UPDATE
Pastors John and Jessie have been in the Philippines for about three weeks and finally getting comfortable in their new environment. Nature has been very kind to them, so far. The weather has remained "temperate." Although they haven't had a real hot day yet, they would turn their air conditioner on once they are in their condo.
They take their daily morning walk around the shopping mall just downstairs from their apartment early in the morning between 6 and 8 a.m. where there is usually a "parade" of people walking, jogging and running. There are groups that exercise to music and "taichi" all over the parking lots. Seems like everyone ends up at Starbuck's or Krispy Kreme or Mister Donut, except them. They usually stop by Pan de Manila (a bakery?) on their way back, where they buy hot wheat pan de sal (hot breakfast rolls).
PRODUCE MARKET Every Saturday there is a weekly produce market in one of the parking lots where fresh vegetables and fruits are sold. The other day they bought some mangoes, lacatan bananas (similar to our Chiquita bananas, only better) papaya, a super-sized avocado, mangosteen, lanzones, and marang (in the same family as the durian and the cherimoya) which, they said, filled up their condo with a strong fruity smell. Aside from these, local delicacies like bibingka, palitao, puto-bungbong, maja blanca (which are varieties of the rice cake), and home made cream cheese, butter and hot pan de sal are prepared and cooked in the premises. TO JOIN IN THE SCHOOL OF THE SUPERNATURAL Jon J and Marcia are also getting normalized in their daily routine with their two boys. Pastors John and Jessie will join them in Bacolod City on March 22 to join Jon J and Dave Crone as presenters in the School of the Supernatural promotional meeting for the area ministers. Jon J is relocating the school to another neighborhood so that it would be more accessible to the other churches. "UNRESTRICTED" - OUTREACH MEETING They have also been attending the outreach meeting, "Unrestricted," of Pastor Olai Espiritu, head of the True Vine Ministry. This is on Sunday afternoons, from 3 to 5 p.m. The meeting is held in a bar at Metro Walk (the hang-out of call center workers) in Ortigas Center. This is a place in Pasig City (near the Megamall and Robinson's Shopping Center) that have restaurants and shops open at night, for easy access to the call center workers. It has an open concert area surrounded by restaurants and bars. The bar where the meetings are held has a stage and a good sound system. Pastor Olai's group leaders and members were very happy to welcome our pastors back. Pastor John was asked to preach the other Sunday on the importance of family. The bar doesn't charge them for using the place for their meeting as long as they order some food or snacks to eat, which they do at the end of their meeting. There are two pastors, Emil and Yoly, who assist Olai, who are excited about being mentored by Pastors John and Jessie. They were impressed by the new things they are learning from Basic 10. They used to be senior pastors at an Assemblies of God church in Pasig City. They will be inviting other pastors in the area to join the training for the Basic 10 course which our pastors will start soon at their condo in Green Hills, which is only a bus ride away from where the others live. Pastor Olai has facilitated our pastors' connection with other ministries whom they might partner with in the future. Another group, called the "City of Fire" meets in the same bar after Pastor Olai's group (from 6 to 8 p.m.). They met their young pastor and they stayed to hear their worship team and hear the young pastor preach. He is, likewise, interested in the School of the Supernatural. This past Sunday, Pastor Olai invited another worship team. Their leader is a young German-American missionary from Louisiana who is married to a Filipina. His ministry is to teach and promote worship leading. "We had a great worship experience and a long talk with him and his wife (who is expecting) afterwards. He wants us to get together again about partnering with them, too." BOOK PROMOTION THROUGH GUEST LECTURES Pastors John and Jessie spend time daily in editing the book he is preparing to publish. Pastor Olai offered to sponsor the publishing and promotion of his book in Metro Manila. She suggested that more connections can be made by promoting his book through guest lectures in the churches.
KINGDOM CULTURE TRANSFORMATION STRATEGY Pastor John has been busy working on a definite strategy for the Philippines that incorporates all the things that they would like to accomplish there. It involves putting a focus on two main institutions: 1) a Kingdom Leadership and Ministry Institute, and 2) a Transformation Lifestyle School, the equivalent of the Lion's Den School in the Philippines. This will train and equip leaders, ministers and members for cultural transformation ministry in the "seven mountains" (family, entertainment, government/law, business/finance, media, education). As soon as there are a number of interested people who are willing to devote their time to it, training classes will be started for the pastors and church leaders. These courses and seminars will also be taken on the road for Gospel Life's affiliated churches. A monthly leadership training class is scheduled for the Gospel Life congregation in Guimba, Nueva Ecija. PASTORS PROM AND NORMA AMOGUIS Pastors Prom and Norma will arrive in the Philippines on March 15. They plan to proceed to Cebu City by that weekend to visit Gospel Life's congregation there and to assess the progress of the church construction, which according to reports is "almost finished." They will have a busy schedule of Basic 10 training for several churches until they return home to Tennessee in June. GRATEFUL WORDS "Thank you for your prayers and continued support. We are happy to be where God wants us to be and excited to see how He is connecting us to other like-minded people, but we still miss you all! "In His grace, Pastors John and Jessie" | 
