In 1996, I was a devoted Catholic. I believed that good works is the only way to get salvation and forgiveness of sins. Because of that belief, I was like Apostle Paul before he got saved. I was negative towards people who believed otherwise, in fact every time I see activities like street preaching, tracts distribution, I was mad.

One day, I saw a man doing street-preaching. There was a young boy with him who came up to me and gave me a Gospel tract. He asked me if I knew about salvation and continued to tell me that it is by faith alone towards the Lord Jesus Christ. When he said that it’s by faith alone, I said, “No! I don’t believe that!” and left. A year later, on January 1997, while I was studying, one of my friends visited me and tried to share the Word of God. Annoyed, I told him I was busy, but before he left he asked, “If you die today, would you go to heaven?” I told him I can’t answer that. Then he said that I needed salvation. I told him I heard that before, “That salvation is only by faith towards the Lord Jesus Christ alone, right?” I told him that I wasn’t interested. He left but his words bothered me until I went to bed. A week later, he tried to invite me to their church, but instead of going with him, I went to our priest to ask him if my friend was right, “If we die today, how are we sure we will go to Heaven?” He answered nobody knows. Then I asked is it true that through faith alone in Jesus Christ can we go to heaven? He said I just need to pray to Mary, continue to to go to church, be kind to others, because those things will get us to Heaven. When I heard his answer, I was confused. Those two things really bothered my mind, first the question of my friend and the answer of the priest.

The following Sunday my friend invited me again and this time I went with him to church. On that Sunday morning, I heard the message of Salvation clearly. In Romans 3:23, it says we are all sinners in the sight of God and nobody is exempted. But in spite of our terrible situation, God loves us. God gave us a gift which is eternal life through Jesus Christ. The pastor preached on Ephesians 2:1-10, that Salvation is by the grace of God through faith in Christ Jesus alone and nothing else. That morning, I was no longer confused. I opened my heart and went forward to the altar and knelt down on my knees and accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord. After I received Christ in my heart, peace and assurance followed and everything in my life was changed from that day. Glory to God!

After I got saved, I quickly got involved in the ministry. As a young Christian, my pastor taught me how to win souls, preach, handle Bible studies, teach children about Jesus. After some time, I was given the opportunity to lead young people in our church, disciple them, and encourage them in the ministry. We went to the slum areas to teach children and win souls. In 2002, I surrendered my life to the Lord and became the associate pastor of Lighthouse Bible Baptist Church under Pastor Rolando Pacong in Sta. Cruz, Tangub City, Misamis Occidental.

In 2004, I surrendered my life to become a missionary to inmates through the prison ministry of our church. To be more equipped, I enrolled at a non-formal Bible School in Ozamis City, Misamis Occidental for 3 years, under Pastor Emmanuel Tago.

In 2014, God called me to become a church planter. It was then that I was given the opportunity to study as a scholar in Marietta Bible College in Marietta, Ohio under the leadership of Dr. Myron Guiler to have my formal training and to further my studies.

In 2002, I served as the associate pastor of Lighthouse Bible Baptist Church in Sta. Cruz, Tangub City, Misaims Occidental. I thanked God for the privilege that I was be able to serve my Savior and Lord. In 2004, God gave me the burden to reach inmates in prison. The Lord put in my heart the desire to reach the people others do not want to minister to. Every time I preach in the prisons, I saw their need: they have no Idea about the Bible and they need salvation. That year, I surrendered my life in a full time ministry to God to preach the Gospel to the inmates.

Even though it was hard, God is faithful in blessing this ministry. God entrusted me with five prisons: the first was located in my town and the others were in the provinces of Zamboanga Del Sur and Zamboanga Sibugay. I traveled every week to preach in the prisons in these two provinces. In a day, I preached five times to 400 inmates.

I thank God for the grace, power and strength that He has given me. For the past 11 years in the Prison ministry, the Lord has been with me through all hardships. And the victory is always His! The inmates learned the Bible, learned how to pray and many got saved and their lives changed. In fact, before I preached, they prepared songs to sing as special music and rendered a song to God. Praise the Lord! There is a big difference in their lives and Jesus in their hearts is the reason.