First Night at the Brgy Esparar Church Launch

Tuesday November 2, 2011

After two weeks of intense planning, hanging banners, TV announcements, meeting with families, getting permits and permission from the Brgy officials, and door to door canvassing the concert, praise, and evangelism first night came.

The Reborn Band was a total hit! They were first-class and presented the Gospel in song. They are indeed blessed and talented. I learned that 60% of the Philippine population is young people. Their music and guest singers were on the mark for their audience.

Pastor Alagos gave the message. His message was powerful and blessed. We had a massive sound system that reached the entire Brgy. More than 100 people came out to the event and more than 20 received Jesus Christ as their Savior!

There were two more wonderful praises.

1. The lady I told you about before that we prayed for healing came tonight. Both she and her husband had received Jesus as their Savior when Ptr Alagos prayed for healing two weeks ago. She could not get out of her house because she didn’t walk well. Also, she had a rash that covered her face. Well, she walked to the concert and her rash was gone. The old skin was almost gone and new beautiful skin was appearing. She is a big testimony to the community.
2. Also, one of the leaders of the Philippine rebel Army (NPA) was saved. He is a significant leader among the men and boys there. Giving his life to the lord will have an enormous testimony in the Brgy. Please keep him in prayers.

Please keep night two, tonight, in your prayers.

We had rain on and off, so this is why many wore towels on their heads. This is common to see in the Philippines. J

Elder/Pastor

River Rock Church

& Grace Chapel Ministries

Serving in Patnongon Antique Philippines

Email:steve.bragg123@gmail.com
Grace Chapel Blog: http://gracechapelministries.blogspot.com/

Grace Chapel Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Grace-Chapel/207519629261717

My Story http://youtu.be/6C2DRT2vtjs

Donations: http://www.river-rock.org/giving.html

Please Pray for Brgy Esparar Church Launch

My dear Grace Chapel Partners,

Please be in Prayer for:             

Ø  We will launch a new Church at Brgy Esparar, Lord willing, this Nov. 1 & 2.

Ø  The Launch is a two day concert, evangelistic preaching and prayers for healing at the Brgy Esparar center.

Ø  We have radio and local TV bulletins about the launch to the surrounding communities going on now, one week before the event.

Ø  We have 8-10 Pastors that will go door to door at Brgy Esparar two days before the launch. They will then come back over a 30 day period with follow up of the new converts and Bible studies.

Ø  The Pastor will be Pastor Alex. He is an Elder/Pastor and his family is from that community.

Please keep us in your prayers.

May the Lord continue bless us all,

PS The picture is Pastor Alagos and me.

Elder/Pastor

River Rock Church

& Grace Chapel Ministries

Serving in Patnongon Antique Philippines

Email: steve.bragg123@gmail.com
Grace Chapel Blog: http://gracechapelministries.blogspot.com/

Grace Chapel Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Grace-Chapel/207519629261717

My Story http://youtu.be/6C2DRT2vtjs

Donations: http://www.river-rock.org/giving.html

Pray for our new Church launch in Esparar

Grace Chapel News Letter

October 17, 2011

My dear Grace Chapel Partners,  

I’m sorry; it has been awhile since my last communication. I have been busy preaching in many Churches. Each week is a new challenge for a new message. Preparing a weekly message is a new experience for me. The Lord has been faithful in helping me with my messages. I’m feeling comfortable delivering messages now. Thank You Lord! Some churches invite me back, and new Churches have asked me to come preach. Pastor Alagos is my friend and interpreter. The Lord has blessed me with my friend and partner Pastor Alagos. With the help of Pastor Alagos, this ministry is successful. Like Paul and Barnabas, we continue down the remote roads of the Philippines planting Churches where there is none. We also encourage Churches and Pastors along the way. My ministry is like Barnabas the encourager. Pastor Alagos’ reputation and contacts are remarkably used, by God, to open the doors for this ministry.

In the last News Letter, I shared with you a new Church we started to plant at Brgy (Barangay) Buhang, in Hamtic. We discovered there was already a Christian Church being planted there. Our desire is to plant Churches in remote Brgy that have no Christian Church. As a result, we turned over the Bibles studies to their care.

One Church I had the pleasure of sharing God Word is Gateway Church. Gateway is a Home Church on the beach of Brgy Poblacion in the Municipality of Laua-An.

Gary is the Pastor at Gateway. Gateway Church will be one year old next month. The Church is connected to their home. Both Gary and his wife are High School teachers.

Gateway’s Elder/Pastor Alex started a Bible study in the remote Brgy Esparar, Barbaza Municipality. Barbaza is an hour north on the coast road. Esparar is another ½ hour on a gravel road east toward the mountains. Eight other Barangays are in close distance. They could worship in Esparar. Pastor Alex said he visited a Barangay near Esparar that had never heard the Gospel. Witchcraft is practiced in many of the remote Brgys.

Last week and this week we met with two families in Esparar to make plans to start a new Church there. Pastor Alagos led a husband and wife to the Lord today. They are neighbors of our host family in Esparar. We now have three families! Thank You Lord!

We are working on using our church building in Esparar as an Alternative School for kids that have dropped out of school or could not afford school. The Alternative school program is a Philippine government program. The Philippine government will pay the salary of the Alternative School teacher. This is an enormously needed program in the Brgy. There are many school age kids in these Brgy that no longer attend school. Alternative school graduates are given preference in hiring for jobs. I could not imagine a better outreach program for the Esparar Brgy.

Today, we had a planning meeting to launch the Esparar Church, Lord willing. We met in front of Gateway Church on the beach under the shade trees. There are many projects needed to be completed to launch this new Church. Please keep them in your prayers. The target date for the launch is November 1^st & 2^nd.

Please keep this new church plant in your prayers. Many powerful forces have tried to prevent us from planting Churches here in Antique. We need your continuous and vigilant prayers. Your intercessor prayers on our behalf are essential. Thank you!

Eph 6:18  With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints,

Eph 6:19  and pray on my behalf, that utterance may be given to me in the opening of my mouth, to make known with boldness the mystery of the gospel, NASB

Many of you answered my plea to donate money for the land to build the Buhang Church on. That money will be used for our next Church plant. Thank you for your glorious generosity. It is because of your prayers and charitable giving we are able to plant new Churches where there is none. May the Lord return to you 1000 fold.

Luke 6:38 Give, and you will receive. Your gift will return to you in full—pressed down, shaken together to make room for more, running over, and poured into your lap. The amount you give will determine the amount you get back.

I have met many of the High School kids that you provide scholarships for. Your scholarships are well placed. This is a blessed ministry. Thank you!

Thank you and may our Lord Jesus Christ bless you all richly!

Steve Bragg

Elder/Pastor

River Rock Church

& Grace Chapel Ministries

Serving in Patnongon Antique Philippines

Email: steve.bragg123@gmail.com
Grace Chapel Blog: http://gracechapelministries.blogspot.com/

Grace Chapel Facebook: www.facebook.com/pages/Grace-Chapel/207519629261717

My Story http://youtu.be/6C2DRT2vtjs

Donations: http://www.river-rock.org/giving.html

The Cost of Buhang Christian Center Hamtic Antque Philippines

Serving in the Philippines

Monday August 22, 2011

The Cost of Buhang Christian Center

Hello Grace Chapel Partners,

Thank you

Again, this weekend was filled with joy and praise. What an excellent opportunity and privilege He has given us to love His people and children here in the Philippines. We, you and I, are indeed partners here in this Philippine Ministry. Without your love, prayers and generosity, my family and I would not be here serving in the Philippines and planting new Churches in the name of Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior. Together, with Pastor Alagos we have helped plant 3 Churches and we are in the process of establishing the fourth Church.

Praises

The new Church Buhang Christian Fellowship has enormous potential. Buhang is a large Barangay. There are other large Barangay in short distance that could easily be reached for the Lord through this new Church. We are praying this new Church will be across the street from the High School and Elementary School. These are large National schools. We are only a few kilometers from the St. Anthony’s College. Also, nearby are the Bible studies now taking place to establish this new Church.

The big praise was the study in the squatter’s area. Last week we only had about 12 attend. This week we had 30 children and 16 adults! Thank You Lord. We fed the children a nutritional snack. I mentioned last week a young man who had recently had his hand cut off. His name is Jun. Jun and his wife and son have opened their home for the study. I modified my message to reach the children. I pray the simplicity of the Gospel will also help the adults understand God’s passionate love for them.

I pray the Lord will help you experience the joy of helping these in greatest need of His love and salvation. Please pray the Lord will give Pastors Alagos, Zamora, his wife Jan and I the wisdom needed to minister here.

Please help

All of the Churches planted so far through Grace Chapel Ministries, and the many Churches Pastor Alagos have planted; each had the land donated for the church building. As a result, we have no budget to purchase land. However, this time it appears we will need to purchase land. I believe it is because we are so close to schools. All of the available lots are for sale and none to be donated. We have the possibility to purchase an excellent site with exceptional growth potential. This site is the same cost per square meter as the others. This one is the same cost and best location. We will be the only Christian Church in this and surrounding Barangays.

Another blessing is the school system will allow us to open an alternative school in this church building and will pay the teacher’s salary! This will be a tremendous outreach to educate the less-fortunate children. We will be a school during the week, a place to worship on the weekend and a facility to launch ministries to the community.

Can you help us purchase the land? It is 200 square meters for 100,000 pesos. It is about $2400 plus another $500 to prep the land to build the church building and parsonage. You may give to Grace Chapel through River Rock Church, Camas, WA.

Prayer Request

Please pray for the second Buhang Bible study. Last week and this week the host family had deaths in the family and funerals the same day as the study. Pray for the Lord to minister to them Lord. Pray that we will be able to minister to them.

Please pray for Julian and I as parents for Steven.

Please pray for me. I have considerable difficulty remembering people’s names and places. I also have even greater difficulty with the language.

Please pray for Pastor Alagos and his family. Pastor Alagos is both a full time school principal and Pastor/Evangelist. Pray that I will be a help and blessing to him and his family.

Please send me your prayer request. I will hold you up before our Lord.

One more Blessing

Pastor Alagos took me to the top of one of the mountains to give a message of encourage to a Church he helped planted 6 years ago. Their hospitality was a great blessing. Pastor Alagos worked with another retired missionary couple the Robinsons from Washington, England. Together, they established the Buenavista Christian Fellowship. Please pray for Mrs. Robinson as she is now suffering from cancer.

Ministering in the Philippines

Hello Grace Chapel Partners,

What an exciting week! Thank You Lord!!! I am totally in my element here. My experiences are night and day different than what life is like in American and I love the differences.

 Saturday August 13, 2011

My travel this week was on the back of Pastor Alagos motorcycle. I also traveled by three-wheeled motorcycle. It’s a motorcycle with a sidecar. They pile people high on these. They were not made for a big guy like me. I’m packed in like a sardine. I’m giving the messages, and Pastor Alagos is interpreting.

Pastor Alagos took me to the Buhang Barangay in Hamtic. Buhang is where our new Church plant is taking place. The name of our new Church is Buhang Christian Fellowship. It was about a 45 minute ride through the side streets of San Jose and some beautiful country side with rice fields almost ready for harvest. It is the largest Barangay in the Hamtic municipality. There are 48 Barangay in Hamtic. I gave messages to two of the Bibles Studies going on there. I met the Pastor of our new Church, Carlos Zamora and his wife Jan.

The first study was in what they call the squatter’s area. They truly are the neediest of God’s creation. My heart pumped with compassion for them. What a privilege to have the opportunity to love them for the Lord. I know now why the Lord had me live two years unemployed and the experience of relying on Him day by day for survival. I shared that experience with them and God’s faithfulness through it. One young man had a bandage around his wrist. Someone had recently cut off his hand. He is a good looking young man with a friendly smile. There were about 12 who showed up. As I shared how much God loves them, some had tears in their eyes. Afterward, we prayed for the Lord to heal 4 people who are sick. Please hold these in the squatter’s area in your prayers. We will introduce a feeding program for the children next week. We will provide healthy food for the children that come to the service each week. Malnutrition is the life enemy of these children. We are talking about a school supply program for them. About 1300 pesos or $31 will provide their school supplies and uniforms for the school year. People really don’t know how much you love them until you start loving them. James says I’ll show you my faith by my actions.

The second study was at the Barangay Captain’s home. There was a funeral, so many were not available. About 8 people attended. Again tears were in some of the teen’s eyes. The Lord is reaching their hearts. We still do not have a site to build this Church so, please keep this in your prayers. At the end, of the day we went back to Grace Chapel for services at 5:00pm.

Sunday August 14, 2011

We were back on Pastor Alagos motorcycle heading for two remote mountain churches. Both Churches were started by Pastor Alagos. This time we were on some dangerous mountain muddy roads. We climbed some hills that were about 30 degrees by my estimation. Pastor Alagos said many have lost their lives on this road. But we are on our way with prayer and faith to encourage them through God’s Word and the testimony of my life. In every message, I tell them about love and prayers of Grace Chapel Partners and River Rock Church.

The first Church we visited was about a 45 minute ride. This remote mountain Barangay was in a spectacular farming valley. I told Pastor Alagos I could easily live here. If my goal were to sit back and retire in God’s beautiful countryside, this would be the place. This is the Sitio Culby Igburi Barangay of Patnongon. The Church was 7 years old and is called Blessed Hope Fellowship. It was rightly named. Several teachers attend this Church. We had a marvelous time of worship and fellowship.

The next Church was in a different Barangay. This Church was only two years old. It is the first church that has survived in this Barangay. Pastor Alagos said many denominations tried and failed because of the prevailing witchcraft practiced there. This Church was also named appropriately. It’s called Miracle of Life Fellowship. The walls were half constructed and the floor dirt. There are typically about thirty that attend, but today was about 10. What an opportunity to preach the truth of God’s Word in the heart of that Barangay and encourage the faith of His Church established in the heart of darkness. Because the walls are only half up, many strolled by to see what was happening. I pray the Holy Spirit was active in their hearts as Jesus was being glorified through His Gospel. Please pray for the Lord to provide a new, young Pastor. The two Pastors there now, are very old. They are praying for a young Pastor to replace them. But still the Light of Faith showed bright in these old Pastors eyes.

We ended today at Pastor Alagos Church the Tabernacle of Praise. Its name is appropriate also. Praise and worship was the end of a blessed day.

Please continue to keep these churches in your prayers.

May the Lord bless us all,

Steve Bragg

Hamtic Church Launched

Hello Grace Chapel Partners,

The Hamtic Church was launched June 26^th. Pastor Alagos said many accepted Christ as their Savoir, Thank You Lord!!! Also, they prayed for many to be healed from illness and healing in their lives. Pastor Alagos preached the Good News through the story of the Prodigal Son and many repented their lives with tears.

Two Bible Studies are going now and land to start the Hamtic Church was offered.

The Lord is good and faithful to bless our efforts to evangelize the Philippines in His Son’s, Jesus Christ name. However, we must continue to hold the efforts of establishing local Churches in our prayers. Our adversary, the devil, will attempt to destroy this ministry to the Philippine people. So we must be faithful in our part that the Lord has appointed to us through prayer and generosity. Please continue to be in earnest prayer for His servants and His Church in the Philippines. Pray that we are establishing His Church and the Gates of hell will not prevail.

…upon this rock I will build My church; and the gates of Hades will not overpower it. Matt 16:18b NASB

Please also pray for us the Bragg family. We are waiting for Juliana’s US passport to arrive. It should arrive in the next few days, prayerfully before we leave for the Philippines August 4^th, Lord willing.

Thank You for your continued support and partnership in this exciting Ministry.

“Likewise you also should be glad and rejoice with me.” Php 2:18

Blessings,

Steve Bragg

Launching the Lord's Church in Hamtic Antique Philippines

Hello Grace Chapel Ministry Partners,

Getting ready to launch the Hamtic Church

We will be launching Church number 4 out of the 12 envisioned for the Philippines. Our launch dates are this June 22 & 23.

Hamtic is a town or in Filipino bayan in the province of Antique. Pastor Alagos said there is only a Catholic Church there and we would be the first Christian Church.

Pastor Carlos Zamora started a Bible study there and has about 20 people attending. Pastor Zamora is a musician so the launch this time will be two nights of concerts with Grace Chapel, Tabernacle of Praise and Hill of Zion working the concerts to establish more prayer and Bible study groups to form the Lord’s Church there. The concert will be taped to Air on Pastor Alagos’ Christian Radio Program “Intercessors Hour of Prayer.”

Please help us pray that The Lord Jesus Christ will establish His Church with His blessing there in Hamtic. Pray that the Lord would give the evangelism team boldness and the presence and power of The Holy Spirit. Pray The Lord is already opening the hearts and minds of the Hamtic people to receive His Gospel unto Salvation.

Student Scholarship Praise

Pastor Alagos put out a plea to help a teen boy in need of help to go to school. Two families stepped up to provide scholarships so we were not only able to help this boy but we added another teen girl. What a wonderful blessing you all provide so that these young people can complete school. Last year we supported 6 and this year we are supporting 10 students. Thank you all and thank You Lord! Please keep these students and their families in your prayers.

Thank you for your faithfulness in this ministry to the Filipino people.

Blessings,

Steve Bragg