The Latest News

Rev. Paul, Elvie, PJ and Abigail Barner
Philippine Missionary Church Planters
Barner Learning Center, Inc.
PO Box 82,224
8000 Davao City, Philippines
011-63 (082) 234-4000
(Cell) 0917-720-8224
(USA) (518) 449-2105

“PJ…checkmate!” While chess is now a required subject in all Philippine schools, PJ is also learning the game.

Near the end of the game between him and me, he didn’t notice that one move of his queen would put me in checkmate. But since he missed it, the tables were turned and I won.

So often we are so close to victories in our service for Jesus, that unless we are attuned to the Holy Spirit’s urgings upon our hearts, we miss opportunities to serve God and defeat Satan.

Recently I, as the president-designate of Davao’s Kiwanis Club, attended a presidents’ meeting. We were to bring our secretaries, for training. I had chosen Pastor Joe as my secretary, and we were both present.

However, many clubs had delegates missing, away on business trips, etc. Since it was a full day, prepaid event, lots of food was left over. Joe had scheduled a youth event for that afternoon, so he left a few hours before the Kiwanis meeting ended. Yet, like the chess player who noticed an opportunity when he saw it, he asked if he could use the extra food (chicken barbecue with rice) to feed the 70 poor kids in his afternoon ministry.

The Kiwanis Lieutenant Governor agreed, and the kids were fed with the leftovers! Yet there was an afternoon snack too, so at the end of the meeting, I was allowed to bring the extra bananas and donuts for PJ and Abby to feed their Sunday School students the next morning during church.

Pictures were taken and the youth events were viewed as Kiwanis-assisted functions. Praise God for winning checkmate against Satan in both spreading the Gospel, and also in seeing a civic club reach out to the poor kids of Davao City!

Until next time…
Let the islands rejoice!

Present need: $210 for a new axle to replace the broken one on one of BLC’s jeepney-busses.

Please pray:

1. for the next upcoming BLC events: July 17-19 First BLC Preliminary exams, August 1 BLC Nutrition Month Culmination ceremonies and presentations.
2. for me (Paul) to be healed of my very painful stomach flu and body rash.
3. for BLC's total debt of $39,869 be whittled down to zero by January, 2011 [$1662 per week for 24 more weeks] (-$34 from last week).
4. for our street-kids ministry, “Oasis”, as they dedicate their first facility this Sunday.
5. that the thief who stole flower pots at one of our church plants will return them and also fix the door they broke.
6. that God will grant us the wisdom in whether to start CPE (church planters experiment). It would involve paying an ordained pastor a salary for five months, but drawing the amount out over ten months in a decreasing scale, while the new believers in the church plant will pay the remaining.
7. that a woman was listening in as she was washing clothes by hand behind one of our church plants Sunday, as I was preaching. If she responded to my message from God’s Word, her clothes were not the only thing to be washed…her life was also!
8. that a businessman in Davao has donated a brand-new computer to our street kids ministry.
9. that Elvie, PJ, Abby and I will be traveling to Hong Kong this week for a few days to renew our visas and also for a few days of rest.
10. that in March, 2011, the International Kiwanis President, Sylvester Neal, might visit BLC and be our graduation speaker!
11. that I my term as District Kiwanis Chairman of Spiritual and Human Values has been extended to a second year!

Praise God:

1. that Phoenix Gas Company has approved of sponsorship of our TRIAD (Triathlon Association of Davao) triathlon suits for our upcoming race this August. They are special suits equipped for swimming, biking and running great distances.
2. that Frances Charles, the 2-month old baby hospitalized with pneumonia, died and now is in heaven, free from pain. He can breathe deeply now!
3. that that an American family visited BLC this week and gave their sponsored child, Jackie, many small gifts for her to give to her classmates.
4. that this week I finished reading the Bible 51 times from cover-to-cover.
5. that many more baby chicks have been born in BLC’s rooftop garden, and that we were able to catch one of the rabbits after he ate only half of the vegetable sprouts.
6. that six large boxes arrived this week from the USA, filled with school supplies, clothes, food, books, games, lids for the communion set, a wooden offering plate, and a dozen hand-sewn dresses, complete with matching sewn purses!

Status of $30,000 needed for 21 passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10 passenger multicabs: $2510 received, $27,490 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 42.

NOTE: I plan to compete in the Philippine Cobra 70.3 mile Half-Ironman Triathlon (swimming, bicycling and running) August 22, 2010. Many friends have expressed interest in sponsoring me in this race. If you also desire to sponsor me per mile, all proceeds will go toward paying off BLC’s outstanding 2008 typhoon debt of over $39,000. Please let me know at BLCKIDS@YAHOO.COM. It is possible to send through credit card online at www.christianaid.org. Their code for BLC is 801-BLC.

“Why doesn’t anyone help that man?” As I hurried to a meeting downtown, I couldn’t help but notice a beggar man dragging his foot behind himself like a ball and chain. He’s not the only one with this birth defect.

I have seen cripples of both genders and all ages, struggling to get from place to place, and mostly begging on the streets. Sometimes it is caused by polio, sometimes cystic fibrosis, and yet other times, the cause is club feet. Not being doctors or scientists, there is not much more that we can do to help, other than give these unfortunates a peso or two.

My cell phone beeped that a message had arrived. When I got a minute, I looked up the text message: “HELLO TRIATHLETES!” Oh, it was a message from Felina, the secretary of the TRIAD (Triathlon Association of Davao), for all of us in the Davao team get together to discuss the design for our tri-suit uniforms for our upcoming Half-Ironman race next month (August).

Yet the message went on: “WE WILL BE GIVING OUR DONATION TO THE CLUB FOOT CHILDREN AT THE GOVERNMENT HOSPITAL!” Oh wow. So our annual May “Kiddie Race’s” proceeds help the club foot kids! Healthy kids raising funds for sick kids!

There at the hospital, before handing the $500 check to the head doctor, we watched as a line of mothers carrying newborn infants had casts carefully molded around their babies’ tiny deformed, twisted feet. For some, the casts covered both legs.

The skillful hands of the doctors transformed piles of rolls of gauze bandages and plaster, plus careful incisions into the heel muscles, into life-reforming corrective surgery. They were not just molding casts. They were molding lives. The destinies of these children would no longer be as derelicts and beggars, but as presidents, lawyers and teachers.

As I was about to leave the outdoor, thatched hospital room, a little guy in diapers who had not yet been assisted, and whose toes pointed toward each other in the classic, painful club-foot position, wore a t-shirt which reflected my emotions. In bright, bold, yellow and white letters, his t-shirt’s message mirrored the look on his young mom’s face. It bore the word, “FREEDOM”.

Until next time…
Let the islands rejoice!

Present need: $392 for 50 smoke alarms. This week the Davao Fire Department performed their annual inspection of BLC. They declared that, under their new fire chief’s directive, smoke alarms are mandated in all public places before the end of the month, or else fines will be instituted.

Please pray:

1. for the next upcoming BLC events:
   July 17-19 First BLC Preliminary exams,
   August 1 BLC Nutrition Month Culmination ceremonies and presentations.
2. for an end to the dengue/malaria epidemic presently in the Philippines, due to increased mosquitoes from during this rainy season. Many who do not have these diseases are nonetheless confined due to headaches, colds and other flu symptoms.
3. for BLC's total debt of $39,903 be whittled down to zero by January, 2011 [$1597 per week for 25 more weeks] (-$27 from last week).
4. that Phoenix Gas Company will approve of sponsorship of our TRIAD (Triathlon Association of Davao) triathlon suits for our upcoming race this August. They are special suits equipped for swimming, biking and running great distances.

Praise God:

1. that one of my fellow trustees in the DCL (Davao Christian Leaders Foundation), Attorney Emmanuel Galicia, was elected Majority Floor Leader for Davao’s Local government.
2. that Davao’s local Red Cross leaders have agreed to allow free usage of their conference hall for the October first aid seminar which I am planning. At the seminar, pastors will learn 9-11 usage and basic first aid/CPR, as well as how to set up blood donation facilities in their own churches.
3. that when the carrots and onions planted in BLC’s rooftop garden didn’t grow, new seeds were able to be planted by our six bus drivers. Since there was a scheduled half-day blackout of electricity for our section of the city, we cancelled classes, and the drivers had time free to do the much-needed planting.

Status of $30,000 needed for 21 passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10 passenger multicabs: $2505 received, $27,495 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 42.

NOTE: I plan to compete in the Philippine Cobra 70.3 mile Half-Ironman Triathlon (swimming, bicycling and running) August 22, 2010. Many friends have expressed interest in sponsoring me in this race. If you also desire to sponsor me per mile, all proceeds will go toward paying off BLC’s outstanding 2008 typhoon debt of over $39,000. Please let me know at BLCKIDS@YAHOO.COM. It is possible to send through credit card online at www.christianaid.org. Their code for BLC is 801-BLC.

HAPPY 234th BIRTHDAY, USA! (7/4) HAPPY PHILIPPINE-AMERICAN FRIENDSHIP DAY! (7/4) HAPPY 15TH PHILIPPINE PRESIDENTIAL INAUGURATION DAY! (6/28) HAPPY 14TH WEDDING ANNIVERSARY, TO ELVIE AND ME! (7/6)

NOTE: this week’s diary is a little longer than usual. I wanted you to get the exciting details of this fantastic road trip!

“Daddy, can we go to Camiguin Island for my 13th birthday?” For nearly six years, PJ has begged Elvie and I to have a family trip to this distant island, which involves a ten-hour road trip. We agreed to his request, and packed up the jeepney with food, clothes, and lots of friends.

After school Friday, we hit the road, driving by moonlight through mountains and pineapple orchards. When we finally hit northern Mindanao at 6am, the ferry carried us the next hour to an island of 7 dormant volcanoes. We swam most of the day at a mountain waterfall, with cool spring water pounding onto our heads from a cliff 150 feet above us. After cooking a meal of freshly-caught fish baked over smoking coconut shells, we drove around till we found a homeowner near the sea who was willing to rent her home to the whole bunch of us for a total of $40 that night.

Since the next day was Sunday, we found the church of one of Elvie’s former seminary classmates. Our group nearly doubled the size of the congregation! After church we found some volcano-heated hot springs to swim in.

Since we’d been informed by a politician that the last ferry boat often departed as late as 7 or 8, we took out time driving back to the port, seeing the sights along the way. I also counted 163 chickens that we dodged as they kept crossing the road in 2’s and 3’s.

The closer we got to 6pm, PJ and Abby shoed us along by counting down the remaining minutes. Arriving at the pier with ample time in the dusk twilight, we waited while a parade of candle-holding pilgrims carried a life-sized statue of their patron saint, the Apostle Peter, down the road.

After the parade passed, we were shocked to see our ferry already half a mile out to sea! A local resident explained to us that, since the boat had unexpectedly filled up with cars early, it left before the scheduled time! The next boat would not be leaving until 4:30 am! That meant we’d be stuck waiting at the pier for 10 hours!

We decided to sleep in (and on the roof & hood of) the jeepney, that night. All 14 of us! But then unexpectedly, large flood lights blared on all around us. Enormous loudspeakers suddenly blared through the moonlit night, with signing!

It turned out that the parade we’d seen earlier was the beginning of the annual local festival of the town near the pier! The stage was right next to our jeepney. So our ten-hour wait for the morning ferry would be entertaining after all. One day each year this festival takes place, and it “just happened” to be the night we were stranded at the pier! Hundreds of townspeople gathered around the stage. Some sat up in trees, others stood around, and even others sat on the roofs of houses and vehicles. But most just sat on the ground. Then the singing competition began.

We were not allowed to participate on stage (yes, we did ask), since we were only visitors to the island. Before leaving on the trip 2 days previous, I’d baked spice cake, flax bread, brownies and lots of cookies. They sure came in handy for our hungry fourteen stomachs, as we waited, being entertained on the pier under the stars.

At about eleven pm, the townspeople started dancing. As the clock ticked past midnight, the drunkards multiplied. Although it was tempting to share our faith with the hundreds of people there at the pier, we were not able to, since the noise of the music was so deafening. Yet when a drunk man began yelling at his wife for dancing with another man, knocking down signs and throwing stones, we decided to move our vehicle to the other side of the pier parking lot.

There are many ways to share our faith. Even if people can’t hear our words, God can. So PJ and I prayed, while lying there on the hood of the jeepney. We prayed for the drunkards, dancers, druggies, paraders and singers to find Jesus. “Wow, Dad!” exclaimed PJ. “Imagine, they put on this whole big show, just to celebrate my becoming a teenager!”

We could have asked ourselves, “Why did God allow us to miss that boat? Why had PJ chosen THIS island, of all the 7,107 islands in the Philippine Archipelago, on which to celebrate his 13th birthday? Perhaps God had planned it so that we could touch the lives of these down-and-out sinners through prayer.

Yes, as always, God is in complete control.

Until next time…
Let the islands rejoice!

Present need: $1600 for 40 children’s bicycles for us to train a BLC “BSR” (Bicycling/Swimming/Running) team in preparation for the May, 2011 Davao City Kiddie Triathlon, sponsored by a partnership between TRIAD (Triathlon Association of Davao) and the Kiwanis Club of Davao City.

Please pray:

1. for the next upcoming BLC events:
   July 5 General BLC PTA meeting,
   July 12 Homeroom BLC PTA meetings,
   July 17-19 First BLC Preliminary exams,
   August 1 BLC Nutrition Month Culmination ceremonies and presentations.
2. for our plans to sponsor a blood donation/first aid/CPR training clinic. A dengue/malaria epidemic has attacked Mindanao and over half a dozen children have already died due to lack of blood and/or medicine. As trustee and seminar program coordinator for the DCL (Davao Christian Leaders Foundation), I have set October as our month to plan a 911/Red Cross training program to authorize nearly 200 churches to sponsor portable blood donation centers in their churches on a regular basis. Davao City’s blood supply services over 6 million Filipinos in Eastern Mindanao.
3. for BLC's total debt of $39,930 be whittled down to zero by January, 2011 [$1536 per week for 26 more weeks] (-$32 from last week).

Praise God:

1. that we have already begun harvesting red radishes from BLC’s rooftop garden to feed our 500 poor students.
2. that 2 large boxes from the Lion’s Club in Vermont arrived at BLC this week, filled with much-needed, brand-new school supplies and children’s vitamins!
3. that the Philippines’ 15th national president, Nonoy Acquino III, succeeded President Gloria Arroyo in peaceful inauguration ceremonies this week.
4. that PJ had a fantastic 13th birthday as we traveled to the Philippine Island of Camiguin, and also visited the beach.
5. that BLC was blessed with a team of nearly 50 Americans and Filipinos of all ages, on a medical/drama team this week!
6. that 2 American churches have decided to donate VBS offerings to BLC! Each expect to raise $200-$250, and the two needs include a) electrical rewiring of the house purchased for our new street-children’s Oasis drop-off center, b) a month of food for the lunches of our 500 BLC students’ lunches.
7. that the funds have cleared this week for us to make the final payments on our urban “Oasis” drop-off center for street children.
8. that during the international annual Kiwanis Convention in Las Vegas, Nevada, USA last week, the hundreds of delegates present recognized with approval their annual relief project for 2011 (the year I will be president of our local club). This year, Kiwanis plans to eliminate a disease which claims the lives of 100,000 mothers and newborns within a week of birth: Maternal/Neonatal Tetanus (MNT). The porest of the poor, many of whom reside in the Philippines, are the most common victims, since they do not have access to the single injection which can save their lives from this extremely painful, fatal disease. Kiwanis has committed its thousands of worldwide clubs to team up with UNICEF to eradicate the MNT disease from Planet Earth, permanently. It is determined that this "7-day death" disease is what claimed the life of one of King David's sons (King Solomon's older brother) in the Old Testament.
9. that a retired teacher in Utah, who sends to BLC many lost and found items left at school, was featured on her local television news station! You can watch the broadcast at: http://www.ksl.com/index.php?nid=148&sid=11258722

Status of $30,000 needed for 21 passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10 passenger multicabs: $2500 received, $27,500 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 42.

HAPPY 13TH BIRTHDAY, PJ! (6/29)

“Pastor, could you please help me get duct tape?” Our visiting California short-term missions VBS team was very busy preparing events each day for the 804 kids who attended BLC’s 2010 VBS.

Todd (a welder from the USA), while supervising the games, had noticed that the kids were often confused as to where they were supposed to stand. So he decided to go downtown and buy four rolls of colored duct tape (blue, red, yellow and green), with a different color for each team, to make lines and circles on the BLC gym floor.

Problem was, he didn’t know where to buy the tape. I’d just gotten out of a Kiwanis meeting downtown, and was getting into my car when Todd passed me in another BLC vehicle. “Please follow me to the store to get the tape!” suggested Todd. Yet when I turned the key in the vehicle’s ignition, there was no power. When Todd’s driver looked at my battery, he saw the problem right away- the battery (and its terminals) had been stolen!

So while buying duct tape, we also bought a battery. I’d already texted a message to Elvie about the problem, and she responded, “Should we pray for the thief?” I said “Yes, that he doesn’t hurt his back, carrying that huge car battery under his shirt in broad daylight!”

A few days later, I paid Todd back for the money I had borrowed for the battery, and he donated it to BLC’s feeding program for the students. “Oh, and you can keep the duct tape too” he added. “I already have started using it” I responded. Since my foot bandages had run out, I started wrapping my feet in toilet paper and blue duct tape. That was the most colorful foot dressing I have ever had! Comfy, too.

Until next time…
Let the islands rejoice!

Present need: $60,000 for the first floor of our new building, which (after funds arrive) will be built in the location of the present BLC gym.

Please pray:

1. for the next upcoming BLC events:
   July 5 General BLC PTA meeting,
   June 19 Math Seminar,
   July 12 Homeroom BLC PTA meetings,
   July 17-19 First BLC Preliminary exams,
   August 1 BLC Nutrition Month Culmination ceremonies and presentations.
2. for the dozens of incoming BLC students who have never been in a Christian school before…that they will quickly adapt to BLC’s design philosophy of providing a quality, Christian, values based education in a large school setting.
3. for BLC's total debt of $39,962 be whittled down to zero by January, 2011 [$1480 per week for 27 more weeks] (-$21 from last week).

Praise God:

1. that some of the eggs that the hens in BLC’s rooftop garden, have hatched and little yellow chicks are scurrying around in their cages!
2. that 2 large boxes from America arrived at BLC this week, filled with school supplies, clothes and food, including Ravioli and three huge bags of M&M’s!
3. that each of the 500 BLC kids received notebooks, pencils, paper and folders from American churches this week.

Status of $30,000 needed for 21 passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10 passenger multicabs: $2495 received, $27,505 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 42.

HAPPY PHILIPPINE INDEPENDENCE DAY! (6/12) HAPPY FLAG DAY! (6/14) HAPPY FATHER’S DAY! (6/20) HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SUMMER! (6/21) HAPPY OLYMPIC DAY! (6/23)

“Okay, who can teach auto-harp?” My assistant pastor, Callem, volunteered to help build the schedule for BLC’s first-ever 3-day music camp, last week.

Four American music teachers were to be on hand to teach theory and instrument identification, and many of BLC’s teachers were already gifted at various instruments. “Callem,” I asked, “Where is it all going, though? Shouldn’t we have some sort of performance?”

We both agreed that it would be a good idea, but after 8 hours of music theory and four hours of practice, what kind of a raucous would 300+ BLC novices create?

“How about an orchestra?” I suggested. “Then we can have the kids perform individual short solos afterward!” Callem suggested the “BLC orchestra” would play “At The Cross” and that since we have more students than instruments, the remaining kids without instruments would sing in the choir.

PJ taught drums and lyre, while Abby assisted one of our faculty in teaching recorder. Callem did guitar and since I had no interested parties in the French horn, I was the solo horn-ist. During practice, I skittered from classroom to classroom to hear the progress. It sounded quite bleak. Skreeches and squawks reverberated from the walls. How would we be ready by tomorrow?

Yet Friday morning, the day of the recital, finally arrived. The kids were excited. Each found their places, from the youngest preschooler to the sixth graders and staff. The stage was filled from back to front, starting with the percussion and ending with the violins, recorders and auto-harpists in the front.

Before the stage stood row upon row of singers, and before them stood the tambourinists, ready fro action. Finally, our conductor (my secretary), was in the very front, with a pen in hand as his baton.

I was amazed. We pulled it off! In one day, these street urchins who had never touched a trumpet or guitar in their lives, lifted up praises to our Heavenly Father as they sang out, “At The Cross…where the burden of my heart rolled away…” As the words and music made a “joyful noise”, I am positive that this blend of instruments and voices wafted up on angels’ wings to the Holy of Holies in Heaven itself, to be heard by God Himself.

Until next time…
Let the islands rejoice!

Present need: $300 for 100 tambourines for BLC’s new tambourine troupe.

Please pray:

1. for the next upcoming BLC events: July 5 General BLC PTA meeting, June 19 Math Seminar, July 12 Homeroom BLC PTA meetings, July 17-19 First BLC Preliminary exams, August 1 BLC Nutrition Month Culmination ceremonies and presentations.
2. for BLC’s new music department. BLC’s 3-day music camp last week taught many kids the skills of various instruments. Now, we may soon have a Japanese missionary on-hand to teach trumpet. Also a friend recently donated many musical supplies, including a trombone, clarinet, recorder and many teaching aids to BLC.
3. for BLC's total debt of $39,983 be whittled down to zero by January, 2011 [$1428 per week for 28 more weeks] (-$2020 from last week).
4. for PJ, as he teaches in a 6-7 year old VBS class at Faith Academy this week.

Praise God:

1. that the mongo bean plants in BLC’s rooftop garden are growing by leaps and bounds. In just a few weeks, they are already nearly a foot tall!
2. that an American couple has agreed to use part of their inheritance to assist in the elimination of part of BLC’s 20087 typhoon debt of over $39,000.
3. that this week a friend agreed to sponsor me at $20 per mile in the Philippine Cobra 70.3 mile triathlon race in August. This brings the total per-mile sponsorship to $25. So when I make it to the finish line, we will be able to delete $1,757.50 from BLC’s remaining $39,983 2008 typhoon debt!
4. that my feet are now well from a painful bout with infection.
5. that some friends have decided to help our family pay for the overhaul our car, which was damaged when the gas station put oil in the car’s transmission fluid reservoir.
6. that the half a dozen BLC kids sang fantastically during the Davao City Kiwanis Club’s 44th anniversary celebration last Sunday evening.

Status of $30,000 needed for 21 passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10 passenger multicabs: $2490 received, $27,510 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 42.

NOTE: I plan to compete in the Philippine Cobra 70.3 mile Half-Ironman Triathlon (swimming, bicycling and running) August 22, 2010. Many friends have expressed interest in sponsoring me in this race. If you also desire to sponsor me per mile, all proceeds will go toward paying off BLC’s outstanding 2008 typhoon debt of over $39,000. Please let me know at BLCKIDS@YAHOO.COM. It is possible to send through credit card online at www.christianaid.org. Their code for BLC is 801-BLC.

“You forgot one.” Our speaker in the adult seminar Monday was part of the VBS team from California. She shared in the morning (during the children’s VBS), afternoon (during the youth VBS) and in the evening.

From the book of Nehemiah, she shared what we should look for when we choose leaders in the church. After her message was finished, I was asked to close in prayer. Noticing a basin in the front corner of the sanctuary/gym, I dropped my face cloth into the water and asked the speaker to take off her shoes.

I explained, while washing her feet, that even as Jesus washed His disciples’ feet as a servant leader, servanthood is that one lacking characteristic, often overlooked when we choose leaders. Explaining further, I shared about an event that had occurred earlier in the day.

Hundreds and hundreds of children were in the VBS each day, and I noticed a little 3-yr old girl who was crying at the foot of the stairs. The crowd of kids was so dense that I could not get over to her, as she grasped the railing at the bottom step.

It was then that I noticed one of the BLC janitors, gradually making his way down the stairs to the little girl. He picked her up and carried her in his arms up the stairs to her classroom. He was a servant leader. Each of us, as servant leaders, are to be willing to reach down and help those in need.

The next evening (Tuesday), during the adult meeting, the speaker surprised us all by bringing in three basins of water and face towels. “Now it is your turn,” she challenged us, “To wash each others’ feet!” I began at our table, and the feet I washed were those of Hazel, a mother whom I had baptized in the ocean only a month before.

Wednesday during prayer meeting, we began with testimony time. Hazel stood up with tears in her eyes. “When the leader said we were to wash each others’ feet, I thought, “Oh good. I can wash my pastor’s feet!” But instead of us going counterclockwise around the table, we went clockwise, and he washed my feet!

"I wanted him to stop. I am a nobody. He should not be washing my feet. Yet I did not have the guts to tell him no. There he was, kneeling on the ground with a face towel in his hands. He washed my feet! We all must be willing, no matter who we are, to reach down and help others!”

And the one who washed my feet? After I removed the socks and bandages from my feet, it was my wife, Elvie.

Until next time…
Let the islands rejoice!

Present need: $359 to repair the engine of our family car. The gas station did quite a bit of damage when they refilled the transmission fluid with motor oil.

Please pray:

1. for the next upcoming BLC events: June 9-11- BLC Music Camp (on-campus for the entire student body).
2. for endurance for the California VBS team which helped us this week, as they travel to a rural area of Mindanao to direct another VBS.
3. for BLC's total debt of $42,003 be whittled down to zero by January, 2011 [$1449 per week for 29 more weeks] (-$94 from last week).
4. for our BLC teachers sand staff, as they begin yet another school year this week.
5. for Gene, our New York friend, who will be traveling back to the USA this week after his participation BLC’s three-day music camp.

Praise God:

1. that alongside BLC’s rooftop garden, the hens have FINALLY started laying eggs!
2. that Chelsea, one of the children in our youth ministry a few decades ago in Colorado, is now becoming a missionary among military kids in Germany!
3. that the three VBS kids this week who brought the most friends won bikes. Earl brought 46 kids, Rachelle brought 39, and Shiery brought 18! 45 others also brought friends. Our highest attendance in one day was Thursday, with 615.
4. that there are already sponsors who have pledged a total of $5 per mile for my 70.3 mile triathlon in August. This means that at that time, when I make it to the finish line, we will be able to delete $351.50 from BLC’s remaining $40,000 2008 typhoon debt!
5. that 30% of the 804 VBS kids this week made spiritual decisions, signifying so by writing their names on the blackboard in the Bible Story room.
6. that this week, we made the last payment of our second Chase Manhattan Bank 36% interest loan of $21,000! This loan was taken out in 2008 to defray some of our typhoon expenses. The last interest loan we have yet to pay off is our 31% annual interest co-op loan of $32,000.
7. that Mark, the pastor of our eighth church plant, is now out of the hospital after his painful bout with kidney stones.
8. that finally the 2008 Diary "Book Of Miracles" has been printed and is ready for us to ship to you!

Status of $30,000 needed for 21 passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10 passenger multicabs: $2485 received, $27,515 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 42.

NOTE: I plan to compete in the Philippine Cobra 70.3 mile Half-Ironman Triathlon (swimming, bicycling and running) August 22, 2010. Many friends have expressed interest in sponsoring me in this race. If you also desire to sponsor me per mile, all proceeds will go toward paying off BLC’s outstanding 2008 typhoon debt of over $40,000. Please let me know at BLCKIDS@YAHOO.COM. It is possible to send through credit card online at www.christianaid.org. Their code for BLC is 801-BLC.

“Oooh, if only I had a roll of bandages which would seal themselves…if they even make them!” My feet ached terribly. The tropical infection, which returns every few years, was causing me to limp. Deep holes penetrated my right sole. My entire leg hurt. I tried putting Band-Aids on my foot, but they just got bunched up to my toes when I put on my socks.

A few months ago, on the other side of the ocean in the USA, a friend was about to retire from teaching. She only had a few months left before her “last day”. Occasionally she and her husband (a pastor) have loaded boxes of odds and ends into their truck to bring them to the shipping store to sent them to us here at BLC.

Often leftovers are included in the boxes from the school’s lost and found, as well as unused supplies donated by the school nurse and janitor.

One Wednesday awhile back, they stopped at the bank for money, and headed to the Asian grocery store. When they unloaded, they got the boxes inside, and gave their “sweet friend” some extra goodies (shoes and toilet paper, plus a bag of used crayons) for her father's people in the Philippine mountains. They have tried to give them a little something each time they have gone...warmer coats, etc.)

After filling out the paper work and starting to hand her $240, the cashier said, "That will be $120..." The couple both started to correct her when the woman explained, "the other one is on me." What a blessing!
The pastor’s wife thought she and her husband were both going to cry.

They thought of all the extras they'd taken to her, never thinking beyond being able to bless two locations in the Philippines at the same time. She really blessed them with her gift.

God has been using this shipping ministry in so many ways. When she got back to school the next day, there was a note on her board from one of her 9th grader students, “Teacher, I left a bag of clothes in the back for the Philippines…” So she began to fill the next box. They love it!

Last week, the two boxes arrived here in the Philippines. Elvie, the kids and I excitedly opened it, knowing there is always a treat or two added inside for PJ and Abby. Little did I expect, as we removed the used clothing, stuffed animals and school supplies from the boxes, that right near the bottom, alongside the cans of food, were four small boxes of medical supplies!

Leaning over in pain from my foot, I thought, “No, it couldn’t be!” Yet, knowing the awesome way that God has worked in the past, I knew that my hopes had come true. There inside were four gauze bandages and two rolls of self-adhesive bandages. Yes!

After wrapping up my foot, I headed off to the teachers’ retreat, able to walk comfortable on BOTH feet! Yay God! Two months ago when they packed those boxes, I did not even have an infection!

Yet God knew that I would have a need for bandages, and he touched the heart of the nurse to give the exact bandages I needed, and He touched the hearts of the Pastoral couple, and he touched the heart of the lady who helped the couple to send the items for free, and he also touched…MY FOOT!

What an AWESOME God! He could have healed me right away when I first prayed for healing, but then, all those people wouldn’t have been blessed by becoming a part of the healing process!

Until next time…
Let the islands rejoice!

Present need: $82 for the “refilling” of four of our expired fire extinguishers on the BLC campus.

Please pray:

1. for the next upcoming BLC events: June 9: Beginning of 2010-2011 BLC School Year.
2. for follow-up of the many spiritual decisions made by the hundreds and hundreds of VBS kids whose lives were touched this week as a team from California led a three-day VBS at BLC.
3. for BLC's total debt of $42,097 be whittled down to zero by January, 2011 [$1404 per week for 30 more weeks] (-$50 from last week).
4. for God to be glorified at the Davao Kiwanis Club’s 44th anniversary, which I am organizing this week.

Praise God:

1. that BLC’s rooftop garden now has new mongo beans, onions, radishes and carrots planted, and that the radishes are already an inch high! Also, PJ and Abby are planting squash, soybeans and peas in their “corner garden”
2. for the BLC teachers’ and staff retreat this past week on Samal and Talicud Islands, and at Hagimit Falls. My two messages on “True Love for Jesus” and our men’s discipleship coordinator’s two messages all were very, very warmly received.
3. that our VBS team arrived safely from the USA.
4. that our Panatongan church is also having a second VBS to follow up the main one. That one will be a smaller, local one, which will reach neighborhood kids. Many of the students at the first VBS will teach what they learned from the first VBS in the second one. Cool.

Status of $30,000 needed for 21 passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10 passenger multicabs: $2485 received, $27,515 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.
BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 42.

NOTE: I plan to compete in the Philippine Cobra 70.3 mile Half-Ironman Triathlon (swimming, bicycling and running) August 22, 2010. Many friends have expressed interest in sponsoring me in this race. If you also desire to sponsor me per mile, all proceeds will go toward paying off BLC’s outstanding 2008 typhoon debt of over $40,000. Please let me know at BLCKIDS@YAHOO.COM. It is possible to send through credit card online at www.christianaid.org. Their code for BLC is 801-BLC.

“I prayed for you!”

On Thursday morning, the swimming pool at the fitness club was crowded with many children who were enjoying their vacation. It would have been impossible to swim my regular 26 laps, had not a rope been set up to set apart two lanes for “lap-swimmers”.

There was one other swimmer using the “lap lanes”. He was my triathlon racing buddy, Stax. In the locker room afterward, I asked Stax if he swims by # of laps or by the time on his waterproof watch. “By my watch,” he replied. “Otherwise I forget where I left off.”

I explained to him how I keep track of my number of laps by praying through the alphabet for people whom I know. Each lap represents a successive letter of the alphabet. “And I prayed for you today as well, my friend.” Showing appreciation on his face, he said, “Wow that is a great idea. Thanks for praying for me! I will have to try that!”

Now, I couldn’t resist a little Bible humor. “Oh, I would be careful if I were you. If you get too religious, you might have to stop swimming because you’ll end up walking on the water…or worse yet, you might even PART the water, and then you’ll have to run the length of the pool!”

“Yet, if you do decide to pray through the alphabet,” I continued, already on a roll, “and then you happen to forget where you left off, just always go back to “P”, and pray for me! I can use the extra prayers!”

By now we were roaring with laughter in the locker room, and those outside were likely wondering what all the raucous was. But remembering that Stax is Catholic, I just could not resist one last itty-bitty comment… “Oh, and since you are Catholic, every time you pray for somebody, you’ll be tempted to make the sign of the cross.
I think you’ll lose your momentum then!” Hmmm, I wonder. Maybe then the swimming pool water will turn to wine!

Until next time…
Let the islands rejoice!

Present need: $360 to build Teachers’ mailboxes at BLC, for their personal belongings and also for on-campus mail.

Please pray:

1. for the next upcoming BLC events: May 20: Enrollment for School year 2010-2011, May 25-27: BLC Teachers/Staff retreat, June 9: Beginning of 2010-2011 BLC School Year.
2. for the BLC pupils, as they finish up their Summer classes, that they will study hard to pass their Summer exams in preparation for the next school year, to begin June 9.
3. for BLC's total debt of $42,332 be whittled down to zero by January, 2011 [$1323 per week for 32 more weeks] (-$1,628 from last week).

Praise God:

1. that over a hundred cabbage plants (in our BLC plant nursery) are beginning to sprout (and will soon be transplanted into BLC’s rooftop garden.
2. for a relative from California who visited BLC this week.
3. that Mark, Maryann and Ben did some late-night fieldwork demographics to successfully identify which aged young street-boys are the most prevalent in sleeping on the dirty city sidewalks at night, and are potential residents of our new “Oasis” drop-off center for street children. The next step will be to process four of these most needy homeless orphan boys through the police department, Social Welfare Department and also to contact those in the community who know the kids, informing them of the welfare we are granting them. Without going through the proper channels, Oasis could be taken to court under kidnapping or child trafficking charges.
4. that PJ and I had our first concert together in the shopping mall, with the Davao Youth Orchestra (DYO). He played drums while I played French horn.
5. that less than 100 Filipinos were murdered during election week violence. Davao City has a new mayor and the new Philippine president is Noynoy Aquino, son of the late former president, Corazon Aquino (she started the Edsa revolution in 1986).

Status of $30,000 needed for 21 passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10 passenger multicabs: $2475 received, $27,535 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 41.

2010 HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY! (5/9), HAPPY PHILIPPINE ELECTION DAY! (5/10), HAPPY BRITISH ELECTION DAY! (5/6), HAPPY PHILIPPINE LABOR DAY! (5/3), HAPPY 59th NATIONAL AMERICAN DAY OF PRAYER! (5/6)

“Be a LIGHT-Guard!” While preparing this week for my Sunday message from the fourth chapter of Ephesians, I was trying to figure out a “hook” which would catch the attention of the congregation. The theme was “being children of the light”.

At the same time, I was busy attending practices for my graduation exercises. I have the unique opportunity this year of marching for both my doctorate and masters degrees, from separate institutions, in the same year. While my Master’s degree was completed in 2008, I was always out of the country when it was time to march with the other graduates.

Finally, on Friday morning, with 120 other lawyers, doctors, etc., I received my diploma from Ateneo de Davo University. In the excitement of the moment, as I crossed the stage in my cap and gown, I still had the nagging question in the back of my mind as to a catchy opener for my Sunday message.

My question was answered when the keynote speaker was introduced. “Today we have the distinct privilege of having the vice president of the Davao Light and Power Company address our graduates!”

“With Davao’s daily blackouts,” he began, “I knew I would have to pull some strings to ensure that you do not lose electricity during this ceremony, especially since I am the speaker!” Ah-hah! There is my “hook” for Sunday’s message! Just as this vice president was to be a guardian of Ateneo University’s power, even so, we are to be “light-guards” of the light of Christ that shines through us to the dark and needy world!

Until next time…
Let the islands rejoice!

Present need: $765 for 17 Wall fans for BLC’s classrooms, at $45 each.

Please pray:

1. for the next upcoming BLC events: May 19: End of Summer Classes/May 20: Enrollment for School year 2010-2011 .
2. for wisdom as I choose this week my leadership cabinet for 14 committee chairmen of my 2010-11 term as president of the Kiwanis Club of Davao City. Mark will be the first of my three vice presidents, and will fill in for me when I am in the USA on furlough from late June (2011) through that October.
3. for BLC's total debt of $44,024 be whittled down to zero by January, 2011 [$1,295 per week for 34 more weeks] (-$38 from last week).
4. for wisdom for Elvie as she visits the homes of poor families to decide which of the new BLC applicants are poor enough to be accepted in this next year’s BLC student sponsorship program.

Praise God:

1. that we’ve begun harvesting the 250 ears of corn in BLC’s rooftop garden to feed our 500 pupils.
2. that Elvie’s 6-year commitment as secretary to a national Christian Women’s organization was competed at their convention last week. She now has the year off from being an officer of this group, and can assist me as I end my one-year term as district-wide Kiwanis chaplain, and begin my 2010-2011 term as club president.
3. that an American charity is planning to assist BLC in a Christian basketball training camp for Davao street kids.
4. that Mark’s week-long trip to his wife’s grandmother’s funeral (8 hours away) did not conflict with his moving date into the new Father’s House facility (this Sunday).
5. that the Davao Corps of City Engineers has agreed to sponsor the daily food costs of the first child in our new drop-off center for street children, and the Kiwanis club is willing to sponsor the second child! Yay, God!
6. that with “bread improver”, I have finally been able to bake a loaf of bread that rises well, and that PJ and Abby enjoy!
7. that, even though I graduated with my Master’s degree 2 years ago, I was finally in the country during the marching ceremony and received my diploma this Friday, with Elvie, PJ and Abby present!

Status of $30,000 needed for 21 passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10 passenger multicabs: $2465 received, $27,535 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 41.

“Please come to my graduation party!” This week Elvie, PJ, Abby and I met in a car wash with the family and guests of a recent college graduate. Once we had arrived, the parents asked me, as their pastor, to share and pray.

“Thirteen years ago, I started the church here in this part of the city. While we have over a thousand attending today, back then, we only had 8. I went door-to-door to schedule Bible studies in neighbors’ homes. This family invited me in, and every week their little children listened with some neighbor kids as well.

“Every Tuesday afternoon we would sing together, recite Bible verses that they had memorized, study the Bible and pray together. Theirs was just one of the thirteen weekly studies we had in different neighbors’ homes.

“Over the years, her father died, and the mom remarried. They enrolled their kids in BLC, and also started attending church. It doesn’t seem possible, but that little girl is now a college graduate, magna cum laud!

And she even is leaving next week for a new job in Japan. She did so well in school that she did not have to apply…they found her!”

The parents whispered over to me, “Pastor, God truly has blessed us.
By not having to pay for our children’s schooling, we were able to save our money. Now we that we have used those funds to built this car wash, we will have a regular income as we hand-wash the cars that pass by! Please pray for God’s blessing on our new business.”

Wow! Little did I realize, back in 1997, that these little children would be the tools that God would use to lift their families out of poverty! God is good! Let’s train more children, even if they are poor, whenever we can! We will change the world for the better…one child at a time.

Until next time…
Let the islands rejoice!

Present need: $650 for tables for BLC’s Industrial Arts class.

Please pray:

1. for the next upcoming BLC events:
   May 19: End of Summer Classes
   May 20: Enrollment for School year 2010-2011.
2. for a replacement for the sponsor who dropped his BLC student sponsorship when he and his family (in California) moved and left no forwarding address.
3. for BLC's total debt of $44,062 to be whittled down to zero by January, 2011 [$1259 per week for 35 more weeks] (-$45 from last week).
4. for Elvie as she is in Cebu City (Philippines) this week as national secretary for a Nation-wide women’s group. They are expecting nearly 2,000 delegates from around the country to be present for this annual meeting.
5. for discernment. An international mission group is interested in partnering with BLC to open a Christian restaurant/bookstore in Davao to raise funds to supply the needs of the street children in our new Oasis drop-off center for street children.
6. for a 10-acre property (5 hours’ travel from Davao) which might be donated next month to BLC for us to build a high school/college.

Praise God:

1. that four different sponsors of BLC kids have sent cards, letters and packages for their BLC kids this week.
2. that the first three payments (of four) have been made for the purchase of our Oasis drop-off center for street kids, this week. The final balloon payment will be made July 1. Mark and his wife have collected empty boxes from local businesses so they can pack up their belongings and move into the facility next week. Boy, are they excited!
3. that during the 2-week-long BLC break between graduation and Summer School, many of the staff worked at weaving together coconut leaves into baskets for the rooftop hens to nest in. Also when we harvested the carrots, the rooftop rabbits had a feast of the carrot-tops. Plus, since we ran out of parsley flakes for meatloaf, we used carrot tops!
4. Two missionary friends visited BLC this week and gave $43 for grain to feed the chickens.

Status of $30,000 needed for 21 passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10 passenger multicabs: $2460 received, $27,540 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 39.

HAPPY ADMINISTRATIVE PROFESSIONALS’ DAY! (4/21) HAPPY EARTH DAY! (4/22)

“So, Pastor Paul, will you be home this Summer?” While reading a book and waiting for PJ and Abby to get out of school at Faith Academy, this teacher’s question made me consider my travel plans.

Since the funds we’d budgeted for our planned Israel trip we swallowed up by my March gall bladder surgery, we were only planning a few short trips out of Davao in the upcoming months.

“Yes,” I responded. “We’ll be home.” Since my friend has similar acquaintances in the USA, she asked, “Then will you be going to Ben’s wedding?” Suddenly a light dawned in my mind and I realized she was not talking about our PHILIPPINE home, but our AMERICAN home.

As a missionary, the mission field has really become home. People, cultures and even languages which seemed so foreign to us just a few short decades ago are commonplace to us. “Oh,” I corrected myself for my friend, “I mean we will be at our OTHER home this summer, here in Davao! We have feet on two sides of the ocean!”

My seminary teacher from my youth knew what he was talking about when he said, “Missionaries are no longer part of American nor Foreign cultures. Instead, they are members of a “third culture!”

I wonder. As Christians and therefore citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven, does that make us Fourth Culture Citizens?

Until next time…
Let the islands rejoice!

Present need: $956 for March’s unpaid BLC electric bill.

Please pray:

1. for the next upcoming BLC events:
   May 19: End of Summer Classes
   May 20: Enrollment for School year 2010-2011.
2. for wisdom and discretion for my fellow missionaries Mark, Ben and Joe as they do late-night demographics studies to determine what the most common age is of the homeless Davao children who sleep outdoors on the sidewalk each night. Their findings will determine what age boys to accept when BLC’s “Oasis” drop-off center for street kids opens in July. I am estimating that we will accept 12 boys, ages 8-10.
3. for BLC's total debt of $44,107 to be whittled down to zero by January, 2011 [$1,226 per week for 36 more weeks] (-$65 from last week).

Praise God:

1. that a few American friends send five huge boxes this week, with two printers, a television, school supplies, food, clothes, stuffed animals and many other desperately-needed items for the work of BLC. Oh, and for us Barners…candy bars! I bring a chocolate bar each week into my pastors’ theology class as a prize for the student who has progressed the furthest since the previous week.
2. that when Bill, one of the Sunday School teachers from my youth in New York, died this past week, all memorials were designated for the missions projects that the church supports!
3. that the carrots in BLC’s rooftop garden have regularly been consumed over the course of the past month. Now we are pulling up all the rest to make more carrot cake and also to plant two rows of cabbages. We also butchered half a dozen of the rooftop hens who were taking too long to get around to laying eggs. Mmm, delicious fried and adobo chicken!
4. that BLC’s 6 bus drivers had no bus runs during this week’s school vacation. So they were able to use their spare time to dig a foot-deep crevasse in the accumulated sediment clogging the drainage canal (alongside the school) to partially defray future flooding.

Status of $30,000 needed for 21 passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10 passenger multicabs: $2455 received, $27,545 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 38.

“He is risen!” Bright-eyed at our 4am Easter Sunrise Service, the congregation’s booming response of hundreds of voices exclaimed, “He is risen, INDEED!”

Last Christmas, when I woke up late for our Sunrise Service, I literally ran from my bed to the shower to the dressing room to the pulpit. Thus I was hesitant to schedule myself to preach for this year’s Easter Sunrise Service. Yet getting to bed early this time… I was sure I could do it.

You see, a few weeks ago, Elvie, PJ, Abby and I decided we’d commit ourselves to waking up earlier for our “Family Altar” morning devotions, at 5am. Our bodies have become so accustomed to waking up at this hour, that PJ and Abby take notes in their notebooks as I teach them from the Bible each morning. The kids even write down the hymns we sing, as well as the time it takes to sing each one!

So, getting up at 3am to be ready for the 4am worship was no problem. Though the week had been a busy one, with me preaching 8 times in different settings, I was crisp and ready to both preach on the resurrection of Jesus and also to teach Sunday School.

Waking up at 2:45 am on Easter Sunday morning, we were the first ones in church for worship. We identified (just a little) with Jesus, for “The Barner Family has risen from bed!” Yes, we have risen in time for church, indeed! Let us each rise to the occasion to serve our Risen Lord…at all times!

Until next time…
Let the islands rejoice!

Present need: $1,000 Metal gym pillars (BLC’s old ones are made of coconut lumber and are 8 years old)

Please pray:

1. 1) for the next upcoming BLC events:
   April 19: Beginning of BLC Summer Classes
   May 19: End of Summer Classes
   May 20: Enrollment for School year 2010-2011.
2. for Lanei and Gene, two short-term missionaries, who are definitely visiting Davao in May and June, respectively, to help out.
3. for BLC's total debt of $44,172 to be whittled down to zero by January, 2011 [$1194 per week for 37 more weeks] (-$1,089 from last week).

Praise God:

1. that a teacher at Faith Academy is willing to donate some of her time this summer to teach at BLC, since the Philippine school year (Jun-Mar) is different from the American school year (Sep-Jun).
2. that a Lion’s Club in Vermont, USA, is mailing two large boxes of school supplies for the 500 BLC students.
3. that Davao’s Faith Academy (missionary kids’ school) this week has prepared packets of school supplies for the BLC Summer School, which begins next week. The supplies have been donated by Americans over the past few months, and the Faith kids prepared them in packets so each student could receive a “Summer packet” of school supplies.
4. that two retired American couples gave a combined total of over $1200 this month!
5. that when Elvie and Abigail visited a graduation party 3 hours away, they gave us two hens. Plus, on their way back home, they bought three male rabbits to replace the one that had died.
6. that although our watermelons blew up (the vine was growing on the woodpile…before we moved the wood…and absorbed too much heat), Our corn is shoulder high and has sprouted 250 ears which should be ripe in time to feed the 500 Summer School kids next week (half-ear per child).

Status of $30,000 needed for 21 passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10 passenger multicabs: $2450 received, $27,550 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 38.

HAPPY ARAW NG KAGITINGAN! (PHILIPPINE HOLIDAY 4/9)

“Be strong and courageous!” As I researched appropriate Bible passages to challenge the BLC graduates during our Twelfth Commencement Exercises this week, God’s command to his servant in Joshua 1:6-9 seemed perfect.

I would remind them of the three C’s of Christian Service: Be Confident (v.5), Be Courageous (v.6), and Be Careful (v.7-9). Hundreds of Politicians, Parents, Dignitaries and Pastors would also grace the event, so it would be a great opportunity to share these Bible truths with them as well.

The 99 graduates, in their white caps and gowns, looked sooo handsome. I whispered over to Elvie, “Having these kids in the BLC for 9 years, I feel almost as if they were my own children. I am so going to miss them!”

Looking down at their faces, I could see the valedictorian and salutatorian, who both were from extremely poor families, yet also had been star Bible Verse memorizers in my Sunday School class, as well as in BLC’s weekly Bible Bee competitions.

My nostalgic reverie was interrupted as Teacher Richard, of the Fifth grade, strode up to the lectern with his Bible to give the Welcome Address. In the back of my mind I rehearsed my opening line, “Be Strong and Courageous!” Suddenly I heard Teacher Richard say into the microphone, “My challenge to you is the Three D’s of Joshua 1:6-9!” Yikes! He stole my passage! Well, maybe “stole” would be too strong a term for it.

Anyway, what do I do now? Since I had rehearsed my outline to Elvie previously, she glanced over at me, and I smiled back, weakly. Hmmm, what to do now? Well, if my topic was to be courageous, I should then take it to heart!

Richard’s message was brief. After an instrumental came my introduction, “And now the President and Founder of the Barner Learning Center, Dr. Paul Barner, will give the Charge to our Graduates.” Here goes. “Graduates, you have heard from your esteemed Teacher Richard the 3 D’s of Joshua 1:6-9. You also have learned your ABC’s here at BLC. So, I will refresh you on the 3 C’s of the very same passage…”

Since the transition seemed to flow smoothly, I couldn’t help to add at the end of my message, “And since you have now heard the C’s and D’s of God’s command to Joshua, perhaps our government representative from the Department of Education will enlighten you with the A’s and B’s as well!”

Whew, “Be Strong and Courageous” is a verse to take to heart at all times!

Until next time…
Let the islands rejoice!

Present need: $1685 to pay off BLC’s busses’ outstanding fuel bills at the gas station.

Please pray:

1. for the next upcoming BLC events:
   April 9: Community Gospel Tract Distribution by BLC staff, Textbook Supplier Evaluation & Revision Week by BLC Teachers;
   April 19: Beginning of BLC Summer Classes;
   May 19: End of Summer Classes;
   May 20: Enrollment for School year 2010-2011.
2. for BLC’s sister ministry, the Father’s House Oasis Drop-Off Center for Street Kids. The property title will be signed over July first when the $29,000 purchase price clears in the bank. Please pray for a smooth transition in building bunk beds, etc. for the homeless children. Also pray for Mark and Ben as they seek funding from local churches and businesses to feed and clothe the kids.
3. for BLC's total debt of $45,261 to be whittled down to zero by January, 2011 [$1191 per week for 38 more weeks] (-$3,092 from last week).
4. for Doug, a theologically-adroit Christian whom we plan to bring with us door-to-door next month to confront the following local cults at their places of operation near BLC: Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Iglesia Ni Kristo, Yogi, and Quibulites.

Praise God:

1. that a family in New Jersey sent $112 for much-needed earthworms to decrease the compost time for BLC’s rooftop garden, thereby keeping the rooftop hens from the danger of rats. The donors also mailed us a book on composting and many bags of gummy worms! The Bible verse they listed was Jonah 4:2, “…God sent a worm!”
2. that 3 watermelons are growing in BLC’s rooftop garden and should be ripe within two weeks when BLC’s 500 kids come back from their short break, for Summer School!
3. that an American friend sent funds for a ceiling fan for BLC’s rooftop garden, to keep the hens cool.
4. that seven of our 21 pastoral training students each presented successfully a five minute message on Good Friday, representing one of the last sayings of Jesus while on the cross.
5. that PJ and Abby performed a duet of “A Mighty Fortress is our God” before the congregation during our Good Friday service.
6. that a dear sponsor whose wife died last month, had all memorials go toward the needs of BLC! Already nearly $400 has come in from these gifts!
7. for BLC’s 99 graduates who completed their requirements and were recognized at the commencement exercises last week.
8. that our daughter Abigail has asked me to teach her how to place my musical instrument, the French horn, with which I am also participating in PJ’s youth orchestra at Faith Academy.

Status of $30,000 needed for 21 passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10 passenger multicabs: $2445 received, $27,555 left to go!
Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 38.

HAPPY EASTER (“RESURRECTION SUNDAY”)! (4/4), HAPPY PASSOVER! (3/30), HAPPY GOOD FRIDAY! (4/2)

“Pastor Paul, you’ve gotta meet my new friend!” Pastor Manny is the newly-elected volunteer president of DCL (Davao Christian Leaders Foundation), a club in which I am a trustee. Manny is an evangelist who speaks in various churches of many denominations. Since he meets hundreds of new people every month, he occasionally places me in contact with potential American missionaries.

For instance, Manny introduced 62-yr old Joe to us back around Thanksgiving, last year. Over the past half year, we have worked with him in the ministry, through theology training, etc. Just last Sunday he, his wife and kids agreed to run our Panantongan church plant.

Red-headed, 33-yr old Ben was “forwarded” to us by Manny this week. He is an ex-marine with a Filipina wife. He visited BLC this Wednesday during our last chapel of the school year. Since he plans to help Mark with our brand new Agdao church plant, and also in the Father’s House drop-off center for street kids, I had he and Mark assist in a “Bible Quiz” competition before the BLC kids. We divided the kids into two groups. I asked Bible questions while Ben kept score for team A and Mark for Team B.
Both teams were neck-and-neck, 7-to-8. “Who built the ark?” I asked.

When Mark’s team got the question right, I noticed a dilemma: Mark is missing two fingers on one hand. He couldn’t hold up enough fingers to show the score. Would the kids forfeit? No way. Being the resourceful leader that he is, Mark sat down on the stage and held up one foot!

The score was very close. The last question was a very easy one. “Who was the mother of Jesus?” Ben loves working with kids, and knows just how to interact with very young kids, making them feel important. So he chose a little first grader to answer, since it was such a simple question.

However, surprised that he was picked, the little guy blurted out, “JOSEPH!” Needless to say, with or without fingers, Mark’s team won!

Until next time…
Let the islands rejoice!

Present need: $50 for two new tires to replace the bald ones on one of the BLC multicab buses.

Please pray:

1. for the next upcoming BLC events:
   April 9: Community Gospel Tract Distribution by BLC staff, Textbook Supplier Evaluation & Revision Week by BLC Teachers;
   April 19: Beginning of BLC Summer Classes;
   May 19: End of Summer Classes;
   May 20: Enrollment for School year 2010-2011.
2. for the following short-term missionaries who plan to assist at BLC this year: Shelley, Gene, Chuck, Jane, Craig, and Dean.
3. for BLC's total debt of $48,353 to be whittled down to zero by January, 2011 [$1240 per week for 39 more weeks] (-$74 from last week).
4. that, since Joe has agreed to take over our Panantongan church plant, we will finally be able to divide the Purok Ocho/Communal church plant into two respective churches. We plan to begin “cottage prayer meetings” in homes of church members after Easter.
5. that the 1200 worshippers from our combined eight church plants will be able to wake up early for our joint 4am sunrise worship service on Easter Sunday.

Praise God:

1. that a friend in Utah is mailing $50 worth of seeds to BLC for our rooftop garden.
2. that the tomato plants in BLC’s rooftop garden are over-productive, with nearly 500 tomatoes each week for our 500 BLC kids!
3. that my surgery is healing fast and I am already back up to running
   2 km and swimming half a mile a day.
4. that Ben, a visitor from Texas, has committed himself to assisting Mark in our new Agdao church plant, during Saturday prayer meetings, for the next two years.
5. that Joe, our missionary from Oregon, has accepted the position as pastor of our Panantongan church plant.
6. that I have been re-elected to another year as trustee of DCL (Davao Christian Leaders Foundation, Inc.
7. that BLC’s handyman Richard was able to rewire the reel-to-reel tape player and record player in my office, which were donated by a dear widow in New Jersey. It’s quite a privilege to listen to these records of orchestras and Christian Chorale groups as I work; records no longer available!
8. that while waiting for a traffic light, I saw a half-naked, four year old dusty-haired beggar boy drop his peso coin and crawl under an idling jeepney to find it. Praise God that the light did not change until he found his coin. When the driver was startled to see the child crawl out from the side of his vehicle, he scolded the child who had nearly been squashed.

Status of $30,000 needed for 21 passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10 passenger multicabs: $2440 received, $27,560 left to go!
Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 38.

HAPPY ST. PATRICK'S DAY! (3/17), HAPPY ARAW NG DABAW!
(DAVAO CITY ANNIVERSARY: 3/15), HAPPY PALM SUNDAY! (3/21), HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SPRING! (3/20)

“If all the Earth's oceans were filled with ink, and If every blade of grass was a pen, and If all 7 billion people on the planet were Christian artists, and If the entire sky was a parchment, then We still could not express the Love of God for us, His children!"

Since I was the only ordained reverend among the seminary doctoral graduates, I was chosen to give the opening invocation, in which I expressed the love of God for us as His children.

My dissertation had almost been completed a few weeks ago, before my emergency gall bladder surgery placed the project on back burner. My wife Elvie was there for me to convince me to balance my time in my third floor BLC office and also my recovery sleep time. Fortunately, the 107-page dissertation was submitted in the nick of time, and I was able to earn my doctorate degree (Doctor of Ministry in Eduction).

Since my last name is Barner, near the beginning of the alphabet, I was the first to receive my degree. The seminary founder was present, having traveled from overseas for the occasion. He instructed me as the first 2010 gradtuate, "kneel down on the pillow placed in the center of the stage, and hold the microphone with your left hand to thank the Lord in prayer before you accept your diploma. You may do what you like with your right hand: holding it in the air in praise to God, or even placing it over your heart in gratitiude.

"Sir," I inquired, while kneeling on the pillow, there in the center of the stage, "If I may, could I hold my wife's hand with my free hand while I pray? After all, if not for her assistance during these years of research and painstaking labors of love these last few months, I would not be receiving this degree today."

The seminary's founder was noticeably touched as he agreed. "Of course you may."

Praise God for this final accomplishment, with my AA Degree acheived in 1982, BA- 1984, MA- 2008, and DMinE- 2010! (NOTE: Since we were out of the country during the Masters’ graduation marches in 2008 & 2009, I will march for my MA in April of this year. Last minute revisions were also required in my thesis by the university).

Until next time…
Let the islands rejoice!

Present need: $112 for us to buy from the BLC pupils 1000 worms, at 5 pesos per worm as they dig up night crawlers so that the earthworms may make "low acid-content" fertilizer for BLC's rooftop garden.

Please pray:

1. for the next upcoming BLC events:
   March 30: am: Preschool Promotional Recognition, pm: Elementary Promotional Recognition,
   March 31: am: Baccalaureate Service, pm: Graduation Ceremony,
   April 9: Community Gospel Tract Distribution by BLC staff, Textbook Supplier Evaluation & Revision Week by BLC Teachers
   April 19: Beginning of BLC Summer Classes.
2. that the $29,000 for our new Drop-Off Center for street Kids “Oasis” will arrive from the promised donors in Mexico and California by the scheduled purchase date this July 1.
3. for BLC's total debt of $48,427 to be whittled down to zero by January,
   2011 [$1211 per week for 40 more weeks] (-$89 from last week).
   

Praise God:

1. that a couple in New Jersey decided to give part of their annual work bonus to BLC for the school's debt reduction!
2. that fifty peanut plants in BLC's rooftop garden are almost ready to be
   harvested and ground down to make peanut butter!
3. that the bandages from my 3/9 gall bladder surgery came off this week and the doctor said I can gradually start swimming & jogging right away, as well as work my way up to competing in the August half-Ironman triathlon!

Status of $30,000 needed for 21 passenger jeepneys to replace three of our
overcrowded BLC 10 passenger multicabs: $2415 received, $27,565 left to go!
Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 38.

DAYLIGHT SAVINGS TIME (3/14)

“Pastor Paul, you will be our club's official Kiwanis delegate to the Taiwan Asian-Pacific Convention! Bring your whole family!”

Two nights before our flight to Taiwan, I had another gallstone attack, so our trip was cancelled. Although the monthly juice treatments I'd used since November had cleansed out the stones from my gall bladder, there had been so many stones, so firmly compacted into the gall bladder that it had stopped functioning, and had “died.” becoming gangrenous.

On Monday I had even begun throwing up green bile, after I'd emptied out my stomach. Since I had not become jaundice, the operation to remove the gall bladder through laproscopy was fast (only 2 hours).

When they put the gas mask on my face, I thought, “I wonder if this is the gas mask that makes me sleeeeeeeee.......” The next thing I knew, I was in the recovery room. My shoulders were in pain, since they had to “inflate” my abdominal cavity with gas for space to work in. Also 3 telltale incisions were in various places on my stomach and chest.

Throughout the day, many church friends and others from various Davao ministries joined us in my hospital room #428, to sing, pray and eat. Later in the evening #428 was packed with 20 staffers from BLC. “We have some good news and bad news of what has happened while you've been away,” said our cashier. “Ok, bad news first,” I suggested.

“One of the 20 hens on the roof died of heat stroke. We need to put up a ceiling fan for them for better circulation of air.” Next for the good news, when everyone looked over at our bachelor librarian, Teacher Dane, I already knew. “Pamalaje?” I asked. Everybody looked surprised that I figured it out so quickly. Pamalaje is when a man asks a lady's parents for her hand in marriage.

The hospital room was filled with joyful teasing and counseling for the next few hours, aimed at both Dane and his new fiance, 3rd grade Teacher Joy. Elvie spoke up as all were about to leave, at 9pm. “We are truly a family, though thick and thin...good times and bad times, we Christians stick together, at Faith Fellowship and Barner Learning Center!”

So, we missed Taiwan after all. And now I have one less internal organ. But one thing we do have that I cherish dearly is awesome worldwide Christian friends, including delightful prayer warriors like...YOU!

Until next time…
Let the islands rejoice!

Present need: $35 for a ceiling fan to keep the hens on the roof from getting heatstroke.

Please pray:

1. for the next upcoming BLC events:
   March 19-19: BLC Achievement Exams,
   March 30: am: Preschool Promotional Recognition, pm: Elementary Promotional Recognition,
   March 31: am: Baccalaureate Service, pm: Graduation Ceremony,
   April 9: Community Gospel Tract Distribution by BLC staff, Textbook Supplier Evaluation & Revision Week by BLC Teachers
   April 19: Beginning of BLC Summer Classes.
2. that my 2-week recuperation from surgery will be swift and complete.
3. for BLC's total debt of $48,516 to be whittled down to zero by January, 2011 [$1183 per week for 41 more weeks] (-$0 from last week).
4. for the doctors and nurses who were influenced by our joyfulness in the hospital to further seek the Lord. Especially those who overheard our Wednesday evening prayer meeting in #428, with another 20 present, for the preaching, language interpretation, singing and prayers for hospital staff.
5. that my sister-in-law Amy's reconstructive lumpectomy surgery will go well.
6. That I am able to finish my doctoral dissertation this week while being bedridden.
7. that God will answer PJ's request to be baptized by his 13th birthday (6/29/10) in the Jordan River, Israel. The Father's House Foundation in Texas is considering paying our way for free.

Praise God:

1. that 54 were in attendance at our new Agdao inner-city church plant's first worship service last week. We installed Brother Mark and Sister Maryann as the first leadership team. As I preached their first sermon, the congregation sat outside under dwarf coconut trees with vast spreading leaves as a natural canopy in the backyard of a small bamboo house.
2. that, since I now have no gall bladder, I don't have to swallow that icky olive oil ever again!
3. that 2 cards and packages came in the mail for BLC kids this week.
4. That the corn in BLC's rooftop garden isa already knee-high and should be ripe by May 1. Praise God for a year-round growing season!
5. For my faithful, loving wife Elvie who stayed with me in the hospital day and night before and after surgery.
6. For our friend from New Jersey who mailed us 8 packs of gummy worms, 300 lollipops and a large book on composting.

Status of $30,000 needed for 21 passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10 passenger multicabs: $2430 received, $27,570 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 38.

Taipei, Taiwan Republic of China

“Crack!” The chair shattered to the floor into dozens of pieces beneath me.

Each year BLC has to send a delegate to the government office of the Department of Education to renew our paperwork. There is always the possibility, depending on the attitude of the government “big wigs”, that they will be unsure as to whether or not to renew our permit.

BLC does have a very good reputation, as a pilot school which reaches out to the very poor of Davao City. However, so as not to take any chances, I dress nice when I make this visit. No blue jeans, sneakers or short-sleeved shirts.

This visit was no exception. I even arrived early, so that I could be one of the first to be accommodated by the education Officer. The security guard pointed me to an antique-style chair in front of one of the supervisor’s desks. I sat down and pulled out my book to read while I waited.

From previous experience, I knew who the officer I had to see was. Twenty minutes later, she walked through the door. All the other 15 or so desks were already occupied. “My” officer was the last to arrive. I rose and greeted her, shaking her hand. Then I waited for her to sit down. “So far so good,” I surmised. Then it happened. No sooner did I sit down, but CRACK! The antique-style chair crumbled beneath me!

Then the last thing I possibly considered would happen, happened!

Everybody in the room stood up from their desks to see what had happened, and clapped! After they provided another chair, “My” officer explained. “Oh, Pastor Paul, you have done us the greatest favor!”

You see, our department has limited funding, and furniture cannot be replaced, no matter how old it is, until it actually breaks. None of us had the heart to destroy this old chair, yet we’ve been hoping it would happen sometime soon. It is usually left in the corner, but the janitors must have placed it in front of my desk, after they cleaned up. Now that you have broken the old one, we can get a new chair! Thank you!”

Wow, God sure has a sense of humor!

Until next time…Let the islands rejoice!

Present need: $50 to replace a worn-out part on the brakes of BLC’s “Philips” multicab. Until this part is replaced, the vehicle cannot be used and we will be one vehicle short in picking up students. The bus runs will taker longer, as we have to “double up” with the other six vehicles.

Please pray:

1. for the next upcoming BLC events:
   March 19-19: BLC Achievement Exams,
   March 30: am: Preschool Promotional Recognition, pm: Elementary Promotional Recognition,
   March 31: am: Baccalaureate Service, pm: Graduation Ceremony,
   April 9: Community Gospel Tract Distribution by BLC staff, Textbook Supplier Evaluation & Revision Week by BLC Teachers April 19: Beginning of BLC Summer Classes.
2. that Mark and Maryann will fit in well with our new inner-city Agdao (Davao) church plant. We commissioned them for this work on March 7.
3. for BLC's total debt of $48,516 to be whittled down to zero by January, 2011 [$1155 per week for 42 more weeks] (-$36 from last week).
4. that Elvie, PJ, Abby and I will find opportunities to have fun and also share our faith while in Taiwan (March 10-15). Also please pray that we have fun and don’t get lost. I will be attending a convention there, and our visas require that the whole family travel together whenever I leave the country.
5. that my sister-in-law Amy's lumpectomy surgery will go well.

Praise God:

1. that a New York friend emailed to say he wants to visit BLC for a short-term missions trip this Summer. We have lots for him to do! Also the mission board of a church from the American Southeast has decided to give a set amount each quarter in 2010 to BLC. Yay, God! He’ll eliminate that debt yet!
2. that four long rows of corn in BLC’s rooftop garden are speedily approaching half foot in height already!
3. that three cards and packages came in the mail for BLC kids this week.
4. that I located, corrected, replaced and laminated four missing pages from my 171 page hardbound University thesis. Had these corrections not been located, my April graduation would be in question.

Status of $30,000 needed for 21 passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10 passenger multicabs: $2425 received, $27,575 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 38.

“We forgive you."

For two years, miscellaneous items have "disappeared" from the school. Last year, just as we were about to leave for the USA, I noticed that the projector which I use for presentations had been stolen. I thought I knew who the robber was, but only told Elvie my suspicions. Praise God that He guided an American friend to replace the projector, just in time.

Every few weeks, the guards would inform us of a new item that was missing. Finally, when the cell phone of a teacher was taken, the child of the thief explained to his teacher that he had a new cell phone that his dad found in the bathroom at the school.

After careful interrogation, the employee "fessed-up" and told of the pawn shops which he had brought the items to. Ironically, after the most recent theft, the thief’s wallet was stolen, with all the claim stubs inside.

So Elvie took upon herself the difficult task of checking dozens of pawnshops all over the city to find what was lost. While some items (like the projector) had already been sold (and were thus irretrievable), other things which we'd thought we'd never see again, were redeemed. It was like Christmas to see these stolen items again.

The thief was so distraught when he sat down by himself to meditate on the depth of degradation he had allowed himself to succumb to, that early the next morning he mixed together some poisonous fluids and was about to take his life. At that moment (3am) his child woke up and cried, and the poison was spilled. The trance-like demonic coaxing of self-mortification was also broken.

School policy requires thievery to be penalized by two months leave without pay. The thief stated that he stole to feed his family and provide medicine for his children.

But he also said that when he stole money, he often gave much of it to beggars and poor children. I explained to him that when he stole from others, he actually stole from God the opportunity of fulfilling His promise to "supply for all our needs according to His glorious riches in Christ Jesus."

"We do forgive you. We are a family here at BLC. But if we were to let you go without penalty, it would be like saying to the whole staff that stealing is ok. Yet remember, Jesus was crucified between two thieves: one repented and reaped heaven's reward. The other refused to repent, and went to Hell. You have made the right choice."

Until next time…Let the islands rejoice!

Present need: $50 for 100 blank DVDs to copy the Mandarin Bible onto, for distribution among the Chinese, when Elvie, PJ, Abby and I visit Taiwan next week (3/9-15).

Please pray:

1. for the next upcoming BLC events:
   March 19-19: BLC Achievement Exams,
   March 30: am: Preschool Promotional Recognition, pm: Elementary Promotional Recognition,
   March 31: am: Baccalaureate Service, pm: Graduation Ceremony,
   April 9: Community Gospel Tract Distribution by BLC staff, Textbook Supplier Evaluation & Revision Week by BLC Teachers
   April 19: Beginning of BLC Summer Classes.
2. that I take the time to practice for my French horn part in the Community Orchestra at Faith Academy, and also for the 70.3-mile Manila triathlon in August.
3. for BLC's total debt of $48,552 to be whittled down to zero by January, 2011 [$1129 per week for 43 more weeks] (-$0 from last week).
4. that the four new believers whom I baptized in the ocean Saturday will grow strong enough in the Lord (through our weekly one-on-one Bible classes) to begin discipling the new believers that we lead to Christ in our door-to-door visits. By the way, many of us were stung by sea urchins, since the tide was out and we had to walk quite a way before it was “deep enough to dunk”.
5. for my brother's wife Amy who is scheduled for cancer surgery soon.

Praise God:

1. that PJ and Abby both received medals/awards for completing the requirements of Pizza Hut’s “Battle of the Books”. At Faith Academy, PJ’s team won first place!
2. that yet another family, and also another church has requested that we include them on our speaking tour for 2011.
3. that on Friday, when the electricity went out all over the city for over an hour, BLC students already had the day off for the scheduled tree planting by the sixth graders and the staff. So they were not stuck in hot, dark classrooms.
4. that 20 small green tomatoes have appeared on the hanging plants in BLC’s rooftop garden, as well as a dozen flowers on the watermelon vine. Also that two weeks of chicken dung were dug into the harvested row of radishes, as fertilizer for the corn seeds, which are now soaking for faster germination when planted.
5. that six cards and small packages arrived in the mail this week from sponsors for their BLC kids.
6. that my presentation for the Faith Academy Students was very well received. The topic was, “Always Let Your Bible Be Your Guide.”
7. that at Kiwanis, one of my associates on the Governor’s cabinet visited our club and promised to find the master list of club presidents’ addresses for me, so I can send them a letter requesting use of Christian guest speakers, since I am the District-Wide Spiritual Aims Chairman.
8. that this week, our Tuesday Bible Study began researching the book of Ephesians and the discussions are fantastic!
9. for some awesome family devotions this week. PTL for this answered prayer!
10. That Mark and Maryann found a good-sized property as a drop-off center for street kids and also as our 8th church plant. It has a small house, and is within the price range we were praying for. Please pray that the sale goes through without a hitch, and that the seller pays the “Capital Gains” taxes and “Documentary Stamps” (which often extend to 30% of the selling price) and doesn’t charge them to us as part of the deal.

Status of $30,000 needed for 21 passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10 passenger multicabs: $2420 received, $27,580 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 38.

“Do I have to eat this?” When the 7 Kiwanis Clubs of Davao City offered to take 55 BLC kids bowling, they decided to also treat them to free lunch and a commemorative t-shirt to remember the event by.

After a delightful morning of bowling built up a sweat for the kids, their stomachs were grumbling, big time, to be filled. In front of each child was placed a plate and a piece of crispy fried chicken, rice and Coke from a local fast-food restaurant called Jollibee.

The kids dove into the treat…all but one. When the Kiwanis president, Ronald asked if there was a problem, the boy asked if he really had to eat the chicken. “Why, is there a problem?” asked Ron. Other Kiwanians were looking on in curiosity.

“No problem with the chicken, sir,” replied the child. “But this is a whole piece...just for me? This could feed my whole family at home. Do I have to eat it now, or can I save it so my whole family; parents and brothers and sisters can eat as well? We don’t have meat very often.”

Since I had missed the bowling event, I only heard of the “chicken scenario” at the Kiwanis Division meeting ( I am on the Kiwanis Division board of directors). “My heart was so very touched,” said another director. “I had difficulty swallowing my own meal, thinking there was an entire family out there which shared the equivalence of what I had just as my own lunch.”

Then her face brightened up. “We can do more. I KNOW we can do more for these BLC kids!”

So we put our heads together in the Division meeting and decided to sponsor a division-wide medical/dental clinic for the BLC kids this Summer. Amazing how the thoughtfulness of one little boy’s lunch will be blessing 500 BLC kids and their families this Summer!

Huh... Reminds me of another little boy’s lunch of five loaves and two fishes, in Jesus’ time! Both are miraculous workings of God through his people’s hearts and lives!

Until next time…Let the islands rejoice!

Present need: $436 for a portable combination safe to hold BLC’s small electronic equipment, to avoid tempting thieves.

Please pray:

1. for the next upcoming BLC events: BLC Fourth Periodical Exams, February 26: Soil Preservation Tree Planting by BLC Sixth Graders, March 19-19: BLC Achievement Exams, March 30: am: Preschool Promotional Recognition, pm: Elementary Promotional Recognition, March 31: am: Baccalaureate Service, pm: Graduation Ceremony.
2. that some of my Chinese Filipino friends, who are accompanying us to a convention in Taiwan next month, will also make copies of the entire Chinese Bible on CD, which I have given them. These CDs to be distributed by us at the convention.
3. for BLC's total debt of $48,552 to be whittled down to zero by January, 2011 [$1104 per week for 44 more weeks] (-$44 from last week).

Praise God:

1. that the new Bible study we started this week went very well, with lots of interaction and insight.
2. that an American CMA church has decided in their annual meeting to include BLC in its annual budget. Yay God!
3. that an American lawyer has offered us his video camera to use while he is out of the cointry, replacing the camera which was stolen.
4. that the red and white radishes in BLC’s rooftop garden are ready to be harvested and replaced with a planting of sweet corn. Also that a parent gave BLC a rooster and a hen as an unexpected thank you for our caring concern for them.
5. that a foreign friend who was visiting from Colorado treated us out to a day at the beach, a few days after the four of us (Elvie, PJ, Abby and I) got over the flu, this week.
6. that a nurse from Ohio is planning to join BLC for the medical/dental clinic this Summer.

Status of $30,000 needed for 21 passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10 passenger multicabs: $2415 received, $27,585 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 38.

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY! (2/14) HAPPY PRESIDENT’S DAY!

“Let’s think of the feelings of others.” I am involved in about 13 Davao clubs, some religious and others not. In one such non-religious club, I was bothered by the vile language and coarse jokes being used.

Each time we met, the immoral joking would get worse and worse. Finally I could stand it no longer. “Give me courage.” I prayed silently, before standing up to be recognized.

“We are professionals.” I began. “We represent different faiths and genders. I think it is not appropriate to use bathroom language, the kind of coarse jokes that bullies on a playground use. Thank you.”

In my mind, I was both relieved that I had represented my feelings, and yet also concerned that I may have been misunderstood.

Yet when the meeting ended, other members came up to me. They were either apologetic for their language, or thanked me for finally speaking up, when they had been hesitant to do so for years and years.

Praise God that He will change the world through the boldness of His children who are courageous enough to speak out for purity and holiness.

Two days later, a few members of the club asked me, “Pastor Paul, you represent what is good and right. Could you please lead us in a weekly Bible study? We’ll start next week to share food, fellowship and faith!”

It just goes to show that many people are simply waiting for a reminder to be good.

Until next time…Let the islands rejoice!

Present need: $631 for a desktop computer which we could leave on at all times with the Magic Jack telephone to send and receive free phone calls to the USA and Canada 24/7.

Please pray:

1. for the next upcoming BLC events:
   February 17-19: BLC Fourth Periodical Exams,
   February 26: Soil Preservation Tree Planting by BLC Sixth Graders,
   March 19-19: BLC Achievement Exams,
   March 30: am: Preschool Promotional Recognition, pm: Elementary Promotional Recognition,
   March 31: am: Baccalaureate Service, pm: Graduation Ceremony.
2. that God would provide sponsors to replace the American sponsor couple who decided to drop out of their sponsorship of four BLC kids.
3. for BLC's total debt of $48,596 to be whittled down to zero by January, 2011 [$1080 per week for 45 more weeks] (-$67 from last week).
4. that those local agriculturalists who promised to give BLC a few kilograms of nightcrawlers for vermicultural fertilizer (for BLC’s rooftop garden) will follow through on their promise.
5. that Elvie, who has been chosen by the Father’s House as head of the search committee, will find an inner-city house for sale within the $35,000 limit that has been promised by a sister ministry. This house will be used as a drop-off center for street children, as well as the location of our eighth church plant.

Praise God:

1. that the February 12th Teacher Appreciation Day was a delightful time when the 500 BLC kids showed the teachers and staff how very much they appreciate and love them.
2. that our “Father’s House” ministry for street kids had an exceptional board meeting, and it looks as if they’ll be purchasing a house and property in the inner city of Davao this month.
3. that the New York Kiwanis Club that sent 500 toothbrushes to BLC in December, this week sent 272 tubes of toothpaste!
4. that another small box arrived in the mail this week from an American friend, with toys and school supplies for BLC kids.
5. that although a rat got into some of my important papers and chewed them up, they were only copies, and I have the originals in a safe place.
6. that some Catholic bishops in another part of Mindanao (about seven hours away) have invited me to visit (expenses paid) and explain how they too could reach out to the poor children in their area by starting a Christian School like BLC.
7. that our rooftop garden already has a yellow squash that is over a foot long. Also that we’ve been harvesting the first red radishes that many Filipinos have ever seen.
8. that my sermon for the 84th anniversary of a local Baptist Church was very well received.
9. that a television evangelist so enjoyed participating in and televising our worship, that he and his camera crew will be returning in two weeks.
10. that PJ has returned safely from his 12 day field trip in Manila.
11. that 3 large “balik bayan” boxes have arrived from Utah this week, filled with many items needed in the school.
12. that a local seminary is willing to grant me a doctoral degree (Doctor of Divinity in Education) shortly after I receive my double-Master’s degree in April from Ateneo de Davao University. The dissertation will be based entirely upon my extensive masteral research (on juvenile delinquency), and the classroom time will be deemed completed by the volunteer work that I have offered to the community over the past three decades.
13. that an American friend has placed in the mail two much-needed computer printers for BLC.

Status of $30,000 needed for 21 passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10 passenger multicabs: $2410 received, $27,590 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 38.

“Any prayer requests?” Every other Friday morning, doctors, lawyers and businessmen have a small community prayer meeting in a local warehouse. One regular attendee for many decades is a small, frail, elderly Chinese gentleman.

While he carries a cane, he himself is carried by forklift. Seated on a plastic chair, since his legs are feeble, the chair rests on a wooden pallet which is lifted and pushed by a manual forklift by workers at the warehouse.

The dark marks on this man’s head make it challenging to tell where his few strands of hair end and his scalp begins. His white moustache covers his top lip and blends in with that small white scraggly goatee. Seated around a large table, the dozen or so of us sang 2 or 3 hymns before entering into our time of prayer.

The typical silence settled when we wee asked for testimonies and/or prayer requests. Each of us had something to add, but waited for another to be first.

Gradually, as if from the end of a tunnel, or from the bottom of a well, or yet emanating from a dream, the gurgling voice of the Chinese saint began a prayer of praise to god. His hymn was not listed in the hymnal, but we all knew it anyway, so we joined in, right up until the final “Amen.”

Once again Butch, our prayer leader, asked, “Any prayer requests?” This time the ancient voice, resembling more the distant thunder of a receding storm, began its baritone solo. Nobody knew this one. And yet… like the faint first rays of dawn glistening on the horizon, I saw in my mind’s eye a little boy, sitting and singing this very hymn with his family in the 28th pew at church, nearly half a century ago.

Yes, that was a song I knew. Me, and no one else but the Chinese saint. So welling up spontaneously from the recesses of my subconscious recollection, I contemplated the words that sprang from my mouth, as I joined in to form our intergenerational duet.

Challenged yet once again, before we entered into prayer, our friend chose a hymn that none of us recognized, yet we all listened in. The words seemed as though they came from the mouths of the patriarchs of the ages: Abraham, Moses, Elijah And Simeon., It was a holy moment, and we were privileged to witness it. There, in the presence of a living saint in a small prayer room in the back corner of a warehouse in Davao City, Philippines.

Until next time…Let the islands rejoice!

Present need: $1500 to complete BLC’s second staircase to the second floor. The first $1000 given for this $2500 need were given by a friend from an estate of a loved one.

Please pray:

1. for the next upcoming BLC events:
   February 12: BLC Teacher Appreciation Day,
   February 17-19: BLC Fourth Periodical Exams,
   February 26: Soil Preservation Tree Planting by BLC Sixth Graders,
   March 19-19: BLC Achievement Exams,
   March 30: am: Preschool Promotional Recognition, pm: Elementary Promotional Recognition,
   March 31: am: Baccalaureate Service, pm: Graduation Ceremony.
2. that my constant dizziness and headaches will go away.
3. for BLC's total debt of $48,663 to be whittled down to zero by January, 2011 [$1058 per week for 46 more weeks] (-$69 from last week).

Praise God:

1. that we found an American address (www.operationcompassion.org) where a facebook friend can send packages to for Haiti relief.
2. that the hanging tomato plants in BLC’s rooftop garden are already over a foot long (though not yet flowering), and the climbing garbanzo bean plant is 30 feet long and producing 50 half-foot-long beans per week.
3. that last week our church had the largest delegation of women present at a recent city-wide Ladies’ Fellowship.
4. that PJ’s class field trip this week will be participating not only in outdoor survival techniques, but also a camaraderie music fest by the combination of the Davao band and the Manila Faith Academy orchestra.
5. that my speaking engagement for the Senior Citizens’ monthly Bible Study was very well received, as well as my opening prayer for the Davao Christian Leaders Foundation meeting, which hosted a Congressional Candidate.
6. that two small boxes arrived in the mail this week from American friends, with toys, cards and school supplies for BLC kids.

Status of $30,000 needed for 21 passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10 passenger multicabs: $2410 received, $27,590 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 34.

“Hey Joe!” When running down the street, or even doing errands downtown, I often hear teenagers call out in greeting (often mockingly), “Hey Joe!” It does get a little bothersome, as it points me out as an outsider. And my name, of course, is not Joe.

Yet at the DCL (Davao Christian Leaders Foundation) biweekly meeting, Manuel, a Filipino pastor who is a good friend, introduced the “Real Joe” to us: Joe Moreno is an American from Oregon. “Joe,” I suggested when the meeting concluded, “If you are free, let’s visit BLC right now.” He agreed, since it was on his way home anyway.

I couldn’t have arranged the visit any better. Joe and Mark and I peeped into the door of all ten BLC classrooms, and each class stood at attention while in unison greeting us with “Good morning visitors!” The Kinder-2 class even recited a Bible song and Bible verses.

After passing through the 3rd-flood library and then through my office, I brought Joe to the roof where he saw the vegetable plants and animals which we are growing for the 500 BLC students to eat.

Later, back on the ground floor, we all entered the Barner apartment. Spread out right there on the table, Elvie had set plates and utensils. What should be in the serving bowl there but soup, made from some of the vegetables on the roof!

We had a great visit. That was two months ago. Joe has now become a part of this ministry. He joined Kiwanis with us and is in our weekly pastor’s training class.

Thank you Lord, for sending such a special person as Joe…a REAL JOE…for the “perfect visit” to BLC! Now, when somebody calls out, “Hey Joe!” I can point to Pastor Joe and say, “I guess you’re talking to him!

Until next time…Let the islands rejoice!

Present need: $4017 to pay off our fuel debt for the BLC busses. We used to pay for bus fuel by credit card, but to eliminate the BLC debt in 2010, I am not using the cards at all this year.

Please pray:

1. for the next upcoming BLC events: February 12: BLC Teacher Appreciation Day, February 17-19: BLC Fourth Periodical Exams, February 26: Soil Preservation Tree Planting by BLC Sixth Graders.
2. that God will provide an alternate sponsor for the child whose American sponsor lost his job and removed his family temporarily from the sponsorship program.
3. for BLC's total debt of $48,732 to be whittled down to zero by January, 2011 [$1037 per week for 47 more weeks] (-$62 from last week).
4. that we will be able to find an American address where a facebook friend can send packages to for Haiti relief.
5. for Mark and Joe, who are searching for a house in the city, to serve as a drop-off center for street kids. The owner of a large building we were eying backed out of the deal, which puts us back to square one in our search.

Praise God:

1. that PJ and Abby did exceptionally well in their school play this week. Abby was the tail end of a donkey and PJ was a carpet salesman.
2. that the beets we planted in BLC’s rooftop garden 2 weeks ago are finally popping their heads out of the ground, while the radishes are almost ready to harvest. We butchered six of the proposed egg-laying hens, as they turned out to be roosters. And now we bought 2 dozen more chicks to raise.
3. that the Parent-Teacher meeting went smoothly this week at BLC. Hundreds of the parents of our BLC kids love to participate in their children’s education, and even volunteer their time weekly on the school grounds.
4. that, even though this week’s visiting American medical team did not include an Orthopedic Surgeon, one of the local doctors donated his time for free to remove a large growth from the wrist of the brother of one of BLC’s bus drivers.
5. For a missionary friend who is donating a standup freezer to BLC's kitc hen.

Status of $30,000 needed for 21 passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10 passenger multicabs: $2405 received, $27,595 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 34.

“Paul, come join us!” Occasionally I assist mission outreaches to the poor which are not sponsored by the church, but instead, by non-church medical or sociological teams. When 3 friends flew to Davao from Michigan in the USA for one such medical mission outreach, we waited for them at the airport early in the morning. On the first leg of the flight, a woman died and was revived by one of the team members, who administered first aid for two hours from one of the plane’s oxygen masks and supply.

Then an engine blew out four hours into the third leg of the flight, so they had to return to the USA and wait for another flight. By the time the team arrived in Davao, their trip had stretched to a three day trek! Of course we had no clue about the delay, so we kept going back and forth to the airport throughout the day. Finally I got tired of paying for parking. Since we live so close to the airport, I threw on my running sneakers and shorts and jogged to the airport in the middle of the night. Still not there.

They arrived the next day and told us their hair-raising story of how the pilot of the turbulent flight was frantically dumping fuel over the ocean to prepare it for their emergency landing, back in California. After they invited me to join them on their four-day road trip across Northern Mindanao, I scheduled other pastors to preach for me Sunday, set aside my office work, gave the secretaries a few projects and packed my bags. At every city we visited on our itinerary, we ate with and spoke to doctors, businessmen, Kiwanis presidents and other civic group leaders, about them receiving millions of dollars in donated medical equipment like x-ray machines, etc. My task was to share a brief spiritual challenge.

While passing through a potentially difficult area, the non-Christian driver stopped our car and a muscle-bound stranger stepped into the vehicle. After running over a dog and a small cow, I wondered if the driver had a checklist of things to hit. Suddenly the first car swerved off the road and almost landed in a rice paddy. A shaken-up young motorcyclist pulled to the side of the road, realizing his mistake at veering his bike in front of the first vehicle. Our muscle-bound passenger got out, yelling at and roughing-up the motorcyclist.

When we returned to Davao a few days later, our host explained to me that, since the area we were to travel through has a habit of kidnapping Americans, they hired a former kidnapper, knowing that he would know the best way to confront any threat to their passengers’
security!

Until next time…Let the islands rejoice!

Present need: $1,000 Steel BLC gym pillars (to replace the present 8-yr-old coconut lumber ones)

Please pray:

1. for the next upcoming BLC events:
   January 29: School-wide PTA Meeting,
   February 12: BLC Teacher Appreciation Day,
   February 17-19: BLC Fourth Periodical Exams,
   February 26: Soil Preservation Tree Planting by BLC Sixth Graders.
2. that the printer for BLC will finish printing our “2008 Year of Miracles Diary” book so that we can start sending them out as a “thank you” to 1,000 of our prayer warriors worldwide.
3. for BLC's total debt of $48,794 to be whittled down to zero by January, 2011 [$1017 per week for 48 more weeks] (-$61 from last week).
4. for the brand new DVDs of the Bible in Chinese which we received from a retired missionary in Florida. I am making 100 copies to bring with me to the Kiwanis ASPAC (Asian Pacific Conference) in Taiwan in March, to distribute to Chinese delegates who will be present.

Praise God:

1. that another 2 large boxes arrived this week from Oregon, filled with sneakers, food, clothes and toys, as well as some Corelle dishes and a large cake mixer! A “Christmas box” also arrived from a church in Western New York with lots of fun stuff for Elvie, PJ, Abby and me!
2. that the peanuts we planted in BLC’s rooftop garden 2 weeks ago are already a foot tall! The carrots, beans, radishes, tomatoes, and other vegetables are growing well, as are the chickens, quail and rabbits.
3. for the “faith in service” team of middle school students (including PJ) from Faith Academy who, in less than an hour stuffed 500 folders full of loose leaf paper for the BLC kids.
4. that when I participated in the medical missions outreach this past week in Pagadian, a hospital promised to donate a few kilograms of worms (“vermiculture”) for BLC’s rooftop garden.
5. that 55 of the BLC kids had a blast as they were treated to 3 games of bowling with 6 local Kiwanis Clubs.
6. that over 60 destitute individuals received free surgery this week (heart, thyroid, lumps and bumps) when doctors from Michigan came to Davao. Praise God also for the 24 doctors and nurses who gave up vacation time to help the poor in Davao.
7. for the local doctors who paid for my trip to Pagadian, through a former war zone of Northern and Western Mindanao this week.

Status of $30,000 needed for 21 passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10 passenger multicabs: $2400 received, $27,600 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 33.

“At least it’s not Haiti!” I was the Spiritual speaker for Davao Christian Leaders Foundation’s first meeting of 2010. My message was from Exodus, on holiness. It reviewed the symbolism of the Old Testament High Priestly outfit, and the fear of God that we must have when coming into the Lord’s presence in prayer.

Following my message was a second presentation from a candidate for the Philippine Congress. In the middle of his message, I noticed the water in my glass starting to vibrate, and the curtains were waving in time with the floor, as if a parade of elephants was trooping past the hotel venue of our meeting.

The DCL president whispered over to me, as the speaker suddenly became silent. “It’s an earthquake!” We are used to minor tremors here in Davao, since our city lies at the volcanic foothills of the highest mountain in the country; Mount Apo. Yet we have been spared any tremors for at least 8 months. Typically they are only a few seconds long. But this one lasted over two minutes.

Meanwhile on the other side of town, PJ and Abby were in class at Faith Academy. Abby’s teacher had just shared with her third-grade students about the devastating Haiti earthquake, and how extremely fearful she would be if her house started to rattle and fall apart. PJ was in chapel, and the speaker was comparing the church with the earth. “If people do not work together,” he began, then things will start to rattle and fall apart!” Just at that very moment, the building started to rattle with the quake…talk about timing!

After the tremor was over, our speaker at DCL resumed his message. As our meeting came to a close the emcee reviewed the meeting. “Rev. Barner challenged us with being pure and holy in the new year, and our city councilor also brought to us his own earth-shaking message!”

Until next time…Let the islands rejoice!

Present need: $987 for the tune-up and repair of 4 of BLC’s busses. These four keep mysteriously breaking down.

Please pray:

1. for the next upcoming BLC events:
   January 20-22: BLC Fourth Preliminary Exams,
   January 29: School-wide PTA Meeting,
   February 12: BLC Teacher Appreciation Day,
   February 17-19: BLC Fourth Periodical Exams,
   February 26: Soil Preservation Tree Planting by BLC Sixth Graders.
2. for the safety of Rev. Dave Dasig, Filipino president of a Mindanao (Shekinah) Bible Seminary. His car went out of control and three pedestrians were killed (a mother and two children). He is now in jail and the tribal family is demanding that they either kill him, or that for each of the victims, he pay $2,000, a carbao (water buffalo) and ten goats. Of course he is unable to do this.
3. for BLC's total debt of $48,855 to be whittled down to zero by January, 2011 [$997 per week for 49 more weeks] (-$2,611 from last week).
4. that we can find a worm supplier. We need 6 kilograms of worms for the “low-acid” fertilizer that they produce from grass, leaves and rotten fruit. This will keep the PH-balance low in BLC’s rooftop garden.
5. for success and discretion in our meeting this next Tuesday at City Hall with the future congressman that I’d shared the podium with during our DCL meeting this last week.
6. for the “faith in service” team of middle school students (including PJ) from Faith Academy which will assist us in some of our “envelope stuffing” this month.

Praise God:

1. that a large box arrived this week from Oregon, filled with hundreds of pair of new under wear for girls, flip-flops, food, tools, batteries, blanket and clothes.
2. that we planted the peanuts that Mark brought back from his in-laws in mountainous Bukidnon, and in one week they have already sprouted and are four inches tall!
3. that a second box filled with hundreds of toothbrushes arrived from the Rye Brook, NY Kiwanis Club.
4. that friends in Colorado and New York donated $2500 toward BLC’s debt reduction!
5. that Davao’s earthquake this week was only a 2-minute long tremor.
6. that Shelley, a pastor’s kid friend from New Jersey, is planning to assist BLC this Summer on a two-month long missions trip!
7. that this week I will be done with mailing the 2009 donor gift “501.3.c” totals/receipts for your charitable donations. Thank you! (NOTE: If you’d like a faster digital copy, just email your request to me at blckids@yahoo.com, and I will get it out to you asap. You will still get a hard copy in the mail, as well.)
8. that our television presentation for the six million in Eastern Mindanao went well on Sunday.
9. that Dean, the founder of Sparrow’s Gate Ministry in California/Mexico, plans to visit us at BLC and FHF in March/April.
10. that we picked up Sara and her mother Vangie after their flight from New York to assist in some Mindanao ministries these few weeks.
11. that Mike, an attorney from Michigan, will be staying with us next week as he sees what his ministry can to help BLC kids.
12. that a retired couple in Alabama who have been sponsoring a child has decided to sponsor a second child, and sent a full year’s sponsorship in advance!

Status of $30,000 needed for 21 passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10 passenger multicabs: $2395 received, $27,605 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 33.

HAPPY MARTIN LUTHER KING, JR. DAY! (1/17)

“Pastor, can you be a godparent for our wedding?” since most of the families in our school are quite poor, the parents often use their poverty as an excuse to have children before they get married.

“We can’t afford to get married yet,” they’ll explain, “since weddings in this country often involve big dinners with hundreds of guests. Maybe we will have a wedding ceremony and ‘tie the knot’ on our tenth anniversary!” Elvie and I try to get young people married before they have kids, but are not always successful.

At this wedding, however, we wanted to encourage the couple to no longer live in sin, but to finally get married…better late than never. If only we could challenge all the still-single young people present to make a personal decision to put off their internal urges until marriage …but how?

Just then, before the ceremony was to begin, the officiating minister shook my hand. He introduced himself, and then had a special request for me. “Could you preach a 20-minute exhortation, about ten minutes from now?”

Well, here was my chance. While standing in the procession of godparents, I quickly snuck notes onto an index card in my Bible. I made up an outline for a message from Genesis, on Jacob’s 3 rewards for waiting 7 years for his wife Rachel: “Choice, Commitment and Comfort”. As I was called up to the stage, with bride and groom seated before me, and the audience looking on, God answered my prayer.

The young people there were all challenged to make their choice of contentment by committing themselves to each other for life, through marriage. As the bridal bouquet was thrown half an hour later, all the breathless single ladies were smiling with the challenge fresh in their minds, “Wait until the wedding is over, for the very best possible lifetime marriage.”

Until next time…Let the islands rejoice!

Present need: $37 to attach “continuous flow” ink cartridges onto the computer printer of BLC’s sponsorship secretary, saving hundreds of dollars in disposable cartridges.

Please pray:

1. for the next upcoming BLC events:
   January 15: Kiwanis-Sponsored Free Bowling Day for BLC’s 4-6th Graders.
   January 20-22: BLC Fourth Preliminary Exams,
   January 29: School-wide PTA Meeting,
   February 12: BLC Teacher Appreciation Day,
   February 17-19: BLC Fourth Periodical Exams,
   February 26: Soil Preservation Tree Planting by BLC Sixth Graders.
2. for the families of two Filipino men who were trampled to death during the “Feast of the Black Nazarene” parade in Luzon, Philippines this week. The parade involves getting as close as possible to the “magic” life-sized statue of Jesus on the cross, which was brought to the Philippines three centuries ago.
3. for BLC's total debt of $51,466 to be whittled down to zero by January, 2011 [$1,030 per week for 50 more weeks] (-$1,106 from last week).
4. that my remaining gallstones will pass (the ultrasound this week showed they have shrunk from .6 cm to .3 cm) via my juice/oil/water treatment so I can start my in-depth training for the August triathlon.
5. For me this Sunday as I preach before 1,000 people in a televised message for three tv stations, covering 6 cities, with a population of 6 million people and an estimated viewing audience of 600,000.

Praise God:

1. that 2 large boxes arrived from Utah last week, with hanging tomato planters, dozens of identical girls’ dresses, Bible story book sets, 20 baby blankets, canned food, etc.
2. that hundreds of newly-planted radish, beet, tomato and carrot plants are peeping up through the soil in BLC’s rooftop garden.
3. that one of BLC’s two loans through Chase Manhattan Bank was paid in full this week.
4. that a church in Pennsylvania donated over a thousand dollars last month for BLC’s debt reduction!
5. that this week hundreds of new toothbrushes donated by a high school near New York City will be distributed to the BLC students. This donation was organized by a New York Kiwanis Club.

Status of $30,000 needed for 21 passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10 passenger multicabs: $2390 received, $27,610 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 34.

“Honey, be sure to set the alarm clock.” Elvie reminded me that there was no way we would wake up at 3am to be ready with PJ and Abby for the 4am Dawn New Year’s Eve church service unless we had some audible coaxing.

Alarm clocks do not last long in our house. I’m not sure if we throw them against the wall when they go off, or if the batteries just die out, but I typically resort to the alarms on our cell phones. It works fine for most of the 3am road races I am in. Yet this time the idea backfired. At 3am my alarm went off, but nobody heard it. I’d been at a conference a few days before and had left my phone in silent mode.

So as hundreds of worshippers filed into the BLC gym at 3:30am, the Barner family was dozing peacefully, oblivious to those patiently waiting on the other side of the wall.
A knock at our door at 4am from our assistant pastor’s wife threw us into the showers at breakneck speed. At 4:09 the freshly-showered Barner family sat neatly in the front row, with our eyes open very wide. Really, if anyone had contacted the Guinness Book of World Records, we’d likely have set a world record!

Before preaching my message on “Faith Through the Unknown” from Hebrews 11:1-3, I distributed the goals that the congregants had written down for themselves 365 days ago, in 2008. The BLC overnight guards had spent many overnight hours sharpening 500 pencils with those itty-bitty plastic pencil sharpeners. We then passed out pencils, envelopes and index cards for them to make up more goals for 2010, while I preached.
You can see my goals at the end of this email. They focus on family, church, finances and even physical fitness. But a very appropriate one for today is #17…”Get a new alarm clock!”

Until next time…Let the islands rejoice!

Present need: $6090 for 435 desk-chairs for BLC students, at $14 each.

Please pray:

1. for the next upcoming BLC events: January 15: Kiwanis-Sponsored Free Bowling Day for BLC’s 4-6th Graders. January 20-22: BLC Fourth Preliminary Exams, January 29: School-wide PTA Meeting, February 12: BLC Teacher Appreciation Day, February 17-19: BLC Fourth Periodical Exams, February 26: Soil Preservation Tree Planting by BLC Sixth Graders.
2. that this week I finish preparing and mailing the end-of-year tax donation letters to those who have given directly to this ministry in 2009. This way they can either file their taxes early or send me the corrections necessary, in case I’ve made errors.
3. for BLC's total debt of $52,572 to be whittled down to zero by January, 2011 [$1,030 per week for 51 more weeks] (-$612 from last week).
4. for replacements for the two international sponsors of BLC kids who had to drop their sponsorships this past week, due to extenuating circumstances in their financial obligations.
5. for God’s provision for BLC in 2010, as I have determined that BLC will not fall back on any of my International Credit Cards (Visa and MasterCard) when it has fuel bills, groceries for the teachers, etc. to pay.

Praise God:

1. that in BLC’s rooftop garden, one of the beanstalks we planted for food and to develop a sun-shield canopy, is already a half inch thick and producing a dozen large (inch-wide and eight inch long) Filipino beans each week.
2. that the “Magic-Jack” internet telephone which a friend in California bought us made it possible for us to call 20 families in the USA for free this week, to wish them a Happy New Year!
3. that nearly 400 attended our New Year’s Eve dawn service this year, more than ever we’ve had in attendance in the 12 year history of this church!
4. for the church in New York which mailed a special Christmas gift for our family this week.

Status of $30,000 needed for 21 passenger jeepneys to replace three of our overcrowded BLC 10 passenger multicabs: $2385 received, $27,615 left to go! Five of the present seven BLC vehicles are dangerously overcrowded.

BLC Children still waiting for sponsors: 34.

MY PERSONAL GOALS FOR 2010:

1. Hug my wife and kids every day in 2010.
2. Read the Bible from cover-to-cover 5 times.
3. Swim/Bike/Run my first Half-Ironman 73 mile Triathlon this August.
4. Get rid of my last two clusters of gallstones in February.
5. Have BLC to be debt-free by 1/1/11.
6. Bring my weight down 14 pounds to 155.
7. See all 500 BLC kids sponsored. 34 have no sponsors. Elvie and I have to pay for their sponsorships out of our own pockets.
8. Save our pennies to be able to go to Israel in June to stay with friends there and also fulfill PJ and Abby’s dream of being baptized in the Jordan River.
9. Graduate in April with my Masters Degree in Sociological Research at Ateneo de Davao University.
10. Fulfill my plans of starting a Kiwanis Race for Children when I become president in October.
11. Run 2000 kilometers. (not all at once!) 12. Buy a third, much-needed jeepney for BLC.
12. Memorize the names of all 50 of BLC’s faculty and staff, for more directed prayer.
13. Open our eighth church plant in Agdao, Davao this April. It will also serve as a drop-off center for street kids.
14. Finish training our American missionary pastors in book 8 of our theological training series of 36 TEE books.
15. Use no American Credit Cards in 2010.
16. Buy a new alarm clock!

2008 Goals:

1. Read Bible thru 5x. (Only did 3x)
2. Run 5000 km. (Only did 1,214)
3. Lead one person to Jesus each month. (Done)
4. Make BLC debt-free (halfway there).
5. Decrease my weight to 150. (169 now).
6. Have personal Bible-study devotions every day (Done).
7. Read 130 books (Only finished 37).
8. Visit USA on furlough. (Done).
9. Install a Public Address System in the BLC gym, with 24 hour Gospel Music (not done).
10. Build the fire department- required second staircase along the inside edge of the BLC gym. (not done).
11. Run a marathon in under five hours. (not done).
    

Archived news from 2009, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2005, 2004, 2003, 2002

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Last edited July 25, 2010
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