As I write, I am at Laymen Ministries' main base in Mamburao, on the island of Mindoro in the Philippines. We have just returned from an exciting meeting with our village missionaries on the remote side of the island. As I talked with each couple on a personal basis, my eyes often welled up with tears as they shared their experiences.

Listening to Jo-jo and Neneng Betoya, my heart wept with theirs. New to the idea of mission work, they came all the way from Mindanao, in the southern part of the Philippines, to take on the challenge of our most remote village, Agbalite, on the far side of the Island of Mindoro, in the North Philippines. Exposed to the strong northern "Amihan" winds, and with a coastline that is extremely rocky, landing our boat there is very difficult. Often the missionaries have to swim to shore with their provisions.

New to this remote village, the people, and missionary work in general, Jo-jo and Neneng became trapped in the village by a typhoon. Hiking over the mountain to the nearest small town is six hours in good weather, and was now impossible. Using small boats during a storm is out of the question. Then tragedy struck—a measles epidemic broke out. This new missionary couple did not know what to do. It seemed everyone was coming down with fever. Children, one by one, began dying. Even their own child became sick.

We are all human—even missionaries. In their frustration and helplessness they began to argue.

"Did you bring us all the way out to this remote village to kill our only child!" Neneng yelled at her husband one night.

Jo-jo is a calm person. He prayed. Then they both prayed. There was little that could be done. They felt totally helpless. They had little medicine. As they slipped into sleep, Jo-jo dreamed. He saw the clouds part over the ocean and heard the voice of God saying, "I am coming quickly. All will be well!" Then he heard an evil voice laughing so loud that he was startled out of his sleep.

Profusely sweating, he woke his wife and told her his dream. He reached over and felt the head of his daughter. Her fever was gone. The clouds did part, the trial was over, but in the aftermath 10 indigenous children were dead.

This trial pushed this dear missionary family to the limit, but in the end, their faith was strengthened and their determination was made stronger.

I asked them if they want to go home, and their answer was, "Sir Jeff, how can we leave these people. They need our help and we are seeing so many changes."

"What kind of changes?" I asked, expecting them to tell me about the children’s ability to read and write, their cleanliness, or understanding of the Bible. I was shocked by their answer.

"The biggest changes we see are in ourselves, Sir Jeff."

Jim Webb, Laymen Ministries Director for the Philippines, does all he can to get food, supplies and the monthly wages to the missionary families. When the weather is good, our new boat, Laymen Ministries Express II, serves this purpose well. When rainy season hits, wind and waves are often so bad that it becomes next to impossible to use the boat. Jim has even resorted to hiking by foot six to eight hours through the leach-infested jungle, wading through streams and fighting off mosquitoes, just to get provisions to the missionaries. Then, at other times, it is simply impossible to do anything.

Roy and Sharlene Betoya joined Laymen Ministries about a year and a half ago, working in the high mountain village of Hinugasan. They, too, have shared in hardships for Christ. They have experienced the joys of seeing changes—both in their village and in their own lives. This is a lesson we all can learn—growth comes through service.

Typhoons had not allowed Jim to make it to their village for nearly 5 weeks. Food supplies were running low. The nearest small town was 4.5 hours by foot in good weather. Roy has a small Filipino horse which can make the trip considerably faster—again, in good weather. He decided he needed to go buy supplies, even if he had to ride braving the wind and rain. The trail was pure mud—not just ordinary mud, but a sticky, reddish mud.

He made it to town and bought rice and a few other necessities. His return trip was going fine until it became dark. There was no way to see the trail and he didn’t even have a flashlight. But he did have his faithful horse! So he let the horse chart the course, carrying two big sacks of rice.

As I mentioned, on this part of the island there is a lot of mud. The rain cuts the trails into deep and narrow ravines. Trusting his horse, they started up the steep mountain trail only to reach a point where the ravine was so deep and narrow that the bags of rice and the horse could not pass. Not being able to see the problem, he gave the horse a light kick, only to have the horse lose his footing and fall backwards to the ground. Horse and sacks of rice both fell into the mud. The horse, stunned by the fall, could not get up.

Roy prayed, asking God for strength to help the horse get up. Struggling in the darkness, covered with mud, Roy managed to get the horse up and reloaded the rice in a different position so they could get up the ravine. He arrived at the mission house at 10:00 P.M., thanking God for helping them.

What about us? Are we willing in our creature comforts to make such sacrifices for the sake of "mission?" These dear people do not need to be here—but they would not choose to be anywhere else. God has blessed their efforts. And he will bless ours if we, too, are willing to be missionaries wherever we are!

I visited with another couple named Junie and Janice Navidad, who just began working with Laymen Ministries about six months ago. They are working in a new village, Binuangan, which is situated at the base of a rugged mountain, with the South China Sea on one side and a river flowing from the mountain on the other.

Junie is a former member of a street gang called the Scorpions. He carries a large burn scar on his chest that testifies to his membership initiation. Honestly, he was the last person most would ever imagine as a missionary! Yet God is powerful and can use anyone who is willing. Junie graduated with an agricultural degree, which has turned into a great asset for his village, as it is now flourishing with a newly planted garden. There are a large variety of plants and even coconut trees! Even converted Scorpions can be a blessing for the work of Christ.

Junie and Janice married just weeks before coming to this remote area to be missionaries. What a way to spend a honeymoon!—in an unentered village, working with dirty kids, full of parasites, illiteracy and superstitions. Janice told me that she has always had a hard time being around dirty children, even if they were her own cousins. She now has a group of 37 students! Even if they are not the cleanest, she gladly hugs them.

One little girl was staying in their small mission house next to the school. "Ma’am, there is a person over there!" the young native girl cried out.

"Where?" Janice asked, worried that a stranger might be coming. (They have had visits from the New Peoples Army, a Communist guerilla group active in this area).

"Right there," pointing to a mirror casting back her own reflection.

Janice took the mirror off the wall and picked up the little Mangyan girl. "Who is this person?" she asked the girl.

The girl pulled the mirror closer, and looked behind it. Then she examined the stranger even closer. Noticing that this person had a dress just like hers, she exclaimed, "Is it me, Ma’am?"

Tears came to Janice’s eyes. "Can there be a people so backward, so primitive, that they have never seen a mirror?" she thought to herself.

After our weekend fellowship, we dropped each missionary couple off at their village. I will never forget how Janice was seasick from our boat crashing up and down the huge swells created by the Amihan winds. When we arrived at Junie and Janice’s village the children came running to the beach. Janice’s eyes lit up. As she got off the boat, the children hugged her and said, "Ma’am, we started school today without you!" Janice was beaming, and so were we!

By God’s grace, we have watched these villages go from filth, parasites, superstition, illiteracy, hunger, and nomadic tendencies to become clean, and having almost no parasites. The kids are reading, writing, speaking English, and doing math as well, if not better, than the kids in the public schools in town. They have rice terraces and are even selling rice and are growing other things for food. Oh, and the families have toilets. But most of all, many have found a saving relationship with Jesus Christ!

What is the next step? We have many children that have gone to the village schools for several years. Some are really excelling. But now, what to do with these students as they graduate from our village schools? If they move to a nearby town, they will be stuck in a Filipino home, serving nearly as slaves. They will be subject to the low standard of education in the public schools, not to mention suffering the ridicule and prejudice that exists between the Filipinos and the indigenous people.

One young indigenous girl, Melkie, is living with Jim and Moni Webb and is attending the local high school. She is excelling with grades higher than many of her classmates, even though some of the teachers are prejudiced. A strong home support base, accompanied by personal tutoring gives her the strength and support she needs to face these challenges. We have confidence that she will go on to college and come back to work with her own people. Among the Irayan Mangyan minorities, none have yet completed college.

We have many more students ready to go on to high school. Bright-eyed kids like Rona, Jerome, Rodel, Sheryl, Sandy, and Melgar. What will be their future? We are discussing setting up our own Laymen Ministries Adventist high school here in Mindoro. We could bring missionaries from other countries to teach classes and encourage the students. We already have a person who is willing to serve as school director. We are praying for God’s leading to show us if this is the next step in not only furthering the education of these precious students, but training them as missionaries to their own people!

I beg you—if you have not seen our last Philippines video, Miracles in the Philippines, please request a copy from our office and see for yourself the dramatic changes that have taken place.

"Each one of you are missionaries," explains Luie Benitez, Prison Ministries Coordinator for Laymen Ministries. "If you are a Christian, you are a missionary. You are a missionary here, and when you get out of prison and go home you are a missionary."

Such strange words echo across the 62,500-acre penal farm and prison facility located on the Occidental side of the island of Mindoro in the Philippines! Some might have thought it strange that five years ago, when Laymen Ministries began sponsoring the work in this large prison facility, the goal was to turn this prison into a seminary to train missionaries for outreach across the Philippines. Strange indeed—yet the work continues to grow.

At first we started with a few small cell groups (no pun intended!). We had in the Central Prison area about 12 men. Today, we have in attendance between 122 to 136 every Sabbath. In the Medium Security area, two years ago, we had around 12 men—now there are over 30. The same is true in the other areas where we are holding meetings and training courses. Right now, about 20% of the prison population is attending Adventist church services and are involved in core study groups. Yet here is the amazing thing—due to inmates being released and transferred, we have around a 75% turnover of men every year! This means that even as those groups continue to grow in size, the majority of these men are new contacts! (Or should I say new missionaries in training?)

Here is the plan: Teach to teach! First, Luie and his full time helper, Abel Miralles, work together to train inmates to give Bible studies to other inmates. Those whose walk with Christ continues to grow are taught how to lead out in their own church services. Inmates reaching inmates! Small Bibles study groups in the cell blocks sprang up. Scripture memorization is ongoing, and there is time for testimony sharing every Sabbath. Music is an important factor in worship, so Laymen Ministries supplied guitars for each area so hymns and praises may be sung. The emphasis is on abiding in Christ, the One who grants pardon and victory. Bible classes impart Bible knowledge and every aspect of the 3 Angels’ Messages. And always it is reinforced that life is ministry, as we all have influence on other people—thus we are all missionaries!

The results? Adventism is the strongest Christian group in the whole prison. Why? Because the formula we just shared with you works!

God is the great problem solver! Last year the superintendent of the prison was hindering our work in various ways and would not allow baptisms for inmates. The inmates and workers prayed that the Lord would either convert the man or have him replaced. The Lord saw fit to answer that prayer by removing the man and replacing him with a new Adventist Superintendent! Mr. Ayala often attends church services with the inmates in the central prison and shares with them his heartfelt convictions on victory over sin through Christ and holding our standards high as Christians.

Luie and Abel express their gratitude to each of you for your prayers and support of this prison work.