QPU-Q1-2019

Frontline Worship Center has kicked off the year with more church plants, and we are truly excited for more! Last February 10, 2019, Pastor Gabrielle led Frontline Worship Center (FWC) Aquino’s very first Sunday church service, with over a hundred people in attendance. This church was birthed out of a school feeding program in 2016, which continued faithfully to not only feed the body, but also the spirit and soul as well. The church continues to meet under an extended tent roof, with a dirt floor and plastic chairs, setting a humbling example for many churches who might argue that lack of a building has stopped them from becoming “the church.”

Ptr. Rolly Delmonte has long had a vision for the “mountain,” and whether that vision is figurative or literal… this is the second Frontline church up in the lush Atisan mountains… with a third planned for later this year.

FWC continues to promote and practice the discipleship motto “Be One, Make One,” and it is apparent in the lives of its leaders and pastors. Pastor Gabrielle is already the third generation of discipled leadership within FWC! Just this January, both of the NewThing ChurchPlanting Networks were turned over to new leaders, as Ptr Max Beloso and Ptr Ruel Delmonte moved up as movement leaders.

The beginning of 2019 has also sparked a renewed fervor for prayer and fasting. A monthly “Prayer Overflow”, a night of prayer and worship, has been organized throughout all the church sites. We believe that there is power when we pray together, and we invite you to join us in mission by praying with us for God’s guidance, wisdom, and financial blessing as we continue to evangelize the lost, disciple the believer, and plant more churches to help transform communities.

In our compassion ministries, the last few months have been a bit of a rollercoaster ride. In January, our sweet Angi, one of our special needs girls at Face the Children (FTC), was joyfully reconnected with her sisters. This was uplifting and welcome, as it followed a bittersweet farewell to our long-time house parent Sally last December, and the sudden death of Tess (the mother of four children in our program, and one of our cooks) in March 2018. After some months we finally found and hired a full-time cook, Catherine, the first we’ve had since Tess’s passing. She has been doing a wonderful job and this has helped again to free up house parents to focus more on the other needs of the children.

Gladys, one of our girls, has recently been a part of the school volleyball team that competed in provincial and regional tournaments.

Her enormous talent clouds her small stature, and her dedication to training at Frontline Christian Academy (FCA) has paid off. We are thrilled to see Gladys pursue her Godgiven ability.

In our feeding programs, which are an integral part of our Compassionate Ministries, we continue to provide 2,400 meals a month to hungry children through 7 weekly programs. Many of our FTC kids serve in these feedings. As we meet new families and share meals together, we are also able to share the good news of the gospel. In fact, 4 new house churches have been planted as a direct result of these programs! We are eager for this ministry thrive even more, and to further equip our teams, we are soon attending a workshop to enhance our skills at sharing the gospel through storytelling.

Impoverished people confined to the grim public hospitals are faithfully visited each week by our Hospital Ministry team. Some of our FTC kids also engage in this ministry to pray for and assist (as possible) in meeting the medical needs of those who have seemingly lost all hope. We can tell many stories of those who have been impacted by this ministry, have received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, and have now connected with Frontline’s churches. In fact, our Sta. Elena church was the result of our hospital ministry touching the life of just one person.

Young, hard-working Jerrick has also proven to be quite the able farmer! A visit from some Canadian friends resulted in Frontline attempting to grow three small raised-bed gardens, with one being assigned to Jerrick’s care. We aren’t quite sure what magic he has, but his garden is flourishing much more than the others! We are excited to see the harvest this month. It’s remarkable to see how a small opportunity can uncover such inspiring dedication and talent.

All of these lives would not be as positively impacted through Frontline if not for your prayer and financial partnership with us. Truly, we are thankful for you, our partner, and for your continuous support. We pray that God blesses you and, as always, please feel free to communicate with us regarding any questions you might have.

As the school year nears another end in April, students and teachers are busy finalizing lessons and making sure we end well. The first few months of 2019 were filled with outstanding displays of talent and skill of our dear students. In February we held our annual “Literario” event.

In February we held our annual “Literario” event. This event showcases the creative and literary talent of our students. The judges and the audience were left in awe… at times even in tears. Our students also participated in city-wide art contests, where we were fortunate enough to bag 1st and 3rd place!

The faculty and staff continue to exhibit passion in serving the children. Our school director, Rhoda Pessina-Dayo, has made it a point to personally meet all employees, which has proved invaluable to raise team spirit and overall performance. The most notable aspect we celebrate is that almost everyone still cites staff devotions as their favorite part of employment at FCA. These devotions are a bi-weekly time of sharing, praying, and seeking the Lord together. What a joy to know that nearly all our employees met the Lord, or their faith became personal and real through their time at FCA. Praise God!

Steward Project Update: During the last quarter of 2018, we traveled throughout the US and Canada and continued raising partners and support. We are pleased to report that of the $580,000 needed to complete Phase 2a (our “initial classrooms” phase), we raised over $160,000. And just this month we’ve begun clearing operations on our new property. Not only that, held our official ground breaking ceremony on March 14th, and construction is set to begin any day!

As you can imagine, this is an exciting time for us. But with a balance of $420,000, it is a challenging time too. We will have two years to pay the project off. And though this is an interest-free arrangement with our contractor, it will still represents payments of $17,500 monthly over the next 24 months. We recently obtained partner commitments of $5500 monthly! Praise God! Yet that leaves a remaining amount of $288,000 to cover, or another $12,000 monthly. That sounds overwhelming, but then we remember this can be done by:

• 1 partner giving $288,000 (!)
• 12 partners giving $1000 monthly
• 24 partners giving $500 monthly
• 48 partners giving $250 monthly
• 96 partners giving $125 monthly

So we are praying for more individuals, small groups, churches or businesses to join us in this important undertaking. Keep in mind that one-time gifts will help move us to the goal! If you are looking for a place to invest for eternity, this is a good project that will be making a difference for years to come. As you know, Frontline has been ministering to the Filipino people for 35 years. We look forward to making an even greater impact in the coming years and for generations to come.

There are a number of things that give me joy. But a common thread is… people. I’m not saying I’m the best peopleperson. I’m not. But I genuinely love seeing people reached out to, ministered to, helped, loved, or served in some way; especially when it results in community.

When I go into our school I see people. Staff and students interacting, working, learning and even earning together. When I go into one of our churches, I enter into a crowd of people happily gathering together in anticipation of worshipping God. When I go to our childcare facilities (Face the Children), I enter into a group of people; kids and teenagers living together, safe, cared for, loved and served by a united staff of committed workers. It’s wonderful.

And when it comes to our social enterprise – when we go to our business office or sewing factory – it’s not the machines or technology that warms our heart, but seeing the people; people working together, interacting, coordinating, accomplishing goals side-by-side. People who connect emotionally and spiritually, who share life and dreams, and form a sense of community in a good workplace, and a culture that acknowledges and honors God.

What a joy it is to see people with decent jobs where they can earn an income close to home and near their families. That alone is an accomplishment that pays dividends not in dollars and cents, but in gladness of heart!

Our enterprise undertakings are small. But our sewing factory workforce has gone from 8 to 40 people in just the past several months. We’re grateful for the dedicated service of Dave and Aiza Covic (pictured) who continue to develop this amazing project. And at Frontline Business Solutions (our IT company) we have continued to grow, with 23 people now working together.

We are also excited about the experience of net-positive revenues! Surely it takes time, commitment, faith, and determination to make an upstart financially viable. We praise God for even minor profitability, because as one of our partners once said: “You can have several ‘bottom lines’ in your social enterprise. And that’s all very good. But, if you ain’t making money, you ain’t really in business.” So we’re grateful to God that our sewing factory has connected with new clients, one of which has placed orders of up to 80,000 pieces. And thankful too that as we deliver high-quality output, our clients have been good payers. This makes it possible not only to meet payroll, pay bills, and grow, but also to contribute God’s goodness toward projects that are near and dear to our heart, and are part of our mission.

Our ministry is still faith-based. Without our donors, we’d be unable to exist, much less move forward. These undertakings represent just more ways of connecting with and loving people, seeking to be a blessing to them with the love of Christ. Our employees continue to report that devotional time remains the most significant aspect of their work week. So as we celebrate additional sources of revenue, we do so knowing that’s not really the main thing; people are. And I believe we love people because God loves people, and “the love of God has been poured out within our hearts through the Holy Spirit who was given to us.” (Rom 5:5)

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