Children Coming to Christ Through Biblical Values

While we were in the Philippines a friendship and partnership were formed with a single lady who worked in the northern mountainous area of the Philippines. Bible League of Canada had begun supporting her ministry, especially the teaching of the Bible in the schools by Christians. However, she was frustrated when we met her because of a lack of appropriate curriculum. Soon, Bible League began helping her purchase the VOICE curriculum and the ministry has continued to expand. The following article was in a recent Newsletter from the Bible League of Canada and although VOICE Philippines is not mentioned, the curriculum being used, “Truth and Honesty,” is from VOICE.

Article from the Bible League of Canada (BLC)

Last fall we asked you to support BLC’s children's ministry in the Philippines and through your generous gifts, the Values Education Program is now reaching more and more children with the Gospel. Consider these words from young Opena:

Before I knew about God I did a lot of bad things like stealing my mom's money, lying, saying bad words, etc. I was in grade 5 when I learned about God through our Values Education Teacher and here is how I got saved.

One Monday morning I was late for school because I waited for my mother to go to work so I could steal some money from her room. As soon as she left the house I ran to her room and got several hundreds and ran to my school.

I was late but it was okay with me because our first subject every Monday was our values class and our volunteer teacher is very kind and never says bad things. I rushed to my seat and she looked at me and said good morning and her kind eyes and sweet smile made me feel uneasy. My heart started to beat fast but l just smiled and pretended I was totally okay.

She went on with our topic which was “Truth and Honesty.” As she continued with Bible verses about being truthful and honest my heart thumped harder. I started to get scared and tried not to look at my teacher. I was hoping her time would soon be over and she'd leave but it seemed the more she read the more the time was getting longer. I almost left the room but then she said, “l still have 15 more minutes to go but I will stop here and l just want to pray for all of you.” She started to pray and asked God to help us. Then she paused and said if anyone had not been honest and truthful to their parents, teachers or others but wanted God to help, to raise our hands and she would pray for us.

I did not know what happened to me but I put my right hand up and started to cry. At first I thought I was the only one but there were several others with me. Our volunteer teacher prayed for us and when she asked us if we wanted to pray the sinners' prayer almost all of us prayed it. I felt like a big needle was plucked from my heart and I felt released. I went home that day and confessed everything to my mom. I thought she would punish me but I was so surprised when she did not get upset but instead she told me to never go back to my old life. It is amazing how God works. 

Lastly, one thing I am so thankful for is the gift our volunteer teacher gave us at the end of the year -OUR OWN COPY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT BIBLE! For those who have a Bible in their homes this may not be such a big deal, but to us who have never had a Bible at home, IT REALLY MEANS A LOT. 

Thanks to our volunteer teacher, Bible League Canada and to Values Education Program for your best gift to us!