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God continues to answer prayers and start new ministries at BCCL. We just continue to ride the waves He creates and do our best to obey His directions.
Arts as Mission
In partnership with the Overseas Missionary Fellowship (OMF), BCCL hosted a short-term mission team composed of Asian American and Filipino artists. Some of them are painters and graphic artists; there was also a photographer and a crafter. They joined this mission exposure trip to see how God can use their artistic talents in mission. And, indeed, they realized that art is a powerful tool in ministry! Some of the important creative things they did was a painting workshop and mural painting at the campus café, which allowed us to engage with the community. Their team leader likewise taught sessions on arts and mission / ministry, as well as creation care, to our mission students. These were strategies he used as a long-term missionary in Thailand.
Overall, this experience made a big impact on the visiting mission team as they realized how God can use their artistic talents in the mission field. Their visit was a big help to us, as it provided a way to start new ministries. It is always a blessing to host and mobilize short-term mission teams.
New Creative Ministries
We had an outreach art workshop July 27 at the campus café to jumpstart an arts ministry that we’ve been praying about for the past year. This was one of the ministries the OMF short-term mission team helped us start. Two of the painters in the group taught basic acrylic painting to the 14 participants.
God confirmed the big need for this type of ministry as we got to know the participants. Some of our young Indian friends excitedly joined the workshop and are looking forward to regular art fellowships with us. This is another avenue where we can reach our Hindu friends with the love of Christ. During the workshop, they started sharing about their culture and beliefs to fellow participants. Then, one of our mission students brought to the art class his younger brother, who is not a believer of Jesus. He is hoping his brother, Raq, would come to know the Lord if he plugs him into this art ministry. Raq is a very talented artist. He shared that due to extreme pressure in school, he went into depression and art was his only way out. He showed and talked about some of his artwork with us. He said he was so encouraged and felt heard during the art workshop. A mom came and brought her teenage son to the painting session. She mentioned that during the pandemic and until now her son has been cooping himself up in his room doing nothing but draw. She wanted him to come out of his shell. She was so grateful that her son could join the art workshop and meet new people. Please pray with us for this ministry. This will also be a continued opportunity for Christian artists to come and help us in this ministry.
Another ministry that’s seldom done by churches in the Philippines is creation care. Stewardship of God’s creation is more important now more than ever as we experience the relentless effects of climate change. Sadly, the Philippines is one of the top polluters of global waters. We are mobilizing our students to start with picking up trash at our shores in Legazpi City. This initiative can be a great opportunity for local outreach start-ups, encouraging communities to join this simple yet important task while reaching them for Christ. We pray this initiative would continue for a long time and that missional recycling projects would likewise evolve through this.
Graduation and Training Partnership
Last June 15, we had our 23rd graduation for our Certificate in Leadership Foundations (CLF) course. Michael Brogna, who was our visiting teacher (Hermeutics) at that time was our graduation speaker. A new batch will start this course again August 19. Please pray our students would continue to grow in Christian character through this training program.
We also had the joy of letting the South East Asian Theological Seminar y (SEATS) use our classroom to train around 30 church planters of the Baptist Conference of the Philippines from the island of Masbate for three full days. This is an ongoing training, and we are glad to partner with SEATS for the advancement of the kingdom in other parts of Bicol. We praise and thank our wonderful Creator God for the creative ministry initiatives He is starting at BCCL! We continue to look up to Him and obey.