Picking up the pace
After several attempts at completing the registration of Philippine Harvester Reformational Ministry Inc. we are back on track with the process. We thank Rey Halili who helped us to find a lawyer to draw up the Articles of Incorporation and the Bye Laws of the organization for a small fee. I have obtained all the paperwork for registration from Rey and printed them out so that we can try to get signatories for the legal papers.
Rey has not been too well after his wife passed away and did not see his way open to assist us with the completion of the process. He used to organize small seminars where I explained the vision of Harvester International to pastors. Besides that he also arranged a few meetings for me in Manila and in the Provinces.
I also preached in many other churches to encourage believers and pastors in the work of the Lord.
New leadership
Dave Narcisso from Laguna Province has stepped into the gap that Rey left and has arranged a meeting for me with pastors in his area. He runs his own business besides being a pastor and he has a wife and five daughters.
Stumbling blocks in registering a church
The problems with registering a foreign company in the Philippines are numerous. Three of the major problems are obtaining a local address by renting an office space, getting seven members to sign the legal documents as trustees and to open a bank account. Two of the trustees may be foreigners but the signees have to be local pastors.
One of our senior advisors in the ministry, Jako Filjon, advised us to use Regus to obtain a permanent address in Manila. They rent out a permanent address and the use of an office space for foreign companies.
Due to the change of oversight we lost a bit of pace in the work in the Philippines but we are busy picking it up again through Pastor Dave who is a very organized and focused individual.
Stumbling blocks in setting ministry
One of the difficulties in setting up a ministry in a foreign land is the old school of thought of ‘buying’ ministries through financial support. Harvester gives spiritual oversight through prayer and communication and also provides all the training material for pastors and Miracle Bible College students free of charge to foreign missions. MBC has more than 70 Bible Courses that took 12 years to prepare. They are based on Miracle Valley Bible College material where Apostle Andre Pelser studied in Arizona as a young man. Dr. Roy M. Gray devised the original material and gave Apostle Andre permission to use his material two years before he passed away.
The problem with ‘catching’ pastors through initial financial offers is that they normally gravitate to the highest bidder. This is something we learned through harsh experience especially in Africa. In other words the relationship is not built on loyalty or interpersonal relationship but it is a one-way street that is hardly ever mutually beneficial. True care and compassion do not rely on money but on genuine friendship and true fellowship.
Most pastors looking for help normally want money to rent a space, buy sound equipment and advertise their meetings. But we have found it more efficient to start in someone’s home and then expand to the next home until there are enough members to rent a space where church meetings can be held.
Harvester’s modus operandi
We operate by virtual office so we do not necessarily require an office. The counseling is done in homes or even at coffee shops.
One of the major reformations in our thinking as a church is the fact that we discarded all pyramid systems in our thinking and switched to orbital systems the way God planned the universe to work. My son Aje’s book ‘Orbital Systems’ explains the modus operandi very well with some practical worksheets to change the way a company or church is operated structurally.
The other important reformation is our concept of working as a ‘combined harvester’. In other words every one doing their share adds to the growth of the church according to Ephesians 4:16. There is something even the smallest church or the least member in a church can add to the growth of the move of God.
To us church growth is Christ being formed in people. We try to see Christ in one another and we trust the Holy Spirit to lead and guide people and show them things to come.
Unity of faith
One of the most valuable changes in our approach to church life is that fact that every church member is a Bible student and every Bible College student is a member of a church. The fact that the entire church studies the same material brings unity of faith and mind. Dr. Gray used to say, ‘one cannot create unity; only preserve it. Unity comes through the preaching of the Word.’
In today’s media-mad world people are open to so many false doctrines that cause confusion and division in churches. It is vitally important to make sure that a body of believers comes into the unity of faith. That is what Apostles, Prophets, Evangelists, Pastors and Teachers have to do: equip the saints for the work of the ministry until they come into the unity of faith. That will begin to reveal the full measure of the stature of Christ and bring a church into maturity so that they are no longer tossed to and fro by winds of doctrine.
No longer Jew or Gentile
The apostolic reformational move of the spirit simply means that apostles have a role to help reform churches structurally and operationally to agree with the original vision Apostle Paul received directly from the Lord Jesus Christ. Peter and the other Apostles misunderstood that Jesus was setting up a Jewish kingdom but Paul had a revelation that there is no difference between Jew and Gentile any longer because when Christ died he took away the middle wall of partition between them and created a new man: Christian. If any man is in Christ Jesus he has become a new creature (II Corinthians 5:7) or a new species of being. You cannot have a Messianic Jew or Jewish Christian. That is an oxymoron: you are either the one or the other. In the Kingdom of God that is made up of all nations we do not distinguish between Portuguese Christians of Ethiopian Christians. They are all one in Christ Jesus. People who try to bring fresh division between Jew and Gentile are messing with the work of Christ on the cross! They are trying to rebuild the wall of division between them. Jews must be saved just like Gentiles. There is no difference any longer for Paul wrote ‘he is a Jew who is one inwardly.’ In other words outward circumcision and keeping of the law matters very little any more but what matters is circumcision of heart by faith in Christ Jesus.
The Eternal Church
The church we are all part of as believers in Christ Jesus is the Eternal Church where the eternal Gospel is preached. Hebrews 12:22-24 calls it ‘The Church of the Firstborn in heaven.’ To make matters clear the writer of Hebrews (we suspect it is Paul although he did not sign his name to it) also refers to the church as The New Jerusalem and Mount Zion. So when the Old Testament is interpreted in the light of the New Testament we see the Eternal Church wherever we read about Zion. The New Jerusalem is referred to in the book of Revelation that Apostle John wrote.
The kind of church we want to establish in other lands is based on these principles.
Where to obtain our material
My book ‘God’s Genius’ explains a lot about the present reformation and gives practical suggestions how to reform a church.
All our books, DVD’s, CD’s can be obtained from www.pelsermedia.com and our MBC material from www.harvesterchurch.net or info@harvesterchurch.net
Apostle Andre Pelser
