Hello to all of our family, friends and faithful supporters. We just wanted to say hello and give you a quick ministry update.

We continue to be very busy taking care of the children in Anahawan and traveling back and forth to our church in Panas, Maasin City. The children are doing well in school and love attending church and worshiping God. AmeRose, a twelve year old we care for was playing at school and while running around tripped over a rock, fell and broke her collar bone. She was very scared to tell us because like a lot of people here, she was very scared to go to the hospital. AmeRose is doing well now and maybe not so afraid to go to the hospital. There have been many good times as well as trying times while caring for these children, but in all these things God continues to be faithful!

Last month we participated in the 12th General Fellowship of the “Fidelis Legis Assembly of God.” This is a three day fellowship where our 13 churches come together to worship God, hear God’s Word, be edified, have fellowship and fun together!

We continue to raise money for and we continue to build houses for people who were devastated by Super Typhoon Yolanda. This one of our main areas of focus. This is a need that will be ever growing due to the constant occurrence of Typhoons here in the Philippines. In the last two months there has been a series of severe storms and two major typhoons. We continue to pray for partners to help with this real need!

We are also looking for partners who would like to help rebuild the Institute of Biblical Ministries School” located in Baybay City Leyte. The school was severely damaged during Super Typhoon Yolanda and is still in need of repair! The school has taken a step of faith and began construction to rebuild without much of a budget. God will provide!

As a reminder all monies received by this ministry go directly into our various programs. We do not use ministry money for our personal support!

We ask that you continue to pray not only for us and the Philippine people but for all of those throughout the world who are doing God’s work. Pray for their safety and provision for their ministries!

Happy New Year to all of our family, friends and faithful supporters. Stand with us in believing that this year will be a most blessed year in the Lord. We pray that you embrace His presence and we pray that you cherish His life giving hope! We are looking forward to an exciting ministry filled year that will reveal His glory to the nations.

Last year was an amazing year as the Lord blessed us with the ability and provision to officially plant and launch a church. Our chapel is located in Sitio Panas, Barangay Bilibol, Maasin City, Southern Leyte, which is located about 40 minutes from our house. Through hard work and God’s grace we have steadily claimed ground back from the enemy; our congregation currently stands at 58 members.

We have a Sunday morning service, two weeknight cell group meetings, a Friday night teaching and prayer meeting and a Saturday morning youth devotional. The purpose behind the cell group meetings are three fold. We are there for the fellowship of the brethren, evangelism by inviting non-believers to the meeting and training the Brethren for evangelism.

We continue to reach out and try to help with the community’s needs. We are trying to help with various livelihood needs such as building small fishing boats, raising pigs for breeding and providing needed schooling materials. We have seen success in all areas of this ministry; families are becoming self-supportive and they are in turn passing the blessings on to other families. We have seen a drastic improvement in the lives of the youth as it pertains to schooling. As we continue to encourage them about their schooling and as we supply the needed materials their attitudes about school and their grades have improved. This is an area of great importance to us for we know the youth are the leaders of tomorrow and we also know that an education is their way out of poverty.

We are also involved with the Fedelis Legis Assemblies of God (FLAG) Organization. This is a group of 14 Assembly of God Churches located throughout the Island of Leyte that have come together to continue the Lord’s work. As an organization we are committed to evangelism, edifying the brethren and to continue to plant churches. This group also operates and supports a small Bible School.

As part of our commitment to our local organization David continues to teach one day a week at the Institute of Biblical Ministries School in Baybay City, Leyte. We are also financially sponsoring four students that attend this school. Sponsorship includes room, food, uniform, I.D., books, transportation, school supplies and a small amount of money (50Php or $1.25) for snacks. We started off by taking a financial step of faith by agreeing to financially support two students, then a need arose for another student and yet another and we felt that we were led to sponsor those students. We stand in faith of who God is and that He will supply all of our needs as He has done in the past.

Our vision for the purchase of property for Tower of Refuge Ministry is still alive in our hearts and prayers. Once we can purchase property we will be able to greatly expand our livelihood program and we would also be able to start building a permanent orphanage. The purchase of property will also help us become more self-sufficient by allowing us to raise pigs, chickens, turkeys etc. which in turn we could sell to support our programs. We continue to pray for property and the funds for that property so that we may have a permanent home for Tower of Refuge Ministries.

            So as we begin the New Year we pray that all of your prayers will be answered and that you will embrace the presence of Jesus. Stand with us as we believe that God has great amazing plans for this ministry this year! We believe that many will come to know Jesus here in Panas and throughout the world.

            We also ask that you pray about providing financial support for this ministry. As with all ministries it takes compassionate people to respond in obedience to God’s will in their lives to provide financial support for His Kingdom. As a reminder all monies received by this ministry go directly into our various programs. We do not use ministry money for our personal support! God has blessed us with an ample retirement and a beautiful house with property so we are able to use ministry monies for ministry!

            We ask that you continue to pray not only for us and the Philippine people but for all of those throughout the world who are doing God’s work. Pray for their safety and provision for their ministries!

            We also invite you to check out our Facebook page. As time allows we will be posting new pictures and videos on our FB page.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tower-of-Refuge-Ministries/1478435052443152

We again thank all of you for your prayers and support.

Love David & Vicenta

Hello to all of our faithful supporters. We just wanted to let you know that we are doing well and we are believing that all is well in your lives!

Our vision is now a reality! We officially planted and launched our church on May 17^th 2015. We had a wonderful dedication service, we held water baptisms and then we enjoyed a fun, food filled time of fellowship. Our chapel is located in Sitio Panas, Barangay Bilibol, Maasin City, Southern Leyte, which is located about 40 minutes from our house.

As a part of our church planting campaign we also held a “Medical Missions” free clinic. Doctor Teresa Lita-Adona who is from Tacloban City traveled here and volunteered her time. Many adults and children were seen and treated. We provided medicines, vitamins and helped with some further needs such as x-rays.

We now have one Sunday morning service, a Friday night teaching/prayer meeting and we also have one Wednesday night cell group meeting. The purpose behind the cell group is three fold. We are there for fellowship, teaching new believers and training the Brethren for evangelism.

 We continue to reach out and try to help with the community’s needs. We are trying to help with various livelihood needs such as building small fishing boats, raising pigs for breeding and providing needed schooling materials. It is a slow process, but we are helping where we can and when we can.

We continue to support various Fedelis Legis Assemblies of God (FLAG) fellowships. We attended and took part in a youth fellowship in Daanlungsod, Bato Leyte and we also attended the FLAG women’s fellowship that was held in Inopacan, Hilongos, Leyte. These fellowships help us set apart some time for teaching, training, and edifying the brethren. They also allow us to spend some time in fellowship through various games and sports.

 We have recently just finished building a one room house (10’X12’) for a needy family. The house was constructed using wood and bamboo. The family of six was living in a badly dilapidated house (8’X10’) that was about to collapse. We have been blessed with the ability to help some people and we have also seen how God has prepared us to do these things. That He is using all of our experiences from our past to minister and work now!

 One great need here is food. Most of the families in this area are either people who live off the land or fishermen. Their income amount varies from day to day which not only affects the amount of food they have, but this also affects the ability to buy needed items such as schooling materials, clothing etc… Many a day and night the children here go without food. As our finances allow us we try to help feed the children. It is a common sight to see the children come to the chapel when it is time to eat and so when we eat they eat; we share what we have and this brings great joy to our hearts. This is why one of our top priorities is our livelihood program.

 Our vision for the purchase of property for Tower of Refuge Ministry is still alive in our hearts and prayers. Once we can purchase property we will be able to greatly expand our livelihood program and also we would be able to start building a permanent orphanage. We continue to pray for property and the funds for that property so that we may have a permanent home for Tower of Refuge Ministries.

 David continues to teach one day a week at the Institute of Biblical Ministries School in Baybay City, Leyte. He is teaching Christian Leadership and Evangelism on Thursdays. Baybay City is approximately a one hour and fifteen minute drive from our house.

 We are also sponsoring three of the students that attend this school. Sponsorship includes room, food, uniform, I.D., books, transportation, school supplies and a small amount of money (50Php or $1.25) for snacks. We started off by taking a financial step of faith by agreeing to support two students. then a need arose for another student and we felt led to sponsor that student. We stand in faith of who God is and that He will supply all of our needs.

 We ask that you continue to pray not only for us and the Philippine people but for all of those throughout the world who are doing God’s work. Pray for their safety and provision for their ministries!

 We also invite you to check out our Facebook page. As time allows we will be posting new pictures and videos on our FB page.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tower-of-Refuge-Ministries/1478435052443152

We again thank all of you for your prayers and support.

Love David & Vicenta

Hello to all of our family, friends and faithful supporters. We are believing that all is well in your lives and that you are enjoying spring.

We’ll the first part of our vision is becoming a reality. We started building our chapel in Sitio Panas, Barangay Bilibol, Maasin City, Southern Leyte. The project is currently about 90% completed.

 We will conduct evangelistic campaigns for three nights beginning on May 10^th. Then we will conduct Evangelistic Bible Studies with the new contacts from May 11^th to May 15^th. We will have our chapel dedication and we are believing water baptisms on May 17^th. 

When I say “we” I mean that trained volunteers from various local churches will stay with us in Panas for one week and they will acquire contacts and then they will conduct the bible studies.

We are also still taking my mother in law to see doctors in Ormoc City for her broken leg. The operation was performed but it has been a slow healing process. The bones and muscles are not healing as quickly as they should; please keep her in your prayers! They doctors have changed her medicine and we are praying that this will help with her healing.

We received several LBC boxes from our supporters in Washington and Oregon. It is truly a blessing when we receive this support. It does lift our spirits to know that people are praying and supporting us. Sometimes in the busyness of our ministry we tend to think that we are on an island alone (we are on an island but not alone).

We also received another LBC box from Edwin L. Hodges Ministries. The box was full of bibles, study books and various teaching materials. This is such a great blessing because these materials are so needed here and most people cannot afford to purchase even a basic bible.

We continue to support various fellowships. We attended the following fellowships: 9^th men’s fellowship on March 6^th & 7^th in Tigbao; the 9^th General fellowship on April 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd in Baybay City; and the 2^nd Children’s fellowship on May 1^st in Anahawan. We also attended the 39^th Anniversary of the Anahawan Assembly of God Church. It is truly a blessing to fellowship we the local brethren in the Philippines.

                        Our vision for the purchase of property for Tower of Refuge Ministry is still alive in our hearts and prayers. We continue to pray for property and the funds for that property so that we may have a permanent home for Tower of Refuge Ministries.

            We ask that you continue to pray not only for us and the Philippine people but for all of those throughout the world who are doing God’s work. Pray for their safety and provision for their ministries!

            We also invite you to check out our Facebook page. As time allows we will be posting new pictures and videos.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tower-of-Refuge-Ministries/1478435052443152

We again thank all of you for your prayers and support.

Love David & Vicenta

Hello to all of our family, friends and faithful supporters. We pray that all is well in your lives and that you are enjoying your summer. Be sure to spend some quality time with friends and family, cherish the moments!

We are doing well and we thank you all for your faithful prayers. On July 15^th we celebrated our 32^nd wedding anniversary. Sometimes it hard to believe that we were married 32 years ago here in the Philippines. We give thanks and praise to the Lord for His hand in this marriage.

We are still caring for two young boys and a teenage girl. We are also now caring for another young girl who comes to us from the Island of Mindanao. All of the children are now in school which started here in June.

While the Philippines is still recovering from super Typhoon Yolanda we are still working with “Grace Community Empowerment” and “Baybay Assembly of God” with the rebuilding 100 houses that were totally destroyed by Typhoon Yolanda. We also have completed several boat repair/building projects. All of these boats were either damaged or destroyed by Typhoon Yolanda and Typhoon Basyang.

As we said in the last newsletter we were looking forward to the month of May for the planting of two new churches. The church plants were to be in Panas, a Barangay of Maasin City and in Conception, a Barangay of Hilongos. Due to various reasons the church plants have been put on hold. The biggest obstacle is finding affordable property to buy or lease. We are now trying to locate affordable buildings or houses to rent or lease which would be used as a worship center. Please pray for the Lord’s will and timing in this matter.

We continue supporting our “Livelihood” Ministry. This ministries purpose is to help people become self-supporting by providing them with the needed tools, education and or materials/supplies to earn a living. In June we provided ten female piglets to five families and we also provided one 50 kilo sack of feed to each of the families. As we had stated before these piglets will be raised as mother pigs for the family’s future livelihood.

Praise the Lord she was hired! The mother who we helped this past year with the paperwork requirements needed to apply for a teaching position has been hired at one of the local high schools. It’s never too late, she was hired the day before the school year started. We have also assisted another mother with obtaining the necessary paperwork needed to apply for a teaching position. We are patiently awaiting the hiring process and believe that the Lord will provide for this soon to be teacher also.

Vicenta has also been working very hard with the livelihood ministry. She is now teaching various women in the local churches how to make simple but beautiful jewelry that they can sell to help their families. She spends many hours preparing and then traveling and training the women. This is a simple but effective way for these women to earn a living.

David has begun teaching one day a week at the Institute of Biblical Ministries School in Baybay Leyte. This is a church supported school that believes in training and equipping future leaders. The school is about 1 ½ hours from our house; David is teaching Old Testament Survey and Biblical Evangelism. All of the teachers volunteer their time to this effort.

We again thank all of you for your prayers and support. Please continue to pray for us and for the people of the Philippines!

Love David & Vicenta

Isaiah 58:7

Hello to all of our family, friends and faithful supporters. We are doing well and have been staying busy with ministry and family.

We are still taking care of two young boys and now we are also taking care of a teenage girl. All of these children are from single parent homes who remaining parent has gone to Manila to work.

While the Philippines is still recovering from super Typhoon Yolanda we are still working with “Grace Community Empowerment” and “Baybay Assembly of God” with the rebuilding 100 houses that were totally destroyed by Typhoon Yolanda.

In March David attended and spoke at a men’s fellowship in Mahaplag Leyte. This two day fellowship was an amazing time for the men of the church to bond and be spiritually feed.

In April we spent three days in Baybay Leyte as part of the General Fellowship of the 12 churches of the “Fedelis Legis Assemblies of God”. This was an amazing Spirit filled time. This time was truly a blessing to us and all that attended which was approximately 300 persons. There was a great calling among the youth in attendance; several youth committed to attending bible school.

We have been celebrating various church anniversaries which points to the faithfulness of God! God is good and His timing is perfect!

We are looking forward to the month of May. There will be two church plants; ours will be in Panas, a Barangay of Maasin City and another will be in Conception, a Barangay of Hilongos. Panas is a small Barangay located in a remote coastal area, while Conception is a larger Barangay of about 5000 thousand people located at the base of a mountain range among the rice fields. Please pray for these new churches.

We continue to help people who are in need of medical care. We have been helping several young children who have been hit by motor vehicles.  The patients usually have to go to one or more cities in order to complete all required medical tests and or CT scans.

We were also trying to financially help a thirteen year old girl who the doctors thought had Dengue fever. She had several blood transfusions but was not getting better. The doctors then discovered that she really had Leukemia and sent her to Cebu for treatment. It is sad to say that dear Eunice passed away before she could get the help she needed. Please keep her family in your prayers.

We launched our “Livelihood” Ministry. This ministries purpose is to help people become self-supporting by providing them with the needed tools, education and or materials/supplies to earn a living. We started off by helping a mother who had already completed her education to become a teacher. We helped her completed the necessary and quite enormous amount of paperwork needed to apply for a teaching position. She had to travel throughout the island of Leyte in order to complete all of the paperwork. We also provided a four month old female pig to a family to be raised as a mother pig; we also supplied one 50 kilo sack of feed. We have several other young female pigs that we will donate sometime next month. We also bought one small fishing boat and helped repair other boats that were destroyed or damaged by tropical storm Bashen. We look forward to helping many more people!

We thank all of you for your prayers and support. Please continue to pray for us and for the people of the Philippines!

Love David & Vicenta

Hello to all of our family, friends, and faithful supporters. Yes we are still alive, and still doing well. The last three months have been really amazing!

First, in November we experienced super Typhoon Yolanda. I have never seen such destruction in my life! Whole towns and cities were basically destroyed. Whole neighborhoods were washed away. Thousands of coconut trees snapped like toothpicks, crops and livestock lost forever. Typhoon Yolanda not only devastated the land, but it also devastated the people of the Philippines. Yolanda tried to tear away the people’s hopes and dreams, but!

But Typhoon Yolanda also gave us many opportunities to minister to the people, minister to their spiritual and physical needs. We were and still are able to bring the good news of Jesus to them so that they might see that He is our only hope!

Through your prayer and support we were able to provide much needed food relief packages (rice, noodles, sardines, salt, sugar, dried fish, and soap), candles, matches, and bread. This help was greatly needed since typhoon Yolanda destroyed many crops including essential rice crops. The food relief also helped provide food for families that could not work due to the power being out for months. Our power was restored shortly before Christmas! There are still many areas that do not have power, clean water, and adequate shelter!

We also had the opportunity to make new friends. We met with Mark Roye and Mike Lynch of “Somebody Cares International” in Ormoc City. Somebody Cares International is an organizational that specializes in disaster relief; we encourage all to support this organization.

We also were able to partner with “Grace Community Empowerment” and “Baybay Assembly of God” to help with their “Houses for the Homeless” project. This project is dedicated to rebuilding 100 houses that were totally destroyed by Typhoon Yolanda.

And then! And then on January 31^st we experienced another Typhoon; Typhoon Basyang. This Typhoon was not as strong as Typhoon Yolanda but if definitely brought more rain causing several flash floods. These flash floods destroyed numerous houses, crops, livestock, and boats.

We also continue to help fund medical care and to pay for prescription medications for the poor. Most people here cannot even afford basic medications.

This year we will launch our “Livelihood” Ministry. It is our goal to help people become self dependent by providing them with the needed tools, education and or materials/supplies to earn a living.

We also would like to remind everyone that the devastation caused by these Typhoons will not go away in a month or a year. It will take years to rebuild the towns and it will take time to mend the people’s hearts!

One last blessing! The Internal Revenue Service has approved our 501 (c) (3) application. We are now considered a tax exempt public charity! The Lord definitely moved in getting our application approved.

We thank all of you for your prayers and support. Please continue to pray for us and for the people of the Philippines!