MISSIONARY PROFILE
Rick
& Becky
Martin
Missionary Update 04/17/2017
It was great to hear from you and read all that is going on there. Your church is sure busy doing God's work! I feel really bad I haven't been sending something every other month in between our prayer letters. I really forgot. Lord willing, I will do better. I did want to give an update for Brother Smith and the church on what we are doing during the summer. We are in the beginning of the summer and have a lot going on. I will attach a list of our summer camps. We have a lot of events for pastors' kids during the summer and work hard to get them in Bible College. PK's are more likely to graduate than others because the parents are behind them usually. Probably the majority of the other kids have parents who would prefer them to go to secular school so they can make more money. I will also attach a copy of the events for the PKs. Then one more item I am attaching is our yearly calendar with our theme for the year. Last week was especially fruitful. On Monday we had our Alumni meeting which we have 4 times a year. We spend much of the day planning to start more churches with our pastors. It went well. I meet from 12:00 noon until about 2:30 with the graduates who have daytime Bible Colleges. 14 of the 20 men here in the Philippines who have these schools were here and it is one of my favorite things I get to do. There were over 400 alumni here for the Alumni meeting. The April alumni meeting is usually our least attended one. We had a fellowship after the services at night for each of the 36 graduating classes. Along with the Alumni meeting we had our Youth Conference. It is the 29th annual one. There was a lot of preaching and fun. The Lord blessed the invitation times. Below are pictures of the opining night and then the invitation and the first and third night. We also had our Easter Musical presentation twice. Once on the last night of the Youth Conference and once on this past Sunday night.
Missionary Update 03/18/2016
Dear Friends, March 2016 Graduation is held in March each year and this year will be the 35th class of Iloilo Baptist College. I love graduation night! The students go through a lot. It’s not easy for them to finish school so I’m proud of those who tough it out and receive their diploma. Almost all of our students work their way through school and many never receive any help from their parents. Many have parents who do not want them to come to Bible College. At IBC we work hard and play hard. Most of our students do some kind of practical ministry work seven days a week. They wash their clothes by hand and cook their own food over a charcoal fire. On the night they graduate I look at them and all they have overcome to make it to this night and thank God for them. It is humbling to be around these young people as they prepare to go out and start a church by faith. Almost every young man who graduates starts a church within 3-4 months of graduating and almost every young lady works in one of these churches started by another graduate. Please pray for the Bible Colleges for young people started by the graduates of IBC here in the Philippines. There are 16 graduates with Bible colleges and four others who were trained by our graduates, who have started Bible colleges. The past three years the Lord has provided a work program for the students of these schools and also dorms as they grow. They have grown from 147 students to about 700 students as a result. Please pray the Lord will continue to bless these schools and that many churches will be started by the graduates. In closing, Becky and I want to thank you for praying for us & supporting the Lord’s work here in the Philippines. May God bless you! Sincerely in Christ, Rick & Becky Martin martinsibc@yahoo.com
