I grew up in a Christian family and am a son of a deacon of our church. Even though I grew up in Sunday school, I knew nothing about Jesus. Since my father is a deacon of the church, they expected us to be faithful and religious. That pressured me to be always cautious with my actions.

In the year 1999, when I was 9 years old, people started to believe that Jesus Christ was about to come– “The Millennium”. It was all people talked about. One Sunday, my Sunday School teacher asked us, “What if Jesus is about to come on year 2000?” As a curious child, I answered her with a question too, “Why? What will happen when Jesus comes?” She answered and said, “Jesus will come and get His children and those people who didn’t accept Him as their Lord and personal Savior will be burned in hell.” Then, she asked us another question, “Who among you have already accepted the Lord Jesus as your Lord and personal Saviour?” I was so terrified to go to hell. Seeing all children raising their hands saying they are already saved and sure that they will go to heaven when they die, I was so ashamed that I still don’t have this Jesus in me. But I thought I had to protect my father’s reputation, so I pretended to be saved and raised my hand too.

Eventually we had to transfer churches. The church we transferred to had a lot of ministries. I joined the choir and the children’s ministry, all the while pretending to be saved. I taught children about Jesus and sang songs about Jesus but I myself was not saved. There was a hole in my chest, empty and hungry for an answer. One day, the pastor preached on John 3– the story of Nicodemus. How he went out at night hiding from his fellow Pharisees just to meet Jesus, because there is a hole, a hunger in his chest too. He was looking for an answer until he met Jesus. That Sunday, I realized I need to meet Jesus too. It was on November 9, 2008 that I got saved. I accepted the Lord Jesus Christ as my Lord and personal Savior. The preacher said, “Your reputation is not better than your salvation.” I was so afraid to reveal myself as a sinner, trying to live up to the image of my father and with the expectations of the people around me. That day, I removed my religious disguise and knelt on the altar and got saved.

I praise the Lord for not giving up on me. For years, I pretended that everything was okay, but God knew. Jesus is now in my heart, it is filled with His love and salvation. Praise the Lord!

I was in second year college, taking up architecture in a well-known university when I felt God calling me in full-time ministry. But at that time, my family had a lot of problems. To men’s eyes the timing was terrible, but I believe it was all in God’s timing. My dad was expecting me to graduate with the career he chose for me and find a job that pays well to help our family get out of debt, but his son chose to be a pastor. For some time he was disappointed in me. I started to live in our church, became a full time church worker, and was trained to be a servant of God. I never regretted even a single day that I followed the Lord’s calling in my life. “For where God guides, He provides.”

When I surrendered my life in full-time ministry, I did not really know how to work in the ministry so I decided to enter Bible college to be trained and be equipped. While I was studying, I continued serving in our church. In 2015, I graduated Bachelor of Arts in Theology at Fundamental Baptist College for Asians at Tarlac City, Philippines.

In the year 2017, I started a mission work in Angono, Rizal. Then the Lord gave me the opportunity to further my training at Marietta Bible College under the guidance of Dr. Myron Guiler who has a big heart in training students and missionaries all around the world.

Reaching children for Jesus Christ is the heart of our ministry. I was privileged to be one of the teachers of 6 different children centers where we taught more than 500 street children every Saturday. We shared to them the Gospel and the love only Jesus Christ can give them. Through this ministry, we are also able to witness to their parents, adults and young people in the area with the Word of God.

Every summer, our church conducts a Vacation Bible School in 6 different areas where more than 1,500 children are being taught about the Gospel. Serving the Lord through this ministry was such a great privilege because I believe that these children are the future generations of our churches. I am praying that the Lord will call these children to surrender their lives to Him and serve Him with all of their hearts.

I thank the Lord for the privilege to be able to serve as a youth pastor in our church. I started a Sports ministry as a way to share the Gospel to young people. Through this ministry, many young people got saved and followed the Lord in water baptism. The Lord blessed this ministry so much, most of those youths have surrendered their lives for the Lord and are now in full-time ministry. I was also able to work as a teacher in a Christian school and lead students in morning devotion where many got saved.

I thank the Lord for the opportunity to be able to lead and encourage young people to become more faithful in serving God, to see them grow in faith, and be able to pray for them that they may continue their walk with God in their lives.