Marriage Counseling

"We need some people to teach at our marriage counseling today." My first thought was not me I have no experience. Well, God had other ideas! Six couples who are engaged came for the training.
God gave me the wisdom I needed to share, since I have never experienced being engaged or have been in a marriage relationship.
I talked about what true love is from the passage of ICor.13. When I got up to share, words were coming out of my mouth that were truly from God and He kept giving me examples to share.
What was really encouraging was to hear from Richard, one of the young men who is working with us. He told me that what I shared really helped him to understand what true love is.
He asked me if I had a boyfriend, so I was able to share with him how I am waiting for God's Best. Richard told me that he is also waiting for God's Best and that he wants to finish college first, before he enters into a relationship.

Ministry in Malaybalay City Jail

We got to go to the Malaybalay City Jail. It was my first time to go in a jail that was in use. The jail was out of the city. They had one cell of ladies, the rest were men. I got to talk to the ladies for a bit. There were five of them. Some of us shared the testimonies of when we got saved. I was able to share about my response to my older brother Isaac’s passing, and how I was able to thank God for allowing my brother to pass away. After I shared with them one of the ladies shared that four of her siblings had died, three had hanged themselves on three consecutive years. She was crying. They told us some about their families. All of them except for one came from larger families (eight to eleven children). I am glad that I got to share with them. They sang a couple of songs for us. They said that it was the only thing that they could give.

—Sarah Waller

An Interesting Meeting a Few Days Ago

On Sunday night, I had a very unusual opportunity that the Lord allowed. Pastor Rodney, our host here in Malaybalay, told our team about a special group of people that he ministers to—the city gangs.

He asked if we would like to have a character teaching session with them. We agreed to go. I had a rich time of fellowship with the Lord while I asked him if I should join the small team that was going. I felt that it was the right thing to do and told David that I would go.

Not knowing for sure what would happen, we traveled downtown to a soup kitchen where the gang agreed to meet us. After getting there and setting up, the gang carefully filed in one at a time. After they ate and we talked with them for a while, David stood up and began to teach.

Using several object lessons, he shared with them why it is important to make right choices, and how to rebuild your reputation if you make wrong choices. It was amazing to see the attentiveness they showed and how much they seemed to understand.

The saddest part of the evening was the small eight-year-old boy in the middle of this mostly twenty-year-old gang. It is sad to think of the influences on his life. Please pray for this boy and others like him who need the light of Christ here in the Philippines. Praise the Lord for what He is doing here in Malaybalay

- Josh Mathews

More Pics!

Over one hundred pastors and their wives met for several hours of training on character. I was surprised at their enthusiasm for the concepts of Character Training. We praise the Lord for the great response and for the potential of this impacting the churches of the city.

This particular pastor found me a day or so later and showed me the book that he purchased entitled, The Power for True Success. He pointed to the different character qualities and stated, "I am so convicted because I have been an angel in the pulpit but, but a devil at home. I practice all the character qualities with my congregation but all of the opposite qualities with my family." He went on to point them out.

This gentleman is thrilled with his new resource!




















The Mayor of Malaybalay has been so gracious to host us providing for all of our trainings, venues, and several of our meals. His vision as a Christian is to make Malaybalay a model for the nation to follow of a city of Character.






Many of our trainings have been conducted in the Mayors hall. We are grateful for his tremendous enthusiasm for what we are doing and promoting!

"This place has been a blessing in disguise!" A incarcerated man told me that had he not come here, he never would have turned to Christ for salvation.












The Malaybalay City Jail is now a proclaimed correctional facility of character. The guards have purposely used this captive audience to help them reconstruct their lives. Most of the prison guards have accepted Christ as their savior. The chaplain said that his goal is to turn this jail into a Bible School. He mentioned that most of them read through the Bible or hear the Bible read every month. They for the first time in the history of the jail have had so many turn to Christ that they had a mass release recently due to the outstanding progress in each man's attitudes. Other jails are now visiting this jail to find out their secret--Christ!

Visiting the City Jail of Malaybalay

When our team started to discuss the possibility of visiting the Malaybalay City Jail, I was very excited. I knew that this would be a great opportunity for the whole team and I was also looking forward to meeting the staff and inmates.

When we arrived at the prison we were greeted by the chaplain. He began to tell us how they had already been using and implementing Character First! in the jail. It was a blessing to see his desire to have character in the jail and I saw it being modeled by those in charge.

After we introduced ourselves and met the rest of the staff, David briefly shared about character and what that means to us as individuals. The chaplain then explained their vision and goals for the future.

Soon after going in to meet the inmates, the chaplain wanted me to talk to a man who was in charge of some others in his cell. This man was a Christian and he told me how his conversion came about during his time in prison. He had grown up in a Christian home but because of wrong influences in his life he was drawn away from the truth. Now as a Christian he wants to be a pastor and have a prison ministry.

I was challenged when I heard the story of his changed life. It is a reminder to me of God’s power and love and His desire to seek out his own, drawing men unto himself.

Ryan Barth

Snapshots!

Tammy is on her way to Malaybalay boarding the airplane right from the tarmac!










Ho, Ho, Ho! Pastor Rodney, our host, and his assistant take our laundry.










A motorella with precious cargo!










There is another shot of the transportation in this region.










Training for the ROTC was an inspiring time!










Meal time. An experience!

Some of Our First Teaching Engagements

Thank you for your prayers for our team as we are here in the Philippines. Our contact back home is limited because internet is not readily available. Our team right now is in Malaybalay, on the island of Mindanao, in the southern part of the Philippines. We arrived in Manila around 1am on Thanksgiving morning (Filipino time) and spent the morning at the IBLP training center in Manila. Then, that afternoon we flew from Manila to Cagayan de Oro and then drove 3 hours deeper into the island to Malaybalay. We will be staying here until next Sunday, and then we’ll leave for Cebu in the central part of the Philippines.

We are staying at a resort type of area here in Malaybalay. It is a very beautiful and scenic area – we are nearly surrounded by mountains, and the trees and other plants growing here are very pretty. We are living in cottage huts with bamboo walls and grass roofs, but thankfully they do have hard cement floors! The other people here are very good, and they’ve kept us well fed!

Last Sunday, we were at a church that our hosts are the pastors of, and our group sang some songs and I had the opportunity to preach. I preached through a translator because not everybody in church is fluent in English, which was a very new experience for me! I talked about relationship with God, the importance of being in His Word, and accepting and living in the love of God. It went very well, and I was encouraged to see God work.

We have a very full week ahead of us, and we are scheduled to teach in government offices, university students, and several other groups. It has been very neat to sit and watch God work around us in many different areas as we’ve ministered here. I have enjoyed resting in the Lord and abiding in His Word over here, and I have been walking in the joy and love of Christ!

Thanks for praying for us! Leave a comment and keep in touch!

Andrew