Selby Charles Roberta 1979 Philippines

8/11/2019 Selby Charles Roberta 1979 Philippines

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NOVEMBER DECEIvBER 1978 JANUARY 1979 INS. lETTSR PROM CHARLES AN D ROBERTA SETBYPhilippine Mission Churches of Christ, P. 0 Box 49 Aparri Cagayan Philippines l l lB

Forwarding Agent; Mrs. R. L. Tolliver, Pairf ie ld , Nebraska 68938

Janua ry 29, 1979

D e a x F r i e n d s in C h r i s t :

We are happy to come again with news o f th e wcrk i n Noriiiem Luzon. Our ra iny season i scoming t o an end, th e sun i s sh in ing and eve iy th ing seems much more c h e e r f u l . We want t os ha re w ith you a b r i e f r e p o r t o f th e th in gs t h a t have happened i n th e p a s t y e a r and g ive youa n i d e a o f w h a t we have p l a n n e d f o r th e coming y e a r .

APAREH b i b l e SEMINARY; Only 5 weeks ramain i n th e p r e s e n t schoo l y e a r o f the Seminary. Wehave ha d another good yea.r wiih around 80 s tu d en ts e n ro l le d . An average o f 12 student

- p r e a c h e r s - a r c o u t ovory-wee i lc -endr^reaeh ing i n - v a r i o u s - p l a c e s . S e v e r a l o f - t h e ~ y o u n g - w ^ e n goo u t a l s o t o t e a c h c h i l d r e n e a c h week-end . We have more c a l l s f o r s t u d e n t p re ac he rs t ha n viecan meet . Th e whole e v a n g e l i s t i c program t h a t has developed i n t h i s a r e a i n t h e l a s t 32y e a r s i s p r i m ar il y t he r e s u l t o f th e t r a i n i n g program o f A p ar ri B ib le Sen ina ry. A v e r y f i n eChrisimas concert was presented on Dec. 8 in Aparri , and the next 2 nights in nearby tovjnst o l a r g e crowds. Rober t a d i r e c t e d t h e tv^o c h o i r s t h e f u l l c h o i r o f 70 v o i c e s and t h e Conc e r t Choir o f 32, and wrote th e s c r i p t . Solos , d u e t s , a men s q u a r t e t and a g i r l s s e x t e twere a l s o i n c l u d e d i n t h e program. We look fo rward t o Commencement on March 9 , and tiie Conference on Evangelism, March 6-8, when preachers , e lders , an d other Christ ians frcan a l l overt h e Cagayan Va l l e y xd. l l come f o r f e l l o w s h i p i n t h e VJord,

THE EVANGELISTIC WORK i s looking b e t t e r a l l o f th e t ime. 69 9 baptisms have been repor ted sof a r fo r 1978 and x\ e are expect ing more re po rts to cone in even ye t . Th e t o t a l should be wel lo v e r 700 b y t h e t im e a l l r e p o r t s a r e i n . We a r e p r e p a r i n g f o r a b i g e v a n g e l i s t i c e f f o r te s p e c i a l l y dur ing t h e months o f March t o May, which a r e oxir siimmer months h e r e . The OBIteam w i l l b e i n v o l v e d i n e v a n g e l i s t i c m e e t i n g s an d B i b l e I n s t i t u t e s a l l d u r i n g t h i s coming

y e a r . We a r e hoping t o have a second team i n f u l l t ime e v a n g e l i s t i c work a round March 1 s t .Thi s team w i l l be working a s much a s p o s s i b l e i n fo l low-up work r e l a t e d t o t h e Radio Braad-c a s t . S e v e r a l o f ou r Seminary s t u d e n t s wD.th some r e c e n t g r a d u a t e s a r e p lann ing to form at eam f o r e va ng e l is ti c work dur ing t h e summer months . They wan t t o have a b a s k e t b a l l t eam,a m a l e q u a r t e t a n d tvjo o r t h r e e good p r e a c h e r s i nvo lved i n t h i s team. We a r e p r a y i n g f o r t h e

-rexn xra1 o f many o f the churches^ i n t h e - a r e a and f o r a g r e a t - i n g a t h e r i n g - o f s o u l s t h i s y e a r *

THE CHEIESTIAN HIGH SCHOOLS. N o r t h e m I s a b e l s Academy an d Sou the rn I s a b e l a Academy have hadaround 1000 s t u d e n t e n r o l l e d t h i s y e a r. 155 o f t l iese were b a p t i z e d i n to C h r i s t dur ing t h ef i r s t Semester. Th e 2nd semes te r week o f evangel i sm -wil l be h e l d beg inn ing March 12 .Tea ms m ad e up o f Seminary t e a c h e r s a nd p re ac he rs i n t h e a r e a w i l l go t o each o f t h e s c h o o l sf o r t h a t week. .They xd. l l t a k e o v e r a l l o f th e B i b l e c l a s s e s dur ing t h e week an d w i l l havean e v a n ge l i s ti c s e rv ic e each day. We a re u r g i n g th e B ib le t e a c h e r s i n each o f t h e schoo l st o g i v e s p ec ia l a t t en t io n d u r i n g t h e weeks b e t w e e n no w an d t h e n t o t h o s e s t u d e n t s who haven o t y e t accep ted C h i d s t We a r e p r a y i n g f o r many o f ihem t o come t o t h e L o r d dxoring t h i ss p e c i a l e m p h a s i s .

THE RADIO BROADCAST i s a v e r y s i g n i f i c a n t p a r t o f o u r work I n t h a t i t makes a t e r r i i c cont r ib u t io n t o t h e p r e a c h i n g o f t h e G o s p e l o v e r a v e r y va.de a r e a r i g h t i n t h e c e n t e r o f t h eCagayan Va l l e y. t i s i n s t r u m e n t a l i n p lan t ing - t h e s eed i n many, many p l a c e s t h a t oxirpreacher s have never been a b l e t o r e a c h , i n f a c t i n many p l a c e s o f which we have never hea rd .We need t o g e t t h i s program on o t h e r s t a t i o n s i n a re as o u t s id e t h e l i s t e r i i n g r ange o f t h ep r e s e n t s t a t i o n . t w o u l d b e a t r emendous b o o s t t o t h e work o f t he p re ac he rs i n t h e s e o t h e ra r e a s an d i t vjould c e r t a i n l y h e l p o u r o v e r - a l l e v a n g e l i s t i c program a g r e a t d e a l . We w a n t t og e t o u r r ec o rd in g s tu d io s e t u p sometime dur ing 1979 We hope t o s ee t h i s d e v e l o p i n t o a

Broadcast ing S ta tio n o f oxor ovjn some day.

APARRI CHRISTIAI^T PRESS is a n o t h e r v er y i m po rt an t p a r t o f o u r t o t a l e v a n g e l i s t i c program i nt h a t i t pro- /ldes th e p r i n t e d mate . r ia l so e ss en t i a l t o a xrlgorous e v a n g e l i s t i c work su c h aswe have h e r e . I n a d d i t i o n i t p r o v i d e s a g r e a t d e a l o f m a te ri a l f o r u s e i n t h e chxrrches i nt h e i r t e a c h i n g program. The me n i n t h e p re ss a re ncn A i n t h e p r o c e s s o f r ev is in g an d p r i n ting the Ilocano Hymn book. This wil l be a 4od page book containing several pages of respons i v e r ead ings from Uie I locano S c r i p t u r e s During t h e n e x t tMO months t hey w i l l be p rep a r i n g much m a t e r i a l f o r oxir e x t e n s i v e e v a n g e l i s t i c program a l s o . We hope t o expand t h i swork a g r e a t d e a l d u r i n g t h e coming y e a r i f unds p e i r a i t .


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G Y N CKILDRgN S HO^S i s coming nearer to reality every day, that i s in as far as permanentfac i l i t ies are concerned. We f inal ly began bulldozing t he p ro pe rt y in Lal-lo l a s t week andalreadi purchased around 11,000,00 worth of materials for this building. We are happy thatwe were able to get a l l of th e ro of in g and re-enforcement iron b efo re the prices went uplas t December. We expect this new building to cost around 42,000.00, something l ik e |7 .0 0per square foot. This does not include t he f ur n is h in g s. Mary Prui t t , vjho i s heading uptn is home, ha s n in e c hi ld re n r igh t now in very inadequate quarters. We are sure there vdl lbe many others jus t as soon as we are able to move in to th i s new fac i l i ty. The Lord i sproviding the funds fo r t h i s home an d we hope to be i n i t by the f i r s t o f June.

I would l ike to share with you some of our goals fo r 1979, which wil l be real ized as theLord through H is p eo ple p ro vi de s t he means fo r t h e i r accomplishment.

1 . Gett ing another f u l l time evangel i s t ic team on the f i e l d to be p a r t i c u l a r l y involvedin holding evangelist ic meetings in places opened up through ti e Radio Broadcast (or any othervjay) with the view of es'Lablisliing new churches wherever they go. There will probably bethree men on th is team. I t wil l probably cost around $400.00 a month to keep such a team in

the f i e l d on a f u l l t ime basis r There i s no more effec t ive way fo r yo u as a church in th eU, S. t o do_ overseas evangelism than to suppor t a team such as t h i s

2, Construct ion of the main bui ld ing o f G Y W CHILDREN S HOIiE, the foundations ofwhich vje hope to lay no l a t e r than the middle of February, with plans to occupy i t by the i r s t w e e k o f J u n e

Complete the b u l l d o z i n g o f t h e e n t i r e s i t e i n L al l o and e r e c t th e b u i l d i n g f o r theRecording Studio t o a i d i n the Radio work. This bui ld ing w i l l be planned in such a way t h a ti t can l a t e r be used f o r a Broadcas t ing S t a t i o n

4. The establishment of Christian high school and college. This will be the onlyChris t ian Libera l Arts College of t he R e st or at io n Movement in t t e Phi l ippines , we bel ievethere i s a great need for such a school and tha t i t w i l l offe r tremendous o p po rt un it ie s t otouch the l ives of hundreds of individuals fo r Christ who wil l be holding important posit ionsin government as well as in the p rivate sec to r in years to come. A C h ri st ia n c ol le ge , alongwith 3 or 4 Christian high schools, could very well make ib possible for th e church in th ePhi l ippines to become completely independent of any need f or f in an cia l support from Churchesin America in a much quickei- time than i t could be done in any other lA ay. This i s truesimply because we wil l be reach ing the kind of people vjho wil l be financially able and will ing to provide t he f inances needed to make the Cnurch here self-supporting.

We r ea liz e th at these plans fo r tiae fu ture may seem ra ther b ig , bu t we also be l i eve t h a t viehave a very b ig God who has sa id , the s i lve r i s mine an d the gold i s mine . We bel ieve t ha tHe i s a God who honors fa i th in Him an d in Hi s ab i l i ty to supply every need of o*urs accord

ing to His r iches in glory in Christ Jesus . P le as e p ray that we might be responsive to theurgings of His Spirit and that we might have tlce courage to walk by Faith and not by si^it.

Many of you wil l find rec8ij:>ts enclosed for gi f t s received ckiring th e past 2k morLths. Wethank you and praise God for your fa i th fu l support. We know tha t God vdl l bless you abundant ly f o r your f a i t h fu lnes s , ^

i n of our b l e s ^ d Lord JesTus,

J-foL yi4m .

^ ' flf, Wl d X ^

J4///J i7a jhAA -

C h a r l e s and Rober ta Se lby

/ U 7 ~ (3oo.'2


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Philippine Mission Churches of Christ of Northern LuzonP. O. ox 49, Aparri, Casayan, Philippines 1118

M I S S I O N A R I E S :

S i d & M a r j B o u d r e a u xP O B o x 1 6 4 1

J o p l i n MO 6 4 8 0 1P h o n e : (417) 6 2 4 - 6 9 7 1

D e a r B r e t h r e n

M a r c h 6 1 9 7 9

F O RWA R D I N G A G E N T:

/ R o b e r t a P o m m e r t

P . O . B o x 1 6 4 1

J o p l i n MO 6 4 8 0 1P h o n e : ( 4 1 7 ) 7 8 1 - 5 4 0 6

We p r a i s e t h e Lord f o r your f a i t h f u l s u p p o r t and generous g i f t s . Wer e c e n t l y r e c e i v e d a l e t t e r from a church in Ohio ask ing abou t o ur f i n a n c i a ls i t u a t i o n and we thought perhaps y o u d l i k e t o know abou t i t t o o .

Ou r e leven suppor t ing c hu rc he s s en d a t o t a l o f 600 p e r month. This amountv a r i e s s l i g h t l y depending on whether the congregat ion gives a percentage o f i t st o t a l budge t o r a s e t amount . I t i s a l s o h i g h e r some months due t o i n d i v i d u a l sw ith in th e churches d e s i g n a t i n g g i f t s f o r u s .

Ou r monthly budget inclTides th e fol lowing: 217.76 - t r a v e l expense t o theU.S. in May 1978; 200 - payment on loan fo r t r ave l 1975; 168.44 - payment on

e du ca ti on l oa n ; 2 40 - groce r i e s ; 40 - u t i l i t i e s ; 58.29 - insurance ; 100 -c a r expense and insurance ; 55 - c h i l d care & pre-school f o r Carolyn; 54.22 -c a r payment . Tota l : 1 ,133 .71 . The f i r s t tw o i tems w i l l be paid o f f by June .

The Reapers (S tudent mi ss ion organizat ion) may take on the pro jec t ofr a i s ing our t r a v e l fund back to the Phi l ippines , We have been blessed beyondmeasure t h i s year by being asked to s tay in the Missions Tra i l e r on campus saving us r e n t an d giv ing us a p leasan t place t o l i v e . We pra i se our Lord.

As most o f yo u know, S id and I have been working t h i s y e a r t o pay o f f th etw o t r a v e l loans and Fa i th Academy. We had t o borrow th e 1800 t o pay FA soJamie would rece ive h is t ra n sc ri p t in t ime to graduate , but we bel ieve t h a t t h i sm u s t b e p a i d t o o b e f o r e v/e l e a v e . Yo u ca n s e e t h a t we have no e x t r a from t h e 600 we rece ive monthly to pay a 1 6 8. 44 m on th ly no te . One church has alreadygiven 200 toward t h i s an d we t r u s t t h a t you may wish to share in t h i s too .

Jamie graduates from h ig h s ch oo l May 23 an d plans to work in Jopl in t h i ssummer. He may go t o OBC n e x t f a l l o r he may d e c i d e t o work a y e a r . He h a s n tl o s t h is desi re to be a missionary p i l o t but he knows t h a t e nt a il s severa l yearsof hard work. Scot t i s tak ing on e class a t O C now, an d plans to go fu l l - t imen e x t f a l l work ing t o p ay h i s e x p e n s e s .

Sharon w i l l f i n i s h her sophomore y e a r and r e t u r n with us t o th e Phi l ipp ines .She has an i n v i t a t i o n to spend some t ime t h i s summer with a good f r iend o f h e r s ,Michele Morgan, in Terre Haute, IN while we t r ave l . Carolyn, of course, wi l l be

with us in our t r ave l s and wil l be ready for kindergarten next year in Aparri.We want t o l e a v e J o p l i n a b o u t May 25 t o beg in t r a v e l i n g t o speak a b o u t t l ie

Philippines. We've been able to do some th is year, but i t s been l imi ted. Prayf o r us t h a t t h e Lord w i l l h e l p us r a i s e t h e amoiant we n e e d and be e ff ec t i v e i nt a l k i n g a b o u t t h e P h i l i p p i n e s .

R ejo ice w ith us in news we j u s t heard from Charles Selby: Cagayan Chi ld ren sHome groundbreaking Feb. 26need new f a c i l i t y by June; over 700 baptisms 1978; hea lso wri te s: Hurry back soon; we need you. The Lord willing, we l l be there by July,

AMck ad I 0 ' (Udd

W ^ Mim] Sid S r Borfeaux

Yo u r s . i n C h r i s t


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ITEBRUXRY,M-RCH ITD . JlilL, 1979 L- iTTIDRPROli CtLtRL]i^ 3 ROijJRTA SE1-3YPhilippiiie mssion ChiArchesof Christ, P. 0. Box 49, Aparri, Cagayaj:i,Philippines 1118

For\/arding Agent: Ilrs. R. L. Tolliver, Box 125, Pairfield, ITebraslca 68958Apr i l 20, 1979

B e a r B r e t h r e n i n C h r i s t :

I t is very close to three months since I vrrote last neus letter. They liave been extremelybusy and fruitful months and \. e v/ould like to share some of the excitement of them vdth you,APARRI BIBLE tiiHIIIllRY completed i t s 27th year \;ith eight young people receiving degrees,diplonns and certificates. Br. Charles Richards spoke at the 25th annual Commencement service held on Liarcli 9. The annual Conference on Dvangelism vas held on T r. 6 to 8, just preceding the commencement. Tliis Conference is primarily for preachers, elders, deacons, andother'leaders in the local congregations. Me counted as many as I50 present in our eveningserv ices . I t i s during th is time tha-Tplans are made fo r th e summer evangel i s t ic program,THE EVAIFGELISTIC PROGR^Ui f o r th e summer months i s going s t rong . There are 5 evange l i s t i cteams i/orking in 4 different provinces. IVo of these teaius have male quartets and basketballteams, 1-48 baptisms have_Jieen_reported dvirini'; the months of Jan. to Uarch, contrasted vdth64 fo r th e same period l a s t year, 56 g i r l s at tended an extromely effec t ive DV3S Clinic herea t th e oeminar;^' Apr. 2-6 , Jean n ie Hoffman ccme from I lanila to teach the g i r l s th e use ofpuppets and games, he lp ing each g i r l make h er ov/n puppet , i /hich they are now u s ing as theyteach DVBS i n many d i f f e r e n t p l a c e s . Severa l hundred ch i ld ren have a l r e a d y been t augh t bythese g i r l s and they have only been out fo r t\;o eeks. Prepara t ions are being made fo r th eth ree v/eeks of youth camp l.-ay 6-26, here a t the Seminary, Last year 200 youth a t tended ,

E CIIRISTL h T HIGH SCIiOOLS, Hortliem Isabela Academy (HIA) and Southern Isabela Academy (SIA),had a t o t a l o f 214 graduates t h i s year, Roberta an d I a t tended both o f the commencement programs an d I ha d a spe c i a l t ime a t each school to speak to t he g ra du ate s a lone . Tliere v/ere18$ students baptized in to Chr is t a t these tvro schools t h i s school yea r. Over the pas t four c a r s , there has been a t o t a l of 744 baptisms a t t he se s ch oo ls , a n av era ge of 186 per year,uunt l a s t v/eeJc, Apr. 8 -11, R ob ert a and I vere a t NIA fo r a Sp i r i t ua l Retreat fo r a l l of th eteachers and adminis t ra t ive s t a f f of both schools . Me ha d a v/onderful time of fe l lov/ship,s tudy in the kbrd an d praying toge ther. One t eacher an d the husband o f a no th er t eacher v:erecaptized on the l a s t da y of th e r e t r e a t i iary P r u i t t went ni th us , an d helped v dt h t ea ch in g,

O.iQ-.Y-IlJ CniLBREH'S IIOl IE: The nev; building i s f ina l ly going up The fovindations are in , therG-inforcernent i ron has been assembled and much of i s in place ready fo r the p i l l a r s andoeains_to_be poured. Prices o f cons t ruc t ion mater ia l s have inc reased alarmingly j u s t s incethe pr ice increase on o i l products . In f ac t , pr ices ho.ve near ly doubled on some th ings . Mehave no v/ay of laiov.dng v/hat the f i n a l cos t - .dl l bo fo r t h i s bui ld ing , 0 are j u s t t r u s t i ngthe Lord to provide v;hat mb need as v/e go along, l i iss Marj - P r u i t t , v/ho i s heading up t h i spa r t of our v;ork, novj lias 12 chi ldren in her care . lore are expected as soon as v/e have thenew bui ld ing completed an d thus have more room f o r them. Please pray sdth us about t h i sve iy impor tan t p a r t o f our program f o r C hr is t h er e.

THE RADIO ERO..iI)C..ST continues to reach la rge numbers of iieople from every v/alk of l i f e Thisprogram i s on the a i r s i x days o f every v/eek. Responses to a r e rece ived from a very vdde

a r e a . V/e a r e s t i l l hoping to g e t t h i s program on o t h e r s t a t i o n s in n o r t h e r n Luzon b u t v;ev;ould l ike to have ou r ov.n recording studio before \/e do tha t . Me arc praying t ha t th isstudio vd l l become a r e a l i t y in 1979

THE ilPARRI CHRISTI AT PRESS i s a very busy place a t a l l tiLies, but espec ia l ly a t t h i s time ofyear. Right now a ne\-i edi t ion of the Ilocano Hymnal i s being printed, as v/ell as conventionan d r a l l y programs. Supplies of t r a c t s must continue to flow to the evangel i s t ic tearis inI'he f i e ld and th e regular bi-monthly Ilocano paper and the Ilocano Sunday Achool quar ter ly

must continue to go out , j?lie press a lso pr in t s the forms t ha t wi l l be needed in the highschools next school year. The men of th e press are get t ing to v/ork ear ly each morning anda r e q u i t t i n g only ^jhen th e e l e e t r i c i t y i s turned o f f a t 9:50 o r 10:00 a t n igh t .

In our next news l e t t e r v/ill be able to share \d th you the vic tor ies tliat a re now beingv;on for Clirist by th e men ajid women involved in th e evangel i s t ic program, Me also hope to heable to share \d th yo u a t t ha t time anotlisr major vic tory in the Lord s v/orl: r igh t here inAparri, The Lord is woridng in a very \/onderful way r i j i t nov/ in every area of our v/ork,Praces on almost a l l commodities have increased by a t l e a s t 35/^ and manjr of thera have gone upbp tvdce t ha t amount. In some cases, pr ices have simply doubled over t h a t of a fevv/ monthsrgo , V/e are a t p ea ce v /i th in ourse lves about t h i s otlierxdse alamuing s i t ua t i on s im pl y b ec au sewc bel ieve our God i s f u l l y capable of talcing care of anj'- s i tua t ion t ha t th e men of the worldmight bring a bo ut b ec au se of t h e i r ^^reed ani other base motivat ions, k^e thani; a l l of yo uf o r y ou r w o nd e rf ul , f a i t h f u l f i nanc i a l suppor t. P lease do pray much f o r us a l so .


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^ MY - SKPTEMBER 1979 liEWS LETTER PROM CHARLES AHD ROBERTA SELBYPhilippine Mission Churches of Christ Pc Or Box 49 Apairi Cagayan Philippines 1118Poiwarding Agent; lyirsc Rr Lc Tolliver, Pairfield, Nebraska 68958 Tel^ness trip. Rob had planned to be here for about a month but was actually here two months.Lloyd had originally planned to stay for about three months but has now decided to remainpermanently and join us in our mission work here. For some time now we have felt a greatneed for someone to help with the administrative work of the mission. As you know thework has grown tremendously and now includes the Aparri Bible Seminary two Christian highschools, a radio broadcast and follow-up, a printing work and bookbinding shop a largeevongcliDt-ie-work kindei?gartens, youth camps VBS s- and most-recentlyy-i^he ^slôrfcing otfthe Cagayan Children s Home. The administration of this total work along with my teachingdaily closes in the Seminary and spending (necessarily) much time in counselling, has become a big load for me. As you well know i t i s pqt correspondence with churches and friendsin the States that is neglectedl Lloyd has been working now since Sept. 1, gradually learning the ins and outs of the administrative work here, and has already relieved me of muchof i t . He is uniquely fitted for this in that he has had several years experience in thebusiness world. Also his knowledge of the Ilocano dialect, learned as a child, is fastturning so that he ca.n communicato freely in i t . Having grown up here, he has a knowledgeof the customs thinking and needs of the Filipino people which usually takes a new missionBjpf many years to acquire. Lloyd i s now 55 years old a mature and sensible Ghiristian manvîth a deep faith in the Lord. He is well accepted and respected by the people here. Hehas no support coming in bu t has in fa i th placed himself in th e Lord s hands to do th iswork v/hich he says the Lord called him to do some time ago, but he just did not heed thecall. We praise the Lord for his decision and fo r much answered prayer. Pray for LloydeFURLOUGHTIME is at hand again Roberta and I are making plans to leave the Philippinesfor the States in early March of 1980, immediately following commencement exercises in th eSeminary. Two churches in California have scheduled us fo r Faith*-Promise r l l i e s in March.We hope to spend the month of April visiting our families in Pairfield Nebraska, and Houston,Texas. (Roberta s 85-year old mother and 4 of onx sisters in the Nebr. area, 2 sons x^îththeir families and 2 of Roberta s brothers in Houston). Then we plan a couple of weeks in

May with our faithful living-link church, the Indianola Church of Christ in Columbus Ohio.We would l ike to give a report to each of the churches which give regularly and so fai thfully in the support of this woik. t would be impossible without you and we praise Goddaily for you and your faithfulness. We will be available for speaking as our schedule and the availabili ty of gasoline - permit. When possiliLe, we would be happy to schedulea 2 or 5-day (or longer) meeting pax-ticularly related to missions, holding some spiritualgrowth Bible classes i f desired preaching, telling of mission work in the Philippines;Roberta could speak to women s groups; we d be pleased to do whatever you l ike^ withinour capabil i t ies and strength as the Lord supplies. We request any correspondence regardsing th is to be sent directly to us here AIRMAEL. Pray much for us. God bless you.

b e r t Se lby


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. 0GTCQ3SR, NOVEf E^R, IQyq, N LETT:i;R FROM CHARLES AKD ROBERTA SELBY

. Philippine Mission Churches of Christ, P. 0. B^x ^9, Aparri, Cagayan, Philippines 1118FArwarding Agent: Mrs. R, L, Tolliver, Bnx 125, Fairfield, Nebraska 68938

^ ^ ^ December 17 , 1979D e a r F r i e n d s i n h r i s t

Just as our last news le t te r was being sent out, we received the good news of the resultof the annual first semester week of evangelism at both of our Christian high schools. Thefinal report was that a total of 198 young people had been baptized during that week, 126 atNIA and 72 at SIA, This brings the total of reported baptisms to 66A for t'-ls year.

On Dec. lA, the combined choirs of the APARRIBIBLESEHIM RYpresented an outstandingChristmas concert to an overflow crowd in the chapel building of the Aparri Church of Christ,Narj Boudreauxdirected the choirs this year, relieving Roberta of the responsibility. Weare having a very good year in the Seminary with around 90 students enrolled. An average of20 of these students go out each week-end to serve in one way or another in churches especially in th e province of Cagayan. Today is the f i rs t day of a three week Christmas vacat ion, Most of th e students have gone home. Many have gone to churches throughout th e areato help with special Christmas programs and. evangelist ic meetings.

Our big project right now is the new Children's Home building. The basic const ruct ionwork on the main building is nearing an end. The glass is oot yet in the windows, the doorshave not yet been installed and the concrete for the ground floor is just now being poured.We also have to out up a concrete watc tower, f^ost of tb^ furnishings for the building haveto^be built or purchased yet. We also need to build some kind of wall or fence around theChildren's Home site in order to provide a measure of security. How long all of this willtake or how much i t is go:,ng to cost, 1 really don t know. Prices continue to rise and willprobably take another bi g jump after the f i rs t of the year. We are also planning to build a2^ X 2A foot concrete block birilcing to be used for a laundry and storage space. We wouldlike to get sta.rted on that: r l ^ t away since i t will be vitally needed as soon as they movein. We estimate the cost of this to be at le^st A,000,00 which is about 7,00 per sq_u3 refoot, e want to -purchase as much of the matez-ial for this as we can before prices go up.

We had a beautiful experience here in the Aparri Church yesterday. Two of the Negritogirls that are among those being cared fo r in the Children's Home accepted the Lord and werebaptized. At the same time, a urofessor in a rather large Catholic college here in Aparri,wlooalso serves as the assistant principal of the high school depa.rtment of the same college,accepted Christ and was baptized, Negritos are a t the bottom of the social ladder here in

--bhe Philippines and i t was-great to see these two young Negritos standing side by side witha col lege p rofes sor, a l l making the i r corimitment to th e same Lord,

You cannot imagine how great i t i s to have Lloyd ou r oldest son) here He is a youngman t o t a l l y committed to th e Lord an d has immersed himself in the work here . He ha s takenover a l l of the admin is t ra t ive d u t i e s in every phase o f th e work, v/e consu l t o f ten concern-in^ major decisions and he ha s su.->gested some major policy elk n^es nd revisions which are

b :ing implemented, Lloyd has absolucely no income from any source anr has been l iving off ofwhat l i t t l e savings he had as the resul t of se l l ing his house in Houston, He had a verysmall equity in tha t , So~'e have asked us i f he needs sunno-rt, The answer i s , Yes As ofnow, he i s l iving with us _nd eating with us, but we plan to go on furlough in March so hewill have t he respons ibi li ty of keeping this household going while we ar e gone. We are praying t ha t some Church wi l l accept him as t he i r f u l l l iv ing- l ink .

We are looking forward to seeing many of you during our furlough. We already have manyinvitations fo r Faith Promise Rallies, Revival Meetings with a Mission Emphasis, Deeper LifeCrusades, etc. I f you wo^^ld like fo r us to se.rve you in some special way while we are in theU, S., write to us right away. Please send such requests via Air Mail to our Aparri address.

Many of you will find receipts enclosed for your gi f t s which we have received in Octoberan d November, We praise Cod fo r your f ai th fu ln es s t o Him,

ly yours irg^jjrist,

l e s and R ob er ta S el by

Documents

Selby Charles Roberta 1979 Philippines