April ’19 Update: Panning for Gold
This past Easter provided a wonderful opportunity to celebrate our Lord’s resurrection from the dead and also much-needed time to reflect on the significance of that event.
All of human history was changed over the course of just one weekend! A hopeless future was completely transformed not only by the death of a sinless man but also by His resurrection. Paul said in Rom 6:4 “as Christ was raised from the death through the glory of the Father, so too we might walk in newness of life.” Life now has meaning and purpose and worth because of Christ—by His life, His death, and His resurrection. We have much to be thankful for, don’t we?
And I am grateful not only for what He has done on our behalf but that He also chooses to employ us in His service. Tina and I again had the privilege to serve recently in the Philippines, this time in Cagayan de Oro (CDO) and then in Cebu.
The First Week: Tim in Cagayan de Oro
Cagayan de Oro literally means “the panning for gold place” and that is certainly what we were doing as we “dug” into the Scriptures with the men who were in our first batch in this location for training in expository preaching. We began the first of six modules with 21 men eager to learn how to better draw out the meaning from the text on their own and then to preach it to their congregation.
Pastors and Leaders from the 1st class
While in CDO I also had the privilege to preach at The Way Christian Ministries, led by Pastor Bobi Tayag. Overall, our time was a great blessing in CDO and I look forward to coming back in October to teach the second module on how to study and preach narratives and also to hear their sermons from Ephesians.
The Second Week: Tim and Tina in Cebu
Speaking of the second module, that was the focus of the next leg of the trip in Cebu. Thirty men braved the first module and came ready to preach their sermons from Ephesians. With so many men in the class, several more preaching labs were needed. This gave the opportunity for us to invite three men who graduated from the preaching program last year to serve as preaching lab instructors. And because they are native Visayan speakers the students in their group had the opportunity to preach in the language most of them normally preach in. We are excited for this next phase in the training here as the men being trained take on more active roles in future training.
The men who completed Module 2 in Cebu (all thirty of them!)
Tina was also able to join me for this second leg of the trip in Cebu, not just to keep me company but also to teach a two-day women’s conference at Living Word Christian Church on the topic Set Apart Women from 1 Peter. Approximately 500 women participated in the event and were greatly blessed by Tina’s instruction, encouragement, and exhortation. She is becoming quite the sought-after speaker (and rightly so, in my humble opinion). In fact, we were invited to teach the marriage conference here next year.
Tina teaching at the Set Apart Women Conference in Cebu.
Tina met with several wives of the pastors enrolled in the preaching program to give counsel and encouragement.
Prayer Requests
Thank you for your prayers for this most recent trip. Though we were extremely busy every day of the trip, the Lord gave us the energy and strength we needed to serve our brothers and sisters in CDO and Cebu.
Please be praying for the pastors in CDO and Cebu who now must complete their assignments in the midst of busy schedules and ministry responsibilities. Pray that God would give them understanding to complete their assignments and that it would help them more effectively study and preach the word.
Pray for me as I have a lot more grading to do with so many more students in the program; pray also for the curriculum preparation as we seek to make our final edits on the syllabi used for each of the modules.
A big praise: After submitting her application and then going through interviews, Brie received the Burbank Senior scholarship – a one-time amount of $1000 given to a deserving graduate of BHS. Thank you for your continued prayers for provision for Brie as she applies for more grants and scholarships for college.
Please also keep praying for our support. The Lord continues to move people to give for which we are very humbled and grateful. We still are in need of about $800-900 per month.
If You Wish to Support Us
If the Lord leads you to support this ministry, you can do so online or by check.
Credit Card: go to our GMI link. Note that GMI covers all online expenses so that 100% of your donation goes to our support.
Check: make it payable to “GMI” and write “Tim Carns” on the memo line. Then mail it to Grace Ministries International, 13248 Roscoe Blvd., Sun Valley, CA 91352.