too few churches for the number of people there.

Reaching towards the future… One of the PFWB-Philippines goals has been to bridge the gap to the next generation through programs and ministries that can make a lasting impression upon people they come in contact with. One of the visions had been to develop Children’s Christian Schools that offer general education opportunities but in a Christian environment. Not only did they want to start these schools under the PFWB, but they wanted to strategically plant them in areas where the public school system was lacking . This would give children in these poorer areas an opportunity that they might not normally get.

You may remember from the last issue that we successfully planted two schools. The first one is now starting its third year of operation in Ramon in the province of Isabella. The second was planted in Lidlidda, Ilocos Sur and is starting its second year of operation.

I am very happy to report that both the Children’s Christian Schools have been conditionally accredited by the Department of Education in the Philippines. This is a major step and accomplishment!

There is one catch to it though—to receive continued DEPT of ED approval, they will need to build an additional classroom on each of the schools. I wanted to share this need in case you or your church would like to take part in this project. It would be a great missions project that would allow you to make an investment in some wonderful children’s lives. There’s no better way to help grow your own church than by investing time and efforts into a missions project for those who are less fortunate. God’s word says it in Luke 6:38, “Give, and it will be given to you. A good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over, will be poured into your lap. For with the measure you use, it will be measured to you." Believe it or not, a project like this is easy to do! You can do a program, for example like “BUY A CINDER BLOCK” where you set the goal at 2000 blocks and let people buy a “block” at $1 each! Before you know it, you’ll have people excited about helping and the missions project will become a reality! It brings it to a level where ALL people can help. That’s a great feeling!

Just as exciting as helping build, would be the opportunity to communicate with the children and teachers of the schools in the Philippines! We can arrange this for you! For example, you could have your youth department write letters to the children there, send pictures, etc. and develop a relationship with people half way around the world! If you are interested in helping with this, please let me know and we will make arrangements for the coordination! YOU and YOUR church can make a lasting difference—it doesn't matter how small or large your organization is. God takes what is given out of love and can multiply it greatly!