It is affiliated to the Featherston Assembly Of God, NZ. Pastors Ken and Erla Virtue were called by God to
“Go to the Philippines” and after receiving Missionary Endorsement from the Assemblies of God, they began making six month mission trips
to the Philippines every year since 2009.From the beginning, God quickly confirmed His call with a supernatural anointing on their ministry. Ken says, “We
were unprepared for the moving of the Holy Spirit and the ready response and acceptance that we have found wherever we traveled in the Philippines. It has been very special to us to see such large numbers of teenagers accept Christ into their lives by coming to the front at altar call time. Many of these young people, I was later able to baptize in the open sea or in the river. It has been great to go back to some of these places recently, and find that several of the young men that we ministered to, at beach camps, have gone on to become A/G pastors and are now starting up pioneering churches of their own.”
“Right from our first mission trip, we have been so thankful to God that He brought us to Pastor Joel Tejedo, who has been responsible for our itinerary wherever we have gone in the Philippines.From small country churches to large city churches we have traveled to so many different places by plane, bus, taxi, Jeep and ferry boat... In all of this, God’s hand of protection has been over us! The new challenge
On the Island of Negros, near the city of Bacolod, Erla’s mother, because of her age and health, moved out of the family home to stay with Erla’s younger sister. The family home has been given to Erla and I
to set up as a mission base. We have re-named our ministry as
K & E Grace Global Mission Inc. And this name
has been registered
in the Philippines, and in New
Zealand, a bank account opened in
this name. HERE’S OUR VISION
STAGE ONE:
The house is in a rural village, sugar cane, growing area. Population of
the greater village area: about 5 thousand people. The nearest A/G church is in a city about 20 minutes away. In stage one, we would like to start a house church for the surrounding area. There is very little in the way of churches in the area. The house is very secure with wrought iron fence and gates which are locked at night. STAGE TWO:
We would like to open
the house as a Mission House for people coming to the Philippines on short term mission trips. Erla’s youngest sister who works in Singapore, and has always wanted to join our ministry, wants to come back next year to look after people coming to stay in the mission house. We already have interest from a Baptist Church in Singapore looking
for dates when the mission house will open. And here’s a big plus... The house is right next door to the Plaza, (A covered roof basket-ball court and seating... Ideal for holding a crusade! On a short visit to Negros in 2011, we held a crusade evening in this plaza and 67 people came forward and accepted Christ at the end of the evening). The mission field is all around, and we find a great spiritual hunger. STAGE THREE:
A few steps away from the house in the main street, is an empty
section that belongs to Erla’s brother. (One of a number of sections he owns in the area). Once this project is up and running we would like to put a young pastor in charge, and if he caught this vision, then a church could be built and we would feel that this would be a good exit plan for us. It has always been our prayer that we would finish well for the Lord! Much of what we learnt at the Missions Course can be put into use now. Many of the contacts with local churches that we have made will be of great use to any mission team.
