Volume 17 Issue 1 Training Evangelistic Leadership

May-June 2012

Simplify to Multiply: Macedonia Project and Beyond

From Religious Duty to Joy

A Royal Priest, Chosen by God

Saulo Minel traveled with us from Manila to learn to share his faith more effectively. "I was so excited to find out that God wants to use me. Every believer is a royal priest of God. I can do more than just invite people to church. Now I understand what to do to help others grow and multiply as disciples! I am excited to use this training back home in Montalban!"

Finding POPs and HOPs

In Acts 10, Cornelius gathered his entire household and close friends to hear the Gospel. Team members were taught to pray for and seek persons of peace (POPs) like Cornelius who would welcome them and the message, and spread the message to entire households (Households of Peace, or HOPs). Joanna Rabenera heard the Gospel at our open air meeting in Galiz, Alaminos. It took team members 2 weeks to find and visit her home in a remote location. They spoke with her mom and 2 aunts, who eagerly listened to the Gospel also. On their next visit, 15 had gathered for Bible study. On the third visit, there were 37. Now there are over 40 meeting regularly for Bible study led by a local trainee. This is only one of 21 house Bible study groups planted as a result of our short time in Alaminos. Sometimes groups began not in the home of the original contact but a neighbor or casual contact along the way. Praise God for the warm welcome!

Marina found Christ during our training in Alaminos and joyfully began to share her new faith with family and friends. She was one of 11 baptized the same day, including 4 of her classmates.

I was happy being religious because people looked up to me. But when we studied the Bible about what Jesus did for us, I realized I was selfish and proud. Now that I received Gods grace, I feel like a freshly watered rose beginning to open. Marina was an accounting student at a local college in Alaminos, Pangasinan. She was serving as an intern with a micro-lending coop. Somehow through the coop she and her classmates were included in our month-long evangelism training at Lucap Baptist Church in Alaminos this April-May. Marina joyfully began to share her new faith immediately with classmates and family, gathering 30 relatives at one point to listen to her testimony. Before the training was finished, she and 4 of her classmates were among the 11 baptized. We had simplified our vision and strategy to allow for faster multiplication. Would it work? From April 10May 8, we took a team of 12 (5 staff, 7 volunteer trainees) to Alaminos, Pangasinan for the Macedonia Project, an intensive training and outreach to help Lucap Baptist Church. We trained 29 local volunteers, held 7 open air Gospel meetings in surrounding communities, counseled over 450 new contacts, established 21 new house Bible study groups, and 11 were baptized. Back in Quezon City in mid-May, we invited another 7 trainees to help us for a few weeks in local ministry while training them in oral Bible studies. We are begining to see a bit of the breakthrough we have been praying for. Praise God with us as you read some of the following stories.

Ken Moralde's passion to preach the Gospel in his hometown brought the team to Alaminos.

"What's Next?"
Late March -Our Pajo St. Bible study had just ended. We had challenged 6 high school boys to share their new faith with their friends. Marlon texted back 30 minutes later: "I shared what you told us with 5 friends. What's next?" The following week, he brought all 5 to the group, and they are now regulars. Marlon is now sharing his faith actively in spite of ridicule and persecution, and learning to lead his own Bible study group.

Gospel Cookies & Multiplication

Nicole (13, L)and Wendy (15, R) are new neighbors. Diane shared the Gospel with them while teaching them to bake and both girls made a clear decision for Christ. Two weeks later, they invited Courtney (far R) to join them for Bible study. Diane observed as the sisters took turns explaining the Gospel message. The following week, they brought Claudine, another neighbor. Wendy asked Diane last week, "What is a good verse I can talk wtih my classmates about?" Apparently she has been sharing the Gospel almost daily with her high school classmates. Praise God for her natural enthusiasm and joy!

Back home: Bible, Basketball & Breakfast. Arvin (far left) leads a devotional with Marlon and friends after early morning basketball. Part of the training was learning to use oral Bible stories for evangelism and follow-up. Over 40 new Bible study leaders were trained, including a few of the Pajo youth.

Adoption / USA Visit??KEEP PRAYING!!!

This is a spiritual battle! We have been approved as the adoptive family for Abby by the Dept. for Social Welfare (DSWD) but our judge misinterpreted the law, quoting from out-dated laws that were changed in 1998. As a result, our adoption case is now in the Court of Appeals. Meanwhile we have permission to travel with Abby from Aug-Jan, but her passport and other documents are wrong and must be corrected before we could get a US visa. This usually takes months, if it can be done. With all the delays, we may not be able to get back to the US in time to put the kids in school. We see that God is in control in spite of all the drama, confusion and uncertainty. We would not have seen the recent fruit had we been able to leave according to our own timetable. Yet it has been six years since we spent significant time with family, and we long to reconnect with both family and friends. Would you please pray for God's miraculous intervention AGAIN so that we could come home by August? Aside from needing to correct documents and obtain a visa in record time, we have no funds for travel, as our savings have been gradually tapped to pay for insurance and supplement lagging support. Without raising travel funds, we cannot come home. Until now coming home seemed like a dream, and we were focused on family and ministry needs. At this point, there is hope that we could come, even if not on the timetable we desire. Would you consider making a contribution to help meet this need? We need to raise $10,000 for airfare for the five of us.

Prayer & Praise Corner

1. ABBY'S ADOPTION - Pray that the Court of Appeals will review our case soon and rule in our favor so that Abby can be a pemanent member of the family. 2. Abby's documents to be fixed quickly so we can travel in August 3. Pray for airline tickets to come home. We need to raise $10,000 for this in a short time (by early August). 4. Katies Progress- Please continue to pray for Katie's development and education. She is enrolled in grade 3, but doing Kindergarten work. We need strength, wisdom, and love to help her develop. 5. Kids' Adjustment in KY - All the kids have grown up outside the US. Pray for their emotional adjustment during our visit and that we could get them into good school situations. 6. MULTIPLICATION of Discipleship Groups/ House churches- Even as we prepare to leave, we are starting up more training groups designed to multiply as we train each one to share the Gospel and immediately repeat the process of discipling groups. Pray for wisdom, vision and strength for Aries and Reyza as they continue to multiply through these groups in our absence:
Tues - HS students BS -Cubao Wed - College Bible Study - Jerscy, Carl, Ronell Thurs - Pajo Outreach BS - approx. 20-30 mixed youth/ adults Fri - Girls' HS Bible study - Wendy, Nicole, Courtney, Claudine Sat AM- Church planters network (approx 20 church planters) Sat afternoon - Kids Club Sat PM - SK Bible Study -continues with a few of the youth leaders Quezon City Polytechnic University -10 students starting a new campus ministry

Personal Contact:
Mike & Diane Tripp P.O. Box 438 Araneta Center 1135 Quezon City, PHILIPPINES email: mikedianetripp@gmail.com

Support Address:
TEL P.O. Box E Denton, TX, 76202 USA

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