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“We go to all the world, with Kingdom hope unfurled; no other name has power to save than Jesus Christ alone.” These words in the chorus of the song “Facing a Task Unfinished” by Keith and Kristyn Getty keeps ringing in my ears as I write this update.
I truly believe that as followers of Jesus we are tasked to unfurl or unfold His Kingdom hope in this broken world. So, here’s how God is spreading His Kingdom hope in and through us.
First Batch of Mission Students
It’s amazing how two years have already passed, and our Intercultural Ministries (ICM) students are done with their training! We celebrated their graduation July 5 together, with graduates from two other BCCL ministry training programs: the Certificate in Leadership Foundations and the Graduate Certificate in Urban Ministries. A total of 22 church leaders (nine of them pastors) graduated that day.
We are blessed to share that the ICM graduates have caught God’s heart for the nations and are now encouraging their churches to get involved in missions. We started ministries to keep them engaged in missions, such as weekly prayer events focusing on unreached peoples in the T.H.U.M.B. (Tribal, Hindu, Unreligious, Muslim, and Buddhist) religious blocs. Now these graduates are running the prayer events and involving their church members in them as well. Some of them are heavily involved in reaching out to our Indian friends, building relationships outside of our monthly gatherings, called sangati. One of these graduates is seriously considering and praying about going as a missionary to wherever God leads him.
We know that not everyone is called to go into the mission field, but God calls the church to do the vital task of holding the rope for the missionaries on the field—praying for them and the nations, encouraging them, supporting them, growing the church’s heart to keep obeying the Great Commission, and mobilizing them to keep participating in missions. This is BCCL’s goal for its mission training program. It is not easy to mobilize the churches, but there is hope, as our first batch of ICM students set the example in their lives and involvement in cross-cultural ministries.
Creative Relationship Building
“They get allergic when we immediately invite them to church,” a young lady, who is a pastor’s daughter, explained to me one evening at the campus café. She was asking if BCCL would like to partner with their unique ministry to youth called Abrehon (Bicolano word for “open up”). We’ve been finding out that there’s a growing number of atheist and non-religious youth in the Philippines.
At BCCL, we try to show our students that there are so many creative ways to reach out to communities for Christ. Here are some of the ways we are doing that.
Open Up
Going back to Abrehon, I was blown away by how the young leaders of this ministry caught the Kingdom mindset. They believe that God should be the center of everything that they do and that their secular job is just a tool to serve God better. So, they pooled their resources to fund and start the Abrehon ministry that would reach out to Filipino youth who need guidance more than ever. They decided to use what skills and expertise they had to do workshops on mental health issues, life skills, and community development. Their goal is to build relationships and lead people to Christ where they are.
We are so happy to come alongside them on this initiative. They asked if they could do their workshops at our campus café as a neutral, non-churchy environment for their ministry.
They had their first workshop last July 12, where 35 young people attending, seeking to know how to better their mental health.
Art Talk
As her husband, Timothy Lewis (from Oak Hills Church in Folsom, California) taught Church History at BCCL, botanical artist Helen held an art workshop for four nights in a row. She shared that her art connects her more to God her Creator. Various groups, like local artists, non-Christian friends of BCCL students, and even our Hindu friends, attended such art workshops.
We see that art is a powerful tool to engage with the community and build relationships with people. Thus, we encourage more believers who are artists to come and share their talent as a tool for evangelism.
Project Biyaya
Analyn is one of our missions training graduates. She used to be a schoolteacher but is now in full-time ministry at her local church. Every Saturday, she gathers all the kids in their community (called barangay in Filipino) at her front yard along the coast and teaches them about Jesus. These kids are so poverty-stricken that some of them can’t even afford to go to school or have a decent meal in a day. Thus, Analyn also gives them basic education and provides for some meals out of her pocket. She is also hard up, but the kids’ situations break her heart, so she’s willing to make sacrifices to feed and teach them.
Started in 2021, BCCL partners with students like Analyn, through the Project Biyaya ministry. It helps provide hot meals and other needs, plus Gospel tracts and Bibles so that they can continue reaching out and establishing relationships with communities for Christ. Over the last year, Analyn was able to provide hot meals, rainy day supplies like umbrellas and raincoats for the kids, and school supplies. Thanks to BCCL’s supporters for helping fund our Project Biyaya ministry to help local ministries like this. From January to July 2025, our students have reached 13 new communities and more than 500 non-believers have heard the Gospel message through BCCL’s Project Biyaya ministry.
Glory to God for all of these!
Brief Home Assignment
We are back in the US for the next three weeks. Please pray for divine appointments as we raise support as missionaries. We always believe that where God leads, He will provide.
Sharing our God-given resources to hold the rope for missionaries is ultimately an act of participating in His work among the nations. “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are (so very) few.” Tim and I are committed to keep obeying the Lord and doing what He asks us to do on the mission field. It is not easy, but knowing that brethren in Christ, as well as churches, are holding the rope for us is very encouraging and spurs us on.
So, thank you so much for praying for us. If maybe the Lord is touching your heart to participate by giving to His work in the Philippines and the lost in Asia, there’s information at the link below on how to give.
Dios mabalos! (“God bless you” in Bicolano.)