In just barely four days, the year 2009 will be history. It’s time to look back at what the Lord has done in your life, in our church family, in our city, in our country and in our world.

This coming Thursday December 31st, from 7-8pm, our church building will be open for people to come and pray. It’s fitting for us to give thanks to the Lord because His love endures forever (Psalm 136). Let’s give thanks for God’s past grace in 2009 and cry out to the Lord for His future grace in 2010.

Think & Pray in Real Time - for our Isabela & Fish & Bread Mission

The Philippines is 15hours ahead of Edmonton time. For 12 straight hours on Sunday and Monday January 3-4, your FFAC Mission Team will be sharing the good news of Jesus and putting some smile on people’s faces in Isabela. So that you can pray when we are actually serving in the mission, you need to adjust by praying at an earlier time slot.

So, 7am-10pm in the Philippines is actually 4pm-4am in Edmonton. To pray for your team on the January 3-4 dates, we will need you to actually pray in local Edmonton time on Saturday-Sunday January 2-3 from 4pm-7am each day. That’s not a typo error; we’re doing 15-hour days during the mission.

Would you also cover us in prayer on Wednesday January 6th as we serve in Action International Ministries’ (AIM) Fish & Bread Ministry. That’s 9am-6pm Manila time which is Tuesday January 5th beginning at 6pm until 3am Edmonton time. So if you’re doing night duty or graveyard shift as we fondly refer to work schedules after midnight, remember to pray for your Mission team during the sleepy wee hours past midnight.

Where are they now?

As you read this, many of our Isabela Missions Team including Beth and I would have likely landed already in Manila.  We (Beth & I) stay for a day near the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) to connect with family (I only have one brother and my widowed sister-in-law plus nephews and a niece left in the Philippines). A group will go right away to Isabela to do the necessary ground work as an advance team ahead of the rest of FFAC’s team.

The following day 29th, Beth & I are scheduled to take the airplane to Cebu where we are to meet with our Alliance missionary Rhonda Wilson. We are looking forward to visit the day care ministry where we had our mission in 2008. A handful of people from FFAC continue to support this same day care ministry.

Friday January 8th - Teaching Ministry

Please pray for Malu & Bong Cabuhat and me as we teach the contacts of AIM somewhere in Metro Manila. Malu and I are teaching “how to share your faith” (evangelism) course and Bong is teaching the essential doctrines “know what you believe” course. Refer to the previous paragraphs to figure out how to pray for us in real time (concurrent to Manila time).

So no matter what time you pray for us (your mission team), pray for us in the same way as the apostle Paul requested his friends in Ephesus to pray for him, while he’s going about serving Jesus in ministry wherever he is...

¹⁹Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel (Ephesians 6:19)