It was a grueling trip to Ilagan, Isabela, in the northern Luzon province of the Philippines, crossing three major provinces: Bulacan, Nueva Ecija and Nueva Viscaya, and passing over the twisting Santa Fe road in the Caraballo Mountains. The Northern California Conference team arrived just past 1 a.m. March 22.
It was Oscar Pablo’s first time to lead an evangelistic team. Pablo, who works in the NCC treasury department, went on a trip to Isabela in 2006, and convinced Pastor Moises Lemi to organize a large-scale evangelistic meeting in his district. The team included Jim Pedersen, NCC president, as speaker; Dr. VicLouis Arreola, III, pastor of the All Nations church in Sacramento, Calif., as associate speaker; and Paul and Winnie Klein, and Pablo and his wife, Roditha, members of the English Oaks church in Lodi, Calif.
The meetings started with a motorcade through town on March 23, promoting the meetings, free medical check-ups and minor surgeries on the following Sunday. About 400 people attended opening night. Attendance averaged 350 nightly. Dr. H. Dela Torre, Jr., of Cagayan Valley Adventist Hospital, conducted nightly health lectures. About 400 people also came on Sunday for the health services.
Many prayers were answered during the trip. Arreola conducted a lay evangelism seminar on Monday and Tuesday with 45 lay people and pastors from neighboring districts. After attending Monday night’s meeting, he laid down his power point remote control and someone stole it. He needed that remote control for his lectures the following day. Elders and pastors prayed that somehow the person who stole it would find it in his heart to return it. Arreola was impressed very early the next morning to go to the church where he lectured. He found the remote control on the pulpit.
While visiting nearby churches, Paul Klein lost his money pouch with $700 and did not realize it until they left the area. After arriving back at the hotel, they prayed that it would be returned to him. A teenage girl who had been attending the meetings found the money pouch and immediately recognized that it belonged to one of the leaders and brought it to the meeting that evening. Klein was overjoyed and gave the girl a reward. This was yet another answered prayer.
On the last Sabbath, 136 people were baptized, including 12 from the local prison. Five others had been baptized a few days earlier.
After the baptism, Arreola left for Santa, Ilocos Sur, to conduct another evangelistic meeting and baptized 120 more.
“This trip was a dream come true for my husband and me,” said Roditha Pablo. “It was more than any of us had envisioned. Praise the Lord!”
Two of the churches they visited in Isabela are in need of major repair. For more information, contact Oscar Pablo at the Northern California Conference at 925-685-4300.
