Jolea Jensen

Dear Praying Friends:

“Why doesn’t every religion just teach the Bible, if the Bible is what is true?” Marcos, while listening to my missionary friend share a Bible study with him.

“I have studied theology at my Catholic university, but I have not learned much about the Bible—you should teach me more about the Bible,” Dr. Navarro, neurologist.

“That [praying to God for salvation] sounds like a very important decision,” Emmalyn at the Naga City airport.

“It must be nice to have that kind of peace,” Dr. Ghiraldi, chiropractor.

Each of these individuals has heard the Gospel. I injured the ring finger on my right hand recently and had to visit the neurologist. During my appointment, he directed the conversation to my occupation here and then asked questions about what our college offers. He was curious about our Bible courses and asked if we ever had chapels and if people taught about the Bible in our chapels. I said yes and that he could come sometime if he wanted to. He mentioned that he regularly reads a Bible guide from the Catholic church but still does not understand much of the Scriptures. I shared with him then what I believed to be the most important teaching of Scripture—the way of salvation. He commented then, “Very interesting. You should teach me more about the Bible.” On my next visit, I gave him a Daily Bread with two tracts inside. He has promised to attend our college chapel on Friday night to do my follow-up appointment and to see what our college teaches about the Bible. Please pray for his salvation.

The beginning of December was quite busy. I took part in two Christmas programs. The first, on December 11, was an inter-church Christmas cantata—a Tagalog translation of Our Lord Emmanuel written by Dr. Dwight Gustafson. Four church choirs combined to share this cantata. We held the program in a large auditorium and had at least six hundred people in attendance. Choir members counseled visitors following a clear Gospel message preached by one of the pastors. Please pray for lasting fruit from this Gospel outreach to the lost. The second program was at my church in Bulacan and took place on December 18. I directed the children’s choir and played piano for the adult/youth choir.

Our college choir from BJMBC prepared a beautiful repertoire of Christmas music and shared this program at the ladies’ prison. A Bible major shared a Gospel challenge with the ladies as well. The choir also caroled at various homes on two nights. I enjoyed preparing a small snack for them and hosting all twenty-five of them in my small apartment.

From December 21 until January 2, I enjoyed a short ministry vacation visiting missionary friends, Pastor Kevin and Mary Brunner, in the Bicol region of the Philippines. This was my very first taste of true church-planting missionary work. The Brunners pastor Calvary Baptist Church in Pili but have also started a small work, Victorious Faith Baptist Church, in Caroyroyan. What a blessing to meet young Christians and to join the Brunners in their evangelism efforts. Once we walked on foot up a very muddy, slick mountain trail, through rice fields, and across a very rickety-looking bridge to conduct two Bible studies with families. We visited one home with a dirt floor, no electricity, three rooms, and only one bed and one hammock for nine people. As we were leaving, two of the children were returning with clean laundry stacked in a basin on top of their heads. They had climbed down to the river to wash their clothes.

We visited one couple on more than one occasion. Both times, Pastor Brunner conducted a Bible study. Marcos just came home from the hospital after sustaining a serious leg injury from a motorcycle accident. He had several questions for Pastor Brunner and indicated that he had talked with many people from various religions. He is not yet saved, but his wife has made a profession of faith. Please pray for him to read his Bible and to continue searching for the truth; I believe he is tender toward God’s true salvation, but Satan does not want to let go of his man. Please pray that Marcos and his wife will attend church on Sundays. On our second visit, Marcos’s wife prepared a delicious meal for us—fish heads/tails, and rice, complete with eyeballs.

One day the Brunners took me to see Mount Mayon, a famous active volcano. This volcano is the one that I tell about in my story, The Red Bracelet. It was exciting to actually see the volcano with my own eyes and to get some pictures on my own camera. When we first saw the volcano, it was smoking a little from the top. My friends told me that they have actually seen it when it was spurting lava down its sides.

I took part in the all-night caroling with the young people from their church. We visited about forty homes; some of faithful church members and some of people that the Brunners would love to see in church. I also had the opportunity to teach Sunday School twice—once to the primaries and once to the single ladies. It was a blessing to meet such precious young people. So many young people today turn aside to follow pleasures of the world; it is the Brunner’s burden that their young people see the importance of following God’s will for their lives and serving Him with their whole heart. My Bible challenge for the young ladies incorporated one of my favorite hymns, “O, Jesus, I Have Promised.” Oh, that we all would remain faithful to serve God to the end!

Please pray for the following requests:
1. More opportunities to witness.
2. Please pray for God to bring across my path those who are searching for the truth and who will respond to the Gospel.
3. Healing: I injured the digital nerves in my right ring finger on December 12 and cannot play piano or any other instrument until it heals completely.
4. Spiritual fervency/revival among our BJMBC student body.
5. Opportunities for BJMBC students to witness and to see God working through their lives.

Thank you very much for your continued faithful prayers and support. May God be glorified in the Philippines and in each of your ministries in America during the year 2012.

Joyfully serving in the will of God,

Jolea Jensen

Dear Praying Friends:

I was only going to give him the tract and leave, but instead, he looked at the tract and asked what it was. I told him that the tract had information inside from the Bible about how he could know for sure that he would go to Heaven someday. He listened intently as I opened the tract and shared the Romans Road with him. He commented, “You know, I’m afraid of death and dying because I really don’t know where I will go.” I replied, “If I were to die today, for example, if I died right after I leave your office, I know for sure that I will go to Heaven because I have asked Jesus for forgiveness from my sins and I know He has saved me.” His reply, “It must be nice to have that kind of peace.” I encouraged him to read the tract again and consider what I had just shared with him and also to buy a Bible and read it. Please pray for Dr. Ghiraldi, my chiropractor; he moved to the Philippines from New York City. Please pray that the Lord will show him that Jesus Christ is the only way to Heaven.

Sara Morris (a fellow GFA missionary teacher) and I and five BJMBC young ladies had opportunities to witness to several individuals this past Wednesday afternoon. My partner, a student, told me she was shy to witness. I began sharing the Gospel with a young lady, and while I was talking, my partner had the opportunity to share the Gospel with two individuals. She had just finished sharing with one when a lady approached her and started talking. I encouraged her to continue on her own when she asked me to take over. It was a blessing to see several contacts open to hearing the Gospel and some professions of faith. Please pray that we might have more opportunities to take students out for one-on-one witnessing.

I am enjoying teaching my private and group piano students as well as my music education class. The majority of my students this semester are young ladies, and I am enjoying developing relationships with each one and partnering with them in prayer. We, as music faculty, have a burden to see each student develop a solid biblical philosophy of music. Some of our students come from churches that still use contemporary Christian music, and we are praying that the Lord might use the training we are giving them to guide them as they make decisions regarding various music styles.

During Christmas break, December 21-January 4, I will travel to the Bicol region of the Philippines to visit some missionary friends. I appreciate prayer for safety and for God’s blessing on the various ministries I will take part in there. I am looking forward to seeing the Mayon Volcano for the first time; the Mayon is an active volcano with a perfect cone shape.

Thank you for your continued prayers for my language studies. I anticipate taking my exam over Grammar Section Two during the second week of December. The words in this section are even longer than those in previous sections. For example, one word is: nakakapagpabagabad (nah-kah-kah-PAG-pah-bah-GAH-bahd), meaning “to cause to be able to be troubled” or “troubling.” Thankfully, this word is not used too often!

I am taking part in two Christmas programs this December. The first will be on Sunday, December 11, at 5 PM. This one is a joint-choir project of four churches. We will sing a Tagalog translation of “Our Lord Emmanuel,” originally written in English by Dr. Dwight Gustafson. The following Sunday, December 18, I will assist with the children’s music for our church program in Bulacan. Please pray that the Lord will use both of these programs to reach unsaved people with the truth of the Gospel.

May God bless each of you this Christmas season, as you seek to share the story of Jesus Christ, our Messiah. Luke 2:11, “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord.”

In the Service of the King,
Jolea Jensen

Dear Praying Friends:

The month of October has been a very busy month. We completed first semester at Bob Jones Memorial Bible College at the beginning of October. The following week, eight of us single lady teachers took a four-day vacation to the island of Mindoro. It was a blessing to have some time to relax and to get refreshed after a very busy semester. Every year, a group of churches come together for a Fundamental Bible Conference; this conference took place during the last week of October. I enjoyed attending each night and fellowshipping with fellow believers and former students from other churches around Metro Manila. One night, I had the opportunity to speak with the mother of one of my piano students at BJMBC. She and her husband are church-planting missionaries in the Metro Manila area. She told me that her son is very excited about starting a new semester and has been practicing piano for six hours a day during the break! He is very involved in their church ministries, and I am looking forward to seeing how the Lord will continue to use him as he continues pursuing his studies at BJMBC. It is exciting to watch the Lord shape young people into leaders for the next generation, and this young man has great potential for serving in the ministry.

Second semester begins this week (November 8 is the first day of classes). I have been spending most of my “free time” in preparation for this coming semester. Please pray especially as I will begin teaching my first lecture class: “Teaching Music in the Elementary Classroom.” We would appreciate prayer for God to work in the hearts of students as they return from their break. Please pray that the Lord will continue to grant wisdom to the teachers as we seek to nurture our students in their walk with the Lord.

I am continuing language study two days a week along with teaching at BJMBC four days a week. Language continues to be a challenge, however, I am gradually improving. I am very thankful for opportunities to teach young children and ladies at my church in Bulacan (boo-luh-KAHN) on the weekends. This Sunday morning, I shared a story that I used in many of the churches I visited while on deputation—“The Red Bracelet.” This time, however, I told the story in Tagalog instead of English.

The Lord has graciously given me some opportunities to share the Gospel. I travel one-to-two hours to church every weekend and often have opportunities to speak or share a Gospel tract with my seatmate. I recently shared the Gospel from my Tagalog New Testament with a lady named Tina. This past Sunday, I went visiting in the afternoon with two other ladies from the church. The pastor’s wife asked me to share the Gospel with the lady we visited. Mrs. Carmelo made a profession of faith during our visit. Please do continue to pray for fluency in the Tagalog grammar, and wisdom to know how to best share the Gospel with each individual.

Thank you very much for your consistent prayers and support. May God continue to richly bless you for your faithfulness to Him.

In the Service of the King,
Jolea Jensen

GFA Missionary to the Philippines

Dear Praying Friends:

Twenty lively children gather inside a small classroom, eager to play, sing songs, and color their activity page. Twenty children, spanning ages 9 months to eight years, face me, waiting to hear a story from the Bible. It is a blessing to be able to take part in sharing God’s Word with ones so young, as I help out in the children’s church every Sunday now. The Bible stories, songs, and games, however, must be done in Tagalog. If I speak English, those little faces look at me with perplexed looks, trying to figure out what I said to them. Some do understand, but it is much better for me to speak in their heart language. I appreciate prayer as I prepare to teach the Bible story again this weekend. The lead teacher has been very helpful in assigning me a small responsibility each week in the class. I have been learning from her as well, as I hear her sing Tagalog Bible songs with the children and later ask her to repeat them, so I can copy them down in my little notebook for future use.

I praise the Lord for the opportunity to serve Him on the weekends at Christian Baptist Church in the province of Bulacan. A graduate of BJMBC pastors this church, and his sons are currently studying in our Bible program. I had the privilege of teaching the pastor’s wife and another church member piano during my past years at BJMBC. My ministries include helping in children’s church, ministering to the single ladies, visitation outreach, and assisting if needed in the music ministry. The Philippines was recently hit by a strong typhoon which caused flooding in many areas. My church had knee-high flooding in their area, and a large tree crashed onto their church vehicle. Both daughter churches of my church had neck-high flooding. This coming Sunday afternoon, my church plans to take relief goods to areas still affected by the flooding.

At the beginning of September, I joined two of my fellow teachers from BJMBC at a prison outreach. We ministered in music to the ladies, and I shared a devotional. This was my first attempt to share a devotional in Tagalog. Despite their living conditions in prison, the ladies had vibrant, joyful looks on their faces. One could tell just by looking at many of them that they truly had God’s Spirit living inside them. I enjoyed having the opportunity to share God’s Word with these women and am excited about having more opportunities to share with ladies both at my church and at the prison again.

The Lord opened the door for me to return to language school this month. I am excited about the prospect of finally being able to finish the grammar course I began last year. I would definitely appreciate prayer for the Lord to help me comprehend the challenging Tagalog verb system. Just this morning in my class, I made a grammatical mistake, telling my teacher “You killed me” instead of “You made me stand up!” It is amazing what a difference one letter or one misplaced accent does to the meaning of a word!!!

Our students at BJMBC are eagerly anticipating a break from their studies. We have one more week of school before the three-week mid-year break. Second semester begins on November 8, 2011. During the break, we have four music ministry teams traveling to four different locations across the Philippine Islands. These young people will minister in music, train musicians in practical skills, and teach biblical philosophy of music in various churches. Please pray for God’s blessing on each of these teams.

At BJMBC, we are seeking to train nationals, so in turn they can train others. Many of our students teach in their Christian schools after they graduate, and there is a great need to train them in this area. I have been preparing for three years to teach my first lecture class that will commence next semester—Teaching Music in the Elementary Classroom. Please pray that God will continue to guide me as I train these future leaders to use their talents in the best way possible.

As we seek to train nationals to be able to teach others, BJMBC offers an extension program in which our students who excel in various instruments have opportunities to teach young children in private instrument instruction. I would appreciate prayer for wisdom as I direct this program, guiding the younger teachers, and ensuring that everything runs smoothly.

Thank you all very much for your consistent prayers and support. I appreciate prayers for health, as I am currently battling a headcold which is trying to worsen. More importantly, though, I appreciate prayers for God to send me open hearts to witness to. May God and God alone be glorified.

In the Service of the King,
Jolea Jensen

Jeremiah 31:3 “Ang Panginoon ay napakita nang una sa akin, na nagsasabi, Oo, inibig kita ng walang hanggang pagibig: kaya’t ako’y lumapit sa iyo na may kagandahang-loob.”

Jeremiah 31:3 The LORD hath appeared of old unto me, saying, Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.

The following poem was written to go along with the challenge I shared with the ladies in the prison. It is based on Jer. 31:3, Isa. 43, and Psalm 81.

Return to Me: A Song of God’s Unfailing Love

(Chorus) Yet still I loved thee With an everlasting love,
With lovingkindness, Have I drawn thee from above.
My love I give to Thee for all eternity,
For you are precious, Beloved, unto Me.

Vs. 1 I have created you to bring glory to My name
I have redeemed Thee, Your Saviour I became
Yet you forsook Me for your idols made of stone
And you removed Me from your heart’s highest throne.

Vs. 2 And then I sought for you, But you turned from me your ears
You wouldn’t come to Me, though I pleaded as with tears.
Each hour I called you, with a love, pure, undeterred.
I still forgave you, though you wouldn’t heed My Word.

Vs. 3 I would have fed you with the finest of My wheat
I would have kept you from enemies’ defeat
I would have filled you with peace I offered free
Yet you rejected My unfailing love for thee.

Vs. 4 Won’t you return to Me? Your life with joy I’ll bless
With Me true peace you’ll find—true love and happiness.
Oh, won’t you love Me? I gave my life for Thee
From sin I’ll save you—redemption full and free.

Truly, we serve a God Who answers prayer. Every semester, BJMBC has a week dedicated to prayer. Students take time to pray longer in classes, and chapel has an additional half hour for serious intercession by the whole student body and faculty. This past week (August 21-27) was our week of prayer for first semester.

The Lord gave direct answers to prayer this week. On Friday, while working on my computer at my desk at home, I began to smell an unpleasant odor. I wondered where that odor was coming from until I got up and walked to the kitchen to find dirty water spurting up from a drainage hole in my floor. I had to keep mopping the water that kept collecting there (about 2 inches high), directing it down another drain. I went to teach a private lesson at 2 PM and was just mentioning the water back-up problem to my student as a matter of prayer when my apartment mate poked her head through the door to say she had heard from the landlady that the plumber would be coming at 6 PM. I turned to my student and said, “Well, the Bible says, ‘Before you call, I will answer!’ It looks like God has already answered before we even prayed!” Incidentally, by the time I got home at 6 PM, the water had spread to the doorway of my bedroom and to our dining area. Thankfully, the mess got cleaned up and taken care of in good timing.

This past month, I had a couple opportunities to share the Gospel with ladies. Both of these ladies were Catholic and not very open to the Gospel. Following those witnessing experiences, I requested specific prayer for the Lord to send me open hearts to witness to. On August 28, a Sunday afternoon, Sara Morris, Sonie Bonares (a BJMBC student), and I went out on visitation. We stood on a bridge that spans a wide, busy road, and passed out tracts to people passing by. There were so many people that we were almost out of tracts in 15 minutes. A few stopped to talk with us. One young man asked me what religion we were and told me he attended “that temple over there,” while pointing out an Iglesia ni Cristo building in the distance. He did not have time to discuss his beliefs, so he hurried on his way. A lady asked if one of us spoke the Visayan dialect, so I referred her to Sonie, who was able to speak with her for a few minutes. When Sonie finished, we all felt the bridge shaking, and Sonie exclaimed, “Oh no! It’s an earthquake! We’d better get down!” (I am not sure what made the large concrete bridge shake, as I checked on-line later in the day to find there was no earthquake recorded in Manila at 3:22 PM on August 28th, but we went down anyway.) We decided that since we had more time we should go to the Quezon Circle where people hang out, walking, running, playing games, and other sorts of recreational activities. Sonie suggested finding people sitting alone to talk to, and we noticed a young lady sitting by herself on one of the benches. When we reached the young lady, Sonie asked if she was interested in talking. She agreed, so Sonie indicated I was to be the one to talk with her. I spoke in Taglish (Tagalog/English), shared the Gospel with her, and she responded favorably. When I asked her if she would like to pray, she said, “Yes,” and she prayed to receive Christ as her Savior. Just as I was finishing by sharing more verses of Scripture and getting her phone number, a very dark cloud above us opened its floodgates. We, along with 60 other people, dashed for cover, and watched the torrents of Typhoon Mina pour down and whip around us, soon creating a river around the shelter we took refuge in. Our close companionship yielded more opportunities for Sonie and Sara to share the Gospel with seven other ladies around them while I continued chatting with April. We stayed under the shelter for an hour, waiting for the rain and wind to let up enough, so we could cross the road and take our jeepney home. Please pray for April to come to church and to be open for follow-up.

Since I returned to Manila in July, I have been visiting different church ministries each weekend. I am seeking the Lord’s will regarding where He would have me serve on the weekends on a more permanent basis. I have really enjoyed seeing the various ministries that our BJMBC students are involved in. Often, they will ask me to provide special music or to play my recorder in the orchestra. Some are within a half-hour of my home, while others take two hours or longer to travel to. This past Sunday, Sara Morris and I joined Dr. Berrey and his family. The church we visited had two large trees growing up through the roof of the sanctuary area! They served us lunch following the service and laid out large seven-foot-long banana leaves on the table for the tablecloth. This coming weekend, I will travel with one of my piano students to visit her church and another student’s church in a nearby area; the trip will take about two hours by bus.

Please pray for the following requests:

1. Open hearts for me to witness to.
2. God’s clear direction for a church to assist in.
3. Language study: My language school has not yet had an opening for me to continue
my studies.
4. Wisdom in teaching at BJMBC and preparing my music education class for second semester (which begins in November)
5. For our students to be fully surrendered to God.

Thank you all very much for your consistent prayers and support.

In Christ,
Jolea Jensen

GFA Missionary to the Philippines
www.joleajensen.com

Mailing Address:
PO Box 120-UP
1101 Quezon City
Metro Manila, PHILIPPINES

Dear Praying Friends:

Thank you so much for your prayers for God’s blessing on our first wholly Tagalog/Cebuano sacred concert at Bob Jones Memorial Bible College. We prayed specifically that He would hold off the rain and not send one of our typical tropical downpours that would hinder visitors from attending. It did rain, as it does every day, but there was no powerful tropical downpour, so many people were able to attend. God also gave grace to those ministering in music through singing and playing instruments. After the concert, New Song Ministries staff had all the music available for people to buy and start using in their church ministries. Please do pray that God will continue to use this music to glorify His name and His name alone.

You are welcome to visit the following link to view a video I took of “Tunay Kang Matapat,” the Tagalog translation of “Great is Thy Faithfulness.” http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sz9UPaGy1Hw
This is a new melody written by one of my former piano students and arranged by Bethany Uhler, strings teacher at BJMBC. The young man at the piano is a former piano student of mine. It is such a blessing to see how God is using him in the ministry.

May God continue to bless each of you richly as you remain faithful to Him,
Jolea Jensen
GFA Missionary to the Philippines

Tunay Kang Matapat
by Thomas O. Chisholm
Trans. Max D. Atienza

1) Tunay Kang matapat O Dios nami’t Ama;
Di nagbabago, di nagiiba;
Mahapon, matanghali, maumaga,
Sa buong panahon matapat Ka.

(Chorus) Tunay Kang matapat, Tunay Kang matapat;
Araw-araw aking na mamalas;
Ang iyong kabutihang walang kupas,
Tunay Kang matapat sa paglingap.

2) Tag-araw, tag-ulan, at ang tag-ani,
Araw, buwa’t bituin sa gabi;
Nag-aawitang langit sumasaksi;
Sa katapatan Mong anong laki.

3) Kapatawaran at kapayapaan,
Mga pangako Mong umaakbay;
Lakas ngayo’y pagasang sumisilang;
Ang lahat ng ito’y Iyong bigay.