Airline tickets

Just found out that we need to raise $3000 dollars to get back to the Phillipines and we need it by the end of December. Please pray for us.

Today we mourn the passing of a beloved old friend, Common Sense, who has been with us for many years. No one knows for sure how old he was, since his birth records were long ago lost in bureaucratic red tape. He will be remembered as having cultivated such valuable lessons as:-Knowing when to come in out of the rain; - Why the early bird gets the worm;- Life isn't always fair; - And maybe it was my fault. Common Sense lived by simple, sound financial policies, don't spend more than you can earn and adults, not children, are in charge. His health began to deteriorate rapidly when well-intentioned but overbearing regulations were set in place. Reports of a 6-year-old boy charged with sexual harassment for kissing a classmate; teens suspended from school for using mouthwash after lunch; and a teacher fired for reprimanding an unruly student, only worsened his condition. Common Sense lost ground when parents attacked teachers for doing the job that they themselves had failed to do in disciplining their unruly children. It declined even further when schools were required to get parental consent to administer sun lotion or an aspirin to a student; but could not inform parents when a student became pregnant and wanted to have an abortion. Common Sense lost the will to live as the churches became businesses; and criminals received better treatment than their victims. Common Sense took a beating when you couldn't defend yourself from a burglar in your own home and the burglar could sue you for assault. Common Sense finally gave up the will to live, after a woman failed to realize that a steaming cup of coffee was hot. She spilled a little in her lap, and was promptly awarded a huge settlement. Common Sense was preceded in death, by his parents, Truth and Trust, by his wife Discretion, his daughter Responsibility, and his son, Reason. He is survived by his 4 stepbrothers; I Know My Rights,I Want It Now,Someone Else Is To Blame,I'm A Victim.Not many attended his funeral because so few realized he was gone. If you still remember him, pass this on. If not, do nothing

PICTURES OF OUR NEW FENCE

YOU ARE LOOKING AT MY NEW CAR



MAIN GATE TO OUR COMPOUND



THIS IS THE OLD CAR THAT STILL HAS LOTS
OF MILES LEFT ON IT



Pictures

It has come to my attention that out of the three cameras that I have down here you would think that I could capture a few snapshots. Wrong, I guess it's the heat I don't know. The new Olympus eats up batteries like there going out of style. The Kodak doesn't respond at all and it's got it's own charger. The cam-corder doesn't hold a charge. It's disappointing because I'd like to bring back some neat pictures of the things we've accomplished with the help of the Lord.
Well I can say this that the Lord has been very busy providing for the new class room, the teahouse, the church at Sanfran,and the church at Gilhugan. Then we have the Security wall around the property that's 3/4 done. The security wall was going to be our new car however the one we have is running ok and I couldn't done the work around here with a new car. Haul cement, sand, gravel etc. All in all we've been purty busy these last four months. We will be heading out going back to the states 2nd of Oct. to spend the holidays with the kids and itinerant for the next adventure in the PI. Our job is by no means done because of what our Lord says GO INTO ALL THE EARTH and share the Good News. In these trying times in the world people need the Lord, they just don't know it and have to be told. Well I'll save that message for when we get back. I'll be looking for a heat resistance camera also.

Christina's weekly womens bible study

Sowing seed, the Word of God. As you can see they really enjoy themselves.

TEA HOUSE

AS YOU CAN SEE WE'VE FINALLY COMPLETED THE TEA HOUSE. !4'X24'.

IT WILL BE USED NOT ONLY AS COOLER LIVING QUARTERS FOR COOKING AND EATING, BUT FELLOWSHIP ALSO. i HAVE A TOOL ROOM ON THE RIGHT SIDE FOR STORAGE AND THE GENERATOR WHEN WE GET ONE. WE ALSO USE IT FOR SUNDAY SCHOOL. HAD AN OPEN HOUSE AND DEDICATION SERVICE SUNDAY AND FED 88 PEOPLE.

ANNIVERSERY IN SAN-FRAN

WELL THIS IS ONE OF THE CHURCHES THAT JUST CELEBRATED THEIR FIRST YEAR. AS YOU CAN SEE IT'S NOT COMPLETED AS IT NEEDS SIDES BUT IT DOESN'T SLOW DOWN THE WORSHIP ONE BIT. THEY ARE RENTING THE PROPERTY FOR 50 PESOS A MONTH. WE HAD A POTLUCK AFTER THE SERVICE WHICH IS NOT UNUSIAL. EVERYONE HAD A BLESSED TIME. I WAS SO AMAZED AT WHAT IS GOING ON DOWN HERE. THE PEOPLE HAVE A SINCERE LOVE FOR ONE ANOTHER AND THAT'S A GOD THING.

Any Room for Grace?




Today's Scripture: Romans 12:1

"By the mercies of God . . . present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God."

Read it online at the Bible Gateway: (NIV) (NASB) (KJV) (The Message)

Some may ask, "Who can possibly keep a commitment to pursue holiness without exception for even some 'small' sins? If there are no exceptions, is there any place for grace? Is God really this strict?"

Yes, God really is this strict because he cannot compromise his holiness the least bit. His goal is to conform us to the likeness of his Son, and Jesus was completely without sin, though tempted in every way that we are (Hebrews 4:15). No, we cannot, or perhaps will not, keep our commitments to God perfectly, but that should at least be our aim. In a battle, some soldiers will always be hit, but each one makes it his aim not to be hit. A lesser aim would be the height of folly for the soldier, and it's just as dangerous for us in our battle with sin.

Is there any place for grace? Most assuredly; in fact, in Romans 12:1, Paul based his call for such decisive commitment on God's mercy or grace. John Calvin commented on this verse as follows: "Paul's entreaty teaches us that men will never worship God with a sincere heart, or be roused to fear and obey him with sufficient zeal, until they properly understand how much they are indebted to his mercy."

So we see once again the relationship of grace and discipline. A loving response to God's grace and mercy is the only motive acceptable to God for the commitment Paul called for. And the continual reminding of ourselves of his grace and mercy provides the only enduring motivation to sustain such a commitment and keep it from becoming oppressive. That's why we must preach the gospel to ourselves every day.

This was our first Sunday back, oh what joy was in that place.Notice the new tile and new speakers.Brother Edwin is leading worship and the presents of the Holy Spirit was in that place.
I have to say I'm so proud of our pastor. He's been a very busy man what with training the leaders of the churches as well as the pastors from our other churches.He has also started a bottle water business. He uses that to be able to minister to the people in their homes. His plate is quite full but he seems to manage ok.

I'm really having a problem downloading pictures to the blog. Any suggestions would be more than helpful. Rob.

REPORT

We want to thank you for all your prayers. We arrived in Cebu at midnight and found a very good cab driver (christian) maybe he found us. He found us a very nice hotel and arranged our boat travel the next morning. We arrived in Ormoc City around noon and hired another driver to take us to Isabel where we did a little shopping then took a boat across the bay to begin the last leg of our journey. We really surprised the people when we arrived. I had to praise God for getting us and all of the luggage and the flat-screen TV here in one piece. Dinner that night, Chicken n rice.


Spent the next few days talking with pastor Dave and taking inventory of the projects that needed to be done. Number 1 was getting the car running. Master cylinder needed to be replaced, tires were just about all flat because of sitting for over a year and at this time he's giving it a tune-up. Going to have to replace it though because it's rusting out and unsafe for highway use. Looking for a used one now.

The first Sunday in church I was blown away. It was like standing on Holy Ground when I stepped into the sanctuary. New tile down the isle, and everything in order. Gary was there as greeter and the music was great even though it was older (what we sang 10 years ago in the states) it was wonderful. They have a piano, guitar. drums and new speakers. One of the things that pastor shared that works quite well is that they start church at 8:30 and then have Sunday school afterwards.

When we were home I had said we had 5 churches but I find out we now have 7. Two of them are new plants. It's so exciting to see what God can do when we cooperate with Him. The pastor has been training up leaders to go and minister to the new churches as well as holding Bible studies. I have seen a tremendous change in our people in the village in the last year. You can actually seen the Love of Christ in their faces.

Going to build two new classrooms for the youth as they really need them.

Pastor's wife teaches in the Antipolo elementry school and said most of the kids come to school hungry, so we're going to start by feeding them one meal a week and engage the church members to help. It will also be a time for ministry as we have one hour. If anyone wants to help they can contact Sandie Reinbold at Living Waters.

We love you all and keep you in our prayers. Till next time.

Ps Ken J. would you look at the blog site and see if you can fix the dark blue language, it's in Korean I think.





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Rob & Christina Seever

Missionaries to the Philippines

robseeverministries.blogspot.com

New Church Plant

This is the new church in Mag Say Say. The Pastor is Pastor Toric who spent a lot of time helping to build the church.

Well the restaurant has been sold and we're preparing to go back to the Philippines I hope sometime in May. Will try to be better at posting the blog in the future. I understand some of you are having trouble getting into the blog, I'm working on that.

Update

It's been some time since I've posted anything. As you know we've been back state-side a little over a year. In that time we have opened a restaurant in Port Orchard WA called Rob's Fish & Chips. With the help of our friends we have been able to help our pastors (4) of them in the Philippines. They have also planted two new churches which brings the total up to five. I am so proud of our pastors serving there. The church that Christina and I planted before we left just celebrated their first anniversery and the first church celebrated their tenth.
I can tell you this, wherever we are is the mission field. As much as we want to get back, the lord isn't done with us here. More later.