10/10/2025
Missionary Trip to the Philippines - Apostle Randy Vick
I had an opportunity 15 years ago to go to the Philippines, but our brethren in another part of the Restoration did not want to share their contacts. They had not yet had a chance to get to the Philippines, and did not know when they would get there. They eventually made it to the Philippines and have had some success in spreading the Restoration Gospel. Unfortunately, the Restoration missionaries had a falling out for reasons I am not aware and now the work there is divided between SEAAM and AIM. ��About 5 years ago, some saints in the Philippines found the Conference of Branches website and reached out to us. I have been corresponding with them ever since. A missionary trip was being planned when the Covid pandemic was thrust upon us. The Philippine government implemented very harsh restrictions on their own people and on anyone planning to visit the Philippines, so the trip had to be delayed. The saints in the Philippines suffered greatly from the very strict lockdown that did not permit them to leave their homes for work, unless their job was considered critical. To leave your home even to buy food, or medicine was severely restricted. Fortunately the Conference of Restoration Branches was able to provide financial relief to saints all over the world, including the Philippines so food and medicine could be acquired by those who due to loss of employment had no other means. That is behind us now, as the Philippine government no longer requires visitors to the Philippines to have been vaccinated for Covid. It is not just a hop, skip and a jump to get there, but I know the getting there will be worth it. We now have several hundred Filipinos following us on social media, so it is very exciting to think how things might go there. �
I leave Kansas City on this Saturday evening, August 16th, at 6:30 PM and my first stop is in Dallas. I get my full daily quota of steps in at DFW and just before 11 PM on Saturday I board Qatar Airways for the middle leg of this journey. I land in Doha, Qatar just before 11 PM on Sunday night. Lots more steps, (I should have worn my FitBit) but with a 3 1\2 hour layover, I have plenty of time to find my gate for my 2:35 AM Monday flight on Qatar Airways arriving in Davao City, Philippines at 8:30 PM Monday night. ��Even though there are more than 300 of us on this Boeing 747, we all get to take a walk on the tarmac to board our plane and the value of air conditioning is instantly obvious. It reminds me of the dry heat of Death Valley in California. My flight makes a one hour stop in Cebu, Philippines where about half of the passengers debark and are replaced completely by those who will be flying to Davao City to continue on to Doha. We get a new pilot crew and our all male flight attendant crew is replaced by an all female flight attendant crew. Qatar Airways flight attendants have very formal uniforms, the guys wear jackets and ties and the ladies look like they just stepped out of the 1940’s looking very much like WACs or WAVEs of WWII, even down to the hairstyles. ��I love it when we are reminded that the Lord always goes before us when we are doing His work. I had to fill out an E-Travel for the Philippines prior to my departure from the US, documenting who I am, and a lot of details about my time in the Philippines. One of the items to be declared was my final flight destination. The drop down had the airport in Cebu and the airport in Davao City. I clicked on Davao City, but when I submitted the form it indicated Cebu as my final destination. I tried to find a way to go back and change it, but I could not. I printed out the three pages and hoped that the Cebu/Davao City thing could be sorted out. I was wrong! When I arrive in Davao City, I make it through immigration without a hitch and when I go to collect my suitcase, an official approaches me and asks for my E-Travel and while I am fumbling around to find it, the official then mentions that as long as my destination is correct on the form there will not be a problem. Oh boy! I find my printout and hand it to him, but he says that is not the official form and so now I am in bigger trouble. But he hands me a four page form and says, “No problem just fill this out and take it to customs after you collect you luggage.” I do that and I approach the customs officer with some concern as I am assuming they will compare my handwritten form with what is surely in their computer database. I hand the form to the officer and with a mere glance at it, she says, “Thank you, you can go.” And I whisper, “Thank you Lord!” ��I exit the terminal and scan the crowd, but all I see are taxi drivers anxious to give me a ride. I look for Bro Shippi for several minutes, without success. I turn my phone on and send a WhatsApp message to Bro Shippi to let him know where I am. I hit send and look up to see Bro Shippi crossing the street towards me. He says, “Bro Vick!” and I say “Bro Shippi!” We embrace and Bro Shippi introduces me to his brother Felicisimo, who has accompanied him. It is so amazing to now be face to face with my brother with whom I have been corresponding for several years. Bro Shippi owns a motorbike and that will be our mode of transport while I’m here, something to which I am quite accustomed. But the typhoon has brought heavy rain to Davao City, so tonight we flag a taxi. Even at 9 PM the traffic all the way to the hostel, which is quite a distance from the airport, is bumper to bumper. Like so many cities, Davao has outgrown its street system and cars and trucks inch along while motorbikes weave in and out performing a dangerous but very common traffic dance. ��I am staying at a “gospel hostel”, Hostel 153. All of the rooms are named after Prophets of the Bible and there are scripture verses posted everywhere. Everything is very clean and praise the Lord, my room, a little larger than my bed, has an air conditioner. That makes all the difference in the world. And my hostel is only a block from Bro Shippi’s home in the slum. Their words, not mine. ��Before they leave me at the hostel, I share with Bro. Shippi that the Lord has indicated to me that he has a call to the office of Elder. I have been sitting on this for years and it is so good to be able to share that with him now. I remind him that it is my testimony, but he has to have his own testimony before he can accept the call. He assures me he will pray about it and I assure him I will also be praying about it.
After 29 hours in the air, 3 1/2 hours in Dallas, 3 1/2 hours in Doha and an hour on the ground in Cebu, I cannot wait to meet my bed. It is late for Bro Shippi too, so we say our goodbyes and I am already looking forward to tomorrow.
Bro Shippi is a high school history teacher in a high school with 16,000 students. The students attend one of three shifts each day, but the teachers have to work two of the shifts. Bro Shippi works the first shift and the third shift. He works from 8 AM to 6 PM with a midday break and his classes have more than 70 Seniors in each class.
It is Monday night here (Monday morning in Missouri, 13 hours behind.) and I will be leaving on Monday night next week for my 2-day journey home. A week is a short time, and spending 3 days coming and 2 days going really limits my time on the ground. But, we will be spending all of our time in Davao City and its suburbs, rather than bouncing all over the country like we do on most of our missionary trips. This will give me a lot of quality time with the saints here and with those they have been sharing the gospel with.
Tuesday morning and I have slept like a rock. I have been afforded the luxury of sleeping in because Bro Shippi has to work today. He comes on his midday break and takes me to the mall quite a distance away, where I exchange $500 for 27,000 Philippine pesos. We also go to a supermarket where I can buy a bottle of olive oil (to be blessed and left with Bro Shippi when I leave) and bottled water and a few snacks for my room at the hostel. Do not know when I will get to eat my first Filipino meal, but I am looking forward to it.��Our first duty is to go to the hospital where Bro Shippi’s mother, Sr. Edith and his paternal grandmother, Sr. Shirley, are going to get the results of several tests that were done to pinpoint their health problems. Sr. Edith passed out last week and is concerned there is something wrong with her heart. Sr. Shirley is suffering from headaches and high blood pressure. ��Arriving at the hospital there is a such a crush of people that all seems to be chaos. There are so many people seeking medical assistance, one might think there had been some kind of disaster or catastrophe, but I am assured this is normal. Both sisters want to be administered to, so I ask if there is somewhere private we can go. The nearest thing to private we can find is the hospital chapel, but there are at least 20 people here praying or meditating, or maybe just getting away from the crowd. Bro. Shippi moves a pew to accommodate Sr. Shirley’s wheelchair and we gather in the back corner of the chapel. I explain that the olive oil needs to be blessed and set apart for anointing the sick. I bless the oil and then I anoint and lay hands on each sister, praying for forgiveness of sin, binding and casting out of evil sprits and healing. ��We have a long wait at the hospital as we wait for various test results. Sr. Edith’s test results come back indicating that her heart is ok, but she has pneumonia in one lung. She will have to come back later, after the doctor has reviewed the results and can recommend a treatment. Sr. Shirley receives results with instructions to wait and see the doctor who will recommend a treatment. Sr. Shirley says she does not need to see the doctor as she is healed, but her son, Bro. Shippi’s father, insists that they wait and see the doctor. Bro Shippi’s father had been ordained an Elder a few years ago by the SEAAM missionaries, but left the church and his wife and family and is now with another woman and no longer active in the church.
Bro Shippi, Sr. Edith and I leave the hospital and catch a taxi to an unknown, unknown to me, part of the city to visit two families with whom they have been sharing the gospel. We must stop at a bakery along the way to fulfill a custom of bringing bread when you visit in someone’s home. We have purchased regular loaves of bread and also tiny loaves of bread filled with chocolate. We arrive at a tiny, tiny house where both families live. There is Milling (mee-ling), whose husband passed away 16 years ago and her daughter Miramar and her two children, and daughter CherryMae and son in law Glen and their two children. Milling’s son Raymond is at work. They are of the Catholic faith but have become very interested in the Restoration gospel. I am directed to a bench that has something stored by hanging just a few inches above my head. The children come one by one to greet me, in a way that I am about to learn is customary for visitors in the home. Each child comes to me, one at a time, takes my right hand and touches it to their forehead and says “amen” which in Bisaya means blessing. This is such a sweet gesture and it reminds me of the ladies in some cultures in southern Africa who come to you, and kneel very briefly before you in a sign of respect and greeting. I am about to meet Brian, Milling’s nephew, just a few moments after the children have blessed me. I notice whatever is being stored above my head begins to move and I look up and jokingly poke it with my finger and it really moves then. I stand up as Brian bails out of what is his sleeping hammock. Brian works as a night time delivery man for Coca-Cola I learn and I quickly apologize for disturbing his sleep. He says it is ok, as he does not want to sleep through our visit.The bread is given and received with gratitude and after everyone is gathered, we begin with prayer. Then, as I always do now when asked to introduce myself, I say, “My name is Randy, and my name is not important, but I am an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. Everywhere I have been outside of the United States, this introduction is always met with joy and even sometimes applause and hallelujahs. Not so with our brothers and sisters in the Restoration in America. Always strikes me as odd and sad that so many Restorationists are fine having no Apostles, Seventy, High Priests or Patriarchs in the church. The church Christ restored to the earth through the prophet Joseph Smith Jr, using the same pattern as when He built/established His church in the New Testament had all those offices. We believe that God and His Son Jesus Christ, never change, right? ��The plan is for this to be a question and answer session and I invite them to ask anything that is on their heart and mind about the gospel or the doctrine of Jesus Christ, or the church. Without a moment’s hesitation Brian says he has a question and the questions and discussion go on for quite some time. Where do we go when we die, being first and foremost. The questions are deep as the Holy Spirit guides our discussion. We talk about Christ’s crucifixion and resurrection and what it means to us. What is a covenant relationship and why are we baptized. Finally, when the questions are done, it is time to share the bread, with one other customary contribution. There must be soft drinks, so one of the children are given money to run down the street to a small, local, very small and very local, shop and soon we are sharing bread and pastries and cold Coca-Cola. The cold Coca-Cola is a very welcome relief in the heat of this very crowded small room. Bro Shippi tells me that Filipinos love Coca-Cola. Bro Shippi points out that Milling and I have both lost our spouses and everyone wants to know about my wife Donette’s passing and I am always happy to show them the ring that I wear with her picture as I talk about her. It helps me feel like she is with me in these moments, when I have been on so many deployments and trips without her physical presence, but with her spiritual support.
As we are leaving, Bro Shippi is held up by the adults and they speak excitedly, but in Cebuano, also known here as Bisaya, so I do not know what is being said. As we are walking out to the street from the alley that leads to Milling’s house, to catch a taxi, Bro Shippi tells me they were telling him excitedly, they felt the presence of the Holy Spirit like they have never experienced it before and they are ready to make their covenant with Jesus Christ by being buried in the waters of baptism. We rejoice together at this wonderful news.
Our discussion here has gone on so long that the other family we were going to meet are now getting ready for work and will not be able to host us today. So I am about to get my first meal since arriving here on Monday and Bro Shippi assures me it will be my first Filipino meal. He warns me that I will not be able to get potatoes with my meal and no restaurant serves potatoes as a side, only rice. Bro Rex Curtis and I have traveled a lot in Africa together and we always subsist on chicken and chips, except when we are at the orphanage in Malawi and we eat the local bill of fare that is served to the kids. ��So this evening I take Bro Shippi, his mother, Sr. Edith and his younger brother Fellicisimo, who goes by “Terdy” (He is Felicisimo III, and terdy is three in Bisaya, so that has become his nickname and I am told most Filipinos are given nicknames.), to dinner at Penong’s restaurant. Where I predictably order chicken and rice. It is a quarter chicken, thigh and drumstick, that is barbecued in what I soon discover is a really delicious sweet sauce. They also bring a small decanter of soy and one of vinegar and a small bowl of Filipino limes. Little tiny limes the size of pingpong bals. Bro Shippi squeezes the lime into a small bowl and adds the soy and vinegar. I pour the mixture over my steamed white rice and it gives a wonderful flavor to the rice and I am thoroughly enjoying my first Filipino meal. ��I have the opportunity to bring up the subject of a call to the office of Priest for Bro Felicisimo, (Bro Shippi had shared this with me earlier.) They both have strong testimonies of his call and he is already very involved in helping Bro Shippi spread the Restoration gospel. So we will plan to ordain Bro Felicisimo prior to our planned baptism service on Saturday morning. ��This has truly been a blessed day and I return to the welcome relief of my air conditioned room.
Over the next few days we are blessed to visit in the homes of several saints and non-saints who are interested in learning more about the Restoration gospel. ��We visit in the home of Jocel, a single mother and her 14 year old son Ramjay and 5 year old daughter Jirah Faith. Jocel’s husband died suddenly last September from an aneurism. We make our way down a narrow alley, lined with houses made of tin and wood cobbled together to make homes, that much of the world would call shanty’s. Jocel’s house, like so many here, is tiny, tiny, the size of an average American living room. It is very sparsely furnished and I have to wonder how she survives and provides for her children working as a domestic cleaner, but there is a wonderful Spirit present here.
�As we arrive at her house, we enter a 3 foot covered walkway that connects Jocel’s house with the neighbor’s house. The man of that house is laboring in that covered walkway, vigorously stirring some kind of creamy sauce in a wok over a wood fire. We step into Jocel’s house through an open doorway, right where the man is cooking, into a room that is maybe 4 feet wide and 12 feet long. Ramjay is at the other end of the room washing dishes and this room apparently serves as their kitchen and living room. We sit on stools just inside the doorway as the neighbor sweats over that wok, right behind me. I inquire and learn that he is making “Maja” (mah hah) a very popular Filipino dessert dish that he will sell in a nearby market.
�Jocel calls her daughter to come and greet us, and she gives the traditional greeting of blessing. As the children did in the home we visited yesterday, she takes my hand and brings it to her forehead and says “Amen”. It is as touching today as it was yesterday. ��We are getting to know each other and I am learning more of Jocel’s circumstances. As a single mother of two, she is struggling, without any government assistance. We have a very good discussion with Jocel and Ramjay, about the gospel of Jesus Christ. Bro Shippi and his brother Felicisimo have been sharing the gospel with her and our visit this morning is accompanied by a strong presence of the Holy Spirit and Jocel wants to be baptized at the baptism service being planned for Saturday. Ramjay is still thinking about it. He must still be grieving over the loss of his father and wondering why, knowing that their family is suffering much more than they would if father was still with them. His situation is complicated by the fact that he is a shy boy and a group of boys at his school have singled him out for bullying and they have attacked him physically twice now and on a regular basis fill his backpack with rocks and trash. He does not fight back. Jocel and Bro Shippi are planning to transfer him to the school where Bro Shippi teaches. Bro Shippi says that school has a very strictly enforced policy on bullying. That will mean an added expense for Jocel of transporting Ramjay to the other school which is far away. He will have to pay to ride a series of Jeepny’s to get to his new school, but the fares are reduced for students. (The following day, young Bro Ramjay calls Bro Shippi and asks to be baptized.)
The neighbor suddenly steps in the door and hands Bro Shippi a plate of Maja. It looks like vanilla pudding covered with shredded cheese. I am anxious to try it, and Bro Shippi highly recommends it. We have to wait for it to cool, which takes a little time in this heat. But we have a wonderful visit and before we leave I am invited to try the Maja. It is delicious and sweet and it has sweet corn in it. It really is like vanilla pudding with corn and the shredded cheese would seem an odd topping for a pudding like dessert, (so too does French Apple pie) but it really works. I ask for the recipe and am assured I can find it on YouTube, which I fully intend to do, knowing in the back of my mind that our family processed a huge batch of sweetcorn just weeks ago, boiling it, cutting it from the cob and freezing it. It will be perfect for Maja.
We also visit church members who live in a fishing village on the coast. No matter where I am blessed to go there is always so much to discover. These homes are built on stilts and when the tide comes in, it actually comes in under the houses. Again, they are what might be described as shanty’s and each house shares at least two and sometimes three of it’s “exterior” walls with the neighbor’s house, with a very thin sheet of plywood being the only material between you and your neighbors. We walk down a narrow raised boardwalk that runs between the houses and we come to a little shop, and I do mean little, that is Sr. Albina’s home and shop. There is an open window with a ledge that looks in to a small cubby and a variety of packets of something hanging on two walls. I failed to ask what she sells, but it looks like packets of yeast that come attached together. I cannot believe I did not ask what she sells, but while we are there, on two occasions, small children come to make a purchase, placing a single coin on the “counter” and receiving a single packet.
�To get into Sr Albina’s house, there is a small raised four foot opening that serves as the door to her house/shop and because of my size, I have to climb through. Inside her house, the ceiling is so low I cannot stand up. The room which also contains her shop is probably 8 by 8 and is completely unfurnished. We are blessed again by the presence of the Holy Spirit and a few small children. The ladies are already baptized members, and are excited that we will have a baptism and confirmation service and that possibly a new branch can be organized. They originally were baptized in the Tagum Restoration Branch, in Tagum City, but it is too far away to attend. Sr. Albina and Sr. Eden, both elderly ladies, request administration, as both are suffering from headaches and Sr. Albina also has arthritis in her knees. They will not be able to attend the baptism service on Saturday but will attend the confirmation and communion service on Sunday.
The Lafuente home, back in the city is our center of operations and we end up there each day. The house is home to a large portion of their family. The rent and expenses are shared by Sr. Edith’s three sons, Mark Paul, Shippi, and Felicisimo. Shippi and his wife Beberly live in the slum, one block from my hostel, but more importantly, very near the school where they both teach. Sr. Edith is the matriarch and also a really good missionary, witnessing constantly to others and inviting them to worship with them in the Church of Jesus Christ, Metro Davao Restoration Mission here in their home. She lives in this very small house (one room and a bathroom on the first floor, an outdoor kitchen at the back of the house and two small bedrooms upstairs. Living with Sr. Edith are her son Mark Paul, her daughter Ira, and youngest son Felicisimo, and several grandchildren. Bro Mark Paul’s wife passed away last year when her heart began beating so fast the doctors could not determine why and were not able to save her.)
�Whenever we arrive back at the house after a full day of missionary work, there is happy chaos as the kids all come to greet me in that Philippine custom. Even little 2 year old Zeah comes and takes my hand and brings it to her forehead in blessing. On one occasion after arriving at the house, Bro Shippi, Bro Felicisimo and some of the children go with us as we walk a few blocks over to visit Bro Shippi’s father in law who has asked for administration. He has been having bad headaches and suffering high blood pressure for several days. (He will report back to Bro Shippi two days later that his headaches are gone and he has had his blood pressure checked for two days and it is perfectly normal.) �
On another occasion Bro Shippi, Bro Felicisimo, Sr. Edith and even a few of the children walk a few houses away to meet with a lady and her teenage daughter. This lady runs a small grocery store out of her house. It seems very awkward to me at first as we greet each other and sit in her very small living room. But I am blessed to witness Bro Shippi’s ability to to share the gospel as they speak in English. It is amazing to see the Holy Spirit at work as Bro Shippi begins sharing about the Restoration gospel and this lady, while very polite makes it clear that she is very satisfied with membership in her church and with her belief system and Bro Shippi keeps right on sharing, when if I had been in charge of the visit, I would have backed off, thinking to leave on a more pleasant note. But Bro Shippi keeps sharing and the Holy Spirit is with him and her demeanor changes gradually and she begins asking questions and ends the evening by agreeing to attend church at Sr. Edith’s home and she wants Bro. Shippi to come back when she can invite some of her family to hear about the gospel that Bro. Shippi is sharing. It is a very good learning experience for this missionary Apostle.
We are only having one meal a day, so one evening I take the team for a Team Dinner at Penong’s Restaurant where we have barbecued chicken and rice. Very good and so pleasant to sit around the table and visit. �Another night we go to a “BBQ place” very big and very packed. A huge spread of a wide variety of meat choices laid out for us to pick what we want. There is everything! Pork, beef, chicken halves, chicken intestines, squid, whole fish, etc. Everything is skewered on wooden sticks and you pick what you want and they cook it and bring it to you, along with rice. Our table ends up with chicken, pork, beef and chicken intestines. They’re not bad at all! There were five of us and our meals, including soft drinks was around $40.00 US. ��Another night we went to Jollibee’s! The Philippine version of McDonald’s and done very well I must say. Funny thing, here in Davao City, everywhere there is a McDonalds, there is a Jollibees, right across the street. You can get a burger and fries, but most people get a burger and rice. ��The baptism service is scheduled for Saturday and the confirmation and communion service is scheduled for Sunday. We make a fascinating trip to the city market to purchase food for the picnic meal on Saturday, as we will be going to the beach for the baptisms. And for the Sunday after church meal when everyone gathers for the confirmation/communion service. There is everything you can possibly imagine in the way of food in this giant market place with hundreds of vendors. Being the American tourist on this shopping trip I take pictures of large platters of chicken heads, chicken feet, chicken intestines, etc. There is every kind of cut of beef and pork and maybe some other creatures, hanging from hooks in all of these vendor’s spaces. If you have not been to an Asian or African meat market, you probably do not know how to cut up a chicken. The American way is to cut a chicken into very distinct parts, such as drumsticks, wings, breasts, thighs, etc. The Asian market way is to make numerous chops with a cleaver. We go to another market to purchase chairs as we will be having a lot of additional attendees for Sunday church and we purchase a plastic table for the communion emblems. These are delivered by a pedicab and Sr. Edith goes along to make sure they make it to her house. ��Saturday is an adventure. I am sure I will get 50 miles on the back of a motorbike today. It is a long drive to the beach with most of the folks coming by pedicab. We meet at Bro Shippi’s cousin Melody’s house in a village not far from the beach. We hire two pedicabs to get all of us from her house to the beach. I have baptized people in the Atlantic Ocean and am looking forward to baptizing people in the Pacific Ocean today. There is a small Moslem community living on the beach where we have the baptisms, so we “must” make a gift 100 pesos, less than $2, to the head man for gathering at his (not really his) beach. We gather under palm trees for the service. I begin by teaching about priesthood and authority and the ordinance of ordination. I have Bro Shippi and Bro Felicisimo share their testimonies about Bro Felicisimo’s call to Priest and I ask those gathered if they will accept the ministry of Bro Felicisimo in the office of Priest in God’s holy priesthood and they all happily agree. Bro Shippi, a Priest, assists me in ordaining Bro Felicisimo to the office of Priest. We then have a class and a charge to the baptism candidates. By now a small crowd of Moslem’s have gathered and are listening intently as Bro Shippi translates what I am sharing. This is very likely the most exposure they have ever had to Christianity.
�There are 12 candidates for baptism. Four adults and 8 children. I perform the first few baptisms and then Bro Shippi and Bro Felicisimo perform the rest. There is one hitch. 9 year old Louis, as it turns out, has a crippling fear of having his head under water. He is fine swimming and playing in shallow water, but when he is faced with the fact of being laid completely under the water, it is more than he can deal with. He has witnessed the other baptisms, but the thought of having his head underwater is just too much for him and no amount of reassurance will convince him. Of course we will not force him, so we will pray that he can overcome his fear at some point in the future.
Sr. Joy and four of her children will not be able to attend the confirmation service, so we go to her house and I confirm all five of them at her house and I administer to her uncle who is in his 80’s and very ill. He is heartbroken, and crying, that he was not able to be baptized today. I assure Bro Shippi that he does not need to walk into the water, but they can baptize him at some time in the future, the very near future, by carrying him into the water and quickly immersing him after the baptismal prayer. I am saddened that I did not know about his situation before the baptisms, or we might have been able to baptize him today. ��There is more than a houseful gathered for church today at the Lafuente home and as yesterday for the baptism service, there is an air of excitement and happiness on the countenances of those who have gathered. There is one young lady who feels it necessary to remind us that she came only as an act of kindness to her friend who invited her. She knows about the baptisms yesterday and the confirmations and communion that will take place today. She assures her hosts that she has been baptized in the name of the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. There are also 5 young men with whom Bro Felicisimo has been sharing the Restoration gospel and they are anxious to hear more. They readily admit they are very close to making their decision to be baptized but are not quite ready to pull the trigger. ��I teach a class on confirmation and preach a message to those who will be confirmed. I also teach again about ordination (and how men are called to the priesthood) and baby blessing as a newborn baby will be blessed today.
I then share my testimony of Bro Shippi’s call to the office of Elder and I am thrilled that God has given him not one, but two spiritual dreams confirming his call. The baptized and confirmed members present agree to accept his ministry as an Elder in God’s holy priesthood. Those that are baptized but not yet confirmed are also given the opportunity to show their support for Bro Shippi’s call. I ordain Bro Shippi to the office of Elder and then he assists me in blessing baby Jasmine. We then take turns assisting one another confirming those who were baptized but not confirmed yesterday. I present Bro Shippi with the bottle of blessed oil and a small plastic bottle of the oil that I had prepared for him that he will be able to carry with him and have available at all times. Finally, I preach a short sermon about communion. Bro Shippi blesses the bread and I serve him and he and Bro Felicisimo serve me and all those who have been baptized and confirmed. Bro Shippi then blesses the wine and again I serve him and he and Bro Felicisimo serve me and the congregation. The service is ended and we share a wonderful meal that has been prepared by Sr. Edith and Bro Shippi. During the meal the young lady who came but made it clear she was happy with her church and with her baptism, comes to Bro Shippi and requests baptism. She says during the preaching and the service she realized those that baptized her did not have authority and she felt the power of the Holy Spirit, and realized that she had not been given the gift and power of the Holy Ghost. Another young man comes to Bro Shippi, requesting baptism. So we determine to travel to a river at the base of Mt Atop (an active volcano) and baptize this young woman and young man. We rent two pedicabs to take us to the mountain and there in a rolling mountain stream, I baptize Sr. Ivy and Bro Felicisimo baptizes Bro Fil. Then, there on the riverbank, I assist Bro Shippi in confirming Sr. Ivy and Bro Shippi assists me in confirming Bro Fil. Sr. Ivy cannot stop smiling. She is so filled with the Holy Spirit, she is exuberant. It is a beautiful and blessed event. The saints then gather again at the Lafuente home where I convene a business meeting of the Metro Davao Restoration Mission. The baptized and confirmed members vote to organize the Church of Jesus Christ, Metro Davao Restoration Branch and they elect Elder Shippi Lafuente as their Presiding Elder. They also elect Sr. Ivy as their Branch Secretary/Recorder. It is another truly blessed and joyous day.
As always, this trip comes to an end too soon and it is time to head to the airport. Bro Shippi and Sr. Edith accompany me and they have not stopped talking about the new branch, the new members and they know of many more who are very near making the decision to be baptized. I now know Bro Shippi to be a man who will be a good shepherd to this flock of the Lord’s sheep. He is excited to have been called to the work of building up the Kingdom of God and he is so very anxious, along with his brother, to labor in this vineyard for their Master. I anticipate great growth in the work not only in Davao City, but with the contacts that have already been made among the indigenous people living high up in the mountains.
