Jovannie Mendez
MISSION FIELD:
Cebu, Philippines
BASE OF MINISTRY:
Greater Vision Baptist Bible Church & Village Churches
Consolacion, Cebu
"There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also
make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."
I Corinthians 10:13
Salvation Testimony
I am married to Helen and God blessed us with a son, Jisrael. My life before was full of anger, hatred, wrath, bitterness and revenge. It’s because my father left us when I was only eight years old. At a very young age, I had many questions. One particular question that was always in my mind was “What will be my future?” I have a broken family, the father of the house was gone. What will become of my future? I started dreaming to become a boxer when I grow up because I wanted to beat up my father. I thought maybe a punch to his face would be enough to relieve my anger towards him. It was hard to live without a father. When I see my friends with their fathers, I got jealous. Many times I was bullied and many times I cried. When Christmas came, it was sad because they received gifts and I never had.I never remembered my father giving me a gift, not even on my birthday. I was very angry with my father.
When I was ten years old, a Bible student from Cebu visited our house. His name is Glenn Bronola. He asked me, “Can I share my Jesus with you?” When I heard that name, I became mad. I told him not to talk to me about that name because my father’s name is Hesus or Jesus and he abandoned us. For me that time, when I hear the name Jesus, I thought it is the same as my father and how he never took care of us. He never loved us, guided us, or protected us. For me that name is the same with my father and every Jesus is the same.
But he said that the Jesus he is talking about is different from what I knew. I didn’t know the Bible but he showed me a verse that I will never forget. He showed me John 3:16, “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” He explained that the Son of God is Jesus who loves me. He then shared with me what Romans 6:23 says: “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord”. When I heard sin and death, I listened carefully because he told me that anger, wrath, and bitterness are sins. I realized that I am a sinner and the only one that can save me is the Lord Jesus Christ.
That day, I received the Jesus that Bro. Glenn introduced to me. That day, I receive the precious gift that can never be taken away from me. That day, I received eternal life through Jesus who loves me and my life has never been the same. He called me to serve Him and be used in His ministry. To God be all the glory!
Calling & Training
I surrendered my life to full-time ministry in the year 1995. I attended a church camp in Talisay, Cebu with the theme “Standing in the Gap.” God spoke to my heart to surrender and dedicate my life to serve Him. After my high school graduation in 1996, I enrolled at Leyte Bible Baptist Institute in Ormoc City, Leyte, Philippines under Dr. Emmnauel Bereso. I graduated in the year 2000.
In 2014, God gave me the opportunity to study and further my training and studies about the Word of God at Marietta Bible College in Marietta, Ohio under the leadership of Dr. Myron Guiler. I took Advance Biblical Theology in Church planting. God called me to become a missionary and after 2 years of schooling, I went back to my country to plant churches.
Ministry Experience
In 2005, I became an Associate Pastor and Youth Pastor at Greater Vision Baptist Bible Church under Pastor Nilo Dela Cruz in Lilo-an, Cebu and served there for 8 years. I led and was involved in home Bible studies every night, knocked on doors for soul winning, led youth evangelism every third Sunday of the month and trained members to be preachers and teachers of the Word of God.
It is a blessing from God that I found a loving and beautiful wife that helps me in this ministry. She loves children and is burdened for them. We have seven areas in our town that we got every week to teach Bible stories and reach children for the glory of God. It is exhausting but we have joy serving the Lord. It is all for His glory! We saw children grow spiritually and it is a blessing to see them and their talents be used for the Lord in singing. We pray for them that their lives will be used by the Lord. I am praying that these children and young people will surrender their lives to God’s calling because the work is great.
Soul winning is an emphasis in our ministry. We encourage every Christian with our theme “Each One Reach One” for Christ. God called us to reach out and evangelize the lost. Every opportunity we have, we serve Him by winning souls for His glory.
United States
(740)374-5748/ 373-8915
(740) 568-0891
Fax: (740) 374-5720
Philippines
+63-917-860-4072
+63-908-893-2296
United States
103 Masonic Park Road
Marietta, OH 45750 USA
Philippines
5085 Matatalaib
Tarlac City 2300, Philippines