Lost Sheep Ministries News November 2015 - Philippines The Great Commission: Matthew 28: 18-20 is a commission for all Christians to GO, make Disciples, and teach them to OBEY all that Jesus has commanded us. LSM is dedicated to evangelizing the lost and making Disciples of Christ that make Disciples of Christ according to II Timothy 2:2. Notes from Pastor Bob: As a famous WWII General once said, "I shall return (to the Philippine Islands). This month we returned to the Philippines. Fortunately, Jimmy Stanfield will accompany me and we will co-labor with dear brothers and sisters in Christ that I have grown to love so dearly. I have ministered in the Philippines several times but this will the first visit by Brother Jimmy. I just know he will fall in love with these dear saints. -- Pastor Bob Thursday, Oct. 22, 2015 How will I ever explain to the Apostle Paul the difference between his mule, ship, and other forms of transportation to riding in this B-777? Thank you God that I am riding in comfort on United Airline flights. The flight from Houston, TX to Manila took twenty hours with brief stops in Hawaii and Guam. This was another long, long, journey riding on three flights from Houston to Honolulu to Guam to Manila. Seven of those hours were waiting in airports. Saturday, Oct. 24, 2015 Jimmy and I arrived at 9:30 pm and waited for 1 hour for our luggage but it never came. We enjoyed pizza at Pizza Hut in a mall in Santa Rosa Laguna province. We had to visit the mall to buy clothes for tomorrow. Our luggage has still not made it. Everyone misses Pastor Richard Robeson and Roy Mimms who accompanied me on earlier visits. We are looking forward to experiencing another journey with our Holy Spirit. We always remember that 2/3 of God is Go!, God's will is God's bill, and Witnessing is sharing Jesus Christ in the power of the Holy Spirit leaving the results up to God. Page 1 of 6
Sunday, Oct. 25, 2015 We left at 5 pm for Living Faith Christian Baptist Church, a small church located in Cabuyao, a small town next to Santa Rosa. I had never been to this church before. There were about 40 adults there but only four were men. I was again blessed by the praise time. Jimmy and I shared the messages God had placed on our hearts and then we sat and visited for almost three hours. I love this part of mission work. Getting to know the people is always a blessing for me. I enjoy asking them to share their testimonies or answering what God has done in their lives lately. The young woman who led the praise has only been saved a little longer than two years. She was raised in a Catholic Church when a friend told her You need to be born again. She went home and checked her Bible and yes in John 3:3 Jesus did say that. So she repented and placed her faith and trust in Jesus Christ to be her Lord and Savior. I asked the ladies I was visiting to check out my website (www.lostsheepministries.com). Would they please translate some of the Discipleship lessons into Tagalog for me? They said they would so. Lord, I love serving You in these small churches. We encouraged them to Believe God, Trust God, and Obey God! Reminding them as Saints, Servants, Soldiers, Priests, anointed by the Holy Spirit, and Ambassadors for Jesus Christ! I look forward to each day serving Him regardless of where I wake up. Monday 6:40 am We travelled back to Cabuyao on Sunday morning to Full Life Community International Church. A large sign on the wall displayed their mission statement GO AND MAKE DISCIPLES! and their vision statement A Community Church Participating in Fulfilling Jesus Great Commission. There were probably 100 in attendance counting the children. We enjoyed four wonderful hours of praise, prayer, preaching and fellowship. A devotional word was given by a young lady taken from Philippians Chapter 2 Thinking like a Servant. The pastor informed me they were using guidebooks from Charios ministries. Jimmy then shared a brief testimony and then from John 7:37-38 Now on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink."he who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, 'From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water.' Are we thirsty to be filled with the Holy Spirit? We need to die to self and give our total selves to the Holy Spirit. I then spoke on a message from Isaiah 6:1-8 -- "Then I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, 'Whom shall I send, and who will go for Us?'" Then I said, "Here am I. Send me!" The Holy Scripture tells us in verse 1 that Isaiah recognized His Maker (his Creator). In verse 5 Isaiah realized his malady (his sin). In verse six Isaiah received God s Mercy (forgiveness of his sin). In verse eight Isaiah responded to God s Mandate (Here am I send me!). Page 2 of 6
What about you? Have you recognized your maker and realized you were a sinner, and received God s mercy when by faith, you received Jesus as your Savior, and again I ask what about you? Have you responded to God s call for His saints, servants, soldiers, priests, and ambassadors, filled with His Holy Spirit to cry out yes, yes Lord, here am I send me! The altar was flooded with people crying out to God waiting for me to anoint them and pray for them. I believe it took more than 45 minutes to pray for them each individually. I am humbled to be His Ambassador. I was really looking forward to a nap but when we got back to Jesus Christ Victorious Church (JCVC) my plans were altered. The youth were waiting to hear from Jimmy and me. Okay God, let s go. Give us a fresh anointing Holy Spirit. We spent about one hour with the youth and was also able to give each one a gift of a music CD from Lifeway Christian Bookstore. Thanks to Matt and all who minister there. I went to bed at about 6:30 and slept until 5:30 this morning. Prayerfully awaiting another adventure with God today. Wednesday morning 5:30 am Monday night we travelled only a distance of about 10 miles but it took 1 ½ hours to get there. The traffic was unbelievable. I am convinced we could have walked and got there faster. We visiting Maranatha Evangelical Church. Wow! Wow! Wow! Heaven came down and glory filled our souls. What an awesome night of prayer, praise, and preaching. Jimmy preached on the importance of UPREACH (prayer & fasting) before Outreach (evangelism) before Inreach (discipleship training & fellowship). I again shared from Isaiah Chapter 6:1-8. The results were the same: There was not enough room at the altar to hold all that came forward to cry out to God Here am I send me. Page 3 of 6
We then went to eat and share with six pastors. The pastor I remember the most has been in ministry for 50 years. He has four sons; three are pastors and the fourth is in seminary training to be a pastor. He wept as he shared his desire to go to the nations and to preach to thousands. Folks that is called VISION. We are going to have a revival for youth here in the Philippines next May. I have a vision that we will be ministering to thousands (yes I said thousands) of young people. This Saturday we will have a sampling as about five churches are bring their youth here to Jesus Christ Victorious Church for ministry. Yesterday I found a table to sit and rest. As I sat and began to pray, "Holy Spirit please send someone to me that God the Father is drawing to Jesus Christ today". Well He did not take long to answer my prayers. Two ladies came to the table selling snacks. "No thank you", I said. "I am from Houston, Texas and I am a pastor/missionary. I was praying before you came asking God s Holy Spirit to bring someone to me that I could share some good news with. Would you like to hear some good news?" "Yes", they nodded. "First may I ask you a question: If you were to die today and stand before God in heaven and He asked you why should I let you enter my heaven? How would you answer God?" The look on their faces was priceless. "We don t know", they answered. I then shared the wonderful good news of John 3:16. They prayed with tears streaming down their cheeks. Wow, I love the wet births. I had them read Romans 10:9-10 and they were shown by the Holy Spirit we are saved! We confessed Jesus Christ with our mouths and believed in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead. The power of God flowing through us His ambassadors. But wait! God put the icing on the cake when a man walks over. He wanted to know what was going on. So again, I shared the good news with him and he prayed to receive Christ also. He is one of the ladie's brother! They have committed to travel to Santa Rosa on Sunday morning to be baptized. As a Texas friend of mine often writes in His Bay Area Recovery Newsletter I m drinking from my saucer 'cause my cup runneth over! Friday morning 6:30 am: We had a good day yesterday. We had a prayer meeting here at JCVC last night. Folks, these people know how to pray! We spent almost three hours of prayer, praise and messages from Jimmy and me. Then we had pizza and nobody went home until about midnight. I have noticed here that in the churches when they pray that they pray for souls to be harvested not only here in Philippines but around the world. Over and over again Thy will be done Lord. I realize this is a different culture but I sure wish we would have their attitude of prayer in our churches in America. I don t know what is planned for today. I know this for me today is always the best. I often say when asked how my mission trip was and I always answer, The last one is always the best one until the next one. Come quickly Lord Jesus but until you come -- I WILL GO! Sunday morning 7 amyesterday was another indescribable, awesome day serving the Lord. We had about 60 youth from JCVC from 10 am to 6 pm. We enjoyed awesome praise times, and Jimmy and I each shared two messages in the morning and afternoon. Just before lunchtime Jimmy had shared another strong message from the Word of God. I knew the Holy Spirit was speaking so I went forward and applied a little confrontational evangelism. Young man I yelled, "If you die right now and God asked you why should I let you into my heaven? How will you answer Him? "I don t know", he answered. Then another and another and before I knew it six young men were on their knees. Wow! You go Holy Spirit. Page 4 of 6
I went to my room to rest as I have a very bad head cold. My nose will not stop running and my head hurts. Pastora Ha (Kim) knocked on my door and brought a young lady to me. Alyssa shared with me that she was convicted by the Holy Spirit to be born again. She has been attending church for about three years but has never been born again or baptized. Well, yesterday is her Spiritual Birthday and today we will baptize her along with the others. God allowed Jimmy and me to lead ten to Christ this trip. I really had a hard day yesterday sick with a bad headache. So I shared first then went back to bed to rest until distribution of the Spiritual Birth Certificates and Baptism Service. Jimmy said everything went super well. The JCVC praise team are young and awesome. I went back about noon and passed out the Birth Certificates then explained baptism to the candidates, went out on the porch and baptized eight one-day-old Christians. Just one more soul Lord. I baptized the seven young men and the young Lady. Went back to bed and waited for the 4 pm departure for the airport. We said our goodbyes with hugs and tears: It was really special. I looked into the teary eyes of those young people so grateful to God that He brought Jimmy and me to share with them this week. We visited six churches, three were in the Manila area, and three were in the country. I know we touched many, many life s and gave them a drink of cool water. I am honored to serve God as His Ambassador to the World. Page 5 of 6
Monday at home: It s a long ride from Manila to Houston. About 28 hours including airport layover time. On our ride from HNL to IAH we were back in economy but I asked for a seat with an empty seat on each side of me. There are five seats in a row and the two aisle seats were occupied. I asked the men on each side of me if they would allow me to lie across the seats and they agreed. I was really feeling bad with my nose still running, my eyes tearing and my head aching. I guess I slept part of the 8-hour trip. When we were in our final descent I turned to Jimmy on my right. He was 28 years old a former marine and now a federal prison guard in Hawaii. I really felt led to share Christ with him so here we go. Jimmy, May I ask you a question? "Yes", he answered. If you were to die today and stand before God and He asked you why He should let you into heaven, how will you answer Him? "That s a good question and I don t know", he said. I can tell you if you want to know. Yes he said please tell me. He prayed to receive Christ and he was really happy as he shook my hand and thanked me. Well, let s talk to Dustin on my left as we re almost on the ground. The same question and answer and then Dustin a sailor stationed at Pearl Harbor is praying to receive Christ. Wow, God two more into the kingdom of God. What an awesome way to end a trip. Recommended Reading: The Great Omission by Dallas Willard. Dr. Willard, a professor of Philosophy at the University of Southern California, points out the victorious life in Christ's Kingdom being missed by those that become Christian and are taught that their salvation is only for the forgiveness of sins so they can go to heaven when he/she dies. The last command Jesus gave the Church before He ascended to heaven was the Great Commission, the call for All Christians to "make disciples of all nations. "But Christians have responded by making "Christians," not Disciples. This has been the church's Great Omission. Many churches are dying for failure to emphasize Jesus' essential teachings on Discipleship. AmazonSmile.com purchases helps LSM: Purchases through AmazonSmile.com will result in financial contributions to the Lost Sheep Ministries. Please use "http://smile.amazon.com/ch/76-0364036" for your book and electronics purchases and 0.05% of your purchase will be donated to LSM. Tax Deductable Donations to LSM: Lost Sheep Ministries is a 501(c) non-profit organization. Donations may be made to LSM, 2951 Marina Bay Drive, Suite 130-144, League City, TX 77573. We are seeking funds to travel, equip, and commission others to take the Gospel of Christ to all nations. This monthly newsletter will be distributed by email only. Email addresses may be removed or added to distribution by notifying John Overton at dotnjohn@comcast.net. Note: All of our Newsletters and Power point presentations along with student manuals are available free from our web: www.lostsheepministries.com Page 6 of 6