May of this current year marked the second year of the mission work in Barangay Bacong, Ligao City. By the grace of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, it is moving forward on its third year. Pastor Roy B. Raquintan is still overseeing the work with the help of Bro. Leo B. Raquintan and Bro. Lester G. Raquintan.
Since the start of the second year, the local church has lost a significant number of members, mainly young people, but the Lord continued to replace and purify the local church. The latest baptism was held on April 9, 2010 where a pair of young believers was added into the local church. These two Baptists are currently among the faithful young persons in the church.
Bro. Akira Hayakawa, 10, is the younger brother of the local song leader, Bro. Masaki, and he perfectly fits the description of a “small but terrible boy” due to his small built but amazing skills (knows a lot of household chores) given his relatively young age. Normally, he would get the offering bag after praying for the tithes and offering during the service. He is such an industrious boy and he’s part of the group of soulwinners.
The other half is Sis. Marijoy Buenafe, 17. Before she got saved, she was already starting to attend the cult group, Iglesia Ni Cristo (INC). But God prevented her from continuing and she got saved during the first Bible study we had in their house. She had just finished High School as the;Valedictorian of the class. Indeed, this lady is intelligent that when she became a Baptist, she used her influence to start sharing the gospel to her friends. She is also part of the group of soulwinners and she is mainly responsible for bringing me to houses where I would teach the gospel of salvation. She is very zealous in witnessing work and she assists in the Sunday School class for the children.
To date, the church has 21 active church members. The average attendance every Sunday is 30. Including the children and non-members. The Lord continues to purge this local church and to strengthen her into spiritual maturity.
The local church continues to gather in the same place of worship. The building has better seats this time, which is still made of wood. The church, though, started praying and saving for monoblock chairs for uniform seats. Some members worked together to replace the curtains to give the place a better look. Bro. Leo worked on putting windows and doors locks to secure the place, and Sis. Piling Quising once again worked on improving the building by putting fences in the surroundings. The church is being maintained by members, which is divided into two cleaning groups alternating the schedule for cleaning. But recently, the young and loud, Bro. Christian Roberto, accepted the ministerial task to maintain the cleanliness of the house of God. Other young people normally help him do the task.
Unlike before, all services including the Sunday School service for children are now held within the vicinity of the place. Aside from the regular Sunday services (Sunday School at 930am, Worship Service at 11am), the local church faithfully gathers every Wednesday evening, even without the missionary workers. Bro. Masaki leads the work of congregation singing, sharing of blessings, memory verse recital, and prayer by pairs. And then once a month, when Bro. Lest comes from Quezon City, the church gathers for a regular Friday Prayer Meeting service (This was one of the 2009 plans implemented).
Saturday is Soulwinning & Visitation Day for Bro. Lest and company. Whenever he’s around, the whole Saturday is definitely allotted for group soulwinning. It begins in the morning with an Evangelism class. The company usually comprises mostly of young people aged 8 and above, walking together in pack going to intended houses. For this year, regular bible studies were established in at least four separate houses.
In spite of hard life in Bacong, the brethren are enduring in God’s grace. The medical mission has become a regular activity of the church (led by Ptr. Roy and wife, Dra. Edna R. Raquintan) that is highly anticipated by the people in the barangay. And it always bears fruit for there are a few visitors that are able to continue in attending because of the good deeds seen through that activity.
As of now, there are two sisters who are already mothers that are willing to be baptized. They are products of the Saturday Soulwinning Day.
Bro. Masaki is the only young male person left in his batch (while others have departed) and he continues to be used in the Lord’s work in the church. He is still the song leader in the church. He is about to graduate from High School and plans to take up Education should he have the opportunity to study in College, but he desires to study in CBMS also.
Although many of the young people are gone, what is left are too young but obedient to be taught and trained also. Ptr. Roy started to teach some of them with musical instruments for the church through Bro. Joshua G. Raquintan and Sis. Esther R. Raquintan, their instructors for violin and piano respectively.
