2009 and beyond!

Economic and financial analysts forecast a gloomy future as globaleconomy slumps. The economic crunch is not sparing anyone—and any company—big or small. It is hard to believe that as 2008 ticked its way to the finish line hundreds of big companies including banks and once invulnerable giants in business closed down.

In a December 24 Internet posting by Reuters in New York, analysts say that rebounds in U.S. company earnings do not show financial turn-around in 2009. These analysts abandon their expectations of recovery in the immediate future.

In the Philippines, close to a dozen banks had been taken over by the Central Bank and were placed under receivership of the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation due to liquidity problems.

In a conversation with a businessman a few days ago, I was told that his company has started retrenching its employees due to extremely low exports of products in comparison to months earlier. “We are getting less and less orders from world markets and closing down is inevitable if the downward trend goes unabated,” he said. How does the crippling global crisis affect us and our individual Christian life?

We look at it as though the slump is temporary—hoping that the looming crisis, like all other things, dies a natural death. A tinge of complacency dismisses the phenomenon as nothing but a “bear” in the cycle of investment—goes up, goes down—but in the end it ends well!

In a last quarter 2008 survey conducted by the Social Weather Station (SWS),92 percent of Filipinos were hopeful that 2009 will be better for them. Their optimism was anchored on “faith in God.” This response, though, may have been influenced by the benumbing effect of poverty or by a genuine faith in a God who lets them live a day at a time.

My faith in God, indeed, gives me the same feeling, minus the complacency nurtured by others. It would be a ‘faith journey in Jesus’ through the roller-coaster economy that the world faces.

End-time events hinge on economy—the ‘buy and sell’ of Revelation 13:17. I hope the ‘carnival’ scene is preparing us to go through the harder yet episodes of our spiritual journey should odds strongly counter our direction.

Yes, the world is not as settled as it once was. Our time suggests the fragility and vulnerability of an age that is not anchored on solid ground—faith in God. Scriptures says that we don’t have to fear about tomorrow (Matthew 6:34). Let us then put our trust in a God who knows our future!

Regardless of what 2009 and the future bring, I am convinced that the best is yet to come. The preludes to the John 14: 1-3 scenes need not trouble or scare us.

The scenes don’t convey complacency. They are anchored on true hope for a coming glory. Praise God!

Drive out merchants

And when he had made a scourge of small cords, he drove them all out of the temple, and the sheep, and the oxen; and poured out the changers’ money, and overthrew the tables; And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not my Father’s house an house of merchandise. John 2:15-16

What a mess! Jesus goes to the temple and what does He find? A marketplace! Of course, this situation did not always exist. There must have been a time when people dared not come into the courts with their animals and money to trade. But things must have gotten worse. Both the merchants and the worshippers had become careless with regard to keeping the precincts of the temple holy. The former saw an opportunity to make huge profits by providing an essential service for the latter. The arrangement was both convenient and necessary, wasn’t it?

It made a lot of sense.

That’s how it is, dear friends. Sometimes we lose our sense of what is right and wrong, preferring to think of what is convenient. Sometimes we forget about that which is holy, paying greater attention to that which goes along with our own ideas of success. Sometimes, like those merchants in the temple, we misuse good things for our own selfish benefit. We mix the holy things and the common things. And mind you, it doesn’t
happen overnight. Gradually, little by little, we allow those things to come into our lives and
crowd out the things that are most important. As bad decisions are allowed to grow into habits, those things which bothered us at first cease to do so. Our temples become houses of merchandise.

Well, this state of affairs still bothers Jesus. When He comes into the temple of our lives, He has to get rid of whatever we have permitted to confuse the real issues: the clutter of business, the improper health habits that are weakening or destroying our bodies, the wrong decisions that are hurting our relationships, the morally degrading stuff on the TV, and so on. Our lives were meant to be places where God can receive
honor, worship and glory. We were made for a holy purpose, and God says to us today, like He said to the merchants, centuries ago “Take these things away. Let there be no merchandise in my temple.”

PRAYER: Dear Lord, I surrender to you this temple of mine. Do whatever you need to do to cleanse it Amen.

ERIKSON FABIEN is the church pastor of the Seventh-day Adventist Community Church in Thomson Road, Singapore

City evangelism reaps 121 in southern Philippines

City evangelism is taking many strides as church members proclaim the good news of salvation in cities and urban places. The city evangelism program conducted at Dipolog City in southern Philippines proves these feats as church members, lay pastors and church leaders work together to share Jesus’ love to the city populace.

The public meetings, which were held on March 8-14, culminated the two-month ground work of house visitations and Bible studies, at the Zamboanga del Norte Convention Center in Dipolog City. The nightly meetings which had an average attendance of 400 people ended up on Saturday, March 14, with 121 people accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior through baptism.

Dr Jonathan C Catolico, communication and public affairs director of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the southern Asia-Pacific region, led out in the 7-day reaping series. He was assisted by Pastor Nelson D Paulo, communication and public affairs director for southern Philippines. Coordinating this ground preparation for the said public meetings was Pastor Adellano Casiong with his team of nine dedicated and committed lay workers and pastors.

“I have seen the result of a united church that works for the salvation of people to Jesus Christ. The dedication of the lay leaders and church members were potent ways to bring people to Jesus who desires that everyone must find hope amid the challenges that the financial and moral breakdown bring to his doorsteps,” said Catolico, when asked of his comment after the evangelistic series.

“People everywhere are wary of the meltdown in the financial markets but the impact of a message of hope from the word of God overwhelms this uneasiness and hopelessness,” rejoined Pastor Paulo. “Our church members are happy that the nightly messages of hope cushion the impact of financial recession that is happening worldwide. ‘There is hope after all, they say’,” said Pastor Casiong, Dipolog Church pastor and seminar coordinator. [AND Staff]

Hope Channel loses faithful staff member

Last week was a sad one indeed for the Hope Channel staff in the Philippines. One of the pioneers in broadcasting ministry in southern Philippines (SPUC), died on March 8, six days short of his 58th birthday on March 14.

Joel Acub had been an active member of the church. He would always be there when no singer showed up for a “special song” or did the part of a song leader. He is specially remembered for his active lifestyle and spirit of volunteerism, be it his transportation services, help in engine trouble and repairs, cargo needing to be moved, guest accommodations, and many others. At the Hope Channel studio at SPUC, he kept track of the program schedules, signing on early in the morning and signing off almost at midnight. He was a man with a wealth of wisdom and experience in and outside of the studio. He never lived to witness the soon inauguration of the Hope Channel Philippines which he had been helping to realize.

He had a bout with viral meningitis at a local hospital’s Intensive Care Unit. All his life he was never admitted to the hospital: his first turned out to be his last. But what consoles the Hope Channel staff and the SPUC family was that he had seen Hope Channel, the TV ministry for that matter, came to its present height.

The SPUC family and the Hope Channel International condole with the bereaved family—his wife and daughter—with the hope that this beloved and faithful worker rests in his grave “until the resurrection morning” when the dead in Christ will be awakened from their resting place. [Jade Y Soreno]

Teacher dies at road mishap

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Bangladesh (BAUM) mourn the passing away of Peter Ojha, a teacher at Bangladesh Adventist Seminary and College, March 3, of road accident that happened near the college perimeters. No detailed information about the circumstances of his death was given, because the report was just relayed as a way of soliciting prayers for the bereaved members of his family.

Peter Ojha, 48, who was also a Master Guide, will be missed by his family, students, fellow teachers, church members and friends.

He is survived by his wife, Rose, also a teacher at the college, his son Pinak and his wife; and daughter Pialy, who is studying at the Adventist University of the Philippines.

“We are praying for comfort to the family of Peter with the hope that they will soon see their beloved husband and father at the resurrection morning,” said Milton Das, communication director for BAUM. [AND Staff]

AWR sees listeners in baptism

Radio is one of the best ways of reaching people to learn of the soon-coming of Jesus. Indeed, this medium proved effective again when 70-year-old A-Po-Pu, who lived in a very remote area of Ywa-thar-gyi, 26 miles from the City of Yangon, in Myanmar learned of Jesus his Savior through the Adventist World Radio (AWR) some three years ago.

As he learned of this good news, he invited the AWR staff to visit his home to conduct personal Bible studies. Hla Hla Myint, program director of AWR Myanmar, answered the invitation and Bible studies started.

On February 28, at the Yangon Central Church, 10 of A-Po-Pu’s village mates were baptized to the extreme joy of AWR officers and staff and church members who witnessed their baptisms.

“It was so exciting to hear these village folk sing songs, read the Bible, and even participate in Bible quizzes when we started holding branch Sabbath school programs in their place,” said Hla Hla and her team.

“A-Po-Pu narrated to us that his life changed from one that the people in the community can never admire. As he listened to the messages in the radio, he began assimilating a lifestyle that surprised his neighbours and they began inquiring from him. This led to the holding of small group meetings and eventually ended up in baptism last February 28,” continued Hla Hla.

“The AWR team regularly visited the village to conduct small group meetings. I am glad to see the Holy Spirit working through AWR programs and so we endeavour to give more of our time to producing programs that will spell out changes in the people’s lives until they accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior,” concluded Maung Maung Myo Chan, MYUM communication and AWR director.

Myanmar Mega City meetings yield 74

The “Happy Family Forever” series of presentations proved to have work very well for city dwellers of Myaungmya, Ayeyarwaddy, in the country of the golden pagodas, as meetings held on February 8-21 resulted in big attendance and reaped 74 new believers.

The meetings were conducted at the Joon Hyun Yoo chapel of the Seventh-day Adventist Seminary in Myanmar (MUAS) by four church leaders.

Pastor Muller Kyaw, president of the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Myanmar (MYUM); Pastor Caleb Paw, MYUM ministerial secretary; and Dr. Connally Hla, MUAS chaplain, took turns in presenting the series. Alvin Po Po Hla, MUAS president, gave the nightly health lectures. “The presentations were down-to-earth, clear and family-edifying messages that those who attended the first night meetings kept coming up until the end of the series,” observers were heard to say.

On Sabbath (Saturday), 74 participants accepted the call to be part of God’s family through baptism by Pastor Kyaw, which brought joy and excitement to church members. These new believers were baptized by Pastors Kin Mg Yin, Paul Tanbaunaw, and Connally Hla.

“We know that heaven rejoiced with us as we saw the triumph of truth in the hearts of many here in our country,” said faculty and staff and church members attending the ceremony. [Morris Chit]

Participants: Video production a better way to reach people

The church in West Indonesia (WIUM) aims to cope with the modern trend of communicating the gospel to its constituents. It wants to employ a better way to reach this land of diverse people that makes Indonesia a predominant Moslem land.

Video messages, complemented by electronic media can fulfill this mandate. And on February 24-26, the communication leaders together with lay enthusiasts within WIUM organized a workshop to learn the specifics of video production and electronic publication.

Held at the WIUM headquarters, 40 participants learned ‘videography’ and web-making under Welsie dela Cruz, media center director for the church headquarters in the southern Asia-Pacific region (SSD); Rhoen P Catolico, assistant program director for Adventist World Radio-Asia/Pacific; and Dr Jonathan Catolico, SSD communication director.

During the video production workshop, the participants went into actual production: scriptwriting, set designing, shooting, and other activities to complete three four-minute episodes. Web programs, news and feature writing, were also introduced to the participants.

“We are glad for these enriched skills of video production and electronic publications. These will help us produce good videos in order to reach our neighbors who will not get interested receiving the gospel message other than this method,” said participants. [AND Staff]

Cambodia Church welcomes new president

A new president has come to take the cudgel of leadership of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (CAM) in this former war-torn country of Cambodia. Pastor Deane Jackson and his wife, Ruth, arrived on February 16 to the joys of the church members.

Pastor Jackson has been in the ministry for over 30 years as church pastor, evangelist, ministerial association secretary and president of the Northern Australian Conference of the Adventist Church. Ruth, on the other hand, was a teacher and an education director, and has worked faithfully alongside her husband in evangelistic programs across Australia and overseas.

“It is a great privilege for us to come to Cambodia and work for the Lord,” said Pastor Jackson. “We believe Jesus is coming soon and, together with our pastors, teachers, church workers and members here, we want to share His love with the people of this wonderful country.”

During their welcome ceremony, Pastor Jackson said, “To tell others about our friend Jesus is not just about what we say, it is about what we do and how we live. And in order to live for Jesus, we need special strength as spelled out in the Gospel of John, chapter 1:12 and that power and strength to live for Him is promised to every believer.” He also challenged his Cambodian brothers and sisters to receive God’s power and strength to share his grace and forgiveness with others. “I ask of you to pray earnestly for the gift of the Holy Spirit in order to make our witness effective,” he concluded. [CAMera Newsletter, Vol 7, No 2]

Camp meeting enlists 825 new members to church’s roll

The Seventh-day Adventist Church in Cambodia (CAM) holds a yearly camp meeting bringing together hundreds of church members and their friends to fellowship and praise. This year’s camp meeting, February 9-14, had more than 2,500 attendees coming from all over the country. The camp meeting was held at Wat Prey Yesu (Salt Center), in Siem Reap.

The participants were feted to a spiritual feast as they listened to messages delving on the theme, “God’s Word Brings Hope.”

“Last year we committed ourselves to double our baptism of 400 new believers and indeed, we fulfilled that promise. This year we brought in 825 new believers who were baptized on Sabbath,” said church members.

A very active and enthusiastic team from the USA joined the camp and led out with the children’s program as well as with health screening.

Dr. Dan Augsberger presented the morning devotional talks while the local pastors were assigned to give the evening worship talks.

The management of the camp reiterated their appreciation to these guests who came to make the sessions alive and worth repeating. They also thanked the team from Cambodia Adventist School for translating the messages given by the guests as well as helping with the children’s program.

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