JECPP 10th Tribal Medical Mission

JECPP 10th Tribal Medical Mission

– A decade of giving hope to the weary

By La Donna S. Yap

 

Rev. Peter Wee, the chairman of Jireh-Evangel Church Planting in the Philippines (JECPP) and Senior Pastor of EFC-Davao led at least  60 enthusiastic volunteers from the church, JECPP tribal pastors and leaders, a group from Davao City Health Office, dentists and medical doctors to Marahan, Marilog District, Davao City to take part in the 10thAnnual Medical Mission of JECPP on April 24, 2013.

The team was welcomed with excitement and grateful faces of our tribal brethren who eagerly lined up for registration at 8:00 am in the gymnasium of West Marahan Elementary School.

Mrs. Beatriz Elvira

Mrs. Beatriz Elvira

 

In an interview, one of the recipients of the Medical Mission, Mrs. Beatriz Elvira, 51, said that she and her family waited for the JECPP Annual Medical Mission for the whole family’s medical check-up.  She added that without this mission, they would not be able to know their health condition.

 

 

Mr. Jolito Ambong

Mr. Jolito Ambong

 

 

Mr. Jolito Ambong, 27, happily carried his son John Patrick to line up for the free medical consultation. According to Mr. Ambong, his son is always coughing,but they do not have the resources to bring him to the doctor.  He exclaimed how blessed they are that the hospital (Medical Mission) came to them.

 

Ms. Ailyn Espera

Ms. Ailyn Espera

  

Mrs. Ailyn Espera, 26, could not wait for the Medical Mission’s date.  She was suffering from a constant tooth ache which disturbed her daily routine, but after benefiting from the free tooth extraction, she gleefully blurted, “the suffering is over!. 

 

 

 

 

These boys were eagerly waiting for their turn to be circumcised. “Tuli” or circumcision, is a deeply cultural and hygiene-related procedure; it is a “rite of passage” for young Filipino males.

For the past 10 years, JECPP Medical Mission endeavored to act as a beacon of light and hope for our tribal brethren in Marilog District by shouldering medical expenses and providing services that typically require payment such as medical checkups, tooth extraction and Operation Tuli.  These services were combined with the provision of free medicines, vitamins, deworming and immunization.

The annual event was supported by diligent efforts of Davao City Health Office and a number of local professional doctors.

All volunteers were offered the opportunity to witness, learn and get hands on experience in assisting local doctors. Even those who were volunteering outside of the medical rooms were able to support the smooth running of the day by admitting patients, recording their medical history and serving in the Pharmacy. Another group was also assigned to make and serve “lugaw”(rice porridge)  to the recipients.

In particular, the 10th JECPP Medical Mission was able to extend support to 446 individuals with the provision of the following services:

345 availed of the free medical checkup

52 availed of the free dental service (tooth extraction)

35 availed of the free Operation Tuli Procedures

14 availed of the free Pneumococal Immunization

The Medical Mission is one of JECPP’s annual contributions to the work of God and to bring our tribal brethren to the knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

 

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Meet the JECPP Medical Mission volunteers who labored unceasingly for 10 years:

  1. Dr. Rizaldo Gonzales IMG_0815

The first time I attended the JECPP Medical Mission, I saw firsthand how passionately the Singaporean Missionaries served my very own tribal brethren. As a Filipino doctor, I was challenged by how they left their families and used their own resources to serve the Filipinos wholeheartedly.  That was my turning point, and ever since my wife and I, together with my children, supported and volunteered for JECPP Medical Mission.

In fact, our year will not be complete without it. My fellow medical practitioners whom I recruited to join also feel the same. I am humbled every time I saw the grateful faces of our beloved tribal brethren. To help them ease their pain and burden encouraged me to keep on coming back. For me, joining the JECPP Medical Mission is more than my social responsibility; it is my way of giving back to God what He has been blessing us with.     

 

 

  1.   Ptr. Judith F. KintanarDSC_0534

The compassion from God motivates me to serve in the JECPP Medical Mission. To see the people being helped in their physical condition is a reflection that Jesus does not just care for our spiritual but also our physical condition.

Seeing the  pastors- both from tribal and city, doctors, nurses and members of Evangel Family Church from Singapore and Davao  who tirelessly work together to bless the unreached tribal people without any monetary incentives is very heart warming.  

Sometimes, medical teams come straight from their night duties to join this mission. They have not returned yet to their families or gotten any rest, but they are still willing and delighted to offer their services yearly for the JECPP Medical Mission.

To see Pastor Wee and Pastor Christine, together with other Singaporean volunteers helping and always looking for means how to better serve and bless the Filipino tribal people, even with language barrier, is really an encouragement. Truly, love knows no language.

Lastly, knowing that Pastor Robert Lim and all JECPP pastors are praying and giving their financial and moral support motivates me to go on the task yearly in blessing the tribal folks without any hesitations. 

 

Prov. 11:25  The generous will prosper; those who refresh others will themselves be refreshed.

A spacious building and pastor’s wedding for EFC-Gensan

Digging for our humble beginning would lead me back to our first Sunday worship of six people in a small rented house in Dona Soledad subdivision, General Santos City on November 12, 2005.  This birth of our small church is filled with hope, power and God dependency.    This rented house church thrived through evangelism, bible study and invitations until the limited space was engulfed by the attendance.

The need for a much larger space was prevalent in every prayer meeting and in our personal devotion.  Trusting in God’s provision kept us “Kingdom Driven” rather than considering set backs in our hands.  On the next year of a budding  church, God led us to transfer to a nearby place ( Lanton, Apopong ) since vast membership lived in that location.  We landed in an abandoned Sari-sari store (Multipurpose building).  On this year, we conducted our first film show crusade entitled  Hell is Real.  During the event, a woman came and maliciously disrupted the crusade by pulling the microphone plugs and generally created chaos.  Truly our adversary, the devil, was unhappy with the salvations of souls in that event.  But through God’s power, the woman just left the premises and the crusade ended successfully.

“If God is for us, who can be against us? ”  was  indeed an appeal for us to stay confident  to face the realms of darkness.  Convictions of the Holy Spirit sprouted in the hearts of everyone who attended the church services every Sunday.  It was on the same year in 2006 that we invited our first guest speaker Pastor Tony Angelias ( EFC-Kidapawan ) to speak in our church service. Never did we expect the attendance to double. The Holy Spirit moved mightily.  The Sari-sari Store building later couldn’t contain the growing attendance of the church. Thus, the need to transfer was greatly considered for the second time.

We moved from one place to another throughout the years, looking for a much larger building for our place of worship , until God provided us with His unwavering favor.  An abandoned warehouse of about 300 Square Meters was rightly God’s answer to our fervent prayers.  Members were overjoyed upon seeing the building  that was so spacious.  Pastor Wee and Pastor Christine came to see the building and affirmed that it is a very good place of worship.  However the prospected building needed enormous renovation for flooring, electricity and water line installations, comfort room construction, and painting.  Once again, that led us to bend our knees seeking the Lord for financial provision. God never failed our expectant faith. Our sincere gratitude went to Pastor Wee and Pastor Christine for initiating funds for the expensive renovation.   We thanked God for JECPP, EFC-Davao, EFC-Tagum, EFC-Kidapawan, EFC-Mati, EFC-Marahan and all Davao Region churches who helped us in our renovation.  Our young people came to church every day to help mix the cement, paint the wall, and carry loads such as hollow blocks, sand and cement while the adults brought snacks and lunch to our young people and laborers.  It was indeed a display of Psalm 133:1 “ How good it is when brothers live together in unity ”.

We finished our extensive renovation in more than two months , yet blessings never stopped from coming.  Pastor Wee called me up to say that Rev. Robert Lim wanted to give money to help us upgrade our sound system and instruments.  I couldn’t contain what I felt inside. I wanted to cry. I lifted my hands in praise to God.   On December 04, 2011 we celebrated our 6th Anniversary and Thanksgiving with Pastor Fabian Sumampong ( EFC-Polomolok) as our guest speaker.  It was also on this occasion that we celebrated our first service in the newly renovated place of worship, making us ready to usher more and more souls to His Kingdom.

In these recent two-year span of my work here in GenSan, our faithful Lord gave me double blessings. After establishing our place of worship in 2011, He again gifted me with a companion in the ministry.  On August 20, 2012, I was happily married to my lovely wife Jane, and God provided  everything for our beautiful beach wedding. Now, we are doing our “King’s business” hand in hand  as the Holy Spirit empowered us to do the ministry with great joy even in trials.

(written by Pastor Albert Poliño, Jr.)

GOD’S PRESENCE SHOOK DVO DEL NORTE YOUTH CAMP

youthcamp4Evangel Family Church Tagum has hosted  Davao del Norte region Sec-A’s 3rd Youth Camp with the theme “RENEW YOUR PASSION” last March. 

More than 70 young people from Kapalong, Florida, Carmen, Panabo, Kidaraan, Laak, New Corella and Tagum outstation churches were blessed with revival messages throughout the two days and three nights of fellowship.

I noticed the excitement and the hunger of the youth to encounter the Lord. Our hearts and minds were nourished in the night sessions where our pastors served variety of topics such as Renewing your passion, Pakigsuod sa Dios, Finish Well, Power to conquer with God, Built on a rock and Knowing your purpose. We also stretched our muscles and enlarged our friendships in our basketball and volleyball matches on the second day.youthcamp2

On our last day, we were grouped to share our personal testimonies. Stories from pastors and peers reminded us how great and faithful God is in our lives. We were more inspired to serve God. Disappointment was defeated that day because we were comforted by God through the encouragements we received.

A common problem mentioned by the young people during this sharing was persecution from family members when they received Jesus. One youth who is the family’s breadwinner was mistreated by his brothers when he wanted to work in the church. They wanted him to look for a more lucrative work instead and ordered him to stop attending church. Because of this, he backslid several times. He was thankful for the counseling time of the camp that enabled him to open his feelings and receive decision-making advice and guidance from pastors.

We also heard a testimony from a female youth. She and her siblings are also persecuted by their mother because her mother is very much against the church.  When their mother sees them dressed and ready for church every Sunday, she would call them back in to their house and immediately assign chores.  

Another testimony was shared by someone who has just attended church for three months only. He said he was rebel at a young age. He even had a gun and lived a violent life. 

youth camp1 Before he met Chist, he thought that was the only way to live. But instead of being happy with the positive change in him, his family started to intimidate him the moment he came to church. He shared that every Sunday, he would throw his church clothes outside the window so he would not be caught by his mother. Then he would slowly go outside, quickly pick them up and put on for church. He said fought for his salvation because he got  joy when God changed his life. He testified that during the youth camp, he was revived and have known God more.

On the last night of the camp, Pastor Rosario Simpas preached on The purpose of the cross. Wewent down on our knees; we remembered God’s sacrifice on the cross that gives us not even one reason to turn our backs on him. It was really the first time that I have experienced something this great that happened in the church. The place shook. We thought there was an earthquake, but there was none. The Holy Spirit literally shook us. Wow! God’s awesome presence was with us! We were crying. Voices were lifted out so loud, very desperate to touch God. The Holy Spirit was ministering to every heart. It was very good to see that despite the world’s wickedness, there is this young generation that finds God’s presence as the best thing life can ever have.

youthcamp3

 

(written by Micah Simpas)

EFA 6th Commencement Exercises

10th Tribal Medical Mission