Yearly Archive: 2011

Mission Trip to the Philippines

October 22nd – November 2nd, 2010

By

the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, Edgar Garza and I went on another mission trip, to the islands of the Philippines. Pastor Belshiezar Simbran invited me last year in June to minister to a part of the Mindanao Island – the second largest and easternmost island in the Philippines. It is also the name of one of the three island groups in the country of 7,107 islands, which consists of the island of Mindanao and smaller surrounding islands. The other two are Luzon and the Visayas. The island of Mindanao is called The Land of Promise. Mindanao is the only area of the Philippines with a significant Muslim presence. A guerrilla war is ongoing on the islands. In addition, the crime rate on the island is the highest in the country overall. I took a step of faith accepting to visit such a territory even though I didn’t know Pastor Simbran or anyone else from that island. God’s Holy Spirit who knows everyone and everything guided my steps toward accepting the invitation. According to the Bible, “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD, and He delights in his way” (Psalm 37:23-24) [NKJV]. And so I decided to make all the arrangements to meet other people in Manila (capital of the Philippines). Pastor Florin Cîmpean from Philadelphia Romanian Church of God had visited Manila a couple years ago together with Pastor Tony Lane from Church of God. I inquired them to give me some contacts and churches in Manila, which they were glad to assist with.

On Thursday October 21st, we took a flight to Manila through Nagoya, Japan and arrived there late Friday night. We spent the night at Church Strengthening Ministry, which was very close to the International Airport. Alina Voda is a Romanian missionary who began working in a clinic to reach lost souls. She picked us up from CSM and brought us to her clinic so that we may visit her work. Alina had a divine calling for missionary work and she responded and God led her to reach tribes in Rwanda, Senegal,

and now she had a calling to begin working in the Philippine islands for about three years where she already learned Tagalog language. Right now, she is among the poor suburbs of Manila in Antipolo where she opened a clinic in April 2010 named ‘Rapha de la Solid Cement’ where she works among the lost, sick, and very poor ‘squatters’ with a blessed team of nurses and health workers.

On Saturday, October 23rd, we visited the bible college in Manila led by Director Scott Rain who welcomed us to a tour in the school and a dinner and fellowship. We then went to Antipolo Church where we spent the night in the church’s guest room.

On Sunday morning, we attended the church service and both of us brought greetings to the church only because they had

already scheduled a guest speaker, Jack Bensop from Alaska. We had fellowship with the pastors and other leaders afterward. In the evening, we visited another church in a very poor area next to a river named ‘Church River of Life’. Both of us were able to share God’s love and encouraged the congregation and prayed for the sick. We gave rice and other goods to the poor.

Early

Monday morning, we left Manila and flew to Dipolog City. Our contact, Pastor Simbran, picked us up from the airport despite our concern of not knowing him personally but the Spirit of God does not lead us into temptation but delivers us from evil when we sincerely server the Lord and do His will. Pastor Simbran drove us to his father’s house where we had fellowship with his entire family and we felt very welcomed and blessed. I thanked God that he gave me the courage to take this step of faith and come to this island because the way that God led us and confirmed his works with signs of His presence and was wonderful and beyond our expectation. We held a church service in the evening with Pastor Simbran at his father’s church where we were the guest speakers. Belshiezar’s father, Pastor Bonifacio Simbran is the founder of Connections International Christian Leadership that currently supervises 152 churches whom he and his team founded in the last 20 years. He raises 20 orphans at his church house and also runs a bible college for the new leaders.

We had to depart on Tuesday towards another church in Dampalan for a conference but the road was blocked because of a landslide and so we visited a prison in Dipolog city where we gave goods to the inmates and preached the word of God to about over 100 inmates. On Wednesday, we headed to the church in Dampalan early in the morning for our conference “Ignite the Fire”.

What is

remarkable about this is that I visited Romania two years ago and had a conference in Bistrita with Robert Brown of Chaplains for Christ International, and I was proposed to do a lesson called “Ignite the Fire” and someone else from another part of the world called me with the same topic again to come into their country. Well, God’s Spirit wants to ignite the fire in His church throughout the world. We have to be torches of fire with burning desire and passion of revival wherever we go. Flames of fire we need to become to destroy the works of evil and set the people free from bondage in the Name of Jesus Christ.

We

arrived at the church in Dampalan, led by Pastor Tumim Bang, on Wednesday and started the conference later in the evening. Words like fire were shared from the Gospels and also, testimonies of revival were shared. People were touched and the presence of God was manifested in the midst of over 100 pastors and bible students.

On Thursday, early church service began with prayer and worship and sharing the word of God. The Holy Spirit of God moved mightily and members started speaking in other tongues as the Spirit of God gave them utterance. Refreshment from the presence of God was imparted to the members of the conference. At about noon, we left and visited a church at Lamaya where Pastor Ba Quiran had invited us. I spoke out of Psalm 85 to the congregation and the mayor of the village, Captain Baron, was present there to thank the congregation for her their electoral votes. As we spoke of the favor of God, which comes after we repent, a lot of people were touched especially Lady Baron. She responded by saying, “This is what we need, the favor of God.” We returned back to Dampalan Church to conclude our conference meeting and to have another service to keep the fire going.

Towards the end of the service, certificates were passed to the participants in recognition for their participation at the conference. Pastors from up to 1000 km away participated; some came by bus and some by motorcycles. We could see their joy and enthusiasm as being part of this conference. They all returned back to their home churches filled with useful information and fresh fire to share with their local church members.

At the conference, a mother approached us with her 6-month old daughter looking for prayer for her daughter, which had a tumor on her neck. She was looking for us the following day and was eager to tell us that lump on her daughter’s neck had vanished and was healed for the Glory of God! We departed back to Dipolog on that night and drove about 3 hours on gravel road to spend the night at Pastor Bonifacio’s home.

The

next day, we went to purchase hygienic supplies and food for our next visit to Dipolog Provincial Jail. We visited the jail on our way to the town of Liloy. We ministered to the inmates that very sunny morning with over 50 inmates who very attentively heard the word of God in the courtyard. Most of them surrendered their life to Jesus Christ, their only hope. Goods were distributed among them and they gladly received them because ministers seldom visit this jail. After spending a couple hours at the jail, we stopped at a very poor and small church by the ocean shores in the town of Lipakan on our way to Liloy. They were a lot of children worshipping God in the middle of a jungle. At the end of the service we prayed for the sick and among them, God touched an elderly woman with an inability to walk mightily. As a gratitude for our visit we received as gifts some freshly cut coconuts. The people of this community are fishermen, but due to the rainy season, their food source is scarce. We helped every family there (about 10 families) with 1000 pesos each. We then headed towards the town of Liloy where we attended one of the first churches planted by Pastor Bonifacio Simbran. The presence of the Holy Spirit was manifested so powerfully as soon as the worship started that everyone was filled with Joy and Peace. Both of us shared the word of God about the power of Prayer – Jesus himself went to pray fervently alone. “Now in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed.” (Mark 1:36-36) [NKJV]

On

the morning of Saturday October 30th, we visited the jail in the town of Liloy and held a service there where a few Muslims were present and attentive during the service. We provided them with hygienic supplies but most importantly, we brought the word of God to their lives. Personal relation with God through the cross is the true way of salvation. “Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6) [NKJV]. Pastor Belshiezar’s wife, Amette, descended from a Muslim family – joined us in this visit and met her cousin, who was an inmate in this prison. The Holy Spirit touched him by the message brought to them that morning. God miraculously healed Amette Simbran from bone marrow cancer. Her fragile leg was broken in three sections. Being a worship leader, she asked God to bring healing to her bones that she may jump and worship the Lord with her whole heart and become a testimony for her Muslim family. We then headed toward the town Batayan to visit another church in the middle of the jungle (literally) and held a powerful church service there. They were in the process of eviction. We asked Pastor Bilopaolo how much money they needed to finish the church they were in the process of building – they said $500, which we they humbly received with joy – we told them that God answered their prayers. The occupations of the people in this community are rubber collectors from tree trunks and they also cultivate coconut trees. Our driver, Dong Dong, which accompanied us for a few days, finally arrived home at this point and got to see his wife and young son. From there, we headed towards Gatas, hometown of Pastor Belshiezar. We attended their church service that night and shared the word of God to about 100 people. After the church service, we went to Pastor Belshiezar’s home where he raises approximately 14 orphan children. The orphans welcomed us with worship songs. We spent the night in their home, which was filled with sparrows. “Even the sparrow has found a home” (Psalms 84:3) [NKJV].

On

Sunday October 31st, we visited attended morning church service at Pastor Simbran’s church. A lot of children were there and we also had the pleasure of meeting a 90 yr. old man who was praising God, jumping and singing enthusiastically. The church building was incomplete with no windows and no floor. Even so, the congregation is full of joy and thanks for what the Lord has done in their lives. We encouraged them with the message “Today matters”.

At noon, we visited another church of Pastor Lanyohan and held another service there. Although this church consisted of bamboo walls and dirt floors, the members truly worshipped the Lord and maintained and active faith in Jesus.

• “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3) [NKJV]

• “Listen, my beloved brethren: Has God not chosen the poor of this world to be rich in faith and heirs of the kingdom which He promised to those who love Him?” (James 2:5) [NKJV].

Afterward

, we were invited to have lunch at Pastor Lanyohan’s home and headed to the town of Ipil where we the Simbran family lived for many years and build their altars there for God. On April 4 of 1995, Ipil was attacked by a part of the Abu Sayyaf group. The town was set on fire and razed to the ground, and people were butchered to death. Press reports called it a massacre. All that had been so laboriously built went to rubble in a matter of hours. During this time, Pastor Joey Delapena that attended our conference says he was shot in the leg during the Ipil massacre and God spared his life because he promised he would commit his life to Jesus for his entire life, while he was bleeding to death. He kept his promise and is now a leader of the church of Christ in the mountain village.

A Christian security guard, Franklin Ramo, which we had met at Gata Mauswagon pastored by Lanyohan, invited us to Ipil city jail. We ministered to over 350 inmates whom were all incarcerated in their cells but were able to hear the word of God because of the courtyard. We brought them some hygienic supplies. On our way to Dipolog we stopped at another church at the town of Tampilisan pastored by Pastor Bagnol where we held an evening service. His wife translated for us at most of the places we visited. We met someone who had a tumor and we prayed for her.

This was our last church service in the Philippines where the people’s love and joy had such an impact on us that we would love to go back and visit or send another missionary team. Our driver, Dong Dong, drove us back safely to the Dipolog City. We spent the night at Pastor Simbran’s home and prepared for our departure to Manila the next day.

On

Monday morning, after having fellowship with the Simbran family, they drove us to the airport for our departure towards Manila where we stayed overnight at the CSM and departed early Tuesday morning, November 2nd to the states with one stop in Tokyo, Japan.

Once again we thank God for encouraging and guiding us to do His will and opening a window to minister to such a great country. We want to thank the Holy Spirit for motivating us to take the step the faith. We want to give a more sincere thanks and gratitude to all members of the Simbran family and all the pastors and attendees. To God is all the Glory, Honor and Praise.

-Constantin Lupancu

-Edgar Garza