Dec ‘09

161 Enriquez St. Malolos, Bulacan Philippines 3000. islandmissionintl@yahoo.com MT. 24:14

HRISTMAS is a season when Christianity remembers the first advent of the Messiah. In fact, the Goodnews was first heralded by no-ordinary beings. The story is told in the pages of the New Testament particularly in the Gospel of St. Luke. The first hint of Angelic announcement was made to Zechariah, the husband of Elizabeth, was an upright priest. He was told by Angel Gabriel himself that his soon-to-be son shall become a herald of the Gospel under the power of Elijah and “He will prepare the people for the coming of the Lord.” (1:17 NLT). The 2nd angelic announcement came to Mary, the mother of Jesus in Luke 1:26-56 where she sang the famous lines of the Magnificat. The 3rd angelic proclamation came to the shepherds who were out in the fields in Bethlehem at the time of Jesus’ birth and “suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests."” (2:13-14NIV). On these 3 occasions, we can clearly recognize that the angels acted as heralds of the Goodnews. The very first thing we will notice is that the message they proclaimed was centered around the glad tidings concerning the birth of the most important person that will ever walk on the planet. The message was of great importance for it will determine the fate of mankind. That salvation is now available to all, not only within the limits of Israeli communities but the entire human race can now have an access to the eternal salvation that God offers to everyone. Peace on earth is possible

especially to those who will believe in His name. The angelic heralds were able to attain their objective for until now, after nearly 2,000 years, their message are being echoed from generation to generation to almost all cultures, languages, and nations of the world. At present, less than 7,000 people groups are yet to be evangelized by nearly 2 billion Christian adherents worldwide. Translate that into equal division of work endeavor; around 285,000 Christians should be responsible to act as heralds to a single people group. If we will assume that it will take 2 million dollars to reach out to one unreached people group, the total cost for each Christian will be less than 8 dollars. So, if all of the Christians in the world will be united in one effort and will act as heralds of the glad tidings, the work and the funds for Global Missions shall not be a burden.

Perhaps one may ask, this season of joy and glad tidings, what will be the most meaningful way of celebrating the birth of our Savior? Perhaps many of us are thinking of going out of town or out of the country, buying this gift and that for such and such person, or contemplating a spiritual retreat outside busy schedules. No matter how you are going to celebrate your Holy Day, always keep in mind that we are called to become heralds of the Gospel. No matter what we do and no matter where we are, our purpose is to glorify the name of Jesus. We need to be faithful in contributing to the work of the Lord, be in cash, in kind or in act of service, because we know that what we are accomplishing has an eternal value in this life and in the life hereafter. Apostle Paul has this to say:

Hebrews 6:10 “ “God is not unjust; He will not forget

your work and the love you have shown Him as you have helped His people and continue to help them.”

DISTURBING NEWS

harif Aguak town, Province of Maguindanao is part of Autonomous Region for Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).Created sometime in the late 1980s so that Islamic leaders will rule their own people under Islamic laws. Recently, armed private army together with several police and para-military units butchered 57 people, including children and women some are journalists, and then buried their bodies to hide their crime. The perpetrators and masterminds of this demonic incident have been arrested and charged to court. Their motives are purely political control of ARMM in coming election 2010. Martial Law has been declared in the area to regain government control of the region. We have trained pastors in this area who are being persecuted. Pray!

Ptr. Herbie Carmona in one of his visits in Aceh, in the Island of Sumatra, Indonesia. Islamic laws are being strictly implemented here. The Islamic Mosque in the background is one of the oldest Mosques in South East Asia.

Despite super typhoons Ondoy and Pepeng, where thousands of people died, hundreds of thousands of acres of farmlands has been destroyed, several thousands of homes vanished in an instant, still our effort in sharing the Goodnews to our people and the training of Christian workers and ministers moves on. In the last 3 month alone, we were able to reach out to five (5) different provinces, namely: Catanduanes, Albay, Sorsogon, Masbate, and Quezon. We praise the Lord for the workforce He deployed and the partners He touched for us to continue on our journey to the vast fertile soil where Christ is not yet known. We are advancing the Gospel.

SPECIAL PRAYER REQUESTS. …the funds that are needed in order to grant for insurance policies of every church planter who will attend to our conferences. Many of them do not have any retirement plan, insurance policies such as medical, accident and death policies. As part of our effort to equip and to support the grassroots church planters for national transformation, we are praying that at least we provide the yearly insurance for them with a very minimal cost of only 10 dollars per year. With our present membership of more than 700 pastors and church planters, the project will cost the ministry large sum of money. We believe that despite the so called crisis, CHRIST-IS still in control. He will definitely provide, we only need to ask. SITUATION REPORT: for OCT-NOV ONLY

Overall Pastors Trained 300 pastors Funds received in Oct-Nov. 09 1,100.00 US$ Total Expenses in Oct-Nov. 09 1,550.00 US$ Balance Remaining (Deficit) (450.00) Current Monthly Receipts 550.00 US$

THE PLACES WE MINISTERED FROM MAY ‘09 UP TO DATE. 1. Vigan, Ilocos Sur

2. Botolan, Zambalez 3. Olongapo City 4. Limay and Balanga,

Bataan. 5. San Jose Del Monte

City, Bulacan 6. Metro Manila 7. Bondoc Peninsula and

Candelaria, Quezon 8. Catanduanes, Sorsogon

City 9. Irosin, Sorsogon 10. Bulan, Sorsogon 11. Masbate Island Province 12. Koronadal City, South

Cotabato 13. Tiboli, South Cotabato

We have also conducted 7x7 Discipleship and leadership training among the pastors and workers in Singapore and Indonesia. Praise the Lord for the

t it !

PLEASE send donations to: For Check and money order: Island Mission International c.o Ptr. Herbie Carmona 161 Enriquez St, Malolos City 3000 Philippines Wire transfer: US Dollar Account Account name: Island Mission Intl Bank Name: Banco De Oro-Malolos Phil Account number: 920156185 Swift code: BNORPHMM

INDONESIA

PHILIPPINES

SINGAPORE

A TIBOLI TRIBAL DANCE during the conference in July09

WOODEN BOAT RIDE TO MASBATE Nov 09

WORSHIP TOGETHER W/ PASTORS IN SORSOGON NOV. 09

FLOOD ON THE CITY. NOV 09

DEDICATION IN BULACAN.

NOV. 09

CHILDREN IN CATANDUANES

NOV. 09