During our missional efforts from 1982 to 1985 taking photos was not a major concern. I used a few for our monthly newsletter and my camera was a simple Kodak Instamatic. So, some places I did not take a camera with me at all.

BayBay Leyte Crusade

I had met Pastor Joe Anitpuesto at the youth conference in Southern Leyte. He came to my home in Tacloban and asked me to come preach a crusade in the evenings at the town square of BayBay Leyte. Joe arranged the entire event. Joe had a very nice ‘house church’ and was interested in expanding his ministry in BayBay.

Joe had paid to use a Barangay facility with an outdoor covered stage for the crusade location. He also made arrangements to show the ‘Jesus Movie’ that was popular in 1985. I remember preaching to a standing group of people that evening.

Pastor Joe Antipuesto at his House Chruch in Baybay Leyte 1985

I have pictures in my mind of the evening and I remember Joe’s enthusiasm for building his church.

Tagharigue

Cruz Lapura was one of the teachers at Zion Bible College. He was a kind soul with a gentle spirit. He and I had a lot of discussions together on various theological subjects. Later in life he became the President of Zion Bible College until his untimely death in an auto mobile accident. Cruz like all the ministers in the Philippines liked to travel and visit churches in remote areas, especially if the pastor was a former student of Zion.

**Cruz Lapura playing guitar for us in my home at V&G**

The church in Tagharigue was on the top of a mountain. The floor was dirt and the benches were boards about 8” wide and six feet long. A few of the people came from a remote area. This group of people were all very attractive. They however had a genetic commonality, they all had big strong feet and wore no shoes. Cruz introduced me to them and pointed out the curiosity of their feet, they all laughed. I preached, Cruz interpreted, we prayed for people’s needs and for the to be blessed in their farming projects.

San Jose

One of our yayas, or ‘helpers’, was Ining she was from the church in San Jose. The church was spacious yet open for the air to blow through the many windows. There was a platform and a small simple wooden pulpit. I cannot remember the pastors name but I can see his face and smile in my mind. Last time I asked James he couldn’t remember either.

Ining loved Trinity and pampered her always.

The pews were wooden benches and most of the congregation were women. The church sat our in the middle of some rice fields. It was a beautiful, serene, and humble place that was expressive of Filipino life for most Filipinos. A woman was breast feeding her child and I thought nothing of it until she layed the satisfied sleeping child in her lap and just left her top completely down around her belly. So, inside I laughed and kept on preaching.

I often think I was more of a comfort to the pastors simply by showing up at their place than anything else. I kept my sermons simple and talked about the love of God in Christ Jesus more than anything else.

Catbalogan Samar

Levis had arranged for me to meet his brother in Catbalogan. His brother had a good sized church and a growing Bible College. I rode the bus from Tacloban to Catbalogan. It was a beautiful morning with a cool breeze in the air . I was energetic, happy, and the music being played on the bus was some of my favorite folk singers. Levis brother was ill and I did not spend a lot of time with him. I spoke at the church and was fed well. I just loved on everyone as much as possible and prayed a lot.