Conference

Paul and I spoke at a Pastors and Church Leaders conference in Tandag, Surigao del Sur, Philippines on the 12th of this month. 120 of them made it to the said event. We had to say “no” to those who didn't register before the seminar day because the venue could only accommodate a maximum of 120 people. It was pouring heavily on that day and some areas of the city were already flooded. But the bad weather could not stop the people from coming.

The conference went really well. Paul has grown so much as to being a teacher and as to public speaking. In fact, he was a different person up there. He spoke with eloquence, boldness, convincing power and a clear message by God’s grace. I knew it! I was very optimistic that he would do well because he is such a passionate study-er and is obedient to God’s call in his life, which definitely are signs of being a good teacher. He has mastered his topics and applied it on himself. He spoke on three different topics and I reinforced each one and moderated forums and group dynamics. My job also included showing our power point presentation and videos from the Way of the Master. Anyways, the simplicity and clarity of Paul’s message attracted the people in the conference hall. It was amazing to see them being quiet and all-eyes to Paul. Well, as Filipino, I could easily tell when a Filipino audience is not interested and not learning anything. They usually talk to each other, look at the floor or ceiling, sleep, go in and out of the conference room when what you speak on doesn’t interest them at all. But that time, people were very attentive and you could tell that they were pondering on what we were speaking about. Most of them were taking notes, too. So it was very encouraging.

Every time we showed videos, every body got excited! The Way of the Master videos are very well done- creative and fascinating. They message is conspicuous! Very understandable! Any body could easily identify with the situations given.

We had time for people to voice their thoughts and reactions when we wrapped the conference up. We were more encouraged when we heard their very positive responses.

We offered to provide for most of the financial need of the conference. Paul and I have a special love for the pastors in Tandag. They were the ones who supported me with faithful prayers and finances when I was in Mongolia. It was great to be able to treat them that way. We gave all of them books and cd’s and provided them food for lunch. We believe that God blesses His children who care for His servants. It was wonderful to hear that they were blessed and felt loved by us through that event.

We thank God for placing every aspect of the conference in place. We really felt His hand upon it. For its big success, we give Him the glory and praise! Also, we are thankful for my brother, Dan, who coordinated it. He is quite an event organizer. His fellow pastors and the churches in Tandag trust and love him so much that they don’t hesitate to participate whatever event he endorses. We are also grateful for Pastor Tom Adino, the chairman of the Ministerial fellowship in the city, who helped coordinate it. He came, welcomed the delegates and Paul and me, sat all day with other pastors to learn from what we had to say and finally spoke about how he was blessed… to our encouragement. We are honored and humbled to be used by the Lord to minister to these veteran men and women of God and to be able to “give a glass of water” to each them.