UPDATE:

GOGL Philippines

It has been an amazing three years since GOGL, Philippines has been established! Innumerable blessings have been bestowed on every person and place that was reached by Gospel Life workers. The Holy Spirit has been at work and continues to work miracles that are too many to indicate on this report. Although unplanned and unexpected, Gospel Life Community Churches have grown from zero to fifteen (15) in the past three years. With an average attendance ranging from 25 to 105 persons each week, only six (6) fellowship groups have church buildings of their own. 

There is one (1) being constructed presently and four (4) have temporary buildings made of native materials. The remaining four (4) groups are meeting in rented facilities. However, the venue does not limit their capacity to make their praise and worship meaningful for each worshipper. Each visit to any of these groups has uplifted and encouraged Gospel Life workers and would call their worship time, "Awesome!"

Some of the groups have live bands, however, majority of them just depend on their voices or one guitar to enhance their worship.

The leadership training provided periodically to each group, particularly the Ministers' Conference held in May 13-15, 2011 at Irawan, Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, encouraged the pastors and leaders to use the power made available by the Holy Spirit.

A significant blessing is the miracle of healing experienced by each fellowship group this year. The technology of cell phone texting has assisted us in communicating with each other so that requests for prayers are immediately received and prayers offered in a timely manner. Our high-tech prayer brigade has truly helped us to pray for each other as often as needed.

Tambongon, San Remigio, Cebu  is located in the northern part of the island of Cebu. Gospel Life work there started shortly after Pastor Luceno Pingkian and his wife, Jerlinda, attended the Basic 10 Seminar in Tagbilaran City, Bohol, in August of 2009. However, the fellowship was not formally organized until April, 2010 with 35 members. Their attendance doubled within a year and the rented meeting place could no longer accommodate them. Therefore, the need for a church building arose.

New members Catalino and Herminia Amores donated a 200 sq. meter-property and requested assistance to build the church building. A personal visit to the site by Pastors John and Jessie Tulio, Lead Directors of GOGL, Philippines, on May 31, 2011, resulted in the purchase of the adjacent property that was double the size of the donated property. Construction started in October 2011 and the expected completion is early 2012.

They experienced a breakthrough during the week of prayer in September 2011 that resulted in boldness to go from house to house to offer Basic 10 studies to the community. Since then, Pastor Ceno and the leaders spend five (5) afternoons or evenings a week leading small groups, including a location where they have to walk 45 minutes in order to reach it.

Their experience in the miracles of healing last October had an additional twist. The pre-teenage daughter of one of the leaders woke up one morning with a severe headache and dizziness. The parents rushed her to the hospital and asked Pastor Ceno to pray for healing. However, all the tests done at the hospital were negative and the doctors could not do anything medically wrong with the girl.

Pastor Ceno went to the hospital where he felt the hostility exhibited by the girl's eyes and facial expressions. He spoke with the parents and they agreed to take the girl to the unfinished church building where they prayed for her deliverance from being possessed by the devil.

The parents confessed later that the girl's grandfather is a devil worshipper and he was very upset that his daughter and her family had become Christians. The girl was delivered in time and she is enjoying good health now. Praise God!
 

March 2012:
 

The memory of spring in Tennessee was still fresh in our minds when we travelled to Tambongon, San Remigio, Cebu, two days after we arrived in Manila. The scenery of flowering Bradford Pear and Redbud trees and sprouting green leaves on shrubs and plants along the Tennessee highways had changed to gray sandy beaches near corn and sugar cane fields along Cebu's rough and rugged highways. Then the ocean breeze wiped out the fresh spring air of southern USA. Reality had struck and we had to adjust to the dust and inconvenience of the majority of the roads being under construction.

A whole hour of travel was added to our usual 2 ½  hour drive from the city. But then, all thoughts of delays and rugged roads banished as we joined the Gospel Life Community in worshiping our God. Music was superb and worship time was awesome!

The group started meeting in the new church building even though it is still unfinished (it appears that a Certificate of Occupancy is not required in this area). The outside / inside walls and the roof of the octagon-shaped building had been completed but need to be painted. The wrought iron bars have been installed on the windows and doors but also need to be painted. The floor and stage still need finishing touches and the electrical connections finalized. However, it was good to see the 70-plus persons comfortably seated in a spacious place instead of the cramped quarters when we were there in 2011.

And, the blessing of the ocean breeze was evident so that there was no need to use my Spanish fan to offset the heat. It was a lovely feeling! The smiling faces of the brethren said it all.

At the conclusion of the service, we had asked those who needed prayer for healing or had special requests to come to the front. Majority of the adults and youth came up to the front (more than 50 persons) so that we had to continue the prayer session after the fellowship lunch. We spent more than two hours praying, prophesying, and encouraging the brethren.

The miracles of immediate healing included chest pain, back pain, knee/joint pain, headache, and fever. A unique request came from a grieving mother whose 7-year old son died of a congenital heart disease two weeks ago. She said that the pain in her heart and chest had escalated since then so that she could not function normally to take care of her husband and children. She believed that only God could help her. She was free from pain immediately after we declared her healing in the name of Jesus. Praise God!

We also prayed for healing of ovarian cysts, high blood pressure, diabetes, enlargement of the heart, asthma, and deliverance from several addictions. There were also requests for prayer for their family members---spouses, children, siblings, parents, etc. There was evidence of great faith all around!

Our hearts were full of joy and gratitude so that we were able to relax on the way back to the city even though the roads were rough and rugged. The heavy down pour of the rain and the evening's darkness did not diminish our joy. What else could we say but.... "Thank you, Lord!" and "You are an awesome God!"

3/20/12nta 

Awesome worship time!