Someone dug this one from deep in the “Victory Fire” archives (Vol. 1 No. 3, July–August 1992). When I wrote this we had been in the Philippines for eight years, and eight years seemed like an eternity. That makes twenty-five years triple eternity, plus one. I’m glad time flies when you’re having fun.
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“I Remember”
I remember the phone ringing that day in May of 1984. It was the phone call that would change my life (and address). My friend, Rice Broocks, was organizing a team of college students for a summer missionary trip to the Philippines and Korea. He asked Deborah and me to come along to help with the follow-up. Our plan was to spend one month in Manila and one month in Seoul. God had other plans! Eight years later, sixteen churches later, three sons later, we are still in Manila! We are still reaching students, still planting churches, and still training leaders.
It is hard to believe that we’ve been here for eight years. A lot has happened since that first outreach in 1984. We’ve lived through seven coups, a revolution, a volcano, an earthquake, and sixteen million brownouts. We’ve made lots of friends and recorded countless memories. Following are a few of my most vivid memories, totally at random.
I remember a rainy night in June that first year. The last time it rained that hard was recorded in the sixth chapter of Genesis. We had been in the Philippines for about a week. The streets were flooded, so were the altars. Finally, a young angry (at least he looked angry) university student came forward at our youth meeting in the Girl Scouts Auditorium. He looked like he was ready for a rumble, not a revival. That night, Ferdie Cabiling met Jesus Christ. Jesus stayed the same, Ferdie was changed forever! Today Ferdie is a man of God. A husband. A father. A preacher. A youth pastor. And a friend of mine.
I remember another night about one week later. We were preaching on the streets of U-Belt, inviting anybody and everybody to our outreach meetings in our first student center, the Tandem Cinema basement. This guy had a ponytail and a distant look in his eyes. He walked into the meeting that night a drug addict and walked out a new creation in Christ! Six years later, Manny Muleta and his new wife, Joy, moved to Iloilo City to plant a new Victory church. Today they are part of the pastoral team at the Victory Church in U-Belt.
I remember the first communion service we had in Manila. It was the most significant communion service of my life. I was kneeling by my chair. Rice Broocks was leading the service. The Holy Spirit was putting a burden in my heart for these people, and I knew that I would return. Six weeks later, Deborah had packed up our belongings and moved across the globe.
I remember the intimidating glares from the man who always stood at the back door after the Makati service. He never sat down. He always stood by the doors ready for a quick get-away. Though never spoken, his look said, “Don’t even think about preaching to me.” He only came to the service to pick up his children for lunch. He stood in the back to avoid his ex-wife and the preacher. I remember that this guy gradually came earlier and earlier to pick up his kids, either I was preaching longer or he was coming earlier. I’ll never forget the Saturday night his son called and told me that his dad had just surrendered to Christ. I would have nominated the guy for the “least likely to get saved” award. God disagreed. Today Bomboy Fabregas is happily remarried (to his ex-wife) and heads the Evangelism Explosion department of the Makati fellowship.
The most vivid memory I have is the memory of what God did for me on the cross some two thousand years ago. He didn’t just do it for me. He did for sixty million Filipinos, most of whom have never heard a clear biblical explanation of the gospel. He did for the millions of Bangladeshis, Thais, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Cambodians. Let’s never forget what Jesus did for us and for those around us. The more we remember what Jesus did on that cross for us, the more irresistible the Great Commission will be.
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Only 4 more days ’til Victory @ 25!
