FROM CATHOLICISM AND BLACK MAGIC TO FAITH IN CHRIST

Agnes O Gabales

My Background

I am Agnes Gabales, born on December 9, 1974. My parents are Roman Catholics but they did not attend church. My dad is a leader of his own church practicing black magic and doing cultic rituals. His followers will join in prayer/service including my mother and me. My dad is a so-called healer and many of his followers would flock to him for prayer, healing, and fellowship. When I was young, my father did not want me to go to school because he reasoned that it is not important for women to have education as they will only become housewives once they get married. I am blessed because my mother secretly sent me to school so that I would know how the world works and not be ignorant of this world. I am thankful for my mother that she taught me and raised me up well in that manner. I remember one time I was kidnapped when I was a little girl but there was somebody who came to rescue me and defeated the kidnappers. I did not know who that man was. I thought he was my guardian angel who came in the right moment to save me from being taken away. I am sure God did it and that He has a purpose for me.

When I was 21 years old, I got married and had two children two years apart. After 12 years, the marriage began to weaken and did not last. The problem was not due to any third party but because my ex-husband did not provide for the family needs, and so we always had that on-off relationship. It was difficult for me and our children as we did not have anything to provide for them due to my ex-husband’s spending habits and other activities outside of the family. The time came when I was truly fed up. I decided to put a stop to it.

In time, I met Jude in a seminar on how to open the third eye. I became friends with Jude’s sister and found out that my father and her mother are family acquaintances in Mindanao. Eventually, Jude and I became friends and were in a complicated relationship. We knew it was wrong since I was not separated yet from my ex-husband at that time. To cut it short, I got my marriage with my ex-husband annulled and continued having a relationship with Jude until we had a daughter Arrianna in 2013. We got married in March 2016 in Singapore. That year I was diagnosed with enlargement of the heart and blockages in the arteries. So the doctor advised me to go for an angioplasty operation. Since we did not have the money, we did not bother about it, and at some point, I stopped taking the prescribed medicines.

In September that year, my husband Jude informed me that he was going for Bible studies and night classes. I let him be as it was not of much of a concern to me so long as he continues to support us as the head of the family. Also, it was good that he was going for church activities so that he would not always go out drinking with his buddies. After some months, my husband suddenly informed me that he is buying clothes in preparation for baptism. I got so angry that he would get baptized in another church as we were already Christians in the Roman Catholic faith. I even wanted to get a divorce and did not talk to him for more than a month.

My Salvation

After a month or so, I was not so angry anymore. So we communicated once again and went back to being a normal family. I did not know why I did those things to begin with. From time to time, Jude would share Bible verses and try to convince me of something which I thought was kind of awkward and felt like a joke at that time. I even told him he could convince me to join his church but not very soon. It may even take a very long time, or not at all. I would not want to bother with his newfound religion as long as he continued to support our family. Family is the most important thing to me and I would be ready to do anything to protect my family. This continued on until early 2018 when my husband told me he would come home for a vacation. He told me he would be conducting a Bible study with Deccarlo’s family in Lapu-Lapu City. Well, I was happy that he was coming home. Our daughter was also growing up so fast. He needed to be here with us. He brought us to Gethsemane Bible-Presbyterian Church in Cebu for worship on Sundays. I am fine with him bringing us to Church as long as he is with us. Nothing much happened but it felt good. We also went for a Bible study in his family home in Pardo with Rev Reggor Galarpe.

In the final months of 2018, I felt shortness of breath. So I went back to the doctor for check-up. It was found that my heart was enlarged by 65%. The doctor was alarmed and told me to go for the angioplasty operation immediately. It was possible that I would need a by-pass operation which I certainly hoped I would not have to undergo. I prayed that the Lord would help me in my afflictions. Sometimes I would wonder why I had to go through such pain and difficulty. What have I done to deserve such sickness when I try to do what seems to be right and I never disturb other people unless they disturb my family. I would most of the time keep to myself and not even tell my husband. But from time to time, he would comfort me, even sharing God’s Word, how we are sinful people and deserving of damnation in hell. I asked him if heaven and hell are real. He sent me verses in the Bible about them.

After taking medicines for some time, the pain and shortness of breath stopped. Then in October 2018, my husband and his friends, Deccarlo and Jose, came to Cebu to start the Christian Bible Fellowship which I eventually attended whenever my husband returned from Singapore as he was conducting the Bible studies. I was happy for my husband that he is really turning a new leaf in his life. He was once a drunkard and a chain smoker. I could not imagine that he could stop these vices in his life. As it is written in 2 Corinthians 5:17, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” If my husband is really serving the true God, then God is truly working in his life. I was not sure if I could also do the same, but my husband told me that our God is a God of the family. He never forsakes the rest of the family but also sanctifies them in a way that they too will be led to His promise of salvation and life eternal. Every time my husband comes home, church-going was never an option but a responsibility in obeying God. It would tear me up whenever I heard the preaching in church and the hymns that were sung.

In January 2019, my husband asked me if I was ready to say the sinner’s prayer with him but I told him I was not ready and that I would need more time especially to think back of all the sins I have committed so I could ask for forgiveness from the Lord. That was also the day he was flying back to Singapore. My husband did not force me. We just hugged and said a prayer before he left. A few days later, I could not sleep well because my heart palpitations were erratic and I felt shortness of breath again. It went on for almost a month. I could not sleep well and experienced some bad dreams and maybe delusions as well. When my husband came back home in February 2019, he saw how sickly and thin I was. He would pray for me asking for God’s mercy and grace. On February 3, 2019, a Lord’s Day night, my husband asked me if I was ready. With my difficulty in sleeping and breathing, I was convicted to really look to the Lord and ask for His leading and guidance. I was also ready to accept Jesus as my Lord and my Saviour. So my husband explained to me again what had to be done. After he opened in prayer, I followed to pray the sinner’s prayer. I was truly weeping and felt comforted afterwards. Then our daughter, Arrianna, also prayed the sinner’s prayer and accepted the Lord Jesus. Praise the Lord for His mercies and grace.

My Battles

We received spiritual blessings from God that night, but there were also spiritual battles. My husband recounted what happened that night after we went to sleep, I kept jerking to catch some breath every few minutes. From time to time I would mumble some words. My husband brushed it off, but he could not sleep well because I kept waking up every few minutes. On the second and third nights, the same thing happened but it was weird. My husband would say that it was like I was possessed or that some kind of evil entity was using me to speak to him and to disturb us especially with our relationship in Christ. By God’s grace and strength, my husband did not waver but continued in the faith and even prayed and read the Bible in the nights when I had those episodes. In the morning, I could not remember what happened but my husband would tell me about it.

It was by God’s guidance that Dr Jose Lagapa was at that time coming to Cebu from Bohol as he would be flying back to Singapore on February 5, 2019. He went to our house and conducted a family worship together with our staff (from the water business we were managing) and said a prayer in our room. The next day, we also invited Rev Reggor Galarpe and he also conducted a family worship and said a prayer for us. I thank the Lord that He provided us with people to intercede for us in prayer that we might be comforted in the Lord. My husband was supposed to fly back to Singapore that night but he extended his leave and stayed on. That night we checked into a hospital for my heart palpitations and shortness of breath. With the two nights’ stay in the hospital and with all the medicines, I was immediately able to sleep well and I eventually regained my health. That was one of the worst things that happened to us but I thank the Lord that He was the one who gave me life to be born again in Him and to live for Him. I thank the Lord for how He moved the heart of my husband to believe in Him so that I too and our daughter could believe and follow the Lord Jesus, our Savior and God. It is by God’s grace that I am saved through faith in Him. I am still struggling with my walk in Christ but I ask God for strength to continue in the faith according to the hope that I received from Him. “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” (John 3:3,16). All glory and praise to God. Amen.

[Agnes and daughter Arrianna were baptised by Pastor Jeffrey Khoo on 15 September 2019 at the 1^st anniversary thanksgiving service of Christian Bible Fellowship in Lapu Lapu City, Philippines.]

Jude Gabales (in white shirt & tie) standing behind his wife Agnes and daughter Arrianna (in white) with Pastor, Jemima and friends at Christian Bible Fellowship, Lapu Lapu City, Philippines.