A SATISFYING evangelistic program has just been concluded in Masbate, capital of Masbate Province, territory of the Central Visayan Mission. Masbate is notorious for its lawlessness. Banditry, land grabbing, thievery, cattle rustling, gambling, heavy drinking, and other accompanying vices are common everywhere. The situation is such that an American Baptist missionary remarked to me that the conditions in the area were just like those of the old American Wild West. Sin abounds in high and low places, outside and inside the churches.
We had a church here of thirty-five members who met in an old building which stood on a lot owned by a member of another denomination. After the building was partially damaged by two strong typhoons the owner would not allow our members to repair the building. This was where I was sent with three other regular workers and an intern to increase the local membership as well as to evangelize the surrounding areas. A lot was later bought by one of the local elders and donated to the mission as a site for a new church.
More than three thousand people filled the meeting place and the street outside on the opening night. We were to realize later that sin and other environmental factors in the lives of the people both outside and inside our church became a deterrent to the full success of our work and so our total baptisms fell below our original expectations and goal.
Somebody entered our living quarters one Sabbath morning while we were in church and took many of our possessions, therefore we had constantly to be on the watch for thieves. We refused to be discouraged, however, and undaunted we extended our work to surrounding areas where we have churches. Victories that resulted in several decisions made our hearts glad.
An auditor of the National Irrigation Administration was interested and all the members of his family. He had had some trouble, however, with his mother and some other members of the family, some of whom, ironically, were members of our church. The situation was difficult and reconciliation was hard in coming. Nevertheless, the impact of the message was strong and this man and his wife and six children were eventually baptized. One of his daughters, a teacher in a private college, decided to give up this position and go to our Mountain View College to take the Bible instructor's course.
A retired provincial jail warden was converted and the marked change in his life so impressed his wife and daughter that they decided to be baptized with him. The wife and daughter were members of the Inglesia ni Christo, the most militant religio-political cult in the Philippines. Their transfer to our church stirred the usual combatant spirit of their ministers and several attempts were made by them to have us face them in a public debate. At first we ignored their challenges, but their provocation became more severe so that we had no other recourse but to accept their proposition.
We assigned a layman, an elder in one of our local churches outside the capital, to face two of their ministers in two successive debates, with the town judge as moderator. Their defeat was so obvious that the opposing ministers had to request the judge not to announce the verdict. Among those in the audience was a man who listened carefully to the arguments presented by both sides. The immediate result was that he requested studies and was later baptized. His children are also interested and are being followed up by one of our team. Surely the wrath of man shall praise the Lord to His own glory and the salvation of honest hearts.
There was a public school head teacher who used to be a cursilista. The Cursillo movement is a short course in Christianity conducted by the Catholic Church and is gaining ground in the Philippines. The members are exclusive and once trained and becoming militant Catholic laymen, they are hard to convince. However, this teacher was included in our second baptism and is trying to bring his family into the fold. Another public school head teacher had some doubts about his decision on the scheduled day of the baptism. But that morning an earthquake of great intensity rocked the area. All doubts were removed and he and his wife were baptized.
A former long-termer in the town council, and Catholic church clerk attended our meetings. He brought another person to our meetings and got him interested too. He was baptized in our second baptism and his friend was baptized later. Just before I left I baptized his wife also. A newly baptized graduate was severely persecuted by her father and he demanded her at gun point to renounce her faith. Imprisoned in her room to think the matter through, she escaped to us and later on joined the literature ministry. She is now a successful literature evangelist in the Central Visayan Mission. Another newly baptized sister fled from her home when her life was threatened. She sought shelter and protection in our living quarters and also took up the literature ministry. During the recent literature evangelists' convention held at Baguio City for the colporteur force of the three Philippine unions a search was made for the most beautiful colporteur from each of the 14 local missions in the Philippines. She was selected to represent her mission.
A devil-possessed man who practiced black arts and sorcery and was known as "the man with two shadows" was baptized after a thrilling experience with his wife and two children. The devil has put obstacles in his way since his baptism but he re mains faithful and succeeded in interesting three other families in the message. A priest of the Philippine Independent Church, affiliate of the Episcopal Church, prepared for the priesthood by studying for four years in a Catholic seminary and two years in a diocesan seminary of the Aglipayan church. I gave him some studies up to the sanctuary subjects and when I left for headquarters he was already keeping the Sabbath and was planning to leave his church. He is hoping eventually to join the Adventist ministry.
Not only did our evangelistic program result in the baptism of 228 souls but it also inspired our people to more faithful stewardship, and so the tithes and offerings in the churches where our influence was felt increased considerably. It also revitalized their soul-winning zeal and calls have come from many places requesting to hold fol low-up meetings. The new believers, particularly .in the capital, responded well during the last Ingathering campaign and the church was able to reach its PI,000 goal in a week's time and surpass its goal by more than 35 percent by the close of the campaign.
A new church building is in the process of construction on the new lot in the capital. We trust and pray that it will continuously serve as a spiritual lighthouse to beckon both the honest as well as sin-darkened souls into the fold of the Good Shepherd while time remains.
