Feeding Children

Hello Grace Chapel Ministries and RRCP Partners,

Thank you so very much for your support for all of our programs to love people in Jesus name. We do more than tell people about God’s love, we love them however we can.

We will be adding more weekly feeding programs for malnourished children. The feeding of children says significantly how much we love the community. It is not just talking about Jesus love, but demonstrating it.

Our churches are in the remote places of the Philippines where poverty is the extreme. We are not only feeding hungry children, but also teaching the parents how to care for their children. Teaching parents and children about hygiene makes big difference in the overall health.

It would seem strange to an American, but in one community by informing the parents they need to feed their children more than once day made a huge impact in the health of the children.

During worship one young girl praised our Lord that she got to eat twice that day. Really, I have heard this testimony many times. Each time I hear it, tears well up in my heart and eyes.

Lord willing and I pray with your continued support, we are praying to have feeding programs for each of our churches.

*We have 24 churches. Six of our churches have funded weekly feeding programs. We are feeding four more church communities by faith.

**$50 per month provides a weekly feeding program for the children for one church.

Thank you for your prayers and financial support.

Please let me know if you have questions or comments.

Your partner in ministry to Filipinos.

Steve Bragg

 

 

Please Pray With Me

In The Name of Jehovah-Jireh “The Lord Will Provide.” “Abraham called the name of that place The LORD Will Provide, as it is said to this day, "In the mount of the LORD it will be provided," (Genesis 22:14). NASB

Please pray for these three ministries. 

1.      Monthly Budget  

One of our scholars

I want to take this time to thank you all for your tremendous generosity both in your financial giving and prayers! You all have hearts for our Lord and His work; the Harvest. “These were His instructions to them: "The harvest is great, but the workers are few. So pray to the Lord who is in charge of the harvest; ask Him to send more workers into His fields,” (Luke 10:2).

We need some help with our monthly budget. 

At this time we are running a little short of our budget for pastors and student scholarships.

If I max out our current giving with no margin for error, we are 5 students short of funding. These are existing students. As you know, a student scholarship is $25 per month and a pastor’s monthly allowance is $100. A commitment to either would help us greatly! Thank you.

2.     Repair of Hill of Zion Church 

Hill of Zion in Barangay Macarina is our third church and built October 2010. It is all bamboo walls with a cement floor and steel roof. The land is donated farm land outside of the Barangay.

We have now purchased land to build the church in the Barangay. We need to move the church to the new land. The new place is in town and will help the church grow. The old land is flooded during the rainy season and not accessible. It is also time to replace the bamboo. 

Hill of Zion RRCP Worship Service

This time we will construct a cement block lower wall to get the bamboo higher off the ground and maybe give us few more years of bamboo life. The expense to construct the new church is only $2,500.

It’s a small church and parsonage and mostly bamboo, but fits well with this community. The community is excited to have the new church in an area that is easily accessible. The land owner who sold us the land, gave us a good deal. Normally, the land would be 100,000 pesos ($2,500). However, we purchased the land for only 15,000 pesos ($350).

3.     An Exciting New Ministry for Malnourished Children

Background  

I've learned to see malnourishment in the eyes of a child

Our feeding program in Barangay Mabasa is being noticed by the Philippines government. Pastor Alagos is also the Principal of the Mabasa Elementary School. He has documented that the students on our weekly feeding program at our Mabasa Church have improved in academics at the school. If we can demonstrate, for one year that a holistic program will increase the academics of the children, then there will be government funding to continue the program! The Philippines government has also noticed that the schools that provide Christian Values Education in the schools make more productive young adults. The Christian Values Education decreases the delinquency level also. As a result, the government is asking the schools to provide more nondenominational Christian Values Education. It is one of Steven’s seventh grade, graded courses at his public high school.

Application – Children’s Care Center (CCC)

Each Saturday for three hours we will provide:

• ·         Nondenominational Christian Values Education
• ·         Tutoring in math and reading comprehension
• ·         A nutritious meal
• ·         Note: The students that also attend Sunday services at Barangay Mabasa’s Franks/Mabasa Christian Center or Barangay Igbarawan’s Tabernacle of Praise will continue to get a nutritious meal on Sunday, as well. CCC will be open to both Mabasa and Igbarawan communities as they are neighbors.

The Cost:

• ·         A quality teacher - 1000 pesos ($23) per week
• ·         Nutritious meal for 30 students - 500 pesos ($12) per week.
• ·         Approximately $150 per month for 30 students. That is approximately $1.16 per student to feed and tutor once a week. We are praying for 60 students.

*Because RRCP is a Certified NGO (Non-Government Organization), if we can demonstrate with the CCC program the improvement of the academics and behavior of the less fortunate students over a one-year period, the government will release funding for the program. PLUS, we will be able to offer this program through all of our churches with funding aid from the government.

The picture at the top of the page is Elvie. She is one of our supported schalors grade six. Elvie also attends Mabasa Elementry School and Tabernacle of Praise. She is one of the students that would attend our CCC program.

Thank you all for your awesome love and care for the Filipino people!

I love you and thank you all – each and every one of you!

COURAGEOUSLY LOVE GOD AND EACH OTHER!

We have the feet, hands, and experience. Together with your prayers and generosity we can share Jesus’ salvation and His love!

Your partner in this ministry to Filipinos,

Pastor Steve Bragg

EXPERIENCING POVERTY

“When they saw us coming they had hope.”

Saturday July 5th we went to pray for a family that had a miscarriage of a pregnancy in the 7 month. The baby was a boy. Two of our Grace Chapel youth are from this family. Just a few days before these two youth were recipients of clothes and school supplies sent from River Rock Church. Thank you RRC.

It’s rainy season here now, so we walked into the mountainous part of Dacutan. Dacutan is where our church Grace Chapel is located.  My wife Juliana, six of our Grace Chapel ladies and Pastor JoJo and I went to pray for them and give a love offering. Most of our travel was a muddy footpath, wading across a river, and walking a hanging bridge. The mud had sugarcane stocks and sticks covering it so one would not sink too deep into the mud. I see school children come from this area each day carrying their shoes to keep the mud from them.

We finally arrive at the bamboo home. You can see easily through the walls, it was leaning and in need of repair. As we stepped inside, the Mother was sitting on the floor very weak. Sitting beside her was a cardboard box with a baby wrapped inside and a small face showing. There was a single candle lit in mourning beside the box. The father was off digging the grave at the local public cemetery. The ladies were quick to make sure the mother was ok and offer words of sympathy and check to see the mother and children were safe. There is malnourishment with some of the children and no money for a doctor or hospital. We are in prayer for her health. Two of the children come to Grace Chapel on Saturdays, and we feed them. Sometimes they show up at our home, and we feed them.

The mother is 38, and this was her 10th child. The father helped deliver the already dead child. He had to push the child out. If he had not been brave maybe the mother would have died in the delivery. We are praying she will have no infection.

As we walked the path to their home many of the community members joined us. Some of the community members and the family said that when they saw us coming they had hope. Indeed the mother’s eyes were full of tears at our sight. Pastor JoJo offered a comforting prayer. The ladies continued to speak with the mother and try to help with the words from their hearts.

As I walked home, my first thought was about how blessed my family and I are. I thanked God for our health, our home, and the means He has given us to care for ourselves and others.

But also in my heart was the trying to understand the helplessness they must feel. It is their daily life. When I see the children they are smiling, clean and well mannered.

Oh Lord, help us to bring hope and love to the Filipino people were ever you establish us.

Your partner in this ministry to the Filipinos,

Steve Bragg

Dates Set - Prayers Needed

My dear partners in this extraordinary ministry of planting new Christian churches in the Philippines,

Prayer & Praise Service at Grace Chapel

YOUR PRAYERS ARE POWERFUL AND EARNESTLY NEEDED! Please do not underestimate the power of your prayers in the success of this ministry its blessing to multitudes of Filipinos.

Dates have been set, Lord willing. Please keep these events in your prayers.

·         August 6^th – Start the church building and parsonage for River Rock Church (RRCP) Franks/Mabasa

·         August 26^th – Dedication of the RRCP Santa Lourdes, Palawan

·         August 26^th – First evening concert/crusade launch of RRCP Tagumpay, Palawan

·         August 27^th – Second evening concert/crusade launch of RRCP Tagumpay, Palawan

I will keep you all posted on our progress and the continued blessings of our Lord.

My friends, our hearts are this. We do not want to plant or establish any church that is in our power, our name, or for our glory. If a church is planted, we want to plant and establish Jesus Christ’s Church, by the power of the Holy Spirit, in the Lord Jesus Christ’s name, and only to bring glory to Him, our Lord and God!

Your partner,

His servant,

Steve