CROP-October

OCTOBER 2007 FOCUS NEWSLETTER

For the past four months, we at FOCUS (Friendship of Overseas Citizens & University Students) have had many resounding praises to our Lord Jesus Christ! Early in the first semester (1st July), 31 Internationals were welcomed by 31 Filipinos from six local evangelical churches; 14 of the Filipinos work (faculty and staff) at the University of the Philippines Los Banos (UPLB).

We prayed that the UPLB workers would personally befriend the students so that the latter could be involved in the FOCUS Kapamilya and Kabarkada programs. (‘Kapamilya’ means a member of the family and ‘Kabarkada’ means a member of a group of friends). This program has finally taken off because of prayers and also because the graduates of this year’s Condensed World Missions Course (CWMC) were challenged to each adopts a nation to pray for during the graduation ceremony on October 6, 2007. One of the ways by which they are manifesting their commitment is by befriending the internationals on campus.

On October 20, 2007, FOCUS hosted a sem-ender get-together for the international students. Fifteen came, representing Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Myanmar and Vietnam. The 15 students were partnered with either a graduate of CWMC or a worker at UPLB to help them form friendships. Praise God!

We are excited more than ever that each of the students will now have a ‘kabarkada’ whom the student may talk to or ask for help if needed. Surprisingly, most of the international students who were partnered with a Filipino had similar interests or areas of discipline. Will you please pray with us that this FOCUS program would flourish?

This year’s CWMC was offered by the Los Banos Alliance for Revival, Reformation and Missions (LBARRM) using the Living Springs International curriculum in response to an expressed need during the FOCUS Missions Awareness Seminar on June 9, 2007. The course ran for eight Saturday mornings from August 4-September 29, 2007. It was spearheaded by the Destiny Ministries Internationals (DMI) with some FOCUS volunteers serving as facilitators. Thirty-four brethren from the Church Among the Palms (CAP), Los Banos Bible Church (LBBC), Victory Christian Fellowship (VCF) and Destiny Ministries International received their certificates of completion; one received a certificate of participation.

For more info pls. contact Mely Hoque @+639158504138 (mobile) or +63495363460 (land)
or email: melyhoque14@yahoo.com