FR NTIERS PHILIPPINE
NEWS & INFORMATION FROM PHILIPPINE FRONTIER MISSIONS • VOLUME 31 • NO. 1
IN THE BEGINNING NEW STORIES FROM THE MISSION FIELD
JANUARY - MARCH 2023 ISSUE
philippine frontiers is a quarterly publication by Philippine Frontier Missions and is sent free
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Philippine Frontier Missions, Inc. is a non-profit religious organization established in 1993 by Filipino SDA pastors and laymen, working in cooperation with the Seventh-day Adventist Church. MISSION STATEMENT: Philippine Frontier Missions establishes indigenous Seventh-day Adventist church planting movements among unreached people groups.
BOARD OF TRUSTEES AND OFFICERS Zenaida Willison Chairwoman John Holbrook President
VISION STATEMENT: A Seventh-day Adventist church planting movement in every unreached people group, beginning in the Philippines and expanding to the ends of the earth, resulting in every individual hearing the everlasting gospel.
Mary Rose Fabrero Corporate Secretary & Treasurer
HOW TO DONATE
Cornelio Aba Bayani Agnazata Yoanes Sinaga Robin Willison Edwin Balila Board Members
PHILIPPINE FRONTIER MISSIONS-USA
Moises de Ocampo Internal Auditor
P.O. Box 42, Eton, GA 30724 Make checks payable to Philippine Frontier Missions USA. Write "PFM-Phils." on the memo.
METROBANK ACCOUNT Philippine Frontier Missions, Inc. Peso Account Number: 643-3-643-94723-5 Dollar Account Number: 643-2-64300574-8
Contact: Tim Holbrook Phone: 1-423-596-9202 Email: pfm-usa@phil-frontier.org Website: www.pfm-usa.org
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A native of the Aeta tribe of Zambales.
John Holbrook Editor
GCASH Aleni F. Cornejo 0917-603-1658
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EDITOR'S NOTE “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church,” observed Tertullian, the early church father. Down through the millennia, God has called his people to participate in the suffering of the Messiah. Just as He has made us in His image and has given us a portion of His own mission, so also, He gives us the privilege of suffering for Him and for the salvation of the lost. From time to time, He even gives us the high honor of giving the ultimate demonstration of love by laying down our lives for others. This last month the Adventist world has watched as the search for Daniel Lui and Janelle Alder, along with the patient and passengers of PAMAS’ Yellow Bee helicopter has unfolded. It was a great privilege for me to be able to help in a very small way to get some needed supplies to the searchers. As week after week has passed, though, with no sign of the helicopter or the missionaries, questions have rung out across the internet. Some ask, “Where was God?” Many wonder why God would allow His servants to die when they are serving Him. Others question the decisions that were made to give up a safe and prosperous life in order to bring Christ to those who don’t know Him. Friends, God never promised that we would be safe while we are still in the midst of the Great Controversy. In fact, He promised that “In this world you will have trouble” (Jn. 16:33). The promise of ultimate safety is for the life to come. While we are still in this world however, He promises, “The peace of God, which transcends all understanding” (Phil. 4:7) and a purpose and meaning to our lives beyond simply being comfortable and safe.
As Paul faced his own martyrdom, he realized that life and death are the same to the Christian. “For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). Indeed, those who die in God’s service are promised special honor which they will enjoy for eternity. “Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on ... their deeds will follow them” (Rev. 14:13). And again, Paul writes of those who made the ultimate sacrifice of suffering for God’s kingdom, “The world was not worthy of them” (Heb. 11:38). While we do grieve, nevertheless we, “do not grieve like the rest of mankind, who have no hope” (1 Thes. 4:13). For those who have committed their life to Christ’s work, it is the highest honor to die in that work and to rest until Jesus comes to get us. Our prayer is that Tertullian’s words would prove true. May the precious blood of Jesus’ martyrs be seed that will multiply and bear much fruit, inspiring hundreds and thousands to sacrifice the meaningless pursuits of this life in order to obey Jesus’ command to every single believer to, “Go, and make disciples of all nations” (Matt. 28:19).
John Holbrook President Philippine Frontier Missions
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INVISIBLE W A R F A R E
RONALD CANONOY • BANGON PROJECT
I awoke with a start, my heart pounding and drenched in sweat. “Oh,” I thought. “It was just a terrible nightmare.” But as I opened my eyes to look at the time I felt a presence in the room. The hair on the back of my neck stood up straight as I felt a heavy weight slam me into my sleeping mat. “Save me, Lord!” I cried out in my terror. “Tell me what to do!” The weight kept pressing me harder and harder into my mat, though. In a shaky voice I tried to sing a hymn, but soon I didn’t have enough breath left. I tried to whisper one final desperate prayer, knowing that I was about to pass out. In that instant the weight lifted and I was free! Christ had saved me. I continued praying, praising God and asking for His protection. As I did, I heard maniacal laughter echo through my hut then die away. I got up to see if anyone was outside, but I was all alone. Satan and his demons hold the Bangon people in slavery. They do not want God’s mission through me to succeed in delivering them. The piece of land that the tribe allowed me to build my hut on is next to their burial grounds where they regularly sacrifice to the spirits that they worship. Almost every day I feel the malicious presence of demons. But I completely trust in God to take care of me, and I rejoice that the enemy feels threatened enough to try to scare me away. Please pray for me and for the Bangon people, that soon they also will be delivered from their fear and bondage to Satan. Then, on that glorious day, we will all join together in praising Jesus for His salvation!
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TRUTH-SEEKERS JHON MARCIAL • AGTA PROJECT
“We’ve run out of firewood,” I informed my wife one chilly morning. “I’ll go and gather some in the forest. I’ll be back shortly.” As I left our hut I noticed a man tending his garden. I walked up to him and struck up a conversation. I was so engrossed in my conversation with my Agta neighbor that I forgot all about the firewood. I could tell I had caught his attention when I spoke of faith and religion. “There really is a big contrast between your beliefs and mine,” he observed. “Do you want to know more about my faith? Are you open to having Bible studies in your house?” I asked without hesitation. To my delight, he readily accepted my offer. I walked home that day filled with gratitude for the turn of events.
“We’ve never been taught these things before, pastor,” they said. Thank you so much for sharing them with us! The truth is coming to light. You have opened our eyes! We can clearly see how Satan has deceived us.”
This man and two of his friends became eager Bible students. Once during a study in his house, I found him making sweet sticky rice cake or biko.
Let us not grow weary in sharing the truth to those who are seeking. Our continued efforts will eventually free them from the lies that the enemy has caused them to believe.
“What’s that for?” I asked. “Is there a special occasion?” “I’m making these for the All Soul’s Day celebration,” he replied. When I heard this, I knew it was time to study what the Bible says about the state of the dead. “Did you know the Bible talks about our dead loved ones? We can discuss this tonight if you would like,” I said. “Yes, I’d like to hear about it,” he agreed. That evening, he and his friends listened attentively to everything I read. They asked me questions afterwards, just as I thought they would.
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BE STILL and know that I AM GOD ALEJANDRA CONIENDO • KANKANA-EY SAGADA PROJECT Like most people, missionaries aren’t immune to life’s problems. We are also prone to discouragement, confusion, and struggles that seem to weigh us down. Last year, a family problem came to me unexpectedly. “My husband has decided to join a cult,” my sister told me over the phone, her voice breaking. “I don’t know how to stop him. He’s set on pursuing this. He’s threatened to leave me and the kids if we stand in his way.” I didn’t know what to make of this! A cult? How could this be? My brother-inlaw had fallen into a satanic trap! Their household became a battlefield. My brother-in-law became abusive to my sister as well as negligent of his family responsibilities. All he cared about was how to advance his position in the cult. He participated in the sacrificial rites and the dance rituals required to gain the power to perform miracles and learn magical enchantments.
It took my sister a while to realize that the man she had married was now gone. In his place was a different person. She was distraught and thought about ending their marriage. I felt her pain but knew that there was nothing that I could do except ask for help from God. Every night I knelt in prayer and pleaded with Him to help my sister and her husband. Even as I ministered to the people at my project, they were always in my mind. There came a day when I cried out to the Lord, “Why did you equip me to serve the unreached, but won’t give me the chance to minister to my own family? I want to go home and help my sister!” Days passed excruciatingly slow. Eventually my sister fell ill. Unusual bumps appeared on her chest and quickly became infected. I was terrified, especially since I knew that our family could not afford treatment. Despite all of this God heard my cry and listened to my prayers. Just as the year was ending, He gave us a year-end miracle. My brother-in-law left the cult right before his scheduled ordination as a cult leader. He is now reconciled with his family and with God. On top of that, my sister’s lab test came back negative for cancer. When we faithfully persist in doing the work that He has given us, He takes care of us and our family. May God be praised!
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The Storeowner MYLENE DULNUAN • AETA 3 PROJECT
“Brrr. It’s freezing out here. I’m really in Baguio now,” I whispered to myself as I hailed a taxi in the cold. “Bus terminal to Bakun, please,” I instructed the driver. I sat comfortably in the passenger seat, taking in the foggy scenery as we drove by. The taxi dropped me off in a place I wasn’t familiar with, but I trusted the driver to know where to go. Thirty minutes later, the bus arrived. “It’s earlier than I expected,” I mused. Having a momentary sense of doubt, I asked a fellow passenger beside me, “Is that bus going to Bakun?” “You’ve got the wrong stop,” he replied. “The bus that you want is further down the road.”
I saw that I had been wrong about her being an Adventist. She continued to pepper me with questions, though. “Are you one of them?” she asked. “Can you tell me more about your faith?” I knew it! The Lord had led me to this woman! Instead of asking for the next bus going to Bakun, I stayed around and had a short Bible study with the storeowner. God had His reason for dropping me off at the wrong place. Somewhere in this vicinity was someone who needed to hear the truth, and I was the evangelist He planned to send. What a wonderful travel experience!
I was a bit frustrated, and time was wasting so I thanked my new passenger friend and quickly moved on. All things work together for good to those who love God, I kept reminding myself. A good friend once said, “More often than not, distasteful situations produce good results.” Along my way, I caught a whiff of soy coffee coming from a store. I walked in and found several customers drinking coffee. I looked at the counter and there was a thermos pitcher labeled “soy coffee!” It’s very unusual for a coffee shop to sell soy coffee, so I smelled the aroma again just to make sure and poured some into a cup. When I walked over to the counter to pay, I had to ask the owner, “Are you a Seventh-day Adventist? I thought perhaps you are one since you’re selling soy coffee.” “Seventh-day Adventists? I don’t know what that means,” she shook her head. “It’s the first time that I’ve heard of them. Do they believe in Jesus as the Savior?”
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Felt Needs CINDY NGAYAAN • BONTOC PROJECT
Bang! Something struck the glass window. “What was that?” I asked, rushing outside to look. Not finding anything, my teammate and I resumed our morning devotions. Afterwards, I opened the window again. Glancing down I noticed a bird floating in the gutter. Noticing a little movement I realized that it was still alive. “It’s a bird!” I exclaimed to my teammate Rhea. “A bird has smashed into the window.” Picking up the poor creature I examined it for injuries and blood. Though it managed to stand up its eyes remained shut and choking sounds came from its throat. The bird’s helpless condition moved my heart and I decided to take it under my care. We tried to get the bird to drink then set it out in the sunlight. Turning to the internet to learn about caring for injured birds, though, I discovered that an injured bird needs a quiet, dark, and calm environment to recover. They don't need any food or water as they prefer to forage on their own and don’t need to be fed during the brief recovery time. What we had done was the opposite of what we should have done. We felt terrible that we might have further harmed its fragile body. The bird appeared to be in desperate need of help, but it amazed me to know that it only needed a quiet and a calm place to recover. When we learned to properly meet the bird's felt needs it quickly recovered. Very soon we were able to release it back into the forest. Jesus in His earthly ministry felt the needs of mankind and met each one in the way that was best for them. In the case of the hungry multitude He met their physical needs by giving them food. He granted divine healing to the man at the pool of Bethesda and remedied a social disaster at the wedding in Cana. By meeting humanity's felt needs, Jesus entered into their hearts and revealed to them the good news of salvation. May each of us emulate Jesus' example in our ministry.
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Aunt Adelfa's Request JAMES PATRICK TIANZON • KANKANA-EY BAKUN PROJECT
“Thank you for visiting us today, Pastor!” Aunt Adelfa exclaimed when we showed up at her house one morning. “I was wondering when I would see you again!” We have known Aunt Adelfa for quite a while now. We often exchange greetings when we see each other. Since she runs a small store, though, we had never had a chance to sit down and really talk before. God arranged for a long break between customers that day, though, and we were able to talk. “I hear that you’ve been wanting to talk to me,” I said, sitting on the stool that Aunt Adelfa offered. “Is something the matter?” “No,” she replied. “Not at all. Do you remember when you led out in a group discussion at the wake of our friend who died?” “I remember, Auntie,” I replied. “I learned so much about God and the Bible during that discussion,” she continued. “Ever since then I’ve wanted to talk with you about what we discussed. I want to learn more.” “That’s wonderful!” I exclaimed. “Auntie, would you like for us to come and study the Bible with you regularly?” “Yes,” she replied excitedly. “I would love to!” Since then Aunt Adelfa has become one of our most regular and interested Bible students. Please pray with us that Aunt Adelfa and many others in her community will come to truly know and love Jesus with all their hearts.
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I WILL GO RHEAMAE ALALID • BONTOC PROJECT The day that I decided to be a frontier missionary was one of the most important days of my life. Prior to that decision, I had put off answering God’s call. I guess I was waiting for a more convincing sign that I should go. While waiting, I heard a sermon about why we need to share our faith with our own family before we share it in faraway places. I was really moved by that sermon. In our family, I was the only Seventh-day Adventist. I was convicted it was my responsibility to win them to Jesus. Days, months, and years passed. I asked myself the question again. Had I guided my loved ones into the arms of Jesus? The answer was still a big NO. As much as it troubled me to leave them, I finally answered the call to serve the Lord as a frontier missionary. Yes, I had doubts and fears of what was in store for me, and I didn’t know if I could survive the challenges I might face in an unfamiliar area. Those thoughts didn’t stop me, however. “God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the called” I reminded myself. Before I left my home, I made a covenant with God. “I will leave my family and share the gospel in the mission field. Please send someone to my family that they may hear Your words too, though.” Two years later, I received a call from my former teammate. “I thought I saw your mother and sister attending an evangelistic series held in our district. Were they there?” she asked. “I don’t think so,” I replied. “They never mentioned it to me. I’m sure they would have said something if they had attended.” “Well, I’m sure I saw them there last Sabbath during the baptism, because they were the ones being baptized!” At first, I didn’t believe it. I hadn’t heard that they were attending the series. I did know that they had started attending Sabbath services, but when I saw pictures of the baptism I realized that it really was my mother and sister being baptized! Now I have proven that if God calls you to serve Him, even in remote areas far from home, He will never leave you nor your family.
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Rocks
MICHAEL LOPEZ • KALANGUYA PROJECT Gardening is the primary way of making a living here at the church-planting project where my wife and I serve. I used to think that our people’s job was easy. I didn’t truly understand the complexity of the processes required to ensure a fruitful yield, though. One day, our neighbor started a new garden. First, he converted all of his separate pieces of land into one big open field. Next, he cultivated the field using a backhoe. As a result, all of the rocks that were buried underneath were brought to the top. Picking up those rocks took a lot of time and energy. There were rocks of various sizes, which made them extra difficult to sort and move. The medium-sized rocks went to his backyard for a landscape design while the big heavy ones were buried again in a large pit. All these were steps which had to be accomplished to make the soil suitable for planting. When I got the chance to talk to our neighbor, I asked him a question that bugged me. “Did you expect this many rocks when you cultivated the land?” He looked at me sadly. “No. Honestly, I didn’t think there were rocks that size underneath! I shouldn’t have used the backhoe.” After seeing this activity I began thinking about how this relates to cross-cultural missions. Many layers of cultural practices lay buried beneath the surface in the rich culture of the Kalanguya tribe. Like my friend, sorting the stones in his field, missionaries work with local believers to learn how each of these cultural elements relate to the Bible. In all cultures, some practices are contrary to the Bible and will have to be set aside. Others can be modified, while many are perfectly acceptable and can become part of their faith in Christ. Great patience and prayer is needed in this process. By properly evaluating the many practices deep within a culture, the soil is carefully prepared. This preparation allows not just for a few conversions, but a culturally relevant church-planting movement that will grow and spread throughout the tribe.
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