“…False teachers, like vicious wolves, will come in among you after I leave, not sparing the flock…” (Acts 20:29)
Wolves
The apostle Paul’s warning from the 1st century holds true for 2015. The Palawano church is under attack.
A Korean cult with false teaching has set up shop downriver from our village and has led some Palawanos astray–both believers and unbelievers alike. Upriver, a Palawano church leader who helped with the translation project has joined this cult.
A Filipino group with questionable motives wants to set up a church in our village, to claim our believers for themselves.
Vicious wolves, who don’t care for the flock.
“Does not my word burn like fire?” asks the LORD. “Is it not like a mighty hammer that smashes rock to pieces?”
Fire
There is a revival spreading among the Palawano young people. They can’t get enough of God’s Word as they study the Palawano New Testament.
At the same time, many of the Palawano church leaders are standing firm. A few men hiked downriver to refute the teaching of the Korean cult, and their teaching helped some to see that this new teaching was false.
Susing and Rinard also refused to let the Filipino church use their chapel for their meetings. They even refused to let them build their own church in the village (it helps that the tribal chieftain is a Christian!)
But these kinds of attacks will continue. So we need to uphold the Palawanos in prayer, and we need to teach and encourage the church leaders to stand firm in the truth. Missionaries cannot live in the village right now due to security concerns, so our partners are based in town and the Palawanos come to them for teaching.
Feeding the Fire
We plan to go to Palawan in February en route to another consultant trip to Asia Pacific. Bill will meet his former translation helpers and other leaders of the church in Puerto Princesa for a time of teaching from the Word, and to have a chance to encourage them and answer their questions.
Many Palawano young people will also come to town for Bible teaching. We want to turn them into spiritual warriors who know the truth of God’s Word and have a passion to defeat false doctrine by teaching the truth.
Pray for the Palawano church, for the leaders, for the youth… for all who hold God’s Word in their hands to devote themselves to the truth of its pages.
Pray for us as we prepare for this upcoming ministry trip to Asia.
Fire… to keep the wolves away.
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