Oh, magnify the Lord with me,
and let us exalt his name together!
Ministries
PURE Church exists to glorify God in building up others for worship. We equip our members on Sundays through the proclamation of the Gospel and join together to serve God's Kingdom and our community through the week. We praise God that there are many churches in the Philippines, but there are many people who are situationally isolated from the Good News of Jesus by poverty, culture, and other circumstances. Though we are just a small house church, God has blessed us with willing hearts and motivated servants. Jesus deserves to be worshiped by people everywhere and we have the privilege to proclaim His excellencies. We embrace God's heart for the poor, widow, orphan and stranger and endeavor to employ our time, gifts, and talents to be salt and light in our community.
PURE Church @ Happy House
God blessed us with a building in the squatter community where we minister in July 2017. We started with a kid's program and some Bible studies and God has increased His ministry here beyond our expectations. In September 2018, we will launch our first PURE Church extension at in Sitio Kamandag Tres. Most of the people we encounter in this area had never picked up a Bible before we began teaching. In May 2018, we were blessed to baptize 20 people and have since held baby dedications and opened a free pregnancy clinic at the location. God has given us many men and women volunteers who desire to obey Jesus and want to see God's Kingdom expanded. Please pray for this fledgling church.
Happy Family Kids
McDonald's may never know how God has used them to expand the reach of the Gospel in the Philippines. When the Wright family moved to the Philippines from the States, they dove into Filipino culture and were embraced and helped by the other families at PURE Church. God used their craving for McDonald's french fries to establish our most active ministry. While seeking the salty treat, the Wrights encountered a gang of street kids collecting trash and were compelled to share their food. They began meeting on the side of the highway in front of the bank with a dozen kids. Word soon got out that food was available and the kids multiplied. McDo hosted us for about a year until we surpassed 100 kids and could no longer fit in their party room. Thankfully, God blessed us with a building in their community for the ministry to flourish. Every Saturday morning, we welcome a couple hundred kids for a Gospel message, feeding, songs, dancing, games, and fellowship. Please pray for our kids!
Happy Family Buntis Clinic
There are close to 4,500 babies born daily in the Philippines and the population continues to grow despite high infant and mother mortality rates. Additionally, almost 600 teenagers become moms each day and these statistics become more daunting down the socio-economic spectrum. We are so glad for wonderful ministries like Shalom Christian Bahay Paanakan who minister to pregnant women and families, keeping the Gospel central and promoting dignity. We have been blessed to partner in an outreach clinic, providing Bible studies and free pregnancy check ups; including doppler examinations, blood and urine testing, vitamins, and community support. Please pray as we minister to new and expanding families.
Livelihood projects
Most of the people to whom we minister desperately want to work, but jobs are scarce and competition is stiff. Many of those we encounter have only a sixth grade education or less and little vocational training. Families are large and demanding and traveling to work can be expensive. PURE Church endeavors to provide opportunities where we can on a small scale, promoting hard work and teaching business skills. We have been able to be involved in several projects including soap making, dried fish sales, sari-sari stores, rice vending, BBQ sales, calamaries, and construction. Please pray for our livelihood endeavors and for opportunities for our friends to provide for their families.
ALS
Education is essential in poverty alleviation. Many of our friends were only able to make it through grade 6 or less and are limited in their vocational opportunities. The Department of Education partners with ministries like ours in the Alternative Learning System, providing an opportunity for educational advancement. We were blessed to have 3 ladies pass the ALS exam and achieve their high school equivalency during our first round of teaching. Please pray as we look forward to continuing this program.
Teacher's Bible Study
Training and releasing local leaders is a high value at PURE Church. Though when our kids program began, we supplied all of the teaching from outside of the community, we began to integrate local volunteers from the outset. Now, all of our barkada (group) leaders are community members with kids in Happy Family. Every Friday afternoon, we meet with our volunteer teachers and study God's word together to prepare them to teach the children. This has been one of the biggest blessings God has given us and we love to see our friends grow and thrive. Please pray for our teachers!
McDo Men
There are many hurdles to developing a men's Bible study in our context. Often the men work "stay in" construction jobs and are away from their families and community for significant portions of the week. Kids and women typically enjoy congregating, but even if the men are interested in studying God's word, Bible studies are not seen as macho and many will avoid joining because of hiya (shame). PURE Church has begun a Friday night men's group to study God's word and promote godly leadership. We meet weekly at Happy House in the community and once a month take a field trip to McDonalds for a treat. We have been able to see spiritual growth in our consistent members and are excited to see what God will do. Please pray for God to grow and equip these guys to lead their families and make change in their community.
