Dear Brethren and Friends,

Welcome to the Filipino Worship Service!

It has been a prayer of the previously known Filipino Bible Fellowship (FilBF) to reach out to Filipino countrymen in the northern part of the country. Churches and Bible Fellowships are already planted in the southern island of Mindanao (Bukidnon) and the central region of Visayas (Bohol and Cebu). As there are Filipinos hailing from Luzon who attend the fellowship and one became a member last year, the burden to start work in Luzon grew stronger. Luzon, by the way, is the largest island of the Philippine archipelago and is inhabited by more than 50 percent of the country’s total population of 110 million.

The Lord prepared the way by the vision of the RPG Tagalog translation which was finally printed in 2022. Tagalog is the main language spoken on the northern island. Then the Lord, by His providence, brought in the right people in His ways, to pave the way for this trip. Dr Ronan Zagado, working with the Philippine Rice Research Institute in Nueva Ecija started to worship online with True Life BPC since the pandemic started in 2020. Dr Amor San Juan, a professor at Central Luzon State University, enrolled in FEBC online classes in 2021. In July 2022, Bro Ricardo Mejedo was suddenly introduced to me to study at FEBC. In November 2022, Dr Amor requested a gospel preacher to share the Word of God with her farm workers. Bro Ricardo was sent not only to attend to the request but also to reach out to his relatives in Urdaneta, Pangasinan and Santa Fe, Nueva Vizcaya. In December, a Webinar was attempted to get students from CLSU. Although it did not get their attention, I believe it was for Dr Amor to be grounded in the Bible-Presbyterian faith. It was then decided that worship service meetings should be started at least once a month in a central location to the above-mentioned places. The date set was January 22, 2023.

The team composed of my wife Celeste and myself with Bro Ricardo flew from Singapore to Clark International Airport via Scoot airlines at 3:30 pm on January 20. Clark is the nearest airport to the target provinces. We arrived around 8 pm and proceeded immediately to Urdaneta, Pangasinan which is the place of Bro Ricardo’s father and siblings. A follow-up Gospel meeting was conducted in the house of Bro Ricardo’s father where I preached a message “Come Unto Me” taken from Matthew 11:25–30. Around 10 adults attended the meeting and around 10 children were ministered to by my wife.

Urdaneta, Pangasinan

After the fellowship lunch, we traveled more than 3 hours up north to Santa Fe, Nueva Vizcaya. This is the hometown of Bro Ricardo and his wife’s relatives. Another follow-up Gospel meeting was conducted at Bro Ricardo’s home with more than 20 adults and young people attending at 7–8:30 pm. The message was “Enter Ye In” (Matthew 7:13–27) as some of them claim to be Christians already. We stayed overnight in the cold Santa Fe which was probably below 20 degrees Centigrade at night time.

Santa Fe, Nueva Vizcaya

Early in the morning at around 6:30, we left off Santa Fe, Nueva Vizcaya towards the southwest which is the neighbouring province of Nueva Ecija. We arrived before 10 am in time for the Inaugural Service of the True Life BPC Luzon Missions. The venue was quite special as we found it just the day before with the help of Dr Ronan. It was in Plaza Leticia Restaurant in Cabanatuan City, the largest city of Nueva Ecija. The worship service was conducted from 10:30 am to 12 noon. The message was “God’s Word Is Truth” taken from John 17:13–19, where I highlighted also the distinctive of the Bible Presbyterian faith. The worship was attended by those who were in the gospel meetings the days before, from Urdaneta, Pangasinan, and Santa Fe, Nueva Vizcaya. There were also friends of Dr Zagado from Nueva Ecija who joined. The service was followed by a buffet lunch.

Cabanatuan, Nueva Eciia

Bro Ricardo left in the afternoon to catch the flight back to Singapore on the night of January 22. My wife and I stayed back to fellowship with her younger brother Dr Ronan to encourage him in the faith. Coming from a charismatic background, he had many questions and he desired to be ministered regularly, as we found out that he did not undergo yet the water baptism. We had also a memorable time getting in touch again with my schoolmates at Hokkaido University more than 20 years ago. They are now working in CLSU and they heard the gospel when we were yet in Japan. Lord willing, they can be followed up also.

My wife and I left Clark at about 8 pm on January 23. We look forward to going back to the place to strengthen the believers and follow up with those who have heard the good news of salvation in the Lord Jesus Christ. I truly believe it is the Lord’s opening of the door. No man manipulated these events but God brought in people, arranged events, and gathered a flock to be ministered to in the northern part of the Philippines called Luzon. To God be all the glory and honour!

Attendees of the Inaugural Service of Cabanatuan Bible-Presbyterian Missions, Cabanatuan City, Nueva Ecija with brethren and friends from Urdaneta, Pangasinan and Santa Fe, Nueva Vizcaya.