New Life!

It's full steam ahead here in Batangas City. I have decided to go picture overload this week since I really neglected photos 2 weeks ago! 

On Tuesday, August the 21st, we had 6 students from Connect who followed Christ in baptism. Kelsey and I had the privilege of baptizing 5 of these students. Each one of them has been going through early discipleship training for about 2 months now. We are so proud of Edelyn, Josh, Clint, David and Emerzon!

Josh, Edelyn, & Rujin 

Josh & Emerzon

David & Clint

In a bittersweet way, some of them were baptized without the blessing of their parents. We teach them that they must honor their parents unless that leads to disobedience to God. Following Christ in baptism is the first step in obedience for new believers throughout scripture. They all have placed their faith in Jesus, have made him Lord, and are seeking to follow him.

So those who received his word were baptized, and there were added that day about three thousand souls. Acts 2:41

But when they believed Philip as he preached good news about the kingdom of God and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women. 

Acts 8:12

It is so encouraging to see these students who were saved one month ago already eager to step outside of their comfort zones and share the gospel with their classmates and families. Go. Make Disciples. Baptize. Teach. These are the 4 things Jesus left us with. These students are understanding and seeing that more every single week. 

If you haven't been baptized (always submerged in water in New testament - see John 3:23, Mark 1:5, or the example of Jesus in Matthew 3:13-17), but you have placed your faith in Jesus alone for salvation, then this kind of baptism should be the next thing you do. It is a symbol to show that you have been born again - that you have turned away from sin, received Christ as savior, and are giving control of your life to Jesus. This is a sign to others that you have been saved! 

Going under water represents death on the cross by "dying" to our sins. Coming up out of the water represents the new life we live with Christ. We are saying goodbye to our old self centered lives and hello to a new life with Jesus. We are showing others we have been spiritually reborn into God's eternal family. 

For further study on baptism:

Acts 8:26-40

Acts 10:1-48

Acts 16:16-34

Acts 16:11-15

Edelyn

Clint

David

Josh

Emerzon

Prayer before going into the water. 

Beautiful baptism location at Ilijan!

This was such an awesome day! I will share some more photos from the day below. First, I want to share some of what we present to the students from scripture before a baptism decision is ever discussed. For anyone reading this that isn't quite sure if this is something they need, if they are saved etc, please see some of these important verses in regards to our sin and our savior! This is a Bible study we do after a student has been saved and gone through about 4 other beginner Bible studies. It is really a review for them to make sure they fully understand why they are being baptized and how they were saved:

1. They understand the result of sin:

but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. Isaiah 59:2

2. They understand how they were saved!

For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

3. They understand who was sacrificed as a sin offering to cleanse them:

for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified by his grace as a gift, through the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, whom God put forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God's righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. Romans 3:23‭-‬25

If you have turned from yours sins and invited Christ into your life, you will have eternal life!

Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life. 1 John 5:12 

Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me. Revelation 3:20 

If you have faith and have entered into this kind of relationship with Jesus, then baptism comes next! Here are some more photos from last Tuesday!

Kuya Joel and I on the way to Ilijan. I rode on top of the jeepney on the way back.

Ilijan

Connect Crew!

Some of the former students prepared quite the spread for lunch.

Worship and listening to the testimonies of those being baptized.

Kelsey is proud of her camera work..

Worship after baptisms.

Afternoon Bible study at the beach with James and Emerzon.

Missing the group pic. That's me coming towards everyone in the top left corner.

Playing on the beach.

Home of former connect student where we spent the day.

Ivan (hopefully getting baptized this month), Clint, Me, David

Just chillin!

August 21st will definitely be a highlight of this year! 

The past couple of weeks we have continued to stay busy! We taught English the last two Fridays at Golden Gate Senior High. Thus far we have had five classes there with 3 more remaining classes. We are also still teaching Bible classes on Tuesday and Thursday at STI Senior High. At Connect there is a new group of students who have made it through about a month and a half worth of Bible studies. Half a dozen or so have given their lives to Christ and plan on being baptized this month. We are also still doing park ministry on Friday. This is an awesome way to meet people and a really cool place to do Bible studies. 

Bible study with Thursday class at STI.

Bible study with Tuesday class at STI.

Our fearless leader at Connect, Até Kenneth with...Kenneth & Kenneth at STI.

Kelsey - Bible study with Tuesday class at STI.

At Golden Gate they had a Filipino heritage festival last Thursday afternoon. The students from our class invited us and cooked for us!

Filipino cuisine courtesy of our students.

Evening Bible studies at Community Park following an afternoon of games:

Kelsey, Airon, & McCoy

Kio, Dyjay, Me, Emmanuel, & Joseph

Basketball missing! This is the last known photograph we have. Please contact with any information of its whereabouts. Rice reward!

In addition to the above activities, we also have added a couple of new Connect team members over the past 2 weeks.They will be here for the semester before leaving in mid-December. You probably noticed other white people in our photo with the Golden Gate students. That would be Caitlin and Morgan. They are college students at Mississippi State and Gasden State. They have sacrificed a semester of studies to serve Jesus here in the Philippines! They are in multiple schools doing math tutoring and teaching Bible studies at Connect. Please Pray that God will continue to use them here to disciple students after Kelsey and I are gone.

Caitlin and Morgan hanging out in the shade on baptism day.

They have been a great addition to the Connect team!

I will wrap this post up with a few more notable photos. First, and most importantly, yesterday was Josh's birthday! We celebrated with a cake after our church service. 

Irish presenting Josh with his cake.

Kelsey attended a baby shower on Saturday for Cecil, a former connect student. 

Next, McDonald's is everywhere. It is different in every country too. In Honduras I legitimately think the menu is better. They really upgrade with the avocado. It is also the most similar menu to the U.S. India is the worst menu of the 3 countries we have been to. Why, you ask? They don't have any beef! Here in the Philippines you can get burgers at McDonald's, But every Filipino knows it is not a meal without rice..

Me, David, Josh.. They went with fried chicken, rice, & fries.

David, Josh, & Clint

For some reason Christmas starts on September 1st in the Philippines. I'm not a fan. If you want Christmas year 'round, this might be as close as it gets. 

A Christmas tree greeted us on Saturday morning when we arrived at Connect Student Center.

Finally, Some things will never change...

Go Bucks!

Kelsey and I on game day, 9-1-18.

We are so grateful for everyone's prayers and support. God is doing some amazing things here. It is hard to believe we will be flying to Kenya in only 4 short weeks. 

Please pray that we allow God to utilize these last few weeks for His glory. 

Thanks for everything!

Clark