Kalibo Preacher to Wed
December 5, 2015 will be a special day in Kalibo and especially for the Kalibo Christian Church (Church of Christ). Rey Miravalles has been our preacher-evangelist in Kalibo for the past 6 years. He does the church on his own as we are not able to provide funds for anyone else to help him like we did when we had a larger team. However, he is managing fine and now will have the help of his bride Nelita who he met through his ministry at the Kalibo Church.
Rey is from a small village on the island of Negros and grew up with six sisters and his parents on a very small rice farm. They did not have much but he became a Christian through the local church in his home place and then went to Central Philippine Bible College in Cebu City that we helped found. He graduated with a Bachelor in Theology after four years and then came to Kalibo to assist the ministry. Now he is the only minister at the church and is doing fine. He is tall for a Filipino and has a deep voice which is good for preaching. He is good in music and has developed one of the best praise and worship groups on the island all made up of new Christians.
Nelita is from Zamboanga City in the Southern Philippines. She comes from a region where the Islamic terrorists are active and came to the Lord through the ministry of the Kalibo Church. She is a good witness to her family and others who come from this Islamic stronghold. She has a lovely singing voice and I am sure they will continue to make music together in the future as in the present. She works as a receptionists in a local Pension or hotel and is very active in the church. She hopes to see many of her family, especially those living in and around Kalibo come to Jesus in the future.
Rey and Nelita come from poor families and so have been doing a lot of extra things like selling rice and raising pigs to save for their wedding. They are doing all the invitations and other things by hand and their friends are helping as well. The pigs help with the cost of the wedding but still cost a lot to feed as pig food is expensive and needed to supplement the garbage they usually like to eat. Still God is blessing their efforts and we Praise the Lord for this. They have had to bring a preacher in from the other island as the government limits those who can perform weddings in churches. Other weddings are done by the mayor or a judge. They could have had a civil wedding but chose the longer road of a church wedding to be a stronger witness to the people in the community who often have dysfunctional marriage status.
Carol and I will be going up to Kalibo for the wedding as Darryl will give the wedding homily (sermon) during the ceremony. We are both principal sponsors and so have to sign the forms as well.
It will be the first wedding in the native chapel of the Kalibo church and we have bought some new light bulbs since the wood windows make it dark to take pictures. We will help in any other way we can and Darryl will preach Sunday for Rey at the church to give the newlyweds a brief break.
If you would like to give a gift to Rey and Nelita please send this to our forwarding agent and we will be glad to pass it on to them. They are starting off simple but Carol and I were able to build a small parsonage two years ago which is now going to be their home. It is attached to the church but has a private entrance, etc. It is of native materials but a suitable start for them. It is great to see how God is blessing the small pioneer Kalibo church and we pray that God will richly bless Rey and Nelita both now and in the future.
Please pray for Rey and Nelita on December 5, 2015.
May God bless you all,
Darryl & Carol Krause
Pacific Rim Ministries
Forwarding Agent:
Mrs. Joanne McKenzie
Pacific Rim Ministries
P.O. Box 323
Weston, Ohio 43569
