Newsletters

Dear friends,

June began another year at the Bible School in the Philippines. Young people are being trained to go into God’s harvest fields and make disciples for Him. As the result of the Bible School, there are now thirty local churches on seven different islands.

Lately, we have experienced some trials that have reminded Lorrie and I of the need to practice what we preach to others. One of the first verses I felt the Lord gave me was Psalms 37:3 “Trust in the LORD, and do good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.”

The phase “trust in the Lord” can be found 19 times in the KJV of the Bible. The Lord’s exhortation is as current today as when it was written centuries ago. Whether in the Hebrew, Greek, or English it means basically the same thing – put your “hope” and “be secure” in the Lord.

We are also told in Psalms 18:10, “The name of the Lord is a strong tower; the righteous runs into it, and are safe.” In His name is comfort, counsel, and provision for everything we need. We can have complete confidence that no matter what happens in our lives, He is in control and we have no need to worry or fret.

Matthew 6:25-34 reminds us not to worry but put God first and He will take care of us.

The key is where we focus our attention and thoughts. If we focus on all the troubles in our life or the troubles of the people around us or our culture or our government we will likely be worried or frustrated or angry. However, if we focus on the Lord and all of His promises, we will have peace and know that “all things will work out for good for us.”

In other words, if we keep saying, “I’m not going to worry, I’m not going to worry…” our focus will be on the troubles. Whereas, if we turn our hearts and minds to Him, we will find ourselves agreeing with the Psalmist in 73:28 “… it is good for me to draw near to God: I have put my trust in the Lord GOD….”

We ask for your continued prayers for the ministry of Reap in the Philippines and for Amy, Lorrie, and I. Though we have encountered various trials, we are encouraged that our Father knows, and “we are more than conquerors through Him that loved us!”

Thank you for your faithfulness to the Lord and to us,

Nels, Lorrie, and Amy

We invite all that live in or near Bend, Oregon to a fellowship with Nels and Lorrie at Mike and Marcia Vogel’s home at 7:00 PM on the 22nd of April. Their address is:

We would love to see you while we’re in the States!

Dear Friends,

The Bible School in Virac, Catanduanes is completing its 19th year of operation this month. We have been, and are blessed to be a part of watching so many young people dedicate their lives to God and grow in their faith. One of our graduate students came from Manila and hosted a party for several of the former students that live in the area as well as for the students here on campus. It was fun and encouraging to reminisce about past years as well as their present activities and plans and hopes for the future. As can be expected, several graduates have married other graduates from the school and now are raising their own families. This year, we even have the daughter of one of our earlier graduates attending the school!

After the first year of primarily Bible academic training the new students are sent to other churches. During the second year they are usually discipled by older pastors in one of the outreach churches. The third year they individually pray and determine where they feel God wants to use them. Usually, they are sent to either an existing work or to one they feel led to start. This year, the students range in age from 17 years to 36 years old.

The following are excerpts from two of the students returning from last years field training:

Rodel (19 years old) writes, “It is pleasure for me to serve in a mission and be used for the Glory of our Lord Jesus Christ…I am happy to be a co-worker in the Cebu church. (It) is good and growing and there were a lot of services…we helped in evangelism, Bible study, and Children’s ministry as well as prayer, men’s fellowship, and youth fellowship. I was also used to preach and to lead songs. I was challenged by the senior pastor and wife’s love of the ministry.”

Renan (19 years old) writes, “All the glory and honor is for the Lord only and how He used my life in a mission…God used me in a different and wonderful way; along with the overflowing grace of God there were trials. With the problems in the church, God gave me wisdom, boldness, and love to correct the wrong and to discipline the spoiled. I learned that with the trials came victory and overflowing blessings from God. We conducted youth fellowships and daily Bible studies and saw people commit their lives to Christ.”

David said in I Samuel 30:24 and 25, that those who go out to battle and those who remain with the supplies shall share equally. We are told in John 4:38, “I sent you to reap that for which you have not labored; others have labored, and you have entered into their labors.”

On behalf of the Filipino students and us, we thank you for your part in making this ministry possible.

Nels, Lorrie, and Amy

Dear Friends,

Lorrie and I arrived in the Philippines last month and are now in Virac at the school. It is always great to be back and engage with the students and staff.

We are blessed to have Noel and Heather (our daughter) Cammack and children with us. This is Noel’s first time to the Philippines. Noel is teaching at the school and preaching on Sundays and Heather is volunteering as a nurse at the local government hospital. Lorrie, Amy, and sometimes me are babysitting our grandchildren as well as doing the normal things of life in Virac at the school.

Below is a letter from our daughter Amy:

“I am constantly amazed by what God has been doing through me. Whenever I began thinking of what has been accomplished this past year I can only shake my head in astonishment. Truly, He has chosen the foolish to confound the wise! Through our weakness, His strength is demonstrated and shows strong. I would have never expected to be ministering in the Philippines when I was younger – but God knew all along! As we reflect on the past year and make our resolutions for this year, remember that man plans, but the Lord directs our steps! I am a planner by nature; I like to have everything down on a list, ready to be crossed off as the day goes by. Sometimes I have way too many items on my list for the day (OK, most of the time!), but I am trying to let God direct where He wants me to go, rather than having everything needing to go according to my plan. When I allow Him to work through me, the results are always so much better than whatever I had in mind! When I look back on my life and all the circuitous ways that I have taken to get to where I am now, it is a path that I would have never expected to take, but God knew where I needed to go and directed me here. I have been teaching a lot, as well as speaking at the Sunday services most of the time. It is such a joy to interact with the students, as they are eager to learn and open to hearing from and about Jesus. Though it has been a very stretching experience, it has been very, very good.

It’s so easy to start stressing out and get distracted, thinking that we have to make sure that everything goes the way it should in our life, and so miss what God is doing all around us. If we can just relax in His presence and let Him take care of it, life gets so much easier! If we can come before Him with the willingness to see what He has planned for us and accept it like a child receives what is given from their parents. Last December I went to Manila and was blessed to be a part of Children’s outreaches for Christmas. Jesus said that we must be like little children to enter the Kingdom of Heaven. We need to learn to interact with our Heavenly Father as children react with such incredible joy at the very simplest of things. When we realize He has the best in store for us, life is filled with wonder and anticipation.”

We are thankful for your friendship and support!

Nels, Lorrie, and Amy

December 2015

Dear friends,

The snow is falling lightly as we sit in our Fairbanks home. We are enjoying our family and friends in Alaska, but we miss being with our friends and our daughter in the Philippines. This year, as most of you know, I have had to return from the Philippines for continued medical oversight. I continue to improve as the days go by and we look forward to returning to the ministry in Virac in January.

Amy continues to teach at the Bible school two classes per day in addition she has become the main speaker for the Sunday morning church service. She finds this challenging and enjoyable.
Christmas was originally established as a holiday to remember Christ and his birth. Words cannot express the tremendous gift He gave to each of us by His death on the cross. Because of Him, we can have true joy and peace that one day we can be with Him for eternity.

Paul in II Corinthians 5 states the following words of encouragement and instruction:
“Therefore we make it our aim, whether present or absent, to be well pleasing to Him… vs 18 “…who has reconciled us to Himself through Jesus Christ, and have given us the ministry of reconciliation…vs 20…now then, we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God were pleading through us: we implore you on Christ’s behalf, be reconciled to God.”

Paul also reminds us that, “clearly, you are epistles of Christ…written not with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not of tablets of stone but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart.”

Pastor Homer just shared a living example in an email. He writes, “I’m now in Monic for their church anniversary. Our student (Renan) was used by God to revive them. And many souls were added to the church. Praise God!”

Ask God to help you be a clearly read and understood letter to those people He puts around you this season and always, that many could be added to the kingdom as they “read” you.
Your friends and co-laborers,

Nels, Lorrie, and Amy

Please remember any financial gifts you make for 2015 need to be post marked no later than December 31st

Dear Friends,

One of the Bible school theme verses is II Timothy 2:2:
And the things that you have heard from me among many witnesses, commit these to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.

Over the last years we have been blessed to see this passage of scripture lived out in many of our former students. Young people have come to the school through their local church or a youth outreach. Many have left difficult situations in hopes of a new life walking with God. As they are at school and later in field training, they grow in wisdom and knowledge and maturity. By the time they are ready to leave the school and venture into “normal” life, they are much more mature men and women. Some of the students choose to continue their education at a secular school, others are sent to either pioneer a new church or assist those that are already pastoring.

Jack Benson, Darryl Earnshaw, and Lorrie and I just returned from the annual Pastor’s Conference in Virac. This year we had some sessions that were designed for just pastors and wives as well as some that were open to the entire conference. Jack was the main speaker and he and Darryl did a great job. Lorrie spoke many times to the women as well as jointly with me. We were blessed and we believe the attendees were blessed as well!

Lorrie and Amy taught at the school and Amy taught at the church before the team’s arrival. She will continue teaching two classes per day at the school for the next several months.

Last year Kevin and Yvonne Temple with Jon Dufendach hosted a fund raiser to supply water filters (designed and made by Jon) for some of the villages in the Philippines. This past spring they came to Virac and Jon trained the pastors on the operation and maintenance of the filters. I was encouraged on this trip to hear that all of the filters are in use. Some of the pastors are using them for an evangelical tool and some are using them for a means to help with their personal support.

Ephesians 4:16 states “…every joint supplies… unto the edifying of itself in love.”

Thank you for doing your part to build up the body of Christ!

Nels, Lorrie, and Amy