Hi Church Family!
Pastor Nick here with an update on our church ministry in the Philippines. To maybe a few of you that are new to HIs Place, who are reading this and are unfamiliar with the ministry, a very brief overview:
In the beginning
Our church got involved with this ministry at its inception in 1993. The focus of the ministry is to reach the Ibaloi people with the Gospel of Christ. This indigenous ethnic people group numbers around 80,000 and is found mainly in the Province of Benguet, on the island of Luzon in the Philippines.
This ministry is funded solely by His Place Church, and since its inception has planted more than 15 churches, 6 daycare centers, a Bible college, a Christian school for grades K-12 (Blessed His Place Academy) and an orphanage (His Place Children’s Home), mostly all of it in the mountainous regions of the central area of Luzon.
Challenges this year
Trying to walk across a washed out road
As far as an update on how things have been going so far this year, well “reasonably” normal, at least for them. They’ve had their yearly typhoon that usually washes out their only road in or out of their village (which usually gets repaired in 4-5 weeks), that usually destroys some of their rice fields (which takes weeks of work and replanting), and causes damage to some of their buildings (which get repaired when funds are available).
But different this year, as has been for all of us, is the virus. Covid 19 has a universal passport and it has not spared our area of the Philippines. They are experiencing all the same things, school closures, lockdowns, quarantines, social distancing, masks, etc, etc. But praise God, to this point, there has been no deaths from the virus in our ministry areas.
Current needs
River during the rainy season
As far as any particular needs are concerned, we want to raise the $1,700 to pay for the construction of a baptismal tank up by the orphanage. Pastor Andesa has hiked down to the river for years to baptize believers, but with the danger of being in the river during the rainy season (which lasts for about 6 months) and with Andesa’s age and mobility issues, this is an important need.
Still growing and spreading God’s Word
So that’s it for now. The ministry is moving and growing, with more pastors graduating from our Bible college every year and returning to their villages to plant churches, with more (120 this year) young people enrolling in our school (Blessed His Place Academy), and with more abandoned and abused children coming to our orphanage (His Place Children’s Home).
And speaking of our orphanage growing, you guessed it: it means more mouths to feed, more clothes and shoes to buy, and more medical attention needed. So if you feel led to give a one-time or once-a-year gift, or you feel led to give monthly (as so many in our church do), then visit www.hisplacegiving.com to donate electronically. Or you can still send a check to the church at 1480 S. Burlington Blvd., Burlington, WA. Either way, just be sure to write a note so we know how to designate your gift.
Thank you for your continual prayer and financial support!
Love and miss you,
Pastor Nick
