Breaking Free Ministries USA
A Search For Truth (Part III)
COMING OUT                                                                  
In April 1982, my wife and I moved to Mississippi. We attended the nearest local Worldwide Church
of  God in Jackson. Moving here turned out to be a blessing for me spiritual; I wonder if I would
have ever left the church if we hadn't moved to Mississippi. After nine months, I moved back to
Kansas City because of the problem I had finding a well-paying job which contributed to a marriage
problem that led to separation, and later divorce.                       Coming out of the Worldwide
Church of God was not that difficult. After moving back to Kansas City, I just didn't return. Since it
was the policy of the church to not fellowship with those who leave, this made it easier to leave.

A NEW SEARCH FOR A CHURCH HOME                      
For a while I began attending a spin-off of the Worldwide Church of God, the United Church of God,
a church fellowship started by a minister who had also left the church. Because the Sabbath
(Saturday) tradition was deep in my soul, I was still looking for churches which kept the Sabbath. I
also attended the Church of God Seventh Day only because they kept the Sabbath.              

But thanks to an ex-pastor of the Worldwide Church of God I began reading articles written by him
explaining why many doctrines taught by Mr. Armstrong were not biblical correct. Gradually I began
to understand biblical what he was writing  was correct. The keeping of the Sabbath was among them.
Now that I longer had the Sabbath to hold to, what's next? Next came the holy days, the three tithes,
and then the meat laws.  By this time I also began listening to every radio station and watching every
Christian ministry's television  program I could. None of the ministries were consistent with my
present understanding of scriptures. God was still renewing my mind, step by step, and day by day.
They all taught some main doctrine I couldn't agree with. Many of them I found taught some form of
legalism, even though they taught salvation by grace.  My old habit of looking for good Bible
teachers was deep in my soul. Unfortunately, you will find many Bible teachers contradicting and
condemning each other. New babes in Christ must be very selective to whom they listen too because
they aren't  well grounded in the Word,  they can get very confuse.                   
After my wife and I remarried for the second time, May 4, 1984, and moved back to Kansas City,
soon thereafter, she began attending charismatic and Pentecostal churches. That's how I got
acquainted with charismatic churches. First, she attended Full Faith Church of Love, and later,
Sheffield Assembly of God. Even though I never joined these churches, I was welcome there and
found the people having and showing an outgoing Christian love for each other.

LIFE IN THE PHILIPPINES                                             
On October 24, 1987, my wife and I went on a four month missionary trip to the Philippines. My
heart wasn't in it, but it turned out to be the most rewarding adventure for me spiritually. God uses
this trip to the Philippines to open my eyes to an even better understanding of His Word. While
teaching in a Bible school there, I read and studied intensely the Bible and other biblical literature the
Bible school had in their library. I came to a very good understanding of God's grace and basic
church doctrine.               













After our plane landed at the Manila International Airport, and entered the airport terminal, the first
thing we noticed was the humidity - hot and sticky. We then proceeded through the entrance gate to
the baggage pick-up area for our luggage. We waited and waited, but our luggage was not there. We
checked with the lost and found agent. She said that all luggage, packages, etc., which were on the
plane we had flown on, had been taken off the plane. We were assured by her it would arrive on
another flight. But it was two days later before our luggage arrived in Manila.                                      
          














With only the luggage we carried with us we met our two hosts, who had been waiting for us over four
hours outside of the airport, because no one is allowed in the airport unless you are an employee or a
passenger with a passport and ticket for leaving the country.              

















Our hosts and us then took a cab to the bus terminal about five minutes from the airport. The ride
between the airport and the bus terminal was a  very exciting. It seemed that all the drivers droved
like they all had the right-away, with horns blowing and people walking in traffic barely getting out of
the way before they were hit.                                 

The bus took us to our destination, Urdaneta, Pangasinan, which is about four hours' drive from
Manila by bus. It rained a little before we arrived in Urdaneta. After we arrived, we took a tricycle (a
motorcycle with an extra seat on the side) to our host's home.               














The following day, Sunday, my wife spoke at the International Christian Missionary Church, a home
church, the place where we were living. Later that evening, she spoke at another church. For the first
month, my wife spoke in many churches on Sundays plus many days during the week. Later on, I
spoke at a few churches.                       
















Until we purchased a cooking stove, we ate with our hosts. We found some difficulty eating some
Filipino foods because we could not adjust to them. Before coming to the Philippines, I had agreed to
teach on "Modern Cults" at Theological Institute of the East (T.I.E., a trans-denominational Bible
school). It came as a shock to me, but I learned more than the students while teaching the subject.
The reason I did is because of the textbook that was suggested I use, "Witnessing to the Cults," a
practical study course by Alex Wilson and Christine Tetley. The authors explained the scriptures cults
use to prove their false doctrines, even the former cult which I had been a member, the "Worldwide
Church of God."                                             

















Because of the difficulty in getting a ride to T.I.E. Bible School from where we lived, a month later we
moved there. I continued teaching on "Modern Cults" and my wife lectured during the Monday and
Friday chapel service. One day during an inventory of the school's library, I came across booklets
written by Cornelius Stam, then president of the Berean Society in Chicago, Ill. I found out he was
teaching Bible doctrines I had already become familiar with.  During Christmas break, my wife and I
visited some friends who had had a Bible school and church in the province of Infugao, which is a
five-hour bus ride from T.I.E. We had met them earlier before we came to the Philippines, when they
were visiting churches in the United States. While I was looking over his library, I noticed a large
collection of booklets written by Robert Thieme, pastor of the Berachah Church in Houston, Texas.
As I read them, I discovered he and Cornelius Stam taught the scriptures from a grace, dispensation
point of view. I didn't think any ministry existed that taught these doctrines (no legalism): salvation
by grace, not by works; no Sabbath (Saturday) or holy-days required; no three tithes required; no
meat laws; and no condemnation for drinking alcoholic beverage (only drunkenness was condemned).
I did covered that both Mr, Stam and Mr. Thieme were teaching nearly nearly every doctrine I had
come to accept, because of the literature I had been reading and studying from a former Worldwide
Church of God pastor, Ernest Martin, from the United States.                               

















While we were in the providence of Infugao, we were invited to a Bible translation camp, the Wycliffe
Summer Institute in Bagabag, for a Christmas dinner. Their environment was like living in the United
States with all the conveniences, and we enjoyed the fellowship.                


















After returning to T.I.E. and the beginning of the next trimester, I was given three courses to teach:
English I, Pauline Epistles (I & II Corinthians & I & II Thessalonians), and the continuation of
Modern Cults. My wife taught one course, Poetical Books, and continued speaking during chapel
services on Fridays.            






















The next place we visited was the number one vacation spot in the Philippines, Baguio. The climate
there was ideal; it was mild, not as hot and humid as other areas in the Philippines.                          

Previously in December, we toured another tourist's attraction, One Hundred Islands. These are a
group of very small islands, only a few of them have anyone living on. This was my first boat ride,
and last one without a life jacket, since none was provided.                                    

















My wife's mother had written her and asked about the Negritos, Black people whom she believed
original came from Africa who live in the Philippines. My wife asked questions about their
where-about and found out a group lived in the province of Zambales, which is approximately a
four-hour drive northeast of where we were living in Urdaneta, Pangasinan. We mentioned our desire
to visit them to a man who was visiting us. He said he had done some ministering with them and
would help us in finding a way to visit them. With  the assistance of another minister (the owner of
the truck who had also done some ministering with the Nigritos), a student from T.I.E., my wife and
I, we started off to visit the Negritos in the province of Zambales on February 7, 1988.               


















The first village was "San Isidro," a forty-five minute drive from Olongapo (Subic Bay area) where
the United States navy base was once located. After arriving there, we found out that all the Negritos
had left the village to work in the mountains, except for one family. There were others in the village,
but they weren't Negritos.                

The following day, February 8, we traveled to the village of "Ka Kilingan." The people were very
warm and open to us. We were able to speak and preach to them about Christ. All were encouraged
and many accepted Christ as their personal Savior. They told us they needed a church building and a
minister to pastor and teach them.            

The next village we came to was "Ibad." Unfortunately one of the major cults in the Philippines had
already been there, Iglesia ni Christo (Church of Christ). [This isn't the same Church of Christ as in
the States. Iglesia ni Christo teach that they are the only true church, and don't accept the Deity of
Christ.] We sang songs and preached to them, but they did not receive us very well. Most of the
Negritos had left the village and returned to the mountains because of sickness among the children.
Many of the children had died. They thought God had placed a curse on them for leaving the
mountains.             

The following morning, February 9, we stopped by one more Negrito village, "Kal Kala-basa."  There
were many Christians in this village and we were received with open arms. This village also didn't
have a place of worship or a minister. When asked what they needed most, the captain of the village
said they needed someone to teach their kids basic education because the nearest public school was
too far away, their children weren't able to attend school.
[Continued in "Part IV" (click)]
Janice & James Ministering
Book Donation
Our Host @ T.I.E.
James & Greg @ T.I.E.
My Class I Taught
Baguio City - 1980
Negritos Village
Benny &James in "Infugu"