Laoag Pioneering -May 1979-
Due to the conditions we made centering around the Providential Time Identity for Restoration the spirit world or various ancestors of the Philippines through "returning resurrection" intensely involved themselves with our work. The various aspects of "spiritual phenomena" and "guidance" was new to me. I must admit that often I must have been caught up in Holy Spirit, for often I would |
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give Sunday sermon's and speeches, only to awaken to the listeners clapping and saying how great the talk was; I had no rememberance of what was spoken. In April of 1979, after we had secured a pioneering center in Baguio, spiritual ancestors pushed to |
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pioneer new cities and it was so intense that a competition from various ancestors took place as towards whose "Hometowns" would be first. The most intense messages from the spirit world came to pioneer Laog, so I responded by sending a team to Laog without doing my portion of responsibility in making the decision, by investigating about this this new location. |
Relying on the determination and creativing of the pioneering team, I did not accompany them nor participate in the first month, but when I visited them with a large bus team to expand their foundation, I was very surprised to fine a very small town and learnt a powerful lesson to not just listen to the spirit world as towords where to pioneer next, for all ancestors, wanted "their root cities" to be first. |
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| After a few months of suffering on the part of a few core members, we closed the Laog center besause it was just "too small" of a town to support even a few humble missionaries through "food raising donations or any purchase of fundraising items. My heart was deeply troubled by the weightloss the pioneering members endure due to the lack of basic food, and I repented for not doing proper earthly research, making a good decision where to send obedient members to and for blindly rely on the spirit world's input. |
IloIlo Pioneering -October 1979-
In October our great sister Angie went to pioneer Iloilo with a few members, over humble and challenging beginnings Iloilo blossemed into a thriving center. Nanette visited in November 1979 to help lecturing contacts, consel members and create a Holy Ground. |
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Montalban Farm Pioneered -January 1980- |
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| In the beginning of 1980 we started making trips to Montalban for group outings and then started establishing a farm there. |
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Davao Pioneered -1980-
Yoshi Murotani, our fellow Japanese missionary came to the Philippine mission in 1980 and spent the first 6 most studying the culture and getting to know our members and mission. When he was ready he took the mission to pioneer Davao and I assigned 10 members to travel to Davao and work with him. After a few weeks I decided to send brother Eric to be Yoshi main assistant to help with unity. From the unity established at that point together this pioneering team made major advancements in Davao. |
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Our Davao pioneers were very brave, given at the time they pioneer the Muslim New People's Army was very active. There were many times the members would be witnessing in the park new the Catholic Cathedral, and just after they left the park with guests to bring to the center, bombs would go off where they had been witnessing. On my first visit to the Davao family the local Catholic Bishop asked for me to come discuess our movement with him. He questioned me of our beliefs and I informed him of core DP, our moral standards and daily lifestyle. He informed me our movement and my personal life walk with Christ was much higher than his or the Catholic Churches, but could I please refrain from allowing our members to contact his church membership. |
 
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My second trip to the Davao mission was to teach a 7-day workshop and secure the foundation Yoshi had started in this very important city in the Philippines. His assistant, Eric, at that time had inherited the leadership position. It was at that time HF instructed me that I could no longer teach the Divine Principle to individuals, but He only wanted me to teach the lectures to largeroups. |
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| As the months progressed, under Eric's leadership and the hard work of the members CARP became very active holding many meetings on campus and gained many new members. Because of this strong growth Nanette and I visited again in September 1981 to mentor the members, teach at a CARP meeting and make a Holy Ground in Davao. |
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| In February 1982 I returned to Davao for my last time before being re-asigned to lead Australia. About a year earlier, when Rev. Kwak learned that the Philippine members were calling me (Father John) and my wife (Mother Nanette) he instructed to have the members call us by a new appointed title. Reverend. Perhaps Nanette and I were |
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| the first western leaders to receive such a title, but my arrival was an embarassment, due to the recently appoint, dynaimic leader,Shirley hosting a surprise reception. Is was humbling, but an appreciated thanks for our service in the Philippines. |
Tacoloban Pioneered -1980-
Mila and Lydia pioneered Imelda Marcus hometown and after their determined witnessing and teaching for 40 days, I went to mentor the over 30 new members that joined in that short period and find out why so many were moving in within 40 days. I arrived to find an active and full center and quickly learned that the Providential Spirit Person of Moses was indwelling within a member and directing guests to study DP, accept DP, the TPs and move into the center; it turned out that many were moving in without hearing all of the lectures and many were joining out of fear rather than a clear intellectual understanding of applying DP to change their lives. I learnt of Moses chastizing a recent guest after he had only hear chapter one, telling the guest how he had left the center that evening and talked with "so-and-so" about his skepticism. The guest was in fear because of their private actions being known and revealed by Moses and they thus stayed in the center. I learnt Mila then forbade Moses from entering the members body and longer and speaking with the members or guests. The spiritual phenomena calmed down and weeks later Mila brought many of her new members to the 40-Day training workshop. Mila and Lydia always seemed to be the memers in the forefront of pioneering new cities and bring in the most spiritual children and they once again broke through in this first 40-day condition to pioneer new cities, "without the help of foreign missionaries".
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