ETTC 1ST TWIT GRADUATION

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Light rain did not dampen the excitement in the air last July 14, 2012. Resplendent in their Matigsalug tribal attire, 14 trainees, together with family, friends and mentors celebrated the successful culmination of the seven-month long training at Ladayon, Arakan Valley. For one week every month since January, each one of them made the regular trip to the Evangel Tribal Training Center from their respective homes and places of ministry to go through one of the nine modules on Evangelism, discipleship, health, agriculture, literacy and community development.

One of the Cebuano songs in the ceremony captured the shared experience from the first module to the last. The abounding grace and anointing of God made all those learning moments life-changing ones for everybody involved. Five people gave testimonies on the different modules. “The power of God’s anointing is real so His servants can exercise their gifts”, Pastor Maximo Lasquite declared. His learning about spiritual gifts and desiring the gift of healing was immediately put to test when He went back to his community. A neighbor had severe diarrhea and was close to being dehydrated. Before deciding to bring him to the hospital, the wife asked Ptr. Lasquite for prayers. Immediately the neighbor felt relief, and there was no need to go to the hospital. Maryflor Caday shared how she used the Chronological Bible Story Telling in Sunday School classes and Bible Study groups. The members were really excited and deep spiritual discussions resulted from her sessions. Elmer Ramirez, who is an experienced commercial farmer, shared about some eye-opening lessons learned during the Sustainable Agriculture module. He realized that as a farmer, he is responsible to give customers quality products, aside from being concerned only with good harvest and income.  He learned this as another dimension to stewardship.  Another student, Mary Ann, was very grateful for the practical things she learned from the Health module, especially on how to administer First Aid. She believed that it will help her become a more effective minister of the gospel in Guilon. Ramil, on the other hand, talked about his desire to teach his members how to read the Bible. At first he found the Literacy module difficult, but after much prayer, he found it easier to understand. He is now looking forward to helping his members acquire literacy skills. All of them were grateful for all the practical modules they had gone through.

The graduation ceremony was highlighted by Ptr. Christine Wee’s challenge to the graduates to continue doing the unfinished task Jesus left to His church. She reminded them that the unquestionable love of God, with His unstoppable power and unfailing promises to us, will definitely propel us to reap more souls into God’s kingdom.

Last June, the trainers for this first batch talked about involving these graduates in the logistics and actual training for the next batches.  The ‘Paul- and-Timothy principle’ of passing on these teachings to faithful men and women is very much in evidence. Our sincere appreciations to Sis Beng Bicaldo and her team from TMFI (Tribal Mission Foundation International) who has  partnered with us in training our tribal workers for the expansion of God’s kingdom in the Marilog District.

FIRE FELL FROM ON HIGH

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“And afterward, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your old men will dream dreams, your young men will see visions.” – Joel 2:28

Compelled by the desire to see transformation in the lives of young people, Evangel Family Church Cebu held a 2-day youth camp with the theme “TRANSFORMAKERS – Choose Not To Live An Ordinary Life” in Loboc, Bohol last April 2-3 followed by an outing in Panglao Beach on April 4, 2012. The main objective was to see the young people filled with the Holy Spirit and equipped for the greater task of spreading God’s gift of salvation and bringing transformation to others.

Around 60 campers set out excitedly on their sea journey to Bohol on a Sunday evening. Behind their smiling faces and   cheery chatting was a great sense of hunger and expectation of what God was going to do in the camp.

After several hours of sailing and another hour of land journey the campers finally arrived at the campsite, a picturesque place replete with natural beauty. God stirred the hearts of the young people that very afternoon in the two opening sessions with Pastora Jocelyn and Pastor Jay speaking. That same night Pastor Chuck Chua shared a wonderful message on Gideon being transformed from a coward into a conqueror. Indeed, it was a timely message for the campers to experience God’s touch and to hunger for more.

The campers welcomed the second day with personal devotion and time with God. God’s Spirit again was evidently at work in both the morning sessions as His Word was shared. In the afternoon, the campers enjoyed a thrilling time of games and fellowship. Some were already sharing the things done in their hearts and God’s refreshing touch as they received His words in the different sessions.

 

A marvelous move of the Holy Spirit took place among the campers on the final night. Following Pastor Chuck’s wonderful message on the Spirit of Transformation, the campers were challenged to receive the infilling of the Holy Spirit. God’s gift was freely granted to those who sincerely asked. The Spirit fell and filled each of them and they began to speak in other tongues. Different manifestations were unveiled as God’s Spirit flowed freely. A total of 14 campers were baptized in the Spirit for the first time!

In behalf of the Hearts On Fire youth in Cebu, we would like to thank Pastors Chuck and Jocelyn Chua for believing in the young people, for their love and desire to see them empowered and used by God. Our gratitude goes to them for spearheading such a fruitful undertaking. Special thanks also to Pastors Jay and Em Em Bautista for their undying love and support to the young people and for their hard work in making the camp a fruitful and successful one. And most of all, praises and thanks to the Holy Spirit who never failed to manifest Himself throughout the camp. All glory, honor and praises be to God!

History

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HISTORY OF JECPP

JECPP is an acronym for Jireh Evangel Church Planting Philippines, Inc. It encapsulates the commitment to proclaim the Good News (Evangel) with God’s provision (Jireh) through the planting of local churches in the nation of the Philippines. JECPP’s motto is Proclaim His Praise In The Islands (Isaiah 42:12). It is a non-stock religious organization duly registered with the Philippines’ Securities and Exchange Commission in November 1993. But its origin dates back to an earlier day.

JECPP is an outgrowth of the missions program of Evangel Family Church, Singapore in the Philippines. Under the inspiration of Rev Dr Robert Lim’s dynamic leadership, Evangel Family Church launched its missions involvement in the Philippines in 1985. A four-member team was first dispatched to test the ground and gain exposure in foreign missions. The following year then saw the sending of Evangel’s first career missionaries to the Philippines – to pioneer Evangel’s first missions church in Iloilo City. This modest beginning proved to be the commencement of a church planting movement that would culminate in the formation of JECPP.

JECPP is an enlargement of the burden and vision that God had birthed in Dr Robert Lim’s heart since the mid eighties. Dr Lim had an intense desire to win the Philippines for Christ. His zeal was further fueled by the recurrent, tumultuous events and calamities that had wrecked the Philippines since the ouster of the late President Marcos. With single-mindedness, Dr Lim committed himself and applied all the influence and resources under his leadership to spread the Gospel in the Philippines. His oft-quoted statement was: “The Philippines will not last” – a Spirit-inspired challenge to seize every opportunity to evangelize the Philippines before it was too late. He was given a goal of planting 100 churches in the Philippines by the year 2000. Thus, JECPP was born in November 1993 with 6 local churches after eight years of missionary work in the Philippines by Evangel Family Church, Singapore. Exactly 6 years later, in a JECPP-sponsored leaders’ conference in November 1999 attended by 2000 delegates in Davao City, the announcement was made to the glory of God that JECPP had exactly 106 churches. 100 churches were planted in 6 years in addition to the original 6 churches! This marked the fulfillment of the initial phase of the vision to see the multiplication of churches in the land of many islands.

THE EXPANSION

JECPP came into existence to fulfill the vision of planting 100 churches in the Philippines before 2000. God has so wondrously favored this faith enterprise and marvelously enlarged the vision to embrace various ministry components.

The number of churches planted, as of 2023, is 319 scattered across the Philippine archipelago. In recent years, the focus has been on gearing the organization toward planting CPM (church planting movement) churches. The intent is to see movements of rapidly reproducing churches taking place all over the country. This is crucial in penetrating vast areas of unreached people groups and accelerating the spread of the Gospel. Essential to the emergence of these movements are the raising of local financial resources and the releasing of volunteer workers for church planting.

Confronted with diverse needs and human sufferings in the nation, JECPP has taken a number of ministry initiatives to respond to the challenges.

The tribal ministry in Southern Mindanao was launched in response to the needs of the indigenous peoples in the tribal hinterlands of Davao. This entailed specialized training to equip workers for the task. It led to the purchase of a sizable mountain land to set up the Evangel Tribal Training Centre (ETTC). Incorporated into the tribal ministry was the annual medical mission aimed at bringing free medical consultation and medicines. Inaugurated in 2004 medical mission has brought together medical volunteers from Singapore and local medical personnel. It has also been replicated in squatter communities and disaster relief centers in other places.

Answering the cries of victims of man-made disasters and natural calamities such as fires, rice shortages, earthquakes, typhoons and floods, has become another feature of JECPP’s ministry. Its churches would pool together financial resources and send volunteers to bring relief and restoration to families and communities in dire needs even in far-flung areas. This is in keeping with Jesus’ injunction to “let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven.” (Matthew 5:16)

JECPP is more than an organization that plants churches. It is committed to plant the Gospel of Jesus Christ in the hearts of men and women, old and young, high and low, in the Philippines so as to truly PROCLAIM HIS PRAISE IN THE ISLANDS.

STRIVING FOR SOULS

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For many years, a total number of 29 outstation works had been planted by EFC Cagayan de Oro Region and out of passionate desire to reach out for more unsaved souls, we decided to saturate our own locale. God opened an opportunity for us in a slum area of our city called Isla de Oro.

The work in Isla de Oro started when God gave us a burden to reach out to the unsaved families there. Every Sunday evening, after our afternoon Cebuano Service in our church, a group of young people goes with me to Isla de Oro doing house-to-house invitation, encouraging people there to join a Bible Study. As we continue inviting and reaching out, the family of a certain Romeo Olano and the Abalde family responded and for a number of days, we held Bible studies in the Olano’s home. But as time went by, they turned to be uninterested and grew cold towards us.

We felt God once again wanted us to move on, to go further into the core or inside of Isla de Oro. We went and did house-to-house visitation there for almost two months, from August to September 2006, until we met a woman named Myrna Aljas. She welcomed the message of truth and received salvation. She allowed us to conduct Bible studies near their vicinity – at a vacant lot, and she provided us some accommodation.

Isla de Oro is a place thronged with crooked and unscrupulous people. Vices and drug addiction is very rampant, a place of many thieves and murderers. Many young people here are not sent to school due to poverty. In fact, many do not have any means for living, so they turn to vice and stealing. Instead of finding jobs, they find pleasure in indulging themselves with alcohol, gambling, and drugs. Satanic cults and practices are also rampant here.

Despite these circumstances which seem to be a roadblock to the entrance of the gospel to this place, we endured the race set before us. We remember what God has said, “run with endurance the race that is set before us” (Hebrews 12:1). Life’s trials, struggles, sacrifices and persecution in pursuing His work, the service we render will all be worth it when we reap the fruits and everlasting reward of faith. It is always too soon to quit in this work when we know that God is working mightily and miraculously in the lives of the people, touching their hearts and transforming lives.

As time went on, God brought us to meet a man named Ricardo Tubo. He found hope in knowing God and listening to His Word. Ricardo once lived a miserable life, full of regrets and separated from his wife. He lived a violent life of fighting and stabbing. Several times he was stabbed and last September 28, 2006 he almost got killed. His wife deserted him because he was irresponsible and lazy, and that made him turn all the more to heavy drinking. He felt that he was fated with this kind of hopeless living and will never escape misery. But God was good to Ricardo. He heard the preaching of God’s Word conducted at the vacant lot of Sis Myrna Aljas. God opened his eyes to see the great light he has been craving for. His life was changed and he is now a new creation! He turned away from all his vices and all those who knew him were amazed by his life transformation. Ricardo has become a very faithful member of our Isla de Oro outstation. Through his obedience and dedication in serving God, he experienced the peace that he deeply longed for in the past.

Aside from Ricardo Tubo, there are also people (young and old) who have become committed and faithful in our services at Isla de Oro. The work there grew from an average of 2 adults and 13 children to 16 adults and 30 children. There is still much work to be done. We must keep running “with endurance.” Let us finish the course and finish it strong. We are still praying that through this outstation more lives will be blessed and the community will be changed. To God be all the glory!

JECPP workers trained to plough in Luzon

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Love . . .

Faith . . .

Hope . . .

Basic as they might sound in a Christian leader’s perspective, they are enough to point us back to what really was the cause of Jesus Christ in the Philippines, especially Luzon. The three days spent in the slopes of Baguio City were worth more than years of waiting for God to powerfully redirect the vision, recapture the burden, and renew the church planting strategy in the vast island of Luzon.
It was early morning on the 29th of October when the bus left Evangel Family Church Quezon City carrying 60 delegates composed of pastors and leaders from the different sections in Luzon to attend the very first Luzon Church Planting Movement (CPM) Retreat. Most of the delegates arrived a day or two days earlier from their respective towns and provinces to participate in this very first gathering for Luzon slated from October 29 to 31.
Everyone was filled with excitement. On the eve of the departure, we had fellowship and some even stayed awake until the early morning bus arrived for a six-hour journey to the City of Pines-Baguio.
Blessed with a safe trip, the bus arrived at Teacher’s Camp in Baguio City earlier than expected. Upon arrival and short briefing done by Pastor Rachel Yu and Pastor Vernie, lunch was served. Everyone enjoyed the first meal in the cool atmosphere of the city. After a short break in the afternoon, all were ready to hear what God has prepared in the evening service.

. . . Love
The awesome presence of God was felt as all were ushered into a wonderful time of praise and worship. Rev. Christine Wee shared the story of how God’s love always protects us. From the beginning of time, God never failed to love us. The Creator of the Universe, so great in power, tailored clothes for His first children – Adam and Eve. Despite their sins, God slew an innocent animal, shed its blood, and made garments for the very first humans. He replaced the insufficient fig leaves they had made for themselves. This cloak of love was made as a prophecy of what Christ will do as a sacrifice for all – the One who knew no sin became a sin for humanity.

As the message ended, everyone felt once again God’s love and presence moving and awakening each heart, reminding each one what it felt the first moment we experienced God’s love.
After a refreshing sleep, the second day started with morning devotion. Despite the tremendously cold centralized air conditioning system (naturally embedded by God’s hand into Baguio’s location), all rose early to spend time with God. In the morning sessions, Pastor Jessie and Pastor Doming introduced the CPM and the T4T or Training for Trainers. The T4T was used by Jesus himself when He sent out the 72 disciples, apart from the 12 apostles. The key in the T4T strategy was finding the “persons of peace” who are open to the gospel in the target community.
After the morning sessions, the afternoon break was a time to check various beautiful spots in the city which included a tour to the Philippine Military Academy campus and of course, the famous strawberry farm in La Trinidad, Benguet. And the night became another time for the Spirit of God to move and touch lives.

. . . Faith
Confidence in God and the story of Abraham became the message of Rev. Chuck Chua. He recounts the story on how Abraham obeyed the Lord and became the father of many nations. Rev. Chua defined confidence in God as obedience. He shared once again his own personal story, of how God directed his paths to the Philippines. For Rev. Chuck Chua, it was a hard decision to make. He noted that the command of the Lord for Abraham to leave his country, his people and his father’s household were never easy to obey. But just like Abraham, having the confidence in God’s promises is more than enough to say “Yes, Lord”. Though Abraham’s eyes could not see yet the promised place and the promised people in his present time, he was sure of one thing- God’s promises will always come to pass.

Once again, God’s presence was overwhelming. The faith in each heart was rekindled, and the challenge to apply that faith into the work of God was implanted deeply into our being.
Time passed quickly, and we reached the final day of the retreat. With an introduction video on the impact of the CPM around the globe, the morning teaching sessions continued with Pastor Jethro. He spoke on the application of T4T from vision casting to forming churches and reproducing leaders. The morning session ended with a time of worship and thanking God for what He has done thus far in Luzon and what He will do after the retreat.
After lunch, the delegates went to the Mines View Park and had a superb time looking at the majestic view of the mountains and just stood in awe of God’s creation. For some, especially to those who saw this place for the first time, it was also a moment of thanking the Lord. This God who made this breathtaking view is the same God who loves us deeply. Upon returning to the camp site, all prepared for what God has in store for the final night in Baguio.

. . . Hope
Again, the Lord spoke through Rev. Peter Wee, giving everyone the message on overcoming shame. He directed us to the ‘cloak’ that God provided to Adam and Eve who hid from His presence because of shame. Rev. Wee narrated that because sin entered the world, so did shame. He identified shame as that feeling of being flawed. He continued by citing examples in his personal life. But the heart of it all is that Jesus Christ took not only our sin on the cross but also our shame by dying in the most shameless and despised manner, so that we could live forgiven and free.

As the service closed, we felt God embracing us with His love as His people once again put their hope in Him and be reassured that there is no shame in His presence. And that we will move shameless to spread the cause of Christ and the good news of God’s salvation to the place He has positioned us.
The evening ended with plaques of appreciation awarded to our guests- Rev. Peter and Rev. Christine Wee and Rev. Chuck and Rev. Jocelyn Chua for gracing the event and the encouragement they brought through their messages, company and support. As this was the final night, the fellowship among the planters and delegates extended up to most part of the evening.

And this would not be possible without the love and assistance of people whom God has used greatly. Thus, we would like to extend our gratefulness to our Founding Chairman, Rev. Dr. Robert Lim for giving his tremendous support to the work in Luzon. Also, many thanks to Pastor Jessie and Pastor Rachel Yu for organizing and coordinating the event, to those who gave the special numbers every night and to everyone who assisted in making this event possible. To God be honor and glory in this one small but pivotal step to claiming our promised place in the massive land of Luzon!

Typhoon Pablo Disaster Relief Operation

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Vision

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robertmarionWhen you think of planting a rice or wheat field, it always involves a team of people. The church planting efforts of Jireh Evangel Church Planting Inc (JECPP) were never a one-man show. God gave the vision, a group of willing men and women saw and believed in the vision and carried it out. The laborers worked to see that vision came to fruition. Whenever God speaks to a man or a woman, obedience is the key factor, for without a willing heart, nothing can be accomplished.

The call to plant 100 churches within 6 years (1994-2000) involved men and women with willing hearts who said ‘yes’ to changes and much more. It might not be comfortable at first but when followed through, the results were indeed rewarding. God gave me the vision in 1993 which required me to first step down as Senior Pastor of Evangel Assembly of God (now Evangel Family Church) after serving in that capacity for 25 years, and then to relinquish the posts of Assistant General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God of Singapore and the National Missions Director. Not only my life and positions were disrupted, but my wife was greatly affected too. She was asked to take over as Senior Pastor of the church, which she accepted reluctantly at first.

Other changes began to take place, the key assistant pastors who were then with me became missionaries and the new Senior Pastor had to raise new assistance.

When God moves, calls, directs and leads us to new things, sometimes it is like whirlwind that sweeps in and rearrange everything around us. It may seem in disarray, but God knows what to do if He is the one that is uprooting and replanting.

The families of our missionaries were uprooted from Singapore to the Philippines. Their children are now living in another culture, speaking another language and sometimes even eating another kind of food. The church planters have to be uprooted from cities to towns or even to the barrios. For some, it means no more rides on buses, jeepneys or tricycles, but to go on horsebacks they are working among the mountains tribes. The beautiful part of God’s rearrangement is that the right people were placed in the right places. As a result of their obedience, we now have 590 churches that we can call ‘Evangel Family Church’ all over the Philippines.

I take this opportunity to thank my beloved wife, Marion for her willingness to carry the burden as the Senior Pastor of Evangel Family Church, Singapore; my children and their spouses for their understanding and support; the congregation at Evangel Family Church Singapore who for years, consistently and faithfully, gave millions of dollars to missions so that the vision could be fulfilled; two churches, Calvary Charismatic Center (now Victory Family Center) and Calvary Church, KL, for believing in our vision, and standing behind us time and again; the missionaries from Singapore (together with their children) for their willingness to leave home to serve in a foreign land; the Mission Churches that have raised millions of pesos to support the 200 pastors and families in the 590 churches; the faithful missions school lecturers who have helped to train the church planters in the Missions School (ECME), as well as Evangel Tribal Training Center (ETTC) and the prayers and tears of many who have interceded on our behalf.

Without all these, without the team, the vision would never have come to past too soon.

Rev. Tony J. Angelias

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Deputy Regional Director (Southern Mindanao)

 

Pastor Tony finished his Bachelor of Arts major in History at Southern Christian College in 1992, and in 2005 enrolled at Evangel Center for Missions and Evangelism (ECME) together with his wife Liza. Today, he is the Senior Pastor of Evangel Family Church Kidapawan and oversees the churches in North Cotabato and outstations in Davao del Sur Section. He always loves to spend quality time as a husband and a father to their only son, Asher Angelo.

Teachers Seminar

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Looking for a recipe to make your Sunday School kids well-behaved and “doers of the word” in your class? Try the effective trio of love, action songs and organized lesson plan. This is what we learned last November 5 in our Teachers’ Seminar at EFC-Tagum. More than 40 Sunday School teachers and pastors from various outstation churches participated as we desire to be more effective leaders in the children’s ministry.

During the seminar, teachers Mayme Olegario and  Cecille Gacasan from EFC-Davao  imparted to us their knowledge and experiences. Teacher Mayme first taught us how to design age-appropriate lesson plans that would enable teachers to target at least two learning levels in just one class session. We learned about Benjamin Bloom’s six levels of learning, namely, knowledge, comprehension, application, analysis, synthesis and evaluation. If students’ learning is in the knowledge level, they would be able to name or recall information they had heard in a Bible story. But knowledge level doesn’t guarantee that students have really understood the practical meaning of the Biblical truth they have heard in the story. As teachers therefore, we need to strive to impart more than knowledge only. In this seminar, we learned to design our lessons in a way that students would be able to practice the significance of the Scriptures in their young lives’ day-to-day experiences. Now that we learn how to plan our lessons better, we believe that with God’s grace, we would be able to train young believers who are truly “doers of the word and not hearers only”.

Secondly, we also learned how to write objectives in our lesson plan. An objective simply means what we want students to accomplish at the end of the Sunday School class. Teacher Mayme encouraged us to really write down our objectives because these would be our guide or focus in every class activity we do with the kids. For example, we must not let kids color pictures just to kill time or because we’re not prepared for our class. Setting objectives means that when we tell stories, sing and dance, make crafts or basically anything, we have a clear purpose why we engage our Sunday school kids in those activities.

Then, teacher Mayme grouped us for our lesson plan workshop. Every member of the group had contributed their utmost ideas. That activity was very enjoyable and interesting because it enabled us to look for simple but innovative solutions and activities for the children to enhance their relationship with God. Different groups had presented their output, and we are thankful that we have acquired different useful ideas from each other.

For her part, Teacher Cecille taught us different songs, with corresponding actions. Wow! That was really amazing. Every singing and dancing part was our favorite! You could really see that not only young teachers were able to dance, but also the elderly. They were dancing like they were back to their childhood times. That was really enjoyable for all of us who attended.  We had learned many beautiful songs for our children. Through these new songs, we hope that our kids will be more participative, instead of misbehaving or doing something inappropriate during praise and worship.

Lastly, love is the most important ingredient in our Sunday school classes. Without this, then the Sunday School ministry can be very depressing for teachers. Just imagine dealing with a group of adorable Sunday School kids, who at any moment, can turn out to be naughty, noisy, wriggly, sweaty, nasty and uncooperative. We must ask Jesus, who utterly loves children, to transform us to be like Him.

We are very thankful for that seminar because we were reminded of our part in guiding the children to God’s ways and God’s love. Even though they are just children, they should not be underestimated because someday, they will be the ones who will rise and stand for God’s kingdom, and they are the generation that would follow our footsteps and finish the great commission.

Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go, and when he is old, he will not depart from it”

We give our heartfelt gratitude to Pas. Peter Wee and Pas. Christine for the financial support they gave for the seminar. We also want to thank teachers Mayme and Cecille for imparting their knowledge to us for God’s glory. All glory belongs to God! Amen.

“TYPHOON PABLO” DISASTER RELIEF OPERATION

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In Matthew 25:40, the King says “I tell you the truth, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me”.

These are the words of the Lord Jesus put into practice as Evangel Family Church in coordination with JECPP held its “Typhoon Pablo Disaster Relief Operation” in the Municipality of Boston and Barangay Carmen in Davao Oriental Region last December 18, 2012.

The activity was spearheaded by none other than our Founding Chairman, Rev. Dr. Robert Lim. Pastor Wee, together with some members, surveyed the area and coordinated with the Barangay Officials and the Police Department for systematic distribution as well as for the safety of our team.

Typhoon Pablo first made landfall in Davao Oriental, particularly in the towns Baganga, Boston and Cateel last December 4, 2012 and affected thousands of lives, young and old. Hundreds were buried alive who, up to now have not yet been recovered. The intensity and magnitude of typhoon Pablo has exceeded that of typhoon Sendong. It was tagged as the strongest tropical storm, PAG-ASA labelled super typhoon, to hit the country this year specifically in Southern Mindanao. As described by Pastor Lim, it was 700 kilometer wide like a lawn-mover and vacuum cleaner combined, blowing up and sucking up the whole Davao Oriental area. Typhoon Pablo caused widespread destruction resulting to destroyed properties, disrupted communication lines, cut-off power, flooding, landslides and uprooted trees and thousands of homeless families. Pastor Chua said that compared to the Visayas, the impact of the typhoon was so great in Mindanao. He described it as mind-boggling as he himself saw the devastation. This was indeed very rare that a typhoon will be passing this area; its devastation can leave one speechless.

Moved by the sight, Pastor Lim thought of how to help and took a greater leap of faith to raise funds for this relief operation. A close Malaysian friend of Pastor Lim, who was so generous, gave a certain amount of money on time, which was used to purchase the goods. A total of 1500 bundles containing rice, canned goods, noodles and loaf bread were packed. Aside from that, 105 bottles of 6-liter and 100 pieces of 21- liter water from Crystal Clear, goodies for the children and clothes coming from donations of our church members and EFC-Singapore were distributed. With the help of some of the church members, who voluntarily offered their time and effort, the packing of the goods lasted for a week from December 10-15 under the guidance of Pastor Christine. They were grateful to God for sparing Davao City from the destruction and in doing so; they have become a part of God’s work towards the victims of the typhoon. They gladly and enthusiastically did it in service to God and man.

On December 17, 2012, we started to load the goods to the two trucks. Thanks to Brother PJ Pascua, who initiated and offered a closed Elf truck where we can stack half of the goods. The other half was placed in a Forward truck that was rented. Some members came to load the goods onto the two trucks. Pastor Christine together with Bro Sam Simpas and Bro Michael Barrera left in advance with the trucks at 12 midnight reaching Boston area at around 7:00 am to finalize and coordinate with the Barangay and Military officials who will aid us during the distribution. Another team left Davao City on December 18 at 4:00 am and met up with a separate team in Tagum City. Along the way, the rain was pouring so heavily. In our hearts, we thought the operation might not push through but God was awesome and merciful that by the time we reached the place at around 9:00 am, the sun shone through every dark cloud to put a smile on every face. Pastor Lim shared to us that he texted Pastor Marion to uphold us in prayer because of the rain. Pastor Marion reminded him that as God was in the storm with Elijah, then God is also with us in the rain. How great was the impact of her words to put our trust in our God earnestly.

Upon reaching the place, we could see people already lining up inside a church to avail of the relief goods. We waited for about an hour because another truck was set ahead to bring down their goods from another company. Nearly 11:00 am, we started to hand out the goods. At first, we had a difficulty managing the crowd because they were so desperate that they started pushing towards the distributors. Thanks to our military officers who were there to supervise. Some team members even went up the truck while the military officers collected the green cards which the residents used to acknowledge that they have received their portion. A total of 1, 010 residents were served in the Municipality of Boston.

Then, we headed towards Barangay Carmen and distributed about 490 packs to the residents there. In this area which is along the highway, we saw the immense wreckage of the typhoon. Most the houses don’t have roofs anymore, and some even tumbled down. The people were so thankful for what they have received. In their own language, they said “salamatay” to us. We could see happy faces when we left. The remaining goods were sent off to a small barangay called Linggi, which was very difficult for the truck to manoeuvre through the small lanes. Kagawad Altizo offered to carry the clothes and goods to them.

The team left Carmen at about 3:00 pm. And just as we began driving off, we suddenly noticed a brilliant, beautiful rainbow above the sky, reminding us there is always hope after the storm. After a four-hour travel, we reached Tagum City for our dinner. Following that sumptuous meal, we bade goodbye to the Tagum team and headed home to Davao. The testimonies I could hear from my companions were so heart-warming that they put aside every complaint of tiredness. Their hearts were filled with joyful sentiments of extending help to strangers by giving food to the hungry, water to the thirsty, and clothes to the needy. As we do these things to them, we do the same to our God. Our stories were full of gladness.

Finally, Pastor Lim shared his words to all of us during the appreciation dinner, that one thing he admired of the Filipinos is that they can smile amidst devastation, and they can handle any disaster. His heart goes to the old and the babies who are suffering the most. He further pointed out that this activity is just short term and that we are going to believe that God will touch people for resources to come in to help families. He also mentioned about a desire to plant a little church there. And through this we can share God’s love to them and the hope that we have in Christ Jesus which is lasting and eternal. He added that there’s hope for the living, and their hope is Jesus.

We are very thankful to Almighty God for keeping us safe during our travel, for giving us healthy bodies to do His work and the joy to serve Him. We are also grateful to Him for giving us such leaders who were willing to go and support us in this very challenging task. Together as we join hands, we can do much more for the long term assistance of the victims. Thank you for all your prayers, and may God continually bless us to be a blessing to others.