I was born and raised in the Philippines. I am the youngest of four children. Being the youngest, I was spoiled by my family. My father is a policeman and was overprotective of us his children, especially of me. My mother was a devoted Catholic. They showed me a life dedicated to the Catholic religion. Life was happy and with little problems. I considered my parents to be strong because that’s what they showed me. They kept the struggles they were going through from me. But I wasn’t prepared for the biggest and hardest change that was going to happen in our lives.

My father had diabetes since I was a child. I thought that he was getting better because we were always at church. But it came to a point that he had to be in the hospital for days at times. We spent most of our money paying for hospital bills and medicines. My mother had to find a job for us to survive and to pay the debts we owed to several people. I thought to myself that attending church didn’t help us. It didn’t do any good to my father either. I couldn’t do anything to help them. I was so frustrated with our life that I started rebelling. In high school, I went with friends who were bad influences. I skipped classes and drank alcohol to forget all the problems back home. But reality always hit me whenever I came home and I saw the situation we were in.

One day, my mom’s friend invited us to their church. It was a Baptist church. Out of courtesy and curiosity, we accepted the invitation. We loved our first visit. The members and the pastor and his family were very friendly and they welcomed us so warmly. The joy in their faces as they sang hymns was very contagious. After that, they started to visit us and conduct a Bible study in our house. My mother and two older brothers got saved, but I didn’t understand why a person needed to be saved and I just went along with them. Since then, we never missed a Sunday Service. One night, we came home from a Bible study and saw our father drunk. He was very angry. He got into a fight against my mom, and I even heard him shout at her, “Your devotion to that church will never bring good to this family! They won’t pay you for going there!” I thought he was happy that we were faithfully attending church. I thought it was okay with him because he never said a word before. But I was wrong. I was so discouraged and I blamed the church for what is happening to my family. My father was so angry but my mom and brothers never said a word against my him. I never wanted to go back to that church again, but my mother still forced me to go.

One Sunday morning, I wasn’t really paying attention to the preaching when the pastor mentioned a name, “Job”. I thought he called me because my nickname is “Jov”. He was talking about the story of Job from the Bible. Everything that the pastor mentioned about Job’s life seemed like what was happening in my life too. Except for thing: when he was persecuted, judged by his friends, and was told to curse God, he didn’t do it. Instead, he continued to praise and believe in God. It was just like what I’ve seen in the life of my mother and brothers. And I thought, what do they have that enables them to keep on serving God? Why do they still have the joy to serve Him in spite of many problems in our family? During the invitation, I found myself in tears. Even after the service, I couldn’t stop myself from crying. That was when the pastor’s wife asked me what’s wrong. I told her that I pity Job for what happened to him and that I can really relate to him. She told me that in this world there is only one hope, a friend we could always count on, and joy no one else could offer. I told her that I want to have that hope, that friend, that joy in my life. She led me to Christ and I accepted Him as my Lord and personal Savior. That day was the most joyful day of my life and I will forever treasure it. Through every pain, heartache, and change that happened in my life, I can say that God sustains me all the way. To God be the glory!

A year after I got saved, we attended a prayer conference. An American pastor preached and told a story about a person who went to hell. Suffering, he cried blaming his sister who was saved but never tried to share to him the Gospel when he was still alive. At that moment, I felt burdened that I should share the Gospel to my family, relatives and friends. At the end of the preaching, there was an altar call, I found myself walking towards the altar and I surrendered my life to God.

In the same year, I decided to enroll at Fundamental Baptist College for Asians in Tarlac City, Philippines. I was taught in the Word of God by teachers and pastors. By the grace of God, while I was studying I was able to continue serving in different ministries especially with children, not only in my home church but in other churches as well.

In 2013, God gave me the opportunity to further my study in Marietta Bible College in Marietta, Ohio under the leadership of Dr. Myron Guiler. I thank the Lord for the privilege to be trained by great preachers and learn more about His Word.

The same year that I got saved, I was able to be involved in the ministry. I was trained how to teach children about the Word of God and was able to teach in the Vacation Bible School in different villages. By God’s grace, I was able to share the Gospel to ladies and I praise the Lord for using me as an encouragement to them. I also learned to play instruments like the guitar and piano with the help of my pastor. Through that, I had the privilege to work and be a help to other churches in their music ministries and to children as well. It is really a blessing and an overwhelming feeling to see those children and young people whom I have taught and trained still serving the Lord until now and letting their lives be useful in the ministry. I am praying when I go back to the Philippines that I will teach more children about God’s Word and be able to train them in the ministry with the help of our Lord Jesus Christ.