Re 12:7 And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, 8 And prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven.

When you make an unscheduled visit to a land on the other side of the globe it is for a reason. A situation had arisen in which Rita and I, also Tomas Brchan (Czech Republic) were sent by our fellow missionaries who have invested the kingdom message in the Philippines to Mindanao Island. Jesus said that it is the nature of Satan to steal, kill and destroy. And that is what the thief has been trying to do since he was cast out of the high heavenly realm of God’s throne. Had he been allowed to stay, or even if he were allowed to return to that place, it would be for the sole purpose of bringing destruction. So Satan still has a little realm left in the souls of men on this earth where he is still attempting to ruin the light and life of God. And with the covering prayers of the saints of the Most High, we went to stop the devil’s ruination and to bring restoration.

You may have read my word on this before, but it is a very long trip from New York State to Butuan City, over 24 hours on the outbound and 30 in the return. When we are about halfway over the Pacific Ocean on the longest flight and when my body is beginning to ask for some real rest and a terrible pain has come to my throat such that I don’t believe I can endure any longer; that is when I ask myself, “Why are we here?” And so we begin to take up the warfare of our own soul and remind Satan (and ourselves) that we are servants of the Most High God and that the adversary will not prevail.

At the airport in Butuan City we were surprised to see sister Merlinda and to see that she is recovering so quickly from her sickness. We did not have many meetings of the type that we usually have in which we preach and teach the Kingdom principles but we did have a few. We had two meetings at the Bible school (The Haggai School of Ministry) with Brother Edmar and Sister Medlyn about an hour’s drive south of Butuan. We were able to deliver to them two brand new laptop computers (donated by a brother from Georgia) in which they were absolutely delighted. And Tomas was on hand to teach them how to use the Bible programs, to use the concordance and word dictionaries. We also had two meetings on Sunday, July 22, first at Brother Lito’s fellowship and later at the School where other elders attended along with the parents of many of the children.

Aside from those four meetings we kept very busy with meetings in the community and in the Hotel Karaga. The hotel assigned us to one of their larger rooms (at a reduced cost) and it turned out to be a real blessing since we did a lot of business from that room. Most of the work in the community involved putting the school on a solid foundation, both financially and spiritually, beginning with the school board. Changes were made to bring a balance of 60% Filipino and 40% Foreign. We also made some changes in the banking account to bring the school account up to the modern standards of safe money transfer and internet banking. And so we did research into making a revised school budget which the missionary fund will be supporting. I must say that we learned more than I ever thought there was to know. Tomas was invaluable with his computer skills. Rita was indispensable in the example and counsel of a Godly woman which she was able to give to the sisters. Satan meant his dirty work for harm but God has meant it for good. Many things concerning the lives of our associates here will be changed and are being conformed into the image of God’s dear Son Jesus.

We were able to return to our home two weeks after we left with the confidence that we (by the grace of God and the supporting prayer of the saints) had accomplished all we were sent to do. The work is still not finished and so we need to continue praying for this fledgling work and we need to return again soon. While we were there we explored our options of where we might stay for a slightly longer season of time, perhaps this winter.

We express so much thanks and appreciation for so many of you that have made this possible, with your giving and with your prayer. The reward is also yours.

Mark and Rita Jantzi, Tomas Brchan