Reap News

Dear friends,

As I write this letter I am sitting in a modern coffee shop. Outside the large glass window literally three feet from me is a mother with her three small children begging. Beyond the sidewalk are modern vehicles passing steadily by. We are in Tacloban where three years ago a major typhoon destroyed much of the city.

Yesterday, we were in the village of Bugabuga. To reach Bugabuga, you must walk or ride a motorcycle down a rough “road” for a mile and a quarter. There is no cell phone and therefore obviously no internet. They cook over wood fires and mostly live in small bamboo homes.

Because of your generous financial help after the typhoon most of the homes have been rebuilt and Bugabuga’s small church is flourishing. When we were last there, water was limited. Now with your help, there is a plentiful supply of water in the village coming from a cistern on the mountain. In addition, Jon and Carol Dufendorf and Kevin and Yvonne Temple and the Fairbanks Hosts Lions Club have supplied a water filter for the church.

This past week, Lorrie and I were the primary speakers at the annual pastor’s conference. Though we were at this remote location, there were still about 60 people in attendance for the conference. The topic was “Unity As One” and we were excited to see a lot of unity among the people that attended.

Let me share with you a portion of a couple of testimonies that were shared with us from former students.

Gilbert was originally from the village of Bugabuga. He was not a good academic student and seemed to have a harder time understanding. He had been a former drug addict and pusher. He was sent to a village on the island of Palawan to take a struggling work that the former pastor had left. After some months, the work has grown significantly. He says, “Even (though) there are difficult situations, the joy from the Lord cannot be broken….”

Rodel and Renan were sent to a very remote village on another island where the language is different from theirs. The village can only be reached by foot or horse. Renan relates, “…it is very challenging this mission because we don’t (know) how to speak their language…their culture is different from ours. But God made a way and I know it is one of His miracles. One Sunday, I said to Rodel, keep praying because we preach the gospel but we need to speak in their language, which is Visayon. God did it – we preached the gospel in their language. We saw all of them when they heard God’s word. They are crying they realize that there’s one God who loves them…HOW GREAT THE LOVE MERCY AND GRACE OF OUR GOD…all that happened by faith and praying of all Christians….”

The Good News is being preached and you are a part of making it happen!

Thank you,

Nels, Lorrie, and Amy

Dear friends,

As I write this letter, Lorrie is in Ireland visiting our son-in-law Noel and our daughter Heather and family. Heather just delivered Justice, their third child. I, Nels, have the privilege of visiting the family and being introduced to our new grandchild next week! While in Ireland I will minister at their vibrant multi-national church that Noel now pastors. It is exciting to see God working throughout the world!

In Larry Stockstill’s book, 25 Lines Around, he shares that there are over 5 billion people in the world and only about 1.5 billion profess Christ. If you took the remaining 3.5 billion people and had them stand in a line allowing one foot per person they would circle the earth 25 times!

Recently I was stirred and troubled when I heard someone from a persecuted country share they were encouraged that though they were persecuted, people in America were free to preach the gospel. It was their understanding that since we have very limited persecution we naturally are regularly sharing our faith and therefore seeing the kingdom of God expanding. Unfortunately, statistics prove that very few Christians in America do share their faith – and many never share their faith.

Proverbs 11:30 reminds us that he who wins souls is wise.

Matthew 28:19 commands us to go and teach all nations. That’s our directive.

Acts 1:8 in His final words to us, Jesus tells us we are His witnesses everywhere in the world.

In Luke 8:5ff, Jesus told a parable of seed being sowed. The seed being the word of God. The last two seeds mentioned are both sowed in good ground. One however is sown among thorns and “…are choked with cares and riches and pleasures of this life, and bring no fruit to perfection.” The last seed mentioned is one in “…which in an honest and good heart, having heard the word, keep it, and bring forth fruit with patience.”

What if God’s goal for you is not a self-focused life but an others focused life? What if God has you where you are right now because he wants you to represent Him to those He has placed around you? What if that is your primary purpose for living?

We do not need a special calling to do what He already told us to do. I personally am not an evangelist, but as His child I have the privilege and responsibility to share Christ with my life and words.

Laborers together with you,

Nels, Lorrie, and Amy

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