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Report of PHILIPPINE
ISLAND MISSION The leadership-training gathering began on Tuesday morning of September 6 and concluded on Thursday night of September 8. Eman Abrea, from the Philippines, and Dr. David Lim, from Mainland China, hosted the leadership training sessions and I served together with them as the facilitator. We met in a special meeting room with an adjacent dinning room in the same hotel where all the other leaders and I stayed, which made it very convenient for us all. The meeting room was large and spacious with tables and chairs arranged in a rectangle so everyone could see the faces of their fellow leaders. There were twenty-two leaders present, not including other guests who sat in on the sessions. Most of the leaders were from the Philippines but there were also leaders present who ministered in China, Saudi Arabia, South Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. Our first daily session was on Tuesday of September 6, beginning at 8:00 AM with a time of fellowship and getting to know one another. Many of the leaders were meeting their counterparts for the first time since they had all come from different Islands of the Philippines as well as other nations. They all agreed that the agenda should be led by the Holy Spirit and only facilitated by the hosts and me as their special guest. This was so exciting to just trust the Lord for what He wanted to do among us. In the remaining part of the first session, we shared about How to Start and Nurture New Churches not only in the Philippines but also throughout the world. We had breakfast, lunch, dinner and snack breaks in between sessions and adjourned at about 9:00 PM after informal sharing and Q&A. The second daily session was on Wednesday of September 7, beginning promptly at 7:30 AM with a breakfast. At 8:00 AM everyone shared what they called their “Life Scripture Verses,” which was a very inspirational and blessed time. Promptly at 8:00 AM, we began sharing about “The Biblical Church Pattern” and “How to Multiply Churches” throughout the Philippine Islands and in other Nations. As during the first session, we had lunch, dinner and snacks in between and closed again with informal sharing and Q&A. The third session was on Thursday of September 8 that began at 7:30 AM with breakfast. At 8:00 AM, we again, we had a time of sharing our “Life Scripture Verses.” We then shared about “Spiritually Connecting” with other leaders and churches throughout the nations. Then the session suddenly turned to a different topic than was scheduled and the Holy Spirit took complete control of the gathering! Everyone began to share their hearts and stories of brokenness and pain from fatherless homes, physical abuse, sex abuse, broken marriages, unfaithful adulterous husbands’ and wives’ affairs, etc. Then the Lord led me to share about the prophetic Biblical word for the end-times when the “hearts of the fathers would be turned to the sons and the sons to the fathers.” Suddenly, the Holy Spirit engulfed the room with His presence and everyone began to weep and embrace one another. Everyone of the twenty two leaders at various times came over to where I was seated and asked permission to embrace me as their father. They all sadly told me that they had never hugged a father before and needed to feel the love of a father. I let them embrace me as long as they needed to as they wept on my shoulder. Several leaders asked permission to kiss me on the cheek, as they had always wanted to do to their own fathers. In the Philippines, there is a dearth of father and son/daughter relations because so many dads have to move to other nations to make a living and send their money back to their families. So there is a great absenteeism of fathers in that nation. The leaders shared with me that this has caused an epidemic of homosexuality throughout the nation that makes the Philippines second only to Thailand in total number of homosexuals and in sex slavery. There was not a dry eye in the whole room and then everyone began to embrace again, asking forgiveness for their pride and jealousy towards one another. They all assured each other of their love and support to co-labor together for the advancement of the Kingdom of Christ throughout the Philippines and the nations of the world. I then warned the leaders of the pending attacks of the enemy upon them as they were now committed to take the light of Jesus into the darkness of Satan’s kingdom. At that very moment, my host, Eman Abrea, got a telephone call from his wife that their four-year-old daughter had a sudden attack of vomiting and was very ill. We stopped immediately and took authority over this demonic attack and their baby was healed instantly. The Holy Spirit moved on me to share a prophetic word from the Lord to the group, “Multiply My Church throughout the nations…one household at a time!” The entire group of leaders began to shout to the Lord and clap in praise to God for His prophetic mandate for them to the nations. We began to sing my Chinese brother Noah’s song he taught me while he and I walked and sang at midnight on the dark streets of Shenyang, China, “We Are the Church of the Living God!” The words were “We are Church. We are the Church of the Living God, of the Living God. We will rejoice. We will rejoice and be glad in Him and be glad in Him. We are the Church of Living God. We will rejoice and be glad in Him. We are Church. We are the Church of the Living God!” These Philippine leaders then began sharing with me that their Island Nation had received another prophetic word from the Lord to raise up and train 200,000 believers to go to the 190 nations where Philippines now live and work to multiply churches there and beyond to every nation of the world! As everyone began to leave one by one from the gathering, they greeted one another with hugs and embraces of love in the Lord whereas they had greeted one another at the beginning of conference with a formal handshake. I will always cherish in my heart those moments in the awesome presence of the Lord as I added many more sons and daughters to our family. I remained at the hotel for the rest of my stay in Manila to be available to individual leaders who wanted to privately share their hearts with me. So, on Friday and Saturday throughout the day and night from 7:00 AM till 9:00 PM, I met with different leaders and heard their stories and their hearts, answered questions, prayed for them, laid hands upon and claimed the stirring of the gifts of the Spirit in each of them for service in Christ’s Kingdom throughout the nations. On the last Sunday of my visit in the Philippines, I met for several hours that afternoon with an apostolic team of co-workers who minister throughout the Philippines and other nations including Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore, Korea, Vietnam and throughout the Middle East. They asked me to pray about co-laboring with them in these and other nations in 2006 and beyond. I assured them that I would pray and seek the mind of the Lord about doing so. They are also planning an all-Asian leadership gathering in 2006 in Jakarta, Indonesia, and requested that I come and help facilitate this first time ever meeting of Asian church leaders. That closing Sunday evening, I met with a celebration gathering of congregations throughout the city. Eight gifted young people led the gathering in praise and worship. I ministered to the believers about “What God is Saying and Doing in His Church in These End Times.” Afterwards we broke bread together and shared fruit juice and sandwiches during a time of fellowship. The entire congregation of saints gathered around me and prayed for me in the Spirit. It was a powerful time of the presence and anointing of God. Afterwards, I prayed for individuals, families, children, babies in their mother’s wombs, widows, young people and church leaders. Then they all wanted to embrace me and extend to me God’s blessings and bid me farewell until meeting again either in the Philippines or in heaven! The time we spent in the Philippine Islands can best be summed up by the leaders of the three-day training session who each wrote a personal note to me praising God for what had happened in their lives during our days together in Manila: “We love you for ministering to us freely what God through His grace and wisdom abounds in you!” “We praise and thank God for having such a wonderful, loving and generous father like you. We will never forget you Dan!” “God will never forget your labor of love among us!” “Only the Lord knows where this three-day gathering will lead us. You are His blessing to us.” “Thank you for your presence for you are a blessing to us and you touched our lives!” “Thank you for your obedience to come to the Philippines for you are truly a blessing Dan!”
“Thank you for
being God’s gift to us!” “Genuine love flows out of you! You’re indeed a channel of our Heavenly Father’s love…the only thing that can fill up the hole in every person’s soul.” “Please remember us as your children in the Philippines. We treasure the time you spent with us!” “Dan, I love you and I thank the Lord for allowing you to come like a true father from God. You are a gift from God for the Philippines. Can you be a father for me?” “This was my first time to be embraced with a father’s love. I thank God for your life testimony, your love for the Lord and your fathering example to our families. Thank you for coming to equip the Body of Christ in the Philippines to “multiply Christ’s Church, one household at a time!” After packing my suitcase, I spent my last night at the hotel before catching my plane the next morning for my return flight to the United States thanking God for the joy and privilege of being a servant to the Philippine believers and giving the Lord all the glory for what He accomplished through us in Manila!
Sincerely,
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