Living Waters Asia Christmas 2017 outreaches

Tanglaw Pag-asa Christmas Party conducted by Living Waters Asia

The Christmas season is one of the busiest in the LWA yearly calendar.  Because people tend to be nicer and more accommodating during this time of the year, it is a great time to share the Gospel.  We at Living Waters Asia won't dare let such great opportunity to declare the Good News pass, that's why we conduct outreaches during the month of December.

Last December 4, we did our yearly Christmas party for the residents of Tanglaw Pag-asa (Light of Hope) juvenile detention facility of the province of Bulacan.  LWA has been coming here for the last 11 years for weekly Bible study and our Christmas party this year there is the 12th that we've done.

We had the usual games and Christmas carol singing that the residents of the facility really enjoyed.  Those that joined the games got the chance to receive Christmas treats, win or lose.  There were residents that also rendered dance and song numbers to further make the event more fun.  Special food were also served to the residents and to the facility social workers and guards. 

But the highlight of the day was of course, the Christmas message delivered by the LWA director, Dennis Mark Aglosolos.  Dennis talked about Joseph, the husband of Mary.  In the Christmas account, Joseph almost broke up with Mary because he didn't want to cast a negative image for her as she was already pregnant when they weren't married yet.  But God sent an angel to explain to him that the baby Mary was carrying was from the Holy Spirit and that He will be the Savior.  Dennis emphasized that God wanted Joseph to have, even a small part on His plan to bring salvation to man.  In the same way, God does not want man to miss receiving the salvation He offers through Christ.

The event at this juvenile detention facility was a success for the simple reason that the Gospel was preached and many heard.

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LWA Director explaining the Gospel in the Namayan Island outreach

A few days later, in the same week, December 8 to be exact, LWA volunteers and members of Banner of Truth Independent Baptist Church (BTIBC) and people from Notre Christi Academy of the Philippines (NCAP) bonded together to do an outreach at Namayan Island in the City of Malolos, Bulacan.  This community is secluded from the rest of the city as you have to travel by boat on murky waters for at least 30 minutes to get there.  As a result, the basic comforts of community life like stores, medical facilities, schools, access to clean water, etc., are almost absent in the island. 

LWA, members of BTIBC and pupils and students of NCAP, all contributed to gather food gifts, children's vitamins and old clothes for the people of this island community.  Three weeks before our outreach there, we gave in advance needed materials for the installation of a line for clean water. We coordinated for about 2 months with the community leaders of the island to set up this Christmas outreach and last Friday, the event happened.

Before the gift giving, we were given the chance to preach the Gospel.  It was a surprise that the place they prepared for us to preach was a small Catholic church.  And with graven images as background for us, we preached sin, righteousness and judgment to come.  Dennis explained that sin was the reason why we have a cursed world and that Christmas day happened because of God's plan to bring salvation to man.  People of this community were directed to the sacrifice of Christ at the cross as the only acceptable solution to man's impending punishment and were made to know that the response God wants from us to the Gospel message is humility that drives us to repent of our sins and trust Jesus for our salvation.   To view pictures of this outreach, click here: Namayan Island

We praise the Lord for the opportunity He gave us to deliver the life-saving message of the Gospel to so many people this Christmas season.  We hope and pray that He'll give us more opportunities to do the same before this season ends.

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