Vol.

2 / Issue 1: November 2011 - January 2012

Partners in Life and Ministry

By Gods gracious providence and after many months of planning and preparation (mostly on Kerens part!) James and Keren were happily united in the covenant of marriage last November 12 at Bacolod Trinity Christian Church. It was a joyous time of warm celebration and reunion as many friends and family members traveled from dierent places around the country and the globe in order to join in on the celebrations and to extend their well wishes. Not long after, the newlyweds spent a week away in Malaysia and Singapore for some uninterrupted time of rest and recreation. Being a married couple in ministry has its perks. Now Keren and James can work more closely together in reaching the Loyola Heights community with the gospel of Jesus Christ. Currently James is still leading all of the Bible Studies and Prayer Meetings, but we are hoping that Keren too may soon start and lead her own group of ladies who wish to study the Bible together.

Open House, Open Hearts

On December 12, exactly one month after the wedding, we hosted an Open House for the Pilgrim Community Project where students, friends, and ministry supporters had the chance to just visit with us and to talk to us about the ministry and mission that we are doing here in Katipunan. A little more than twenty people came that day and we had great conversations over coee and other refreshments. Because we had a couple of children who visited as well, James decided to hold an informal dumpling-making session with them and we a l l h a d our ll o f our dimsum creations. One visitor that we had not expected but was very happy to see was James longtime friend from high school. It must have been about a decade since theyve seen each other and so it was a great reunion for them both when Philip decided to come upon James invitation. www.pilgrimcommunity.ph

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PILGRIMS PROGRESS: Ministry Updates of the Pilgrim Community Project what is taught, [2] to get to know new friends and to build relationships with them, and [3] to have access into the ADMU campus and to have a rst-hand experience of how student life in the university is like. So far we are four weeks into the classes already and we are both starting to get to know some of our classmates better as well. Kerens Chinese painting skills are improving and James Chinese too seems to be making good progress. These classes are held every Saturday morning from 9am to 12nn for a cycle of ten weeks. Due to the relative success of last years Open House, and also in keeping with the theme of Chinese New Year, we decided to hold another informal Dumpling-Making and Eating event last 21 January. We had less people who came than w e h a d o r i g i n a l l y expected but we were very thankful because one of Kerens schoolmates from high school who is n o w w o r k i n g i n M a n i l a h a p p e n e d t o l i v e relatively near our place and decided to drop by. Keren is hoping to start meeting with her for Bible Study soon. Another surprise guest was the lady who distributed our organic veggies at the pick-up point (yes, we decided to subscribe to GFC and have been eating organic veggies for about a month now!). We met her at the pick-up point and invited her to the event. We were very happy to know that she was up for it.

Philip is an Insurance Broker who, together with some of his friends from college and high s c h o o l , s t a r t e d a business aimed at helping s m a l l t i m e o r g a n i c farmers in Tarlac have a steady and fair distribution channel for their produce. Their group is called The Good Food Company (GFC) and they provide weekly baskets of seasonal vegetables and fruits to customers who pay a xed monthly or quarterly subscription rate. We are very happy that Philip came and although he declined our invitation to join us for Bible Study, yet we are glad to have reconnected with him and pray that we could continue to reach out to him with the love of Jesus.

Chinese Studies, Chinese Painting and Chinese Food

With the start of the New Year, James and Keren decided to each enroll in a short course at the Confucius Institute at the Ateneo de Manila University (Chinese Language for James and Chinese Painting for Keren). This school is just a short ten-minute walk from the apartment and it is recognized as one of the top universities in the country. Moreover, most of the students that are currently meeting up with James for Bible Study are also enrolled in this school. Therefore the decision to enroll was really prompted by a threefold aim: [1] to really actually learn

Page 3 of 4 C h a r l e n e i s a n e t h i c a l vegetarian and so we also had no-meat dumplings that day. She is currently working full-time with GFC but s h e s a l s o d o i n g further studies in philosophy at ADMU on the side. We are hoping to witness to her someday but for the meantime we are glad to have met a new friend in her. Shes very thoughtful, even lending Keren a book on Chinese Painting and James some philosophy books when she found out that he majored in the subject in university. Two of the students that James had been meeting with last semester are graduating seniors and are thus extra busy and preoccupied with school and practicum responsibilities. As a result, they have both begged o from meeting altogether. This is a l i t t l e d i s h e a r t e n i n g f o r u s although it is also a reminder of how campus ministry could be very transient. All the same, the Lord is faithful and has again brought new people under our care. James is now meeting with a total of seven students on a weekly basis (still with dierent time slots since university students schedules hardly ever seem to have any c o m m o n a l i t y w i t h o t h e r students) for Bible Study. These do not include the six who come for the Saturday Prayer Fellowships mentioned above. James has been using Matthias Medias Just for Starters and C h r i s t i a n Living Just for Starters with these students. In addition to meeting students, our fortnightly Friday Bible Study group has continued and we are now set to meet every rst and third Friday of the month. This group, consisting of mostly couples in their late thirties to early forties has been meeting with James on and o for the last year and a half or so. They are mostly un- churched and de-churched people who have Christian backgrounds (i.e. used to go to church or attend a Christian school). However, since they have been meeting up for Bible study, James has noticed that some of the members are starting to think more Biblically now and are identifying themselves as believers. This group is also growing as we get new friends invited to join from time to time. The attendance however is not as consistent. On a good day we have about thirteen to fteen people attending. We are currently studying through Subscribe online @ www.pilgrimcommunity.ph/newsletter

Bible, Prayer and Discipleship: Our Core Ministries

By Gods grace, the Saturday Prayer Fellowship has now grown a little more from last year. We started out with just one law student from UP. This one student brought along two more of his friends last year, and just this year they invited two more making up a total of ve attendees. This group has really been encouraging because although they are just starting to get acquainted with the gospel, yet they are eager about learning and also bringing more people to come and pray and study the Bible together with us. James studies the Westminster Shorter Catechism with these students before spending time praying for one another.

Page 4 of 4 Bible Study and share to them the good news of Gods grace and mercy in Jesus. 5.P l e a s e p r a y t h a t t h e t w o prospective Bible Studies to be led by Keren will push through. Two groups of ladies have shown interest in learning the Scriptures, one is a group of young professionals and the other is a group of young mothers. 6.Please pray that the Bible Study Redeemer City to Citys Gospel in Life Bible members would grow in grace and Study and Video series. knowledge of the Lord Jesus. A few weeks ago, James also challenged a second year 7. Please pray that James and Keren will be able university student to meet with him one-to-one for to reach out to residents of neighboring discipleship and mentorship. They are subdivisions. currently reading through the Westminster Confession of Faith and studying the book of Wed love Jonah together. James hopes to grow this t o h e ar f young man in his love for Jesus, his rom you! Address: conformity to Jesus, and his service to Jesus No. 6, Un Loyola He it ights, Que H, Park 9 Alley, and His people. zon City, P hilippines Telefax: ( 1108 02) 990-1 571 Land line: (02) Mobile: (0 502-8589 Prayer Points 917) 898-1 689 - Jam es / (0917) Website: 1. Praise God for He has caused the 300-0544 www.pilg - Keren rimcomm Prayer Fellowship to grow in unity.ph Email: jbr ynerchu@ number and for providing chairs to pilgrimco mmunity.p the ministry to meet this need. h 2. P r a i s e G o d f o r H i s w i s e providence in nally bringing James and Keren together in marriage. 3. Please pray that as James and Keren continue to adjust as a couple, they will learn to be good stewards of what God has provided. Pray that they will both exercise Biblical headship and submission in their marriage for Gods glory. 4. Please pray that James and Keren will continue to build relationships with their classmates at the ADMU Confucius Institute as they share their lives to them. Pray that they may one day invite them to
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