Baptist and Reflector
Members of the mission team to the Philippines included, from left, seated, Dennis Golden, Donald Williams, Mike Hopper, Bryan Morris, Randy Crews, Willie Pounds; standing, Randy Boals, Johnny Johnson, Loren Stephens, Tod Taylor, Mike Nolen, John Hayes and Charles Pratt.
SOMERVILLE — A team of 13 volunteers serving with Cross Partners Ministry recently returned to Tennessee after serving two weeks with more than 60 churches in three Baptist associations on Luzon Island in the Philippines.
Cross Partners Ministry is led by Charles Pratt, who also serves as director of missions for Fayette Baptist Association, based in Somerville. The team witnessed 13,738 professions of faith and hundreds of other church-related decisions, Pratt reported.
Pratt has been leading teams to the Philippines for more than 30 years. The Republic of the Philippines is a third world country that consists of 7,100 islands with more than 106 million people.
The DOM described the trip as “a modern day Book of Acts experience. … We were there and saw the mighty hand of God but we dare not take any credit for such a powerful happening,” he said.
Pastor Randy Crews of Springhill Baptist Church, Dyersburg, observed that “God is still performing miracles when we speak a simple message and then see Him save hundreds of people. The door is wide open to share the gospel, however, that door can quickly close. It is an honor to be a part of the work of the Lord.”
Many of the team members raised their own support for the trip in addition to money for New Testaments and Bibles. The team distributed more than 10,000 Bibles and 15,000 gospel tracts.
During the trip, a baptismal service was held in the South China Sea for about 100 candidates who had attended discipleship training classes.
The trip was the first overseas missions experience for Bryan Morris, pastor of New Hope Baptist Church, Dyer. “I have never had to trust Jesus before like I had to on this mission experience,” he observed. “I was stretched far beyond my limits.”
John Hayes, a medical doctor and pastor of Shaw’s Chapel Baptist Church in Brownsville, has been on 15 trips to the Philippines. “There is nothing more beautiful than seeing souls receive Jesus into their hearts and hearing them pray the sinners’ prayer,” he said. B&R