January 2022 Highlights Expanding His Kingdom

Greetings!

The sun smiled broadly as 14 believers followed the Lord Jesus Christ in water baptism in a swimming pool in Mindanao. The officiating minister, Pastor Benjie, graduated from CCI training in 2017 and is one of the church planters of Believers of King Jesus Christ. BKJC has planted 21 churches and outreaches and continues to make disciples of the Lord. They baptized 89 new believers in the last ten months alone. All of their church planters are either graduates or students of CCI. Currently, they are training 58 more church planters in Zamboanga del Sur and Lanao del Norte. Praise the Lord!

We appreciate your prayers and support. Henry Ventura CCI Philippines National Director

Click here to help support Henry

Staff Update

Pastor Val started a new class at Cold Spring Baptist Church in Bukidnon with six students. The class will be trained by pastors who have been teaching three other classes in Bukidnon since last year. Pastor Eloi started a new class at Hope Sharing Church in Cabuyao City with about 20 students. He is teaching CCI classes almost everyday. Pastor Mabano conducted two Teacher Training Workshops (TTW) at the Life Resources Foundation and Iligan City Community Church. LFR will continue to use the CCI training materials and ICCC will start a CCI class in February. We praise God for these new classes and workshops, and for these teachers' God given assignment to impact everyday lives and we pray that the students will grow in the knowledge of their Maker.

Update on relief efforts for typhoon victims: Pastor Melvin reports that normal electrical power in Bohol probably won’t be restored until April. The funds that CCIP has raised for relief work have been used to provide cash assistance to 20 pastors, to buy rice, and to buy construction materials. The photos below show some of the construction materials and sacks of rice that they distributed to the typhoon victims.

Construction materials Bags of rice

Help support those effected by Typhoon Odette

Graduations

Three CCI equipping classes finished their formal training with a combined total of 34 graduates in January. Each class took 3 to 5 years to finish, punctuated by interruptions due to the pandemic and natural calamities. The trainers of these classes are also CCI graduates. The students planted at least seven churches while undergoing training.

Island Garden City of Samal graduation for 15

Graduation for 10 in Malaybalay City

Graduation in Pagadian City for 9 graduates

Testimony

Pastor Wangon (center in purple shirt) is a graduate from the Island of Samal. His life and ministry involvement were not easy. Since he is receiving little if any financial support, he has to take on secular jobs to sustain his family’s needs. Sometimes he would work as a fisherman, and at other times people would hire him to climb coconut trees to harvest coconuts for a fee of 10 pesos (20 cents) per tree. But he never complained about the lack of money because he considers winning souls for Christ as the highest treasure of all. In spite of these hardships, he managed to plant a church while studying under CCI. His wife and his whole family are happy and are supportive of his ministry. He plans to teach the next batch of leaders in his church and from other churches in the area.

Prayer Requests & Praises Please continue to pray for healing for our Luzon Regional Coordinator Pastor Manny Gocon who has diabetes and other health issues. Please pray for complete healing for Melvin’s 5-month old daughter who is suffering from high fever and asthma. With no electrical power, they cannot use a nebulizer to help her. Pray for healing for Pastor Lou Bual who has cancer and CCI personnel who have been hit by the flu or similar illnesses. Please pray that the classes most affected by Typhoon Odette will be able to resume their training. Pray that power will be restored in the province of Bohol.  Please pray for a tablet computer with keyboard and extra battery life that Melvin can use for his ministry.

Crossing Cultures International | Website | View as Webpage

‌ ‌ ‌ ‌