Our mission efforts in the Philippines consist of support for Samuel Sinco, in the province of Aklan.
Samuel “Sammy” Sinco was born in 1961 in the Philippines and was baptized into Christ in October 1988 by an American missionary. Since then, he has been very active in the church in Metro Manilla. He married his wife, Janel, in 1994. They have two children, Camille Patriz and Samuel Jr. In 1997, Sammy became a self-supporting preacher, helping to establish the church in Taguig City where he served as an evangelist for two years. In 1999, he moved his family to Butuan City to attend Sunrise Christian College. Two years later, and at the request of the church in Cebu City, he moved his family to Kalibo Aklan on Panay Island. From there, he does mission work throughout Panay and Boracay islands. The church in Kalibo currently has twenty adults and a dozen young people actively involved in worship services. Children’s Sunday school has an average of ten. Total membership is now about forty and growing.
July Newsletter
Greetings to you!! July, 2021
For many weeks we are restricted by the draconian “COVID government regulations” for the reason that cases in Aklan allegedly are “the highest in the whole region of Western Visayas”. So, we cannot just travel now from place to place within Aklan without an essential purpose and we need to get a permit/pass each time we need to go to other towns, thank God that we secured Sunday passage (The purpose: “Church Ministry Trip”) until the order be lifted on mid-August. Vetting is being employed when applying for a travel permit. Regulations now are stricter than last year, yet given this hard situation, the local authority seems excited to report daily that the virus-positive cases are increasing in the Province. We can take the travel ban for weeks but the absence of a sensible road map on where they are now in combating the “pandemic” is contemptible, they have been in this war for more than a year now. We are so sorry to ventilate our frustration. But Janel and I are so affected by the passing and quickly committed to pyre our lady friend last Friday 23JUL21, the cause of death as the “expert authorities” said: “acute pneumonia due to COVID”. Lala Sual was the mother of our ex-pat couple friends Antonio Gil and Lulu, she became dear to us; she was a kind-hearted and sweet old lady. Every time we met, she would bring out her Bible and engage us in “Bible sharing”, she was not a member of the church, yet we fondly call her “sister Lala”, she was a Baptist. The chance to physically condole the family in their trying times was not possible. Another COVID case on one hand that the church got concerned with, was the Reposar family in Makato; they faced tougher times which add up to their still standing family problems. Susan was taken by ambulance and stayed at the Hospital for two weeks, she was tested positive for the virus; she is out of danger now and fortunately, Jacinto (the husband) and the two girls were not contaminated. The church and some individual members sent financial help, food, and prayers to the family during their lockdown; they were prohibited to leave their home for 14 days.
We were able to arrange with the Provincial PNP Camp here in Kalibo as the venue, a weekly schedule for the Philippine National Police’ (PNP) SQUAD Weekly Interactive Meeting (SWIM) which is equivalent also to the weekly group Bible study. SQUAD stands for Spiritual Quest, Undertaking, and Activities for Discipleship. This program was included in the Memorandum Circular Number 2019-027 issued by the former Police General and Chief of the PNP for the continued implementation of the “National Police Internal Cleansing Strategy”. Yesterday was our second meeting; we are hoping that the 8 members of our SQUAD composed of professional police officers (ranks from Lieutenants to Colonels) will continue in the journey with us to a genuine transformation and become dedicated followers of God which is also the primary goal of the PNP national command as a result of this project. The entire program has 52 Discussion Guides to be taught each week, these guides are actually “Enter-Faith Bible Lessons” that we as “LIFE Coaches” from the church of Christ could modify to suit the true teachings of the Bible including the Gospel of Christ. LIFE is an acronym for Leadership, Integrity, Faith, and Excellence. It is a tough volunteer job but a small contribution essential to the holistic internal cleansing and moral & spiritual renewal of our cops. Please pray for courage so that we could effectively deliver the message.
We would also like to note here for you and Bro Brian Bishop’s interest concerning Bro Jun Santiago and his family that they are now occupying the “Parsonage” annex Bacan Banga chapel. The home cottage that we provided for them after Typhoon Yolanda 8 years ago in Ugsod Community (adjacent to Bacan Community) will be demolished; recycling the materials that could be used for some future repairs in the chapel. The move was decided because Bro Jun’s child Kane, 8 years old, was maltreated by their neighbor who acted like some kind of a “tough guy” in the community. Bro Jun filed a complaint of “child abuse” against that man and made the case prosper in court, the “tough guy” knowing his predicament; he constantly harassing more and provoking the family, so we offer Jun to move his family to our former home to avoid further conflict. We are supporting the legal battle of our brother. He is one of the trusted leaders in the congregation and a faithful servant in the church. Please pray with us that justice will be served in favor of Bro Jun for the reason that if he will not pursue legal actions, the “tough guy” might continue his evil deeds in abusing other children in the community.
Concerning our family: Samuel Jr celebrated his 22nd birthday on July 21. Not much of a celebration because there were no guests and party. We just stay at home, three of us, and make the best of our day, it is not possible having visitors gather in homes to have fun, it is prohibited by the “authoritarian DOH”. Janel will turn 51 this July 31. God is so good in whatever situation we are in. Samuel Jr is still job hunting, he is so anxious already to get one.
Brother this would be all for now, please extend our appreciation to all in JV especially the Bishops and the Allens. Ever thankful for your love and support. Warmest regards and God bless.
In HIS Service,
Sammy & Janel Sinco