Green mango, rice, jicama (white root), watermelon, and the king of all fruit, the Philippine mango were only part of the feast today.
It was Sunday and we were privileged to be in a brand new church that was full of great stories.
The pastor, Captain Noel Mayor (pictured in the purple barong below) is a captain in the Philippine police force. He is head of security for the Manila Airport complex, which is a job with great responsibility. Many of you who have visited the Philippines have been greeted by the Captain. It is quite an experience to walk through the airport with him and have dozens of people salute as you pass.
Pastor Mayor has only been a pastor for 3 years but is about to start his fourth church! He is a man of a driving passion, a natural leader of men and a lover of truth and righteousness.
He could not do what he is doing without his wife, who is a realtor. She laughed as she commented on her husband's plan to start his fourth church, "Again? Starting churches cost so much money!" She works so hard to help provide the necessary funds to open up all these new works.
Another great story in this church is Assistant Pastor Condicion (in the salmon colored shirt).
Just a few years ago, Pastor Condicion was the second in command in a local Philippine cult that operated north of Manila in the mountainous area of Dona Remidious.
Just a few years ago he renounced the cult and became a Pentecostal bringing about half of the cult's members with him. Brother and Sister Condicion have 6 talented children who are an invaluable part of the church.
We were so impressed by the spirit of worship this church had and the surprising number of talented members in a church so young. It seemed like everyone could either sing or play some sort of instrument.
Jordan and Kori pictured with some of the young people of the church.
The Condicion family. The youngest son is the drummer, the other son is the keyboard player, the youngest daughter, (to the right) was the bass player and the three other girls were the singers. Not only did they sound great, they were true worshipers.
We had planned to go the the location where the former cult was today, but it was deemed to dangerous for us to go at this time. The area is known for its communist rebel activity so we will have to go to Kalawakan in the future.
