The recent trip we made to Sabah to attend to the spiritual needs of our brethren there gave us a mixed emotion of joy and challenges. We started our trip from Bacolod early in the morning of July 15 to catch the boat trip from Dumaguete to Zamboanga. We arrived Dumaguete at about 10:00 a.m.

We bought our ticket and waited three hours for the boat to take us to Zamboanga. Leaving Dumaguete at 1:00 p.m., we reached Zamboanga the following morning without hitches. The boat that was supposed to leave for Sabah in the afternoon had their schedule previously changed for the next day. We were forced to spend another day in Zamboanga.

The following day, July 17—after our passport was approved for travel by the immigration office—we sailed for Sandakan, Sabah. We reached the port of Sandakan the following day. After another processing of passports by the Malaysian immigration, we journeyed to Semporna, a 335-kilometer land trip. We reached Semporna—the place where most of our brethren live—at 6:00 p.m., July 18, after four days of travel. We then made a stop at the home of Ruperta Betoy, which is along the highway about two kilometers from the town.

We were met by Mrs. Betoy, Artemio Bernal, and Mercy Chu, the wife of Chu Von Cheok, a Chinese who is a prospective member. After formal greetings, we settled down to discuss a lot of things—from the present status of the church, the Home Office, Council of Elders, the brethren in the Philippines, and the remaining Feast days of God, including the Feast of Tabernacles this year.

The brethren asked if we could come back for the Feast of Trumpets or Atonement, but the subject of coming to the Feast of Tabernacles took more time in our discussion. After our dinner hosted by the Betoy family, Hope Betoy, one of the sons of Ruperta Betoy, brought us to a hotel in the town.

The following day (Sabbath), our service was attended by 18 people including children. A number of people were not able to come on account of distance and other unknown reasons. In the morning, I gave the message in Cebuano, a dialect which all can understand. The title of the subject was, “They Choose to Follow Their Idols.”

Before and after our eating together that Sabbath, I noticed two of the small children trying to get my attention by always getting close to me, sometimes wanting to sit on my lap, distracting our discussions. I remembered the Bible incident where Jesus blessed the children who were trying to stay close to Him (Mark 10:13-16). I then opened the subject of the blessing of children and asked the parents if their children had already been blessed. They answered no, because their previous church had no such practice.

In the afternoon, before our Bible study, we held the ceremony of the blessings of children. This ceremony is new to the brethren in Sabah as this was not done in their former church. They asked me to go into the ceremony after I thoroughly explained this practice of the Church of God that was started by Jesus Christ, quoting the Scriptures. There were five children, ages four months to four years old that were blessed.

Sabah is a Muslim country and Islam is their established religion. Although there are some small and scattered Christian churches, the great majority of the population belongs to Islam. Filipinos in Sabah experience difficulties living in this country. They cannot be given citizenship status as they are not born in the land, nor have they embraced Islam as their religion.

Even the children who were born to parents that are not natives of the land cannot be given legal status as citizens. Filipinos who work in Sabah can travel freely if the company they work for would give them travel papers approved by the authorities. Others would just devise ways and means so they could continue to work without being caught. Occasionally, campaigns by the authorities are being done for those who stay illegally and whose passports have expired, subjecting them for deportation.

We have made a number of trips to Sabah and each trip we see hundreds of deportees sent home. Our brethren and their families are no exception to this problem. They don’t enjoy the freedom we have here in the Philippines. We have been discussing possible travel to the Philippines to attend the Feast of Tabernacles this year. There are about a dozen who are seriously planning to come to the Feast. They are excited to experience how the Feast is to be observed. But for now, I cannot say how this plan will come about for all of them. I just encouraged them to do the best they can to get their legal papers such as passports, and to pray more, asking our loving God to intervene in their behalf.

This is the challenge we are facing, and we put our trust in the One who works miracles for His people. I am asking the brethren to pray for our brethren in Sabah. I believe our collective heartfelt prayers will avail much, because it pleases God to see His people asking for His help in behalf of others.

We will continue to do the work God has given us—this is our challenge. With God’s help through the power of His Holy Spirit, we will come out victorious for His glory.