Our Top 7 Needs for the 1st and 2nd Quarters of 2010

“Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.” (Philippians 4:6 KJV)

A List of our Church Needs for 2010 (in no particular order):

1. MAIN CHURCH: CHURCH LOT. After 17 years of renting our worship hall, in 2006 a Christian family gave us permission to use their lot for the construction of our church building. We were given five (5) years to use the said lot, just enough time to save enough to transfer to another permanent place. Those five years are going to end in 2011. However, the family, which is now living in Connecticut, USA, is willing to extend our stay indefinitely or until they will use the lot (which is about 350 square meters). They also said that if we can purchase a lot adjacent to the one we are using for church, they are also willing to swap their lot with this one. There are two adjacent lots that are for sale right now. We have been trying to locate the owners of these lots, but have not succeeded so far. The search is ongoing.

2. MAIN CHURCH: CHURCH ORGAN. Our last organ, a Yamaha PSR, went down the flood in 2008. Although it was revived after the flood, it reached the end of its usefulness last year. We have been raising funds for a new organ. Our target amount is P25,000.00 and so far we have raised P9,500.00 already. That leaves us with P15,500 more. The discounted sale of musical instruments will begin after the Holy Week (April 1-4).

3. ALL CHURCHES: FEEDING PROGRAM. We used to have a feeding program in all four churches, but were stopped due to lack of funds. The main purpose of the feeding is Evangelistic. The idea is to feed the children to show the parents the concern of the church. This will help them see the church as a blessing rather than as a “threat.” The program involves the following activities: Singing, Bible Stories, Prayers, More Singing, and then the Feeding. The manpower used are as follows: 1-teacher, 1- assistant teacher, and 1 or 2 cooks. Because of the distance of the outreaches to our main church we offer a minimal allowance to those who are involved in the feeding program even when they have volunteer status (usually, P150-P200 per individual, which already includes their fares to and from the site). Most of our members here are daily wage earners. When they involve in ministry, this means that they won’t be able to earn for that day. The church takes the responsibility for their livelihood for that day then. We can feed three to five children with $1.00. Their food includes: a heavy soup (usually chicken soup with chicken chunks), a large sandwich and fruit juices. We have about 110-115 children (Maasin 45, Amparo 15, Main Church 25, and Guimaras 25-30). All our outreaches are planning to revive the feeding program as funds become available.

4. GUIMARAS CHURCH: We need a Karaoke with two microphones for our sound system in Living Rock Guimaras. The church is situated on top of the mountain where strong winds many times blow our voices away causing us to shout. Amparo and Maasin churches are enclosed and may not need a karaoke at this time. I’m not sure how much a karaoke costs nowadays. 15 years ago we bought one for only P3,500.00.

5. MAASIN CHURCH: The rear part of the church needs some minor repairs. Rain has destroyed the bottom part of the structure. Will ask the pastor there to get photos and provide estimates. The church building in Maasin is totally done with nipa (roof) and bamboo (frame and walls).

6. OUTREACH CHURCHES: MEDICAL MISSION: I am planning to have at least one medical mission in all our outreach churches this summer. But this will depend on the availability of our doctors – one is getting married this Sunday and the other has her clinic in Boracay.  Getting doctors outside of the church will prove to be quite expensive.

7. ALL CHURCHES: OLD AND NEW TESTAMENT BIBLES IN ILONGGO. A box of 20 Bibles cost P2,400 and will be coming from Bacolod. The Iloilo supplier ran out of Bibles and their stocks in their Manila head office went down in the last flood. Christian bookstores sell the same Bibles at a much higher price.