Philippine College of Ministry
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PCM was established in 1992 to train Filipino leaders. Our main focus has always been to prepare pastors who would be able to assist us in the church planting ministry. PCM has 60 students this year.

After the resignation of Rogelio Tenorio as PCM President, the Board of Trustees asked me to serve as President for a three-year term. Initially reluctant, I became convinced that the Lord wanted me to take the position, so I did.

The school year has been very good. Even though I'm President now, it's hard to take much credit for it - our administration, faculty, and staff are all excellent servants of the Lord and dedicated to serving him at PCM. Everyone working at PCM understands that it is not just a job, it is a ministry. Even our Assistant Groundskeeper knows that this is his service to the Lord. Everything is always better when people are doing their work for the Lord, not just because it's a job.

This year, I am teaching Old Testament Survey, Critical Thinking, Biblical Backgrounds, and Computers. This is my fifteenth year teaching at PCM and I continue to enjoy it more and more.

It has been 13 months since the fire that gutted our library and burned 99% of our books to ash - more than 10,000 books! The Body of Christ, however, was up to the challenge. By June of 2007-just six months after the fire-the building was restored and 10,000 books were sitting on the shelves! Churches, individuals, libraries, and publishers all chipped in and sent box after box after box of books. Now, a year after the fire we have nearly 15,000 books. Our library is better now than it was before the fire! The Lord has interesting ways to challenge us and build our faith.

Check out our PCM website for more information about the college.

If you use Google Earth, you can see the college at the following coordinates:
     16° 26' 32.00" N
     120° 33' 12.00" E
If you check the "Geographic Web" in the sidebar, you can see some pictures of the campus also.
There is also a nice article in Wikipedia:
     http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philippine_College_of_Ministry

Church Planting
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The church planting ministry here in Baguio has planted or assisted in planting eleven churches in the past 18 years. There are currently five church planting projects in progress.

Our long-term goal, since 1991, has been to establish a cluster of churches who would be able to continue the work of planting new churches after the departure of the missionaries. This goal is already met as we continue to assist church planting projects. The last several church planting projects have been the "daughter" churches of the existing churches (with the exception of the Rock Hill Community Church in Sto. Rosario, which was started by our PCM students). The most recent Baguio church planting project, the "C4" church, was planted by a PCM graduate without any assistance from me at all.

The churches in Baguio have sent out three missionaries to foreign countries. One to Indonesia, one to Thailand, and one (short term) to Korea. Only the Thailand missionary is still there, but I am excited by this aspect of the ministries of the churches here in Baguio.

On December 1, 2007, we held our Second Annual Convention of the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ in the Baguio-Benguet area. More than 350 attended the one-day convention. Our theme was the Stone-Campbell Restoration Movement motto: "In essentials, unity, in non-essentials, freedom, and in all things, love." It was a great day and exciting to see so many people who are the result of so many years of prayer and work.

Here are the church planting projects that we are currently assisting:

Ambangeg, Bukod is a barangay about 3 hours into the mountains beyond Baguio, along Ambuklao Road. It is a very remote, very beautiful place. I had traveled through Ambangeg several times in the past and always thought it would be a nice place to plant a church. PCM alumnus Roy Badongen approached me in 2004 and asked if I would be interested in a partnership to plant a church "somewhere in the mountains of Benguet Province." During a two-day survey trip, Roy chose Ambangeg -- the very place I had always thought about planting a church!

Work in Bokod began in October and several Bible studies are ongoing. PCM alumnus Alvin Valdez and co-pastor Ermin Dagdag are working with Roy. Sunday services began last year and they are averaging 50-80 adults. Many residents of Bukod travel to Baguio on the weekends, which gives them an unusual range in their attendance figures. The church meets in the "jumping off" station for climbers of Mount Pulag, the 2nd-highest mountain in the Philippines (9,586 ft). The pastors are doing a terrific job there and are building a strong congregation!

College Hill Church of Christ was started two years ago at the PCM campus. It's a sparsely-populated community, but we felt that the Lord wanted us to start a congregation in the PCM chapel. So far the church is averaging around 20-30 adults. Several families from the cancelled (and nearby) church planting project in Irisan are attending and several families from the community appear to be committed. PCM alumnus Jordan Guillermo is the pastor of this church.

Tupinao is the daughter church planting project of the Km4 Christian Church, which was the second church started through our team in 1991. As the Km4 church matured, it was a natural step for them to reach out to neighboring communities. Tupinao is about two miles away from Km4, but it takes about 30-60 minutes to drive there along a very rough road. Km4 Pastor, Elmer Potectan, is leading the outreach to the small community. They have had more than 25 baptisms since beginning, including the 70-year-old man who is the head of his clan.

Santo Rosario (Campo Sioco) is a new project that was started by our students from Philippine College of Ministry. It began in an area that experienced landslides in a typhoon. Our students collected clothing and medicine to distribute to the victims. As they developed relationships with the residents, they began asking our students to teach them the Bible. Sensing an opportunity, they knocked on some doors and soon scheduled more than 30 weekly Bible studies. The project is being led by PCM student Karol Dondo, assisted by three other students. Satan has really attacked this team since they began their ministry there in Santo Rosario, but they seem to have gained their second wind and are moving ahead with confidence. Sunday services have begun and they are averaging about 30. Delon Dueñas is the co-pastor.

Christian Academy of Baguio
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CAB is a school for the children of missionaries and the children of foreign seminary students studying in Baguio. Lenae has been home schooling our son, Jaden, this year, so has only helped occasionally as a substitute at CAB. Jaden will probably return to CAB next year, but Lenae is unsure what her role will be.

Lindsey is in 4th Grade at CAB and Jaden is in 2nd Grade at home. Steve is also serving on the Administrative Board.

CAB needs teachers for the 2007-2008 school year, which begins on August 11, 2008. If you or anyone you know might be interested in giving a year of service to the Lord in this important ministry, please contact us for more information.