To the work!

Howdy, howdy!

We have been busy, busy, busy! We are now in our second week of classes for our second session of classes in 2014. We ended Session 1 with the immersion of one of our students, Genea Canete. She is a 14 year-old who began studying with us after she received a flyer from Amy on the street where she lives while she was on her way home from school. After studying with us, she learned that she needed to immersed, and on February 21 she was immersed in the Robinstein's small pool for their kids at their house. Genea has fit in very well with our youth group, and she is forming great friendships. Her home life is difficult. Her father, who is now dead, had several families with different women, and she the eldest in one of the last family. She is currently living with her half-sister and half-brother while her mother works abroad, and her two younger siblings live separate from her. Her earthly family has never been close, but we have been working hard to fill the gap she has had. Please keep her in her prayers. Her family hasn't taken her becoming a Christian well, but she is enduring their persecution well.

Genea studied with two other students; Raul Gamboa and Jimmy Dagandan. Raul is 21 years old and was a missionary for a Protestant group, but since his commitment ended he has been working as a nanny (basically). He has studied with us for a few months now, but he is not yet ready to make the commitment. He is very active in his current religion and is having a hard time seeing the differences between what he once believed and what the Bible says. Jimmy is in his forties and works as a real estate salesman. He often comes in joking with me about his newest piece of property, trying to make a sale. Jimmy doesn't belong to any one religious group, but he bounces around a lot. He has not yet made a commitment to Christ, but he is still studying with us. Right now I have Genea, Raul, and Jimmy in our class "What Is Real Christianity?" and we are about to discuss the reasons for the over 41,000 Christian religious groups worldwide. Please keep them all in your prayers, and me, that I will be able to help them see the urgency of the Gospel and the need for them to make a decision.

We have two students who are just now starting to go through the gospel story; Rechie Bejasa and Neil Sayago. Neil has been studying with us off and on for years now, but his work or family always takes him away. He has told us that he has been made fun of by his coworkers because of his studies, but he sees the importance of studying the Bible and is enduring their jokes. Rechie is 22 and very religious, but like Jimmy doesn't join one specific group. He has been searching for a while, and now that we have helped him start his studies he is eager and excited to be in the Bible. Ronaldo Puzon, one of our brothers, has been studying with them and will continue until the middle of April. Please keep them all in your prayers as well, as they are confronted with what the good news is all about.

In addition to our regularly scheduled evening classes we have also had several afternoon special schedules. RJ has been having classes with a young woman named Alexandra Tolentino. Alexandra is a young mother and brings her son John to classes, and Rachael comes up and helps us by watching him while his mother has class. I have also been having classes with Terry Flannery, an English writer who has been living in Cebu for the last few months. After watching a Christian movie, he heard the main actress quote 1 Corinthians 13. He didn't know where the quote came from, but after asking around, he realized that maybe he needed to look at the Bible. Terry has no religious background and isn't part of any religious group. I have been struggling with him, but only because I've never had a student without any religious bias before! Our classes are entertaining and challenging, but I've been amazed to see the hand of God in his situation. Terry first came by the BSC during Christmas break, when I just happened to be up at the BSC grabbing a couple things. He asked about our classes and then disappeared, but then came by several weeks later and we began studying. My classes with him have been refreshing, as he is open minded and doesn't have all the preconceived ideas that we usually have to help people set aside before looking at the truth in the scriptures.

In addition to all these new faces are others who have joined classes. Rico Pada, Edward Hugo, Avelino Dumaguing, Clint Diesto, Jocel Ablao, Kristian Avenido, John Ranara, and Jan Navales have all joined our correspondence course or regularly scheduled evening classes. Please keep all our students and teachers in your prayers, that we can show these people the truth of God's word.

As most of you are aware, Jon and his family are currently stateside raising funds and visiting family. I hope that you all get a chance to see them and visit with them. Rachael and Clint are also preparing for furlough, looking to leave in the middle of April after our current session is over. Mom and Dad have been working hard, preparing a new office for their business. Amy has been rather sick during the past couple of days, but she hasn't had back problems for a while now. As for me, I'm still here :). Thanks for your time and your interest in what we are doing. Please keep us all in your prayers, that the Lord will open doors for us and help us find those who are seeking after him.

In him,
Sara Murrell :)