After almost nine months of serving Kenya, I’m back in my
country, Philippines! It is made up of 7, 107 islands, to be exact.
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| Tarpaulin advertising the seminar |
After ministering to the children in a foreign land, I have
longed to do another adult evangelistic campaign in my home land. I prayed for
it and God answered! Indeed, for the sixth batch of PAFCOE training, I was
assigned to do one with a student for their on-the-job training (OJT). But
little did I expect that we would be deployed in an island --- literally!
Though I only knew few things about the place, I can hardly wait to go! I was
so excited! I have been doing evangelistic campaigns up the mountain, in the
city, and in rural areas, but it was the first time to be surrounded with
water!
ISLAND ADVENTURE
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| I and Jeamly - happy partners! |
I and my partner, Jeamly Gay Caliso, arrived in the site a
week before the start of the campaign. There was no electricity for the past 2
weeks. Wondering why? They are still suffering the effect of typhoon
Yolanda which struck the country the previous year. But God was so good because
around 6,000 died from their neighboring islands, but not even one from where
we were assigned. Praise God for reassuring our hearts!
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| Enjoyed cooking while teaching my co-missionaries how |
We were accommodated in a missionary house, where other
creatures live with us --- dogs, rats, cockroaches, spiders, and scorpions! The last one are found at our back (where we were cooking) and the rest are just roaming around the house. Well, we were not really in danger; we just need to be careful with the most dangerous. You know what they are! Sure enough, we
experienced God’s protection in our ‘house adventure!’
Before the start of the meetings, the District Pastor decided
to tour us around. Whew! Island hopping before our schedule gets tight! It was
a wonderful day to behold God’s marvelous handiworks through nature --- the sea
and its creatures, mountains, trees, birds flying, and a lot more. We visited
more than five inhabited islands and were out sailing in the sea (by pumpboat)
for more than seven hours.
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| In the pumpboat - island hopping! |
It was an unforgettable experience with the big
waves and strong wind (at least for us) when we were going back to the site at
night. We were so afraid so we prayed and sang, yet still I and my partner’s
heart were pumping hard – so afraid that we don’t want to do it the next time
before the evangelistic campaign starts; and I even suggested that we spend the
night in the nearest island and continue sailing the next day – but still we
kept sailing. Oh, what would have been the sight and experience of the
disciples in the midst of the raging sea back then – ‘twas incomparable! But
all that matters is having faith in the God who can command the waves and the
wind, ‘Peace, be still!’ Lo and behold, while singing, the waves and the wind
kept calm and we had peace in our hearts! Nevertheless, it was more than enough
to refresh us before the ‘battle for souls!’ Praise God for the awesome first
time sea adventure!
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| The giant rocks at Giant Island with the giant smiles! :) |
CHALLENGES AND PRAISES
It was not my first time to do an adult evangelistic
campaign but the third since I started full time in missionary work; however,
there’s always a need for help that I seek --- help from God: to carry out the
work and be victorious and to overcome the challenges that lies ahead of us.
Here are some of the challenges that we encountered and how God saw us through all of them:
One was language barrier. I understand the local dialect (Ilonggo) but it was still a
challenge to me to preach using it, though it was already
the second time that I did such. It was more than two years that I’ve learned
the language and now I have to recall the words to effectively deliver the
sermons. Nonetheless, it was more of a challenge to my partner. But Praise God for we
learned and were able to converse with the people; and Praise Him for teaching
us the right words spoken during the meetings.
Second was the electricity. The place was only powered by
the electric company from 6 pm to 10 pm. Praise God for providing us
with generator! Through it, though quite limited, we were grateful for 3-4
hours each day to edit our slides and study the presentations at the same time.
Also, because of this provision, we thank God for the meetings continued each night
without power interruption.
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| Tuesday is our market day and have to ride a pumpboat going to the mainland |
Third was the food. Surrounded with water, you can expect
that the people’s main livelihood is fishing and their favorite dish is fish.
So what do you expect that we ate there? Fish, too? No, no! We can’t do that!
In fact, we were offered to eat some; but we have resisted and they respected
that. We told them why and they understood. So what do we have then? Praise God
for the fruits, grains, nuts, and vegetables! Yea, we have survived in the
island with God’s original diet still! No compromises - we were still vegan in the island!
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| Choosing wisely to cook healthy vegan food! |
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| Our tent: skeleton left after being blown by the strong wind |
Fourth was the weather. We have only set up a tent on where
to conduct the seminar, so the weather was a challenge. But the rains didn’t
prevent us from sharing the Word. However, December is the ‘peak season’ for
the typhoon. Truthfully, we experienced a taste of it – our tent was blown by
the strong wind, so we have to transfer to one of the elder’s house. Though
quite a small space and also the reason for the decrease in attendance, we Praise
God for the ones who kept attending remained coming still.
Fifth was our voice. I’m so glad that my partner did not struggle
as I did with my voice. Truly, since I came from Kenya, I haven’t really rested
my voice from speaking. Then here I go again! Most of the nights I struggled
with it. There were even times when in the middle of the sermon, I was catching
up my breath and thought that I would totally lose my voice and not be able to
utter a word. But God was faithful for sustaining my voice; and though I
sounded like a man, He remained faithful for the entire duration of the
campaign. And my part? Ginger tea after each meeting and hot compress before I
sleep was very helpful.
ADVENTURE DURING EVANGELISTIC MEETINGS
Child Evangelism
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| Jeamly teaching mostly non-Adventist kids |
It is a patience-testing work! But I’m
glad that the number of children in Kenya is far more than here in Philippines.
An average of 80-100 children was attending every night. It was a hard work but
a blessing for my partner and another two PAFCOE graduates helping her. They
labored for the little ones and God rewarded their efforts. At the end of the
meetings, 9 of them accepted Jesus as their personal Savior and Lord.
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| Jeamly with mostly Adventist children |
Public Evangelism
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| Preaching in the adults |
On the other hand, preaching prophecy in the adults had always
been a blessing to me. There was an average of 70 attendees, Adventists and
non-Adventists each night. To preach the word boldly, with clarity, and with
and in love takes a lot of empowerment from God. I have never done it
on my own. It was because of God’s help, grace and power that the truths were
presented and changed the lives of people. It was my heart’s desire – that
people will not only be drawn to the truth and accept Christ; but as they
accept both in love, transformation takes place within them. Preaching about
prophecy is not that easy especially when you come to the testing truths – I
find it hard myself ‘cause you need not want to hurt them but you have to
preach it anyway, but always in the spirit of Christ – the spirit of love – and
so the truth would set them free.
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Full force from left to right: Bemie Cortejo (District Pastor),
Joren Guadalupe (2nd batch PAFCOE graduate),
Jhamil Jorolan (4th batch PAFCOE graduate), I, my partner Jeamly,
Ariel Tuan (Church 1st Elder) |
Despite challenges, the inspiring testimonies of the
brethren motivated me to keep feeding the bread of life. After the nightly
meetings, we always pray with them. One night, I was so humbled and moved by
one of the church members’ prayer. She said that she had already heard many
prophecy seminars but ours was different and the presentations were wonderful
that’s why she doesn’t want to miss a single night but always love to attend.
Another was what the first elder of the church expressed: he said that he only
began to really understand the 490-day prophecy during the topic’s
presentation. And mostly, the District Pastor said that he knew more about
spiritualism when it was taught. Praise the Lord for the brighter light that shone upon them!
Personal Evangelism
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| Visiting Nanay and Tatay in the house near our tent |
Public evangelism needs personal evangelism to be
successful! That’s why preaching was not just what we did; but
personal visitations, too. Here, I have a testimony to tell about a
testimony of a changed life…
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| Ate Josela singing with the rest of the attendees |
When I preached the first few days, I noticed this woman who
looks smart in the Bible. She sometimes wears eyeglasses and she was
attentively listening to the lectures. I don’t know at first why God led me to keep an eye to this woman. When the Sabbath topic was preached, I was so sad
because she was nowhere to be found. Every night, I always look for her; and
lo, there she was! But with the topic that Satan hates, it seems like the enemy
triumph because of her absence. Just so to know why she wasn’t able to attend,
we visited her. Outside their house, we found her talking to someone – her
husband. Later, she eagerly invited us to go inside their humble dwelling. Then
the very inspiring and amazing story began…
Her name is Josela Bacanto, a 36-year old mom with 3 kids. She
told us that his husband calls her every night and each time he does, he
always ask her where she was going and not able to pick up the phone for how many
days. She said she was attending a seminar and the husband wondered why
she always attend government seminars. She said it was a Bible prophecy
seminar of Seventh-Day Adventists. Then she shared to us how she kept attending the
meetings. It all started when she heard the topic about the ‘Law’ and got
confused about the Sabbath. So she began to open and read the Bible – the first
time that she ever did in her whole life! Amazingly, her first reading was about the 10
commandments. I cannot believe what she said! All I thought was she was a
devout believer and brilliantly acquainted with the Bible; but she has not ever
read it since she was born! Extremely confused, she asked her mom why the
Sabbath is not in agreement with the Catholic belief and why they follow the
rest of the teachings of the Catholic Church.
She also asked some neighbors, older than her, about what they think of what they heard from the presentations. They said, they were all truth; as she believed so.
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Left to right: Ate Josela's sister, Nanay Lolina, Ate Josela
I took this picture as I passed by them and saw them studying the Bible |
Then due to her cravings for
truth, she read the whole chapter of Revelation and came across the woman
sitting on the beast and had even drawn a speculation that the antichrist is Vatican; she saw the verse about the repetitive prayer which is not good and not God’s
ideal; and she searched why SDAs doesn’t eat pork and found the answer in the book of
Leviticus, without any human being guiding her. So who was it? Obviously, it was God
leading her! Interestingly enough, she tried attending the El Shaddai Church
but she found it tiring ‘cause of them raising their hands for an hour during
worship; attended the Baptist Church but can’t tolerate them crying during
worships; and attended the Roman Catholic Church but admitted that they only
read the gospels, people merely listen to the priest and even she doesn’t
understand anything of what the priest teaches. But when she attended the
prophecy seminar, she saw the difference and that’s what made her more wanting
and interested to attend every night. Her children were also faithful in
attending the children’s program.
We saw her zealous interest to study the Bible - but she has
none. In fact, before God led us to her place, which we knew not – not even her
name at first, she had just finished reading the Bible that she borrowed from a
neighbor. So, we offered to give her a Bible the following day. She also
noticed that we, as young persons, are really different because of our faithfulness
to God’s Word. Then she commented that she was amazed with the SDAs in the
community because they never go to the sea anymore to fish when the sun sets every friday.
We Praise God for the example that she saw in the lives of His people!
It was
the longest visit that I ever had (at least for me). And for the three of us
who heard Ate Josela, it was the most inspiring and amazing testimony that we’ve ever
heard! It was already dark outside but before we prayed and finally leave, she
shared her last words - as if preaching to us! Told us that the penitence of Catholics during Holy Week and the Black Nazarene was absurd; that she’s going to look
for the Catholic Catechism and find out what the Catholic 10 commandments say;
and without hesitation, she said that it is only the pope who can change God's law as he is the only one making rules for the system and spreading it through the
leaders to be taught to the members of the faith. Then there was awe in our
facial expressions and enormous joy in our hearts! She was indescribably happy
for the truth that she heard and learned and thankful for us – and we were
thankful for her inspiring our hearts, too!
Praise God for this soul who was so teachable and open to the Holy
Spirit’s conviction. So overwhelmed, we Praise God for that day for giving us an
experience which we slept soundly with.
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| All heaven was rejoicing for Ate Josela's baptism |
The seminar went on…Then one night, after the ‘True Church’
presentation, Ate Josela approached me and said that she and her children
decided to be baptized! Praise God! What really inspired me more was when she
told me that since she began attending, she can’t sleep well anymore and she
doesn’t know why. Do you know why? Oh well, I believe her conscience was
bothering her; and God was prompting her, through His Spirit, that she needs to
make a decision about the truths that she heard- then she will have peace –
even peace that passeth understanding. Truly, she was baptized; and we Praise God for this soul who has a great influence in the community, being a leader. We believe that through her, she can win many others in the island to Jesus!
In her written conversion story, Ate Josela was asked few questions and here are the answers [translated] she shared:
1) AF
Question: What was your life before you started attending the Prophecies of
Hope Seminar?
Ate Josela: My life as a Christian, when I haven’t heard
the truth yet, was like
a plant that needs to be watered and nourished to grow. With the religion which
I was born, I haven’t felt the real feeling of what is called ‘belief/faith.’
Because we are living in the island, it’s good that we can go to church and
worship once a month or once a year. I haven’t known anything about the Bible
and from the Bible, especially the 10 commandments. But when I was young, I
already read it from the Catechism and I thought that it was what’s written in
the Bible. Because I don’t have a Bible, I just lived my life by following the
tradition of our church [Roman Catholic]. I didn’t feel true happiness!
2)
AF Question: How did you learn about the seminar and what made you continue attending
it?
Ate Josela: By listening to the seminar, I cannot
explain what I felt but it seemed like there’s something that urges me to
attend; and I really want to hear everything that I wanted to know. Even I, I
can’t control myself from attending and listening. There was an excitement
within me and I’m bothered by my conscience whenever I can't attend.
3) AF Question: What did you learn from the seminar that
made a great impact in your life?
Ate Josela:
A lot! One is the 10 commandments of God, the Sabbath day, and the second coming
of Jesus.
4) AF Question: What changes have you made in your life
since you attended the seminar?
Ate Josela: I challenged myself not to eat
pork and other foods forbidden in the Bible.
5)
AF Question: What made you decide to follow Jesus in Baptism?
Ate Josela: Myself and I want to do so.
6)
AF Question: After your baptism, what are you going to do with the truths you have
learned?
Ate Josela: I will keep it and follow!
7) AF Question: What can you say about the following:
a) The Prophecies of Hope Seminar? – The stepping
stone towards the
truth.
b) Amazing Facts Ministry? – It encourages anyone to open
their hearts to
Jesus.
c) The speaker? –
Inspirational!
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| Ate Josela crying (tears of joy!) after sharing how she was so blessed with the seminar |
Ministering to people’s health needs opened the door for us
to make friends with them. As we went on house-to-house visitations, we had
blood pressure checking, sharing healthy eating lifestyle and counseling
on natural remedies for certain diseases. Aside from that, we had health
lectures each night and people loved it! They were informed and learned a lot
about “Amazing Health!”
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How the wound looked like at first:
We described it as 'burger patty' bloody wound |
One experience that I can’t help but share as we did medical
missionary work in the island was about Tatay Jesus. He was an 82-year old man,
a Seventh-Day Adventist, and he was suffering from a cancerous wound. The wound
started as the size of a 5-peso coin and eventually got bigger because a wood
hit it during typhoon Yolanda and primarily due to consuming flesh.
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| Jeamly cleaning Tatay's wound |
It was one Sabbath afternoon when I came across an old woman
and she told me about the condition of her husband. She was the wife of Tatay
Jesus. That afternoon was supposed to be the schedule to distribute the
handbills around the place but I didn’t hesitate to tell the wife that I want
to see him. So, off we went! Then the following day, we started cleaning and
dressing the wound using garlic and onion. The first time I opened the
charcoal-poulticed wound, it was dirty (cause of the charcoal which somehow
stuck on the skin for quite a long time) and it stunk --- like spoiled meat!
Smelled not just bad but really worst! This is one of the reasons why I didn’t
take up nursing or other medical courses – I’m a coward when it comes to
dealing with wounds, blood and awful stuffs! But this time, I can’t help but to
forget about the cowardice and gain bravery in the Lord, to help the
sick-stricken old man and help him achieve his desire – the healing of his wound, regain strength, and go back to church
and worship God.
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| Dressing Tatay's wound with onion and garlic poultice |
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| In the pumpboat going to Tatay's place |
To minister to Tatay, we walked 1.5 kilometers going to their house. At times, we sail through a pumpboat when we were in a
hurry. We did it for one long month with joy and love! We administered natural
remedies by using onion and garlic and moringa sometimes; and of course, we changed
his diet. As we prayed and started the cleaning and dressing of the wound, we
experienced God’s hand guiding our hands. And we become more inspired in helping him, seeing he was helping himself too - being positive that God will make him well.
As we persevered in praying to God to heal the old man and in using natural
remedies, it worked and we saw the wound getting smaller. Doing it, at times it
was easy to clean as there was no bleeding at all; but tough times happened too
– the blood squirting from a small opening which seemed like changing its spot
from day to day: but Praise God for garlic which stops the blood from flowing.
Then one Sabbath day, transpired the most challenging and fearful experience! As
I was cleaning the wound, blood came from an opening again. That time, it was a
lot – Tatay lost more than 16 ounces of blood! As a result, he had difficulty in breathing and became so pale and weak. I was quite afraid then but I kept my emotions calm; then in my mind I was praying: “Lord, please don’t let
this man die in my hands.” Then everyone was at work! While I continued to
minister to the flowing blood, some prayed, another applied hot and cold towel
to the body, and we had him inhale the eucalyptus. Then he started to breathe
normally again – Praise the Lord for giving Tatay the strength to fight!
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| The wound got smaller! |
But as what the Bible says, there is a time for everything –
a time to live and a time to die. Tatay was already given by the doctor, whom
they consulted before, to live two weeks more (even before we met him). But God
was gracious to extend his life. We have done our very best, with God’s help,
to ease his suffering. Sadly, just last January 11, his breath returned to God
and he rested in peace.
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Amazing team: Took picture of the ship, destroyed by typhoon Yolanda,
before sailing back to the island despite unfavorable weather condition
(before supertyphoon Ruby's landfall in the Philippines) |
Simultaneous with the adults’ meeting was the children’s
program. It was supposed-to-be a month long of efforts but it exceeded for another week. Why?
You probably heard of the supertyphoon Ruby which struck the Philippines. Even
before its landfall, due to the previous years’ experience of the people in the
island with typhoon Yolanda, they have already learned their lesson so they
evacuated to the mainland ahead of time – they had us evacuate, too! So, we were not able to continue the adult's meeting as most of the people left the place. Being
updated with the weather and seeing that the landfall was delayed, though we
were advised not to go back to the island, we asked for God’s protection and
off we went back twice! The first was to visit Tatay Jesus, those who were not able
and those who chose not to leave the island. It was the time when I saw a
dove when we were sailing and I believe that it was God who sent it as if
saying, “Don’t be afraid, I’ll be with you and give you peace!” Indeed, we had
a peaceful ride! The second time that we went back was on a Sabbath day to finish the children's program, which we actually did. It was
quite calm heading to the site but there was strong wind and waves going back
to the mainland. Again, we sang while sailing and we believe that God was
looking down at us and kept us safe! Praise the Lord for watching over us!
Few days after, when our prayers were answered and God pushed away the typhoon from the area, I went back to the site to finish the unfinished
mission – one more week to preach and harvest souls! People were back in the
island and the meetings continued. Every night, appeal after appeal was made;
and soul after soul responded and made a decision to follow Jesus and the
truth.
Finally, the last topic about ‘Heaven’ was preached and the
last altar call was made. Decisions were fixed and Praise God for 25 souls in
an island – 9 children and 16 adults who decided to be baptized! Yet, that day
turned out to be a dramatic one as well – those who didn’t decide to accept
Christ came to me crying and said, ‘Soon, I’ll be among you!’ Glory to God for souls to be in the fold soon!
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| The 25 souls holding hands, led by Pastor Cortejo (middle), going down to many waters on a bright sky! |
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| Pastor praying for God's Spirit and blessing to be bestowed on the newly-baptized |
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| The laborers and the harvested souls! |
And as the story of a missionary usually ends – time to bid
goodbye! Last prayer, last hugs, last tears, and last words – perhaps in this
world. But the words of hope are, ‘When we all get to heaven, what a day of
rejoicing that will be!”
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Amazingly blessed partners and Praising God for
the joy and experiences of working in the island! |
Time had flown so fast and it’s great to hear the good news that
the newly-baptized in the island were nurtured and active in attending church.
Praises, glory and honor to God Almighty!
“One soul is of infinite
value; Calvary speaks its worth. One soul won to Christ, will be instrumental
in winning others, and there will be an ever increasing result of blessing and
salvation.” –GW, 184.3
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