Philippines

Greetings from Manila...

Rev. Shane Bishop, Christ UMC senior pastor, and Dr. Steve Heitkamp, an ordained UMC elder presently appointed as a pastoral counselor at Care and Counseling, are now traveling in the Philippines visiting with many of the more than 100 Christ Church scholars - students attending grade, high school and college with the help of scholarships from the church.

Dr. Cosme Cagas, who leads the Philippines task force for Christ Church, was already in the Philippines. All three will be present for the dedication of a new Christ UMC church in Kabacan - that was funded by members of the Fairview Heights church.

Rev. Shane's email

"After 24 hours of travel, we reached Manila about midnight. We effectively missed Valentine's Day entirely. We flew to Manila via Detroit and Neoga, Japan.

"On day one, we were met by Rev. Sonny DelaPena who showed us around all afternoon and then took us to meet his congregation. There was a special Wednesday evening service held and I had the honor of bringing the message. The church is in a lower class area that is absolutely congested with human souls. The actual structure holds about 70 with an open-air "fellowship hall" on the floor above and a one room pastor's quarter. Pastor Sonny has a wife named Fe and an elementary aged son. Dr. Steve and I were presented with many gifts to mark the occasion of our presence and I truly believe our physical presence with them was a source of inspiration. The place was packed to overflowing! Dr. Steve laid hands upon many after the message and we were truly blessed. A fellowship time followed with Filipino foods offered liberally in good fellowship. The worship style was one hour of praise music followed by a one-hour traditional Methodist liturgical service. It was as if both 8:15 and 11:00 services were both held in one LONG service!

"I write about 4:30 a.m. local time and we will catch a flight to Devao to meet our first scholars and hold another worship service this evening. We will meet Dr. Cagas* today and proceed with him for the remainder of the trip. I send greetings from the Bicutan UMC and sent them your greetings as well. Our trip gets decidedly more rural from here and I will check in when/if I can find internet service.

"Keep us in your prayers, as we do God's work in this place. God is Good!"

Rev. Shane Bishop, Senior Pastor

Christ Church Building New Sanctuary in the Philippines

Small rice farmers in a deeply rural area of Cotabato have a new church – thanks to members and friends of Christ United Methodist Church.

“Too many churches settle for making a difference when it comes to missions,” said Pastor Shane Bishop, “at Christ Church we truly have a vision for changing the world! The construction of this church reaffirms our commitment to missions in the Philippines and the power of God to touch people around the corner and around the world!”

Dr. Cosme Cagas, who leads the Philippines task force for Christ Church, said the area residents, small-time rice farmers, have no cars and no way to attend the UMC church in the nearest town 40 minutes away by car.

Christ Church has had a long mission outreach to the Philippines and now provides 100 educational scholarships. Cos and members of his family visit the Philippines regularly to visit scholarship recipients and serve the people of his home country.

The Conner and Cagas families helped re-establish a church in a remote mountain village in Central Luzon populated by a cultural miniority called the Aetas. The new church is named Romulo San Diego UM Church after Romy San Diego, who was a long-time member of CUMC prior to his death two years ago.

Chris Conner Meets Joey John
in the Philippines

"I met this 10-year-old kid Joey John. He was hording all these little cookies in his pockets, it was so adorable. So I went to the local store and bought all the cookies and candies (for about 5 bucks) they had and distributed them to all the kids in the church (about 40). Joey looked at me and said something in Tagalog. Translated it was: "Can you buy us Christmas presents too?"

"Well, I really wanted to, but I realized the only gift I could give to this sassy kid was an education, so I requested to Grandpa that I be able to sponsor Joey as a (Christ Church) scholar. "I later found out he was being raised by his elderly grandmother, so I feel very happy that I am able to help them out. It gives me so much joy to connect with the people of the Philippines, to get involved with their personal lives and struggles. I hope I can come back again soon." - Chris

About our work in the Philippines

By Rev. Shane, Senior Pastor

“Our Philippine ministry began when I met Rev. Maxmino Maregmen at General Conference 2000 in Cleveland. Max was a Superintendent in the Philippines at the time looking for someone to partner with his ministry. “I quickly got one of our members, Dr. Cosme Cagas, on board and we began by supporting Max and his ministry.

“We began a Christ Church Scholar program that started with awards to 22 students annually and has already grown to 100 scholars per year. We want to make a difference in the lives of these young people and so we have established this commitment - as long as our scholars stay in school and make good grades our scholarships are continued on an annual basis – through college.

“We have an excellent system of accountability as Cosme visits our locations annually. Our scholars live in various throughout the Philippines. Scholarship gifts are raised though individual donations and our annual Christmas offering.

“In addition, we have also provided for specific needs from buying a Jeep to the purchase of a boat. Among those in the Philippines from Christ Church in December were: Dr. Cosme and Linda Cagas, Jim Dunn,

Outreach

Philippines