God’s Faithfulness In The Philippines

Thank you so much for all of your prayers.  The Lord was so faithful and He deserves all of the glory for what He accomplished through this mission trip (Psalm 115:1 “Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to your name give glory, for the sake of your steadfast love and your faithfulness!”).  I arrived home on Tuesday night with a renewed sense of vision and passion to reach the nations through crusade evangelism.  Here are some of the highlights and a few testimonies of God’s faithfulness:

Testimony #1:  The Harvest Fields Are White

My heart was overwhelmed by the love that the Filipino believers displayed to me, to each other, and to the lost.  There were over 800 churches involved in this four day outreach.  It began two years ago after a typhoon hit the Bicol Region and devastated thousands of lives.   Approximately 30 people from various denominations gathered together to pray and plead with God to bring revival to their land.  After two years of praying and laboring, they saw the amazing fruit of God’s grace being poured out on their land.  Over the course of four evenings 100,000 people gathered from hundreds of miles away to worship Jesus Christ and to listen to His Gospel preached by Will Graham (Billy Graham’s grandson).  25,000 people came forward in response to the Gospel and will now be contacted by local pastors and laypeople.  Thousands of souls were saved. Jesus said, “Look, I tell you, lift up your eyes, and see that the fields are white for harvest” (John 4:35). I feel a great burden on my heart to return to the Philippines and to conduct more outreaches, to strengthen the Church, and to spread a vision for World Missions.  Please join with me in prayer.  (Below is a picture of the Celebration grounds.)

Testimony #2:  Jesus said, "Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven” (Matthew 19:14).

The second day that I was in the Philippines I conducted outreaches in the center of Naga City.  I met a young man named Pilo while I was handing out tracts and inviting people to come to the Celebration.  He asked if he could help me hand out invitations.  After working hard and reaching hundreds of people, I inviting him to lunch.  He shared with me that his entire family, dad, mom, sister, and brother, were all killed in a car accident when he was 14 years old. He now lives with a very poor widow and her children and works odd jobs to try to help feed them.  Pastor Bong (my good friend and Filipino pastor) and I asked if we could visit his home.  He agreed.  During the drive to his home,  I saw children scavenging through the garbage to try to find pieces of metal to sell so that they could buy food.   Pastor Bong told me that this was one of the poorest neighborhoods of Naga City. 

After arriving at his home, I was soon surrounded by a mob of children.  They were all curious to know what we were doing in their village.  I began handing each child an invitation to our Saturday morning KidsFest outreach.  This is a special outreach where over 13,000 children come to play games and hear the Gospel.  I could tell by their faces that they all wanted to come, but I could also see sadness.  One child said to me, “We can’t come because we don’t have a ride.”  My heart broke.  They were too poor to pay for a ride to the event.  I prayed a short prayer and asked God to use me to bless these children.  I turned to Pastor Bong and said, “I believe the Lord wants to use me to pay for the buses to get these children to the outreach.”  It gave me so much joy on Saturday morning to see over 40 children climbing into buses to go hear the Gospel. 

God wants to use our lives.  I want my life to make a difference.  I want to touch people with the love of Jesus Christ. Thank you for praying and giving to my mission so that we can see many souls saved for His glory. 

Below is a picture of some of the children that came to the outreach.  Please pray for the seeds that were planted in their lives.  May they be the next generation to take the Gospel to the Philippines and to the ends of the earth.

Testimony #3-  “Go therefore and make disciples of all nations” (Matthew 28:19)

Before I left for the Philippines, I asked the Lord to send me a helper.  I was hoping that he would be Filipino and that he would speak the language and know the land.  When I arrived it wasn’t clear who would be my assistant.  So I prayed and asked God to raise up a Timothy (Paul brought the young Timothy as his helper on his missionary journeys).  Then I met Pilo.  As I mentioned above, we randomly met on the street and then I visited his home.  I asked him if he would be interested in helping me during my stay in the Philippines.  He was very excited to help.  The Lord gave me a great love for this young man.  I began to see a tenderness in his heart towards the Gospel.  During our second day working together we were at the outreach office visiting with Pastor Lorenzo and Pastor Ricardo (Filipino pastors that I became good friends with). Pastor Lorenzo asked if Pilo was saved.  I said, “I don’t think so.”  I had shared with Pilo earlier but I wasn’t sure if he completely understood me.  Pastor Lorenzo said, “We need to share with him the Good News of Jesus Christ!”  I asked Pastor Lorenzo if he would be willing to share with Pilo in his native language.  The two of them went into a room and for one hour Pastor Lorenzo shared the Good News of Jesus Christ with Pilo.  Pastor Ricardo and I fervently prayed for God to open Pilo’s heart while Pastor Lorenzo shared.  By God’s amazing grace, Pilo came out of the room born again.  We could see the joy beaming from his face as he realized the love of Jesus Christ.

For the next 10 days I was able to disciple Pilo.  Pastor Ricardo and Pastor Lorenzo became very interested in helping Pilo.  They have a church near Pilo’s village and they will be discipling him and caring for him.

God wanted to send a Timothy to help me in the Philippines.   By His amazing grace, He saved Pilo and used him in my life in a mighty way.  I love seeing God save sinners, fill them with His joy, and then mold them and shape them into the next generation that will be radical for Christ. 

Please pray that Pilo would surrender his entire life to Christ and that Christ would be mightily glorified through this young man.  May God give us many more disciples for the sake of His glory.  Below is a picture at the outreach with Pilo and two other young men who assisted me (Hurry and Haggai).  Pilo is kneeling on the ground.  To God be the glory!

I thank God for all of you and for your prayers and support.  I pray that in the days to come we will see a great harvest of souls for the sake of the glory of Jesus Christ.  Please pray for opportunities to continue to go to the nations to preach the Gospel. 

May we love Jesus Christ with all of our hearts, souls, minds, and strength.  May He be our one consuming desire and may His name be great in our lives and among the nations. 

“Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the laborers are few;  therefore PRAY EARNESTLY to the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into his harvest." (Matthew 9:37-38)

 

With Christ’s love and prayers,

Justin Hoover

Village and City Outreach

Thank you so much for your prayers.  God is doing great things here in the Philippines.  This morning we went to the town square and gave out invitations to the Celebration (the Celebration begins on Thursday night and runs until Sunday).  We had about 20 youth working with us today and we gave out more than 4000 invitations to the Celebration and shared the Gospel with hundreds of people. Hearts were very open to the Gospel.  What joy. Here’s a picture of one of the youth witnessing at the bus station. 

After our time at city square, we went to one of the poorest neighborhoods in this area.  Below is a picture of some of the youth from that village.  They wanted to come to the children’s outreach (KidsFest) on Saturday but they don’t have enough money for a bus ticket.  Pastor Bong and I are working on hiring a bus to come to this village in order to pick up a busload of them.  It gave me so much joy to know that God led me to this village for the purpose of hiring a bus so that these children can come hear about Jesus.  These are things that change people’s lives.  We are expecting about 20,000 children to come and to hear the Gospel on Saturday morning. 

Praise reports:

1.  Many people are hearing the Gospel and God is moving on hearts. 

2.  Christ is raising up youth who have a passion for Christ and are bold in sharing their faith.

3.  I’m healthy; sleep and stomach are normal (this is truly a grace of God!)

4. The churches are united for the sake of reaching the lost here in the Philippines. More than 800 churches are involved in this outreach and are excited. 

Prayer Requests:

1.  Pray for many more people to be born again through our street witnessing and preaching.

2.  For strength, wisdom, and eyes focused on Jesus for all of the Billy Graham workers.  They are working tirelessly in order to pull this off.

3.  For a great revival to take place in the Philippines. 

Let these words be our prayer for the Philippines and for the nations:

Isaiah 43:4-7  “Because you are precious in my eyes, and honored, and I love you, I give men in return for you, peoples in exchange for your life.  5 Fear not, for I am with you; I will bring your offspring from the east, and from the west I will gather you.  6 I will say to the north, Give up, and to the south, Do not withhold; bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the end of the earth,  7 everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made."

Father, please bring into Your Kingdom Your sons and daughters.  Please command that Your loved ones, Your bride, be given up from darkness, sin, and Satan.  Let them come from the ends of the earth, whom You created for Your glory, because You are WORTHY.  Open the Lifegate that all may come in, come into Christ and find eternal life!  In Jesus Name.

He is Worthy of Worship in the Philippines!

I’m so thankful that the Lord reminded me this morning of His death and resurrection accomplished on my behalf. Happy Good Friday! It is sobering, humbling, and comforting to feel afresh the love of Christ displayed on the cross. I pray that you will feel and know that love today.

Thank you for your prayers regarding the preaching of the Gospel yesterday. The Lord moved powerfully. I preached on the seven last sentences of Christ on the cross. They are deserving of much meditation:

1. "Father, forgive them, they know not what they do." Luke 23: 34 2. "This day thou shalt be with me in Paradise." Luke 23:43
3. "Woman, behold thy son." John 19: 26-27
4. "My God, My God, why hast thou forsaken me?" Matthew 27:46
5. "I thirst." John 19:28.
6. "It is finished." John 19:30
7. "Father, into your hands I commit my spirit!" Luke 23:46

God granted repentance and brokenness to some of the listeners at the outreach yesterday. The seven churches involved were very blessed, encouraged, and built up. Your prayers were answered. Praise God! Here’s some pictures of the outreach…

This was a skit that the teens did of Christ’s crucifixion. It was very powerful.

In the evening there were thousands of people in the streets celebrating Maundy Thursday. The churches were filled with people late into the night. I had the opportunity to share the Gospel with a mother and her daughter while standing beside the cross you see in the picture below. They were very eager to hear about how the death and resurrection of Christ has changed my life. I explained that a person is saved by faith alone apart from works (Ephesians 2:8-9) and that a person needs to be born again to see the Kingdom of God (John 3:3). God was opening their eyes to the truth of the Gospel. This was icing on the cake for me last night. What an amazing day! What an amazing God!

Thank you for your prayers.

Please pray:

1. For those who received the Gospel that the Word may go deep in their hearts and many would be born again

2. For strength for the team to continue to labor with eyes fixed on Jesus, having a spirit of prayer, humility, love, and faith.

3. For open doors to continue to strengthen churches through preaching before the Celebration next week.

4. For many souls to be reached through this outreach.

The Spirit is moving here and He is strengthening His Church through this work. May we see a great revival in the Philippines and to the nations. Love you all!

"Father, into Thine hands I commit My spirit!" Luke 23:46

What Manner of Men Will Take This World For Christ?

 

George Whitefield, one of the world’s greatest evangelists, asked God to raise up a certain type young men who would be radical for Jesus.  This is my prayer today as well.

He prayed “. . . that He will again raise up unto Himself certain young men whom He may use in this glorious employ [revival].  And what manner of men will they be?  Men mighty in the Scriptures, their lives dominated by a sense of the greatness, the majesty and holiness of God, and their minds and hearts aglow with the great truths of the doctrines of grace.  They will be men who have learned what it is to die to self, to human aims and personal ambitions; men who are willing to be ‘fools for Christ’s sake’, who will bear reproach and falsehood, who will labour and suffer, and whose supreme desire will be, not to gain earth’s accolades, but to win the Master’s approbation when they appear before His awesome judgment seat.  They will be men who will preach with broken hearts and tear-filled eyes, and upon whose ministries God will grant an extraordinary effusion of the Holy Spirit, and who will witness ‘signs and wonders following’ in the transformation of multitudes of human lives.”
-George Whitefield

How radical will you get for Christ today? 

anna's new hat

This is my new hat that says "D.C." on it. We had lots of fun!

fun day at DC

My mom and dad took my to nieces Anna and Elizabeth and myself to DC

The Incline

this is the worlds largest incline!!!!
my mom, my nieces,and myself went up and down the mountain