{"id":7131,"date":"2026-03-30T13:51:15","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T18:51:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/?p=7131"},"modified":"2026-03-30T14:07:53","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T19:07:53","slug":"crook-newsletter-april-2026","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/crook-newsletter-april-2026\/","title":{"rendered":"Crook Newsletter: April 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Happy New Year!<\/strong><\/p>\n

I mean that sincerely. Across 12 Asian countries following the lunar calendar, New Year festivities take place in February, March, and even April\u2014often with vibrant fireworks and joyful gatherings. Time truly is flying as we move quickly through the first quarter of 2026. I\u2019m excited to share highlights from recent celebrations.<\/p>\n

\"Debra<\/a><\/p>\n

A Golden Anniversary<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Philippine Pentecostal Holiness Church recently celebrated its 50th Anniversary with the theme: \u201cArise, Go Forth, Conquer.\u201d As the day concluded in worship, something beautiful happened\u2014many came forward expressing their joy through spontaneous dancing. I saw people who had experienced miraculous healings over the past years, along with others simply overwhelmed with gratitude for God\u2019s faithfulness.<\/p>\n

It felt like a glimpse of heaven\u2014people from every nation worshiping before the throne\u2014and YES, I joined in.<\/p>\n

25 Years of Faithfulness in Baguio City<\/strong><\/p>\n

Life in Jesus Church celebrated its 25th Anniversary with the theme \u201cCelebrating God\u2019s Faithfulness, Committing to the Harvest.\u201d One of the most powerful aspects of their testimony is their unwavering commitment to world missions over the past 25 years. This March, Marlene Soriano\u2019s message \u201cBlessed to Be a Blessing to the Nations\u201d called for renewal of Faith Commitment Pledges. She testified of God\u2019s faithfulness, enabling her to meet her monthly faith commitments throughout those years.<\/p>\n

As my administrative assistant, she has had a front-row seat to witness God\u2019s work\u2014from Bangladesh to Cambodia, and now into Sri Lanka. These nations face significant challenges, yet through partnership and faithfulness, God continues to draw people to Himself.<\/p>\n

\"Life<\/a><\/p>\n

Celebrations at Myanmar Refugee Learning Centre (MRLC)<\/strong><\/p>\n

Since 2008, Life Harvest Assembly in Kuala Lumper, Malaysia has hosted this centre meeting the educational needs of Myanmar refugee children\u2014displaced by the civil war. People to People is blessed to partner with them in this endeavor through the child sponsorship program. Recently, three students passed their GED exams, an internationally recognized academic milestone. Their success reflects determination, dedicated teachers, and God\u2019s sustaining grace through many challenges, including language barriers and displacement.<\/p>\n

\"Three<\/a><\/p>\n

Our Next Celebration: Easter!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wherever we find ourselves on Easter Sunday, April 5, may we allow the Holy Spirit to deepen our understanding of what we celebrate. Beyond His death & resurrection, Jesus has entrusted us with a profound mandate: \u201cJesus died to create a new people\u2014the ecclesia\u2014who treasure His glory above all else. The church is the only entity God has entrusted with both the capability and the responsibility of displaying and declaring His glory to the world. There is no other plan. We, the Body of Christ, are very important in fulfilling the Great Commission. No one else will.\u201d Excerpt from Marlene\u2019s mission\u2019s message.<\/p>\n

The Invitation Never Changes!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Each day, we are invited to participate in the incredible mission of sharing our faith\u2014through going, sending, praying, and living with expectation of His return! Thank you for your continued support. I\u2019m so grateful to serve with you.<\/p>\n

- Debra Crook<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Happy New Year! I mean that sincerely. Across 12 Asian countries following the lunar calendar, New Year festivities take place in February, March, and even April\u2014often with vibrant fireworks and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":41,"featured_media":7133,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[29,1,4],"tags":[609,173,174,31,308,18],"class_list":{"0":"post-7131","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-missionary-newsletters","8":"category-uncategorized","9":"category-world-missions","10":"tag-609","11":"tag-crook","12":"tag-debra-crook","13":"tag-missionary-newsletter","14":"tag-newsletter","15":"tag-world-missions","16":"entry"},"title_es":"Crook Newsletter: junio de 2019","content_es":"

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\u00a1Saludos!<\/span><\/h2>\r\nEstamos a mediados de 2019, y estoy muy agradecido de ser parte de lo que Dios est\u00e1 haciendo a trav\u00e9s de la Iglesia Vida en Jes\u00fas en la ciudad de Baguio y Asia con los Ministerios People to People. Disfruta leyendo estos testimonios.<\/span>\r\n

Signos de vida<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\r\n\"Se\u00f1ales de vida\" es el ministerio sordo a trav\u00e9s de la Iglesia Vida en Jes\u00fas que comenz\u00f3 hace varios a\u00f1os. Los domingos por la ma\u00f1ana, sus sillas est\u00e1n dispuestas en una secci\u00f3n espec\u00edfica de la iglesia. Como con cualquier ministerio, hay altibajos; la excitaci\u00f3n alcanza su punto m\u00e1ximo y se disipa y la asistencia disminuye. Este ha sido el caso con este ministerio durante los \u00faltimos a\u00f1os. Esa secci\u00f3n puede tener uno o dos sordos y, los domingos, los \u00fanicos son los int\u00e9rpretes.<\/span>\r\n\r\nLa parte sorprendente de este ministerio es que la iglesia siempre ha tenido miembros dispuestos a aprender el lenguaje de se\u00f1as, incluso si no ven\u00eda nadie. Despu\u00e9s de uno de los servicios dominicales, en la primera parte del a\u00f1o, sent\u00ed que el Se\u00f1or dec\u00eda \"re\u00fana a los int\u00e9rpretes y ore\". Les pregunt\u00e9 qu\u00e9 esperaban y por qu\u00e9 estaban all\u00ed. Cada uno comparti\u00f3 que cre\u00edan que Dios estaba haciendo y har\u00eda algo en la comunidad sorda. Nuestra oraci\u00f3n fue: \"Dios, si necesitas dejar morir este ministerio, si necesitas hacer algo totalmente diferente, no nos importa, pero reconocemos que este ministerio es tuyo. Entonces, depende de usted resucitarlo y darle vida \".<\/span>\r\n\r\nUnas semanas despu\u00e9s, una de las ex asistentes y su prometido se presentaron en nuestra oficina pidiendo asesoramiento prematrimonial. A trav\u00e9s de esa sesi\u00f3n, se restableci\u00f3 una relaci\u00f3n anterior que tuvimos con una escuela para sordos. En los \u00faltimos dos meses, 15 han aceptado a Jes\u00fas como su Salvador y son fieles a su estudio b\u00edblico a mitad de semana. Dios est\u00e1 dando vida nuevamente a este ministerio.<\/span>\r\n

Myanmar: marcando la diferencia<\/span><\/h3>\r\nDurante un viaje a Myanmar en mayo, TEAMS, uno de los ministerios de People to People, se uni\u00f3 a un grupo de estudiantes de Emmanuel College. Siempre es divertido ser parte del primer viaje misionero de alguien. Algunos est\u00e1n buscando t\u00edtulos m\u00e9dicos, por lo que ser parte de una extensi\u00f3n m\u00e9dica tuvo un impacto significativo en sus vidas. Nos encontramos con tantos pacientes que, al final de cada d\u00eda, sab\u00edamos que se satisfac\u00edan las necesidades personales y que la vida se ve\u00eda afectada por el amor mostrado.<\/span>\r\n\r\nLas iglesias albergan las cl\u00ednicas. Esta es una manera maravillosa no solo de alentarlos, sino tambi\u00e9n de impactar y fortalecer la comunidad a la que sirven. Por supuesto, estos eventos atraen multitudes y una gran cantidad de ni\u00f1os curiosos. Como los ni\u00f1os est\u00e1n de vacaciones de verano, se quedar\u00e1n todo el d\u00eda. Otros estudiantes de EC aprovecharon esta oportunidad para ministrar y jugar con ellos. S\u00e9 que estos ni\u00f1os tuvieron una experiencia que nunca olvidar\u00e1n, y rezamos para que las semillas sembradas en sus vidas florezcan e influyan en ellos a diario.<\/span>\r\n\r\nEn una esquina de la habitaci\u00f3n hab\u00eda una mesa muy popular, apodada \"La mesa feliz\". \u00bfPor qu\u00e9 esta mesa era tan diferente? Mientras revisaban una serie de preguntas y ofrec\u00edan una soluci\u00f3n a su problema, sus rostros brillaban. \u00bfQu\u00e9 era este portador de alegr\u00eda? \u00a1Un simple par de anteojos para leer sin receta!<\/span>\r\n\r\nMayo es un mes extremadamente caluroso en Myanmar y, en varios d\u00edas, las temperaturas rondaron los 105 grados. En habitaciones congestionadas, esperar\u00edamos fan\u00e1ticos pero, sin electricidad, pensamos que esto no podr\u00eda suceder. Ahora he descubierto mi uso favorito de la bater\u00eda de un autom\u00f3vil; atar un ventilador y obtener alivio. Con la cantidad de ventiladores configurados cada d\u00eda, estoy agradecido por las personas que conozco que nos prestaron sus ventiladores y bater\u00edas.<\/span>\r\n

Estar involucrado<\/span><\/h3>\r\nLos testimonios no solo nos animan, sino que tambi\u00e9n encienden el Esp\u00edritu de Dios en nosotros para que participemos. El privilegio de servir a los Ministerios People to People, los l\u00edderes de los pa\u00edses de Asia y ser enviado por usted es una experiencia muy humillante. Necesito su colaboraci\u00f3n en apoyo y oraci\u00f3n; a continuaci\u00f3n se muestra la informaci\u00f3n que necesita para hacerlo. \u00a1Sigamos dando testimonio de su bondad!<\/span>\r\n\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n
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<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>\r\n<\/div>","author_name":"Debra Crook","jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/Crook-Photo.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/pb62Ar-1R1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7131","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/41"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7131"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7131\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7131"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7131"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iphc.org\/missions\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7131"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}