CBN Asia Newsletter - FRONTLINES (July to September 2018)

God of Answered Prayers Our Father in heaven is a gracious and merciful God. He reaches out His hand to each one of us and demonstrates His love in more ways than one. This includes answering our prayers according to His will.

We have seen this attribute of Him many times in the testimonies of miracles in our Family of Ministries. We thank God because His faithfulness in answering our prayers shows in the abundance of resources He has provided for us. As our faithful partners, I believe He desires to do the same in your life, too.

Expect the abundance He promised to those who give as seen in Deuteronomy 28:12, “The LORD will open the heavens, the storehouse of his bounty, to send rain on your land in season and to bless all the work of your hands. You will lend to many nations but will borrow from none.�

Let me encourage you with this: No matter the circumstance, never stop praying for whatever your heart yearns for. Persistent prayer tugs at the heart of God as His ear is inclined to the cries of His people. Nothing is too hard for Him who delights in blessing His children. Wait patiently for His answer and do not lose heart.

As you pray, may you grow closer in fellowship with God. Blessings beyond measure,

PETER M. KAIRUZ President and CEO

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Blessed to be a Blessing Growing up in a poor family was not easy.

Lailani Ramos had a taste of what it felt like to have kindness withheld from her at such an early age. Instead of mercy, Lailani received hurtful words from a store owner when she requested for two cans of sardines on credit. Experiencing firsthand how others could easily shrug off people in need, she made a promise never to do the same.

Lailani lived her life offering help as much as she can – even financially.

She gave to people in need because she knew what it felt like to ask and be rejected. However, this was tested when her husband who was working abroad called in fear of losing his job. How could she continue to help others while making sure that her family stays financially afloat?

While deep in thought and worry, Lailani chanced upon The 700 Club Asia. She called to ask for prayers for her husband and their situation. Moreover, Lailani was also inspired to share her blessings through one of the stories featured in the program.

Armed with faith in a God who has control over their situation, she donated PhP 500.

Lailani gave despite her lack.

Indeed, God did not disappoint her. Her husband was able to keep his job and even experienced exponential increase in his salary. They were able to buy a house they could finally call their own and acquire other properties for income generation. Lailani continued to give to the ministries of CBN Asia and she saw how God blessed her. Indeed, when she gave her God-given resources to others despite her own need, God entrusted her with more blessings to share.

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Going the Distance in Helping Others How far are you willing to go to help others?

For Dr. Darwin Gaba, 12 hours of travel is not a hindrance for his desire to serve.

Darwin lives in Isabela where he manages a dental clinic with his wife and two children. Whenever a need arises, he sets aside the issue of distance to go to the Operation Blessing Philippines (OB) office in Pasig City to join mission trips as a volunteer dentist.

He witnessed OB in action during a disaster response operation in their province in 2015. With a desire to give back and help, Darwin signed up to be a volunteer.

His first assignment was a disaster response mission trip in typhoon-stricken La Union. This was followed by mission trips in Rizal, Bolinao, and Tingloy Islands in Batangas.

“Despite the imminent danger we face every time we go out to help, I still desire to join,” said Darwin. “Even if the mission is in a far-flung area, I don’t hesitate to offer my help.”

Darwin considers volunteering as his way of giving thanks to God for all the blessings he receives.

He also encourages others to join OB as a volunteer. “Usually, people think that volunteering means a waste of time or resources. This is not true. If you give from your heart – whatever it is – I can testify that you will receive more in return. Above this, the genuine happiness you’ll feel every time you help will be priceless.”

BE A VOLUNTEER! Together, let us make a difference.

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Operation Blessing Philippines (Manila Office) C5 Road cor. Retelco Drive, Bagong Ilog, Pasig City +632 477-7802 to 08

@obphil OBPhilippines

Caring that Never Stops For a mother like Emily, having an undernourished child was too much of a heartbreak.

Despite her husband’s hard work, Emily found it hard to manage their income for a family of six. Adding to her burden were the many days of not being able to offer her family anything on the table but cassava.

Hence, when OB went to Camarines Norte and chose her child, Oliver, to become one of the Bless-A-Child (BAC) beneficiaries, Emily could not help but express thanksgiving to the Lord.

Through the BAC program, Oliver received daily nutritious meals, medicines, and regular medical checkups for 10 months. Not only that, Emily and her husband Woody were also given free seminars on livelihood skills, values formation, financial stewardship, health education, and biblical parenting. OB also invested in the family’s piggery business and partnered with a local church in Camarines Norte to provide the family with spiritual nourishment.

Presently, Oliver is able to maintain healthy weight and his parents also gained knowledge and skills to better sustain their family’s needs.

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No Past Too Dark in God’s Love Recca Gonzales got hooked on drugs at the age of 13. As his addiction worsened, he learned how to gamble, rob, and womanize.

For 16 years, Recca struggled with drug addiction and the desires of his flesh remained strong.

Eventually, his family left him. No one, not even his relatives, accepted and trusted him. Recca felt unwanted and unloved.

As if life’s miseries were not enough, Recca’s enemies in the drug business set out to kill him.

Confronted with death, Recca could only cry out a desperate plea to God. While on his knees, Recca got a call from his mother whom he has not spoken for a long time. His mother offered to help him with the troubles he got entangled into. It was God’s answer to his prayer.

Moreover, while watching The 700 Club Asia one night, Recca was led into a prayer by the hosts to accept Jesus as His Lord and Savior.

He decided to take rehabilitation seriously after that encounter.

Like puzzle pieces, Recca witnessed how Jesus put the pieces of his life together again. He and his family got back together.

His relationship with God continued to grow as he regularly watched The 700 Club Asia.

Currently, Recca is serving as a pastor ministering to juvenile delinquents and former drug addicts. He also uses the life lessons he learned from The 700 Club Asia in ministering to the lost.

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God Comforts the Brokenhearted Have you ever been heartbroken, hopeless, and betrayed?

These feelings of grief have been haunting Wilmar since he was a kid.

When he discovered that his mother died while giving birth to him and his father chose to remarry, he grew up believing that he is worthless and unwanted.

To add to his misery, Wilmar was also molested by someone whom he thought was a friend. Sadly, that night of confusion and curiosity led to several sexual encounters with his other friends.

Soon after, Wilmar experienced severe back and leg pain that eventually caused him to become lame. Because of this, he felt lonely and depressed. He had no one to turn to for help. He even contemplated suicide, believing that no one seemed to care for him.

To his surprise, an old Bible caught his attention and stopped him from ending his life. Thankfully, he was also able to watch an episode of The 700 Club Asia that led him to pray.

“The 700 Club Asia helped me understand God’s love for me and led me to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior,” said Wilmar who is still in awe of God’s miraculous way of reaching out to him through the program.

The CBN Asia Prayer Center also helped Wilmar find a Bible study group and grow in his faith. And through the recent Holy Week special Tanikala presents It’s UnPair!, he learned his true gender identity in Christ.

Wilmar is now actively sharing the gospel to his neighbors and friends and God has also blessed him with a sari-sari store business.

Indeed, “The eyes of the Lord are toward the righteous and His ears toward their cry. He is near to the brokenhearted and saved the crushed in spirit. Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the Lord delivers him out of them all.” (Psalm 34:15,18-19) 7

A Force More Powerful Than Any Curse Who would dare stay in an isolated and barren land with a culture of sorcery where deadly diseases are rampant?

Pastor Noel and Deedee Hermoso did.

Despite the discomfort, uncertainty, and danger, the Hermosos chose to fulfill God’s calling to them as missionaries in Burkina Faso. Located in West Africa, Burkina Faso is a country where the gospel is rarely heard.

Despite the locals’ strong refusal to embrace beliefs apart from Islam and animism in the country, the Hermosos’ desire to preach the gospel prevailed.

Mentored by the Asian Center for Mission’s (ACM) Philippine Director Danny and Ruby Bayasen, Pastor Noel and Deedee started their mission by reaching out to the children of Burkina Faso through Superbook. From here onwards, God’s ministry has blossomed with more than 50 churches trained for children’s ministry in collaboration with CBN Africa, more than 2,000 children discipled, and more than 1,000 children heard the gospel through kids camps. Their extensive training in ACM equipped them to be effective for their work in the mission field.

This year marks their 5th anniversary of following God’s calling in Burkina Faso. As part of their mission, the Hermosos are continually reaching out to least reached people communities and engaging in community development projects on agriculture, animal raising, microfinance, and scholarship initiatives. The couple also witnessed how God is more powerful than any curse in the land through lives surrendered to Jesus and freed from the bondages of sorcery and animism.

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Word of God Planted in the Heart Remember how you used to be so hooked with cartoons when you were little?

For Krisha Juls Cielo, it was Superbook, the Christian Broadcasting Network’s animated Bible series, that captured her attention.

Krisha first encountered Superbook in 1992 when she was just six years old.

Little did she know that by constantly watching the series, God was already working in her heart, planting seeds that would bear fruits in the future.

However, Krisha became rebellious growing up. She felt like her parents were not giving her enough love. She entered in a relationship with a notorious playboy in her campus, which her parents forbade.

Eventually, she married him in secret.

What Krisha thought was a perfect love story slowly met reality. Krisha and her husband Julius started having doubts in their relationship. These feelings then progressed into verbal and physical abuse against each other. It was a very dark phase in their marriage.

While she was losing hope of reconciliation, Krisha encountered Jesus through a video on the Internet. As she was watching, she learned about Jesus’ love and His sacrifice to save her from sin. There, she was also reminded of the times when she watched Superbook.

“Through Superbook, I got to know Jesus. It stood as my foundation to have faith in the Lord,” Krisha shared.

Gradually, Krisha’s life changed. The seeds planted in her heart started growing and she started seeking the Lord. Along the way, her husband also surrendered his life to Jesus.

Krisha admitted that she still watches Superbook Reimagined and promises that her future children will be doing the same.

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Caring for God’s Workers Last April 14, CBN Asia’s President and CEO Peter Kairuz and wife Christine shared their love story to more than 100 ministers over brunch at the Bayview Park Hotel, Manila during the Ministering to Ministers (M2M) Seminar.

With the purpose of helping spouses keep their married lives ablaze, Peter and Christine shared biblical principles and practical tips on how to keep a marriage that is not only thriving but also honoring to God. They also shared how a minister’s failed marriage can fatally affect his or her ministry.

M2M is a regular event organized by the CBN Asia Prayer Center which aims to encourage ministers by primarily strengthening the foundation of their marriage.

Meanwhile, the Asian Center for Missions (ACM) conducted a mentoring program for Member Care Ministry last April 27 – May 1 and May 15 – 18 in partnership with Heartstream Resources Philippines.

Both organizations uphold the importance of caring for missionaries to prevent attrition, discouragement, and decreased productivity.

Co-founder and Director of Heartstream Resources Philippines Meg Alag shared that not everyone is aware of the severity of stress and burnout a ministry can bring, thus, the need for proactive and preventive approach.

Ruby Bayasen, ACM Curriculum and Standards Development Officer and attendee of the recent training shared, “It is very important for missionaries to know that there are people behind them because the mission field can be a lonely place. If there’s follow up, care, and encouragement, the missionary will stay healthy holistically.”

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Keeping the Faith in Trying Times Tears streamed down the audience’s faces when he shared his most heartbreaking talk with God. He is a renowned evangelist but during an interview last May 22 at The 700 Club Asia (TSCA) Live in Bustos, Bulacan, Bro. Eddie Villanueva shared his most vulnerable side – his wife.

“If you are going to take her, Lord, please take my life, too.” These were Bro. Eddie’s words when he found out his wife, Sis. Dory had a cancerous brain tumor. Three days of praying on his knees made way for the miraculous to happen! His wife’s brain tumor was removed and the doctors declared it harmless. During his testimony, Bro. Eddie inspired the audience with his strong faith in a God who answers prayers.

Apart from Bro. Eddie, Pop Diva Kuh Ledesma sang some songs and also shared her life testimony about raising godly children.

TSCA Live is a regular event that brings CBN Asia’s flagship program and its stories of hope, faith, and love up close and more personal to its audience.

More than a thousand faithful partners joyfully celebrated with TSCA hosts, Peter Kairuz, Alex Tinsay, and Felichi Pangilinan-Buizon during the event in Galilee Wonderland Resort and Hotel.

The audience could not help but be in awe of the work of God featured through the CBN Asia Family of Ministries.

Ruby de Guzman, a CBN Asia partner, shared her gratefulness for being invited to watch TSCA Live.

When asked why she continues to give, she said that “God would always prompt me to give and I could not count the many ways He has blessed me. I never once regretted giving to the Lord through CBN Asia. It gives me much joy to be a part of something big that affects people’s lives.”

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