Welcome
to
Bagong Buhay Christian Church
“A friendly church that cares where every one is welcome”
Church members attentively listening at thepreaching of God's Word. June 21, 2009
Church members with their own copy of Bible
Monday, June 22, 2009
Home
Church members attentively listening at thepreaching of God's Word. June 21, 2009
About Us
Bagong Buhay Christian Church is an indigenous Christ-centered church committed to the sacred task of reaching and discipling unreached poor village people for Christ and engaging in community transforming action, to the end that Christ shall be made pre-eminent in personal, family and national life.
Our Vision:
A growing, indigenous Christ-centered Church established in the community that composed of strong families, zealous members serving the Lord in their own gift-based ministry, enthusiastically worshiping God in a descent church building built in its own property, produces preachers and workers that plant churches for the glory of God and for the fulfillment of the great commission of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our Mission:
To glorify God by living a life of righteousness and holiness, bringing people to Jesus Christ and membership in His Church, nurture and edify them in the faith to attain Christ-like maturity, equip them to do the work of the ministry in the local church, in the community and beyond.
Our Core Values:
These core values serve as our guiding principles and foundational commitments:
o Life-transforming relationship with God.
o Upholding the Word of God as our standard for life and ministry.
o Love God and neighbors
o Exalting the Person and work of Jesus Christ.
o Total dependency on God’s power and resources
o Christ-like maturity.
o Commitment to passionate worship.
o Commitment to prayer and spiritual warfare.
o Fostering Biblical character, integrity and faithfulness.
o Fostering a lifestyle of giving.
o Commitment to evangelism and missions.
o Compassion for the lost souls, the poor and needy.
o Emphasizing a life of holiness and sanctification.
o Commitment to the priority of family relationships.
o Concern for the welfare of children and their future.
Our Statement of Faith:
These We Believe:
o The Bible, the Word of God, verbally inspired of God, the revelation of God
to man, infallible, the supreme and final authority of faith and conduct.
o One God, eternally existing in three distinct People: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
oThe Lord Jesus Christ: His eternal Deity, His virgin birth, His sinless life, His substitutionary death, burial and bodily resurrection, His ascension and exaltation to the right hand of the Father and His coming again in great power and glory.
o The Holy Spirit who shows the redeeming purpose of God to the world, by convicting the world of sin, righteousness and judgment; and by regenerating, indwelling, sanctifying, guiding, illuminating, and empowering for service, all who place complete faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
o The fall of Man. Man was created good and upright. However, man by voluntarily transgression fell and hereby incurred not only physical death, but also spiritual death which is separation from God.
o The Salvation of Man. Man’s only hope of Salvation is by grace through genuine repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
o The Church, which is Christ’s body that consists of all those who, in this age, have been born of the Spirit of God
o The Ministry. A divinely called and scripturally ordained ministry has been provided by our Lord Jesus Christ for a twofold purpose: the evangelization of the world and the edifying of the body of Christ.
o The Blessed Hope. The resurrection of the dead in Christ and their translation together with those who are alive and remain faithful until the coming of the Lord.
o The Imminence of Christ’s Return. Because the Lord could return at any moment, believers are to be diligent to live holy and godly lives, always encouraging one another to be ready and alert.
o The Final Judgment. There will be a final judgment in which the wicked dead will be raised and judged according to their works. Whoever is not found written in the book of life, together with the devil and his angels, will be consigned to everlasting punishment in the lake of fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
o The New Heaven and New Earth. We, according to His promise, look forward to a new heaven and a new earth wherein righteousness dwelleth.
Our Ministries:
Evangelism & Discipleship – Our church members aggressively conduct evangelism in the community and its neighbors and disciple others to reach other communities for Christ.
Church Planting – We reach out to other unreached poor communities and municipalities to engage in church planting work. We believe that this is the most effective way to disciple people for Christ, to multiply churches and to hasten the propagation of the Gospel.
Prayer Network – It is a prayer-generating link designed to mobilize the whole church to pray for specific concerns of the church, community and nations, as well as to pray for one another.
Christian School – Children’s Hope Christian School is committed to educate and train poor village children to fear God, which is the beginning of wisdom, think God’s thoughts after Him, discover and hone their God-given talents, and develop skills to prepare them for a faithful, effective and fruitful service to God and others.
Feeding Program – We have a feeding program for the children in the church fellowships every Sunday. We plan to extend this service to the other poor children in the community as the Lord provides the funds.
Child Sponsorship – We sponsor the education of the poor and underprivileged children in the community. This school year 2008-2009, we had eight poor children in our sponsorship program.
Theology and Missions – Our goal is to train and equip men and women in the Word of God to be effective church workers, preachers and leaders who, with godly character and in the power of the Holy Spirit, will transform communities and nations for the glory of God.
Values Instruction Class to The Public School – The Vision of Voice is to produce students rooted in biblical values for personal and national transformation. Through our weekly Values Orientation Class here in Bagong Buhay Public Elementary School, we were able to teach over 300 children weekly where our text book is the Bible itself through out the school year. This school year 2007 – 2008, there were 165 pupils graduated from grade 3 – grade 6.
Mangyan Tribal Mission – In this computer and high technological age, it is hard to imagine that some people in the Philippines still live in a primitive existence. They subsist in root crops and banana, walk kilometers upon kilometers across mountains and rivers with their bare feet, can neither read nor write, live in houses with roof of banana leaves, neither mat nor blankets to cover them in their sleep, many die because they have no access to any medical help. Through this mission, about 400 of them received medical, dental, relief and feeding twice a year for the past two years. They also had the opportunity to hear the message of the Gospel.
Summer Ministry:
Daily Vacation Bible School – Over 100 children and youth participated in this activity.
Family Camp – Whole families attend this fun-filled fellowship with other churches for evangelism, discipleship, revival and Challenge.
Our Strategy:
1. Enabling Leadership
Leaders don’t focus on doing the ministry themselves, but on equipping, enabling, empowering and training others. This enabling is done both by the pastors and other leaders.
2. Gift-based Ministry
Members are help to discover their gifts. Then, a Gift Placement counselor help match members to a ministry suited to their gifts. This produces great joy in the members.
3. Passionate Spirituality
Members have a burning desire to know God and follow Him. They practice spiritual disciplines and have a holy lifestyle.
4. Effective Structure
Healthy churches have goals and system to reach these goals. Regular evaluation is done and improvements are made. Structures that are no longer effective are replaced.
5. Inspiring Worship Services
God touch participants in the worship services of healthy churches. Members connect with God in worship. God speak to the members through the message. Members are eager to attend because they like it! The service inspires them! They don’t attend out of duty.
6. Comprehensive Small Groups
The small groups in healthy churches are far more then just bible Studies, although Bible Study is crucial component. Comprehensive small groups also includes worship, edification, prayer, fellowship, ministry to the whole person (spiritual, emotional, Physical, and social), operation of spiritual gifts within the small group, pastoral care, outreach, leadership development and multiplication of groups.
7. Need-meeting Evangelism
Healthy churches determine the needs in the community and do all they can to meet these needs. This includes holistic ministry and community transformation. While doing this, they also helps neighbors find the answer to their greatest need, their relationship wit6h God. Those who are reached become active participants in new or existing churches. There they effectively assimilated, disciple and mobilized to serve.
8. Loving Relationships
Members of healthy churches love to be together because they love each other. There is an atmosphere of joy and trust. Affirmation and encouragement is abundant.
Our Board of Trustees:
Chairman of the Board: Rev. Emerenciano F. Falla, Jr.
Vice Chairman: Faustino T. Viernes, Jr.
Corporate Secretary: Anelie D. Falla
Treasurer: Evelyn D. Viernes
Member: Ricardo O. Rivera
Our Brief History
On April 7, 1995, Pastor Jun Falla with his father, Pastor Emer conducted the first house-to-house evangelism in Bagong Buhay. Among the first who accepted the Gospel of Jesus Christ are Mercy Aclan and her sister-in-law, Flora Castillo. From them, a regular Home Bible study was formed. As the Bible Study grew, Pastor Jun also encountered opposition and persecution from other people in the community. Added to that is the extreme difficulty of traveling on the rough road going to this remote community. In the midst of all the difficulties, Pastor Jun patiently and sacrificially continued the work of personal and house-to-house evangelism, Bible studies, follow-ups and visitations. By the grace of God, after five months of tireless labor, the first Sunday worship service was celebrated in a borrowed church building on September 24, 1995.
To penetrate the whole community with the Gospel, Pastor Jun often did prayer and fasting, prayer walking, and used various forms of evangelism. He used evangelistic concert, evangelistic film showing, and hosted seminary and university students in their mission exposure and conducted medical missions and relief distribution. The church also initiated a livelihood development. Moreover, we started and still operate a kinder school as a point of contact to the children and parents, sponsors children in the school, conduct a weekly feeding program and holds Vacation Bible School during summer. To be able to reach more children and be connected to more parents, Bagong Buhay Christian Church started campus ministry where we conducted Values Instruction Class to the Public School that our text book is the Bible itself. Through these strategies, the four corners of our community had the opportunity to hear the Gospel. But while the ministry of the church keep growing and expanding, a very difficult trial happened. The owner of the property where the church building is built sold the property that resulted to the demolition of our church building. July 8, 2007, the church building was demolished following the order of the new land owner. But only the building was demolished. The real “church”, the people who are members of Christ’s body, remained steadfast and strong and the ministry continues. Our worship services and prayer meetings and the daily kinder classes were temporarily held at the pastor’s house at that time. And that was a very difficult set-up because the living room/office in the pastor’s house is small. Pastor’s family need to empty the room of all the furniture like seats and tables in order to give room for the chairs and desks of the 19 children in our Kinder School and then return everything back again at the end of the class at noontime – rain or shine, daily. They also do the same during prayer meeting and worship service for over a month. But God is continually working in this Church despite of the many hardships, obstacles, persecutions and harassments we’re experiencing from the fanatic cult in the community. After a month, we were able to reconstruct our church building that is bigger than our former church building, and praising God for His infinite wisdom and marvelous ways. August 12, 2007, exactly seventeen days after we started rebuilding, and thirty-five days after the demolition, we held the first worship celebration at our new and bigger reconstructed church building. As in the time when the Israelites finished rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, “God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and the children also rejoiced.” (Nehemiah 12:43) This is the exact atmosphere at Bagong Buhay Christian Church that day.
Our church building is still built in a borrowed property because we don’t have our own property yet, but by God’s grace, Bagong Buhay Christian Church is thriving. It is lead and composed of lay men and women who love God and share God’s love. The emphasis is on the active participation of lay people committed to the fulfillment of the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings big impact to our community and in the municipal government.
Our work has just begun and we are committed to advance indigenous mission despite of the economic condition of our church. To help fulfill the Great Commission of Christ, we welcome covenant partners who are willing to share the same vision and to labor together with us for the Glory of God and for the expansion of His Kingdom.
Our Vision:
A growing, indigenous Christ-centered Church established in the community that composed of strong families, zealous members serving the Lord in their own gift-based ministry, enthusiastically worshiping God in a descent church building built in its own property, produces preachers and workers that plant churches for the glory of God and for the fulfillment of the great commission of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Our Mission:
To glorify God by living a life of righteousness and holiness, bringing people to Jesus Christ and membership in His Church, nurture and edify them in the faith to attain Christ-like maturity, equip them to do the work of the ministry in the local church, in the community and beyond.
Our Core Values:
These core values serve as our guiding principles and foundational commitments:
o Life-transforming relationship with God.
o Upholding the Word of God as our standard for life and ministry.
o Love God and neighbors
o Exalting the Person and work of Jesus Christ.
o Total dependency on God’s power and resources
o Christ-like maturity.
o Commitment to passionate worship.
o Commitment to prayer and spiritual warfare.
o Fostering Biblical character, integrity and faithfulness.
o Fostering a lifestyle of giving.
o Commitment to evangelism and missions.
o Compassion for the lost souls, the poor and needy.
o Emphasizing a life of holiness and sanctification.
o Commitment to the priority of family relationships.
o Concern for the welfare of children and their future.
Our Statement of Faith:
These We Believe:
o The Bible, the Word of God, verbally inspired of God, the revelation of God
to man, infallible, the supreme and final authority of faith and conduct.
o One God, eternally existing in three distinct People: Father, Son and Holy Spirit.
oThe Lord Jesus Christ: His eternal Deity, His virgin birth, His sinless life, His substitutionary death, burial and bodily resurrection, His ascension and exaltation to the right hand of the Father and His coming again in great power and glory.
o The Holy Spirit who shows the redeeming purpose of God to the world, by convicting the world of sin, righteousness and judgment; and by regenerating, indwelling, sanctifying, guiding, illuminating, and empowering for service, all who place complete faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
o The fall of Man. Man was created good and upright. However, man by voluntarily transgression fell and hereby incurred not only physical death, but also spiritual death which is separation from God.
o The Salvation of Man. Man’s only hope of Salvation is by grace through genuine repentance and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
o The Church, which is Christ’s body that consists of all those who, in this age, have been born of the Spirit of God
o The Ministry. A divinely called and scripturally ordained ministry has been provided by our Lord Jesus Christ for a twofold purpose: the evangelization of the world and the edifying of the body of Christ.
o The Blessed Hope. The resurrection of the dead in Christ and their translation together with those who are alive and remain faithful until the coming of the Lord.
o The Imminence of Christ’s Return. Because the Lord could return at any moment, believers are to be diligent to live holy and godly lives, always encouraging one another to be ready and alert.
o The Final Judgment. There will be a final judgment in which the wicked dead will be raised and judged according to their works. Whoever is not found written in the book of life, together with the devil and his angels, will be consigned to everlasting punishment in the lake of fire and brimstone, which is the second death.
o The New Heaven and New Earth. We, according to His promise, look forward to a new heaven and a new earth wherein righteousness dwelleth.
Our Ministries:
Evangelism & Discipleship – Our church members aggressively conduct evangelism in the community and its neighbors and disciple others to reach other communities for Christ.
Church Planting – We reach out to other unreached poor communities and municipalities to engage in church planting work. We believe that this is the most effective way to disciple people for Christ, to multiply churches and to hasten the propagation of the Gospel.
Prayer Network – It is a prayer-generating link designed to mobilize the whole church to pray for specific concerns of the church, community and nations, as well as to pray for one another.
Christian School – Children’s Hope Christian School is committed to educate and train poor village children to fear God, which is the beginning of wisdom, think God’s thoughts after Him, discover and hone their God-given talents, and develop skills to prepare them for a faithful, effective and fruitful service to God and others.
Feeding Program – We have a feeding program for the children in the church fellowships every Sunday. We plan to extend this service to the other poor children in the community as the Lord provides the funds.
Child Sponsorship – We sponsor the education of the poor and underprivileged children in the community. This school year 2008-2009, we had eight poor children in our sponsorship program.
Theology and Missions – Our goal is to train and equip men and women in the Word of God to be effective church workers, preachers and leaders who, with godly character and in the power of the Holy Spirit, will transform communities and nations for the glory of God.
Values Instruction Class to The Public School – The Vision of Voice is to produce students rooted in biblical values for personal and national transformation. Through our weekly Values Orientation Class here in Bagong Buhay Public Elementary School, we were able to teach over 300 children weekly where our text book is the Bible itself through out the school year. This school year 2007 – 2008, there were 165 pupils graduated from grade 3 – grade 6.
Mangyan Tribal Mission – In this computer and high technological age, it is hard to imagine that some people in the Philippines still live in a primitive existence. They subsist in root crops and banana, walk kilometers upon kilometers across mountains and rivers with their bare feet, can neither read nor write, live in houses with roof of banana leaves, neither mat nor blankets to cover them in their sleep, many die because they have no access to any medical help. Through this mission, about 400 of them received medical, dental, relief and feeding twice a year for the past two years. They also had the opportunity to hear the message of the Gospel.
Summer Ministry:
Daily Vacation Bible School – Over 100 children and youth participated in this activity.
Family Camp – Whole families attend this fun-filled fellowship with other churches for evangelism, discipleship, revival and Challenge.
Our Strategy:
1. Enabling Leadership
Leaders don’t focus on doing the ministry themselves, but on equipping, enabling, empowering and training others. This enabling is done both by the pastors and other leaders.
2. Gift-based Ministry
Members are help to discover their gifts. Then, a Gift Placement counselor help match members to a ministry suited to their gifts. This produces great joy in the members.
3. Passionate Spirituality
Members have a burning desire to know God and follow Him. They practice spiritual disciplines and have a holy lifestyle.
4. Effective Structure
Healthy churches have goals and system to reach these goals. Regular evaluation is done and improvements are made. Structures that are no longer effective are replaced.
5. Inspiring Worship Services
God touch participants in the worship services of healthy churches. Members connect with God in worship. God speak to the members through the message. Members are eager to attend because they like it! The service inspires them! They don’t attend out of duty.
6. Comprehensive Small Groups
The small groups in healthy churches are far more then just bible Studies, although Bible Study is crucial component. Comprehensive small groups also includes worship, edification, prayer, fellowship, ministry to the whole person (spiritual, emotional, Physical, and social), operation of spiritual gifts within the small group, pastoral care, outreach, leadership development and multiplication of groups.
7. Need-meeting Evangelism
Healthy churches determine the needs in the community and do all they can to meet these needs. This includes holistic ministry and community transformation. While doing this, they also helps neighbors find the answer to their greatest need, their relationship wit6h God. Those who are reached become active participants in new or existing churches. There they effectively assimilated, disciple and mobilized to serve.
8. Loving Relationships
Members of healthy churches love to be together because they love each other. There is an atmosphere of joy and trust. Affirmation and encouragement is abundant.
Our Board of Trustees:
Chairman of the Board: Rev. Emerenciano F. Falla, Jr.
Vice Chairman: Faustino T. Viernes, Jr.
Corporate Secretary: Anelie D. Falla
Treasurer: Evelyn D. Viernes
Member: Ricardo O. Rivera
Our Brief History
On April 7, 1995, Pastor Jun Falla with his father, Pastor Emer conducted the first house-to-house evangelism in Bagong Buhay. Among the first who accepted the Gospel of Jesus Christ are Mercy Aclan and her sister-in-law, Flora Castillo. From them, a regular Home Bible study was formed. As the Bible Study grew, Pastor Jun also encountered opposition and persecution from other people in the community. Added to that is the extreme difficulty of traveling on the rough road going to this remote community. In the midst of all the difficulties, Pastor Jun patiently and sacrificially continued the work of personal and house-to-house evangelism, Bible studies, follow-ups and visitations. By the grace of God, after five months of tireless labor, the first Sunday worship service was celebrated in a borrowed church building on September 24, 1995.
To penetrate the whole community with the Gospel, Pastor Jun often did prayer and fasting, prayer walking, and used various forms of evangelism. He used evangelistic concert, evangelistic film showing, and hosted seminary and university students in their mission exposure and conducted medical missions and relief distribution. The church also initiated a livelihood development. Moreover, we started and still operate a kinder school as a point of contact to the children and parents, sponsors children in the school, conduct a weekly feeding program and holds Vacation Bible School during summer. To be able to reach more children and be connected to more parents, Bagong Buhay Christian Church started campus ministry where we conducted Values Instruction Class to the Public School that our text book is the Bible itself. Through these strategies, the four corners of our community had the opportunity to hear the Gospel. But while the ministry of the church keep growing and expanding, a very difficult trial happened. The owner of the property where the church building is built sold the property that resulted to the demolition of our church building. July 8, 2007, the church building was demolished following the order of the new land owner. But only the building was demolished. The real “church”, the people who are members of Christ’s body, remained steadfast and strong and the ministry continues. Our worship services and prayer meetings and the daily kinder classes were temporarily held at the pastor’s house at that time. And that was a very difficult set-up because the living room/office in the pastor’s house is small. Pastor’s family need to empty the room of all the furniture like seats and tables in order to give room for the chairs and desks of the 19 children in our Kinder School and then return everything back again at the end of the class at noontime – rain or shine, daily. They also do the same during prayer meeting and worship service for over a month. But God is continually working in this Church despite of the many hardships, obstacles, persecutions and harassments we’re experiencing from the fanatic cult in the community. After a month, we were able to reconstruct our church building that is bigger than our former church building, and praising God for His infinite wisdom and marvelous ways. August 12, 2007, exactly seventeen days after we started rebuilding, and thirty-five days after the demolition, we held the first worship celebration at our new and bigger reconstructed church building. As in the time when the Israelites finished rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, “God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and the children also rejoiced.” (Nehemiah 12:43) This is the exact atmosphere at Bagong Buhay Christian Church that day.
Our church building is still built in a borrowed property because we don’t have our own property yet, but by God’s grace, Bagong Buhay Christian Church is thriving. It is lead and composed of lay men and women who love God and share God’s love. The emphasis is on the active participation of lay people committed to the fulfillment of the Great Commission of our Lord Jesus Christ that brings big impact to our community and in the municipal government.
Our work has just begun and we are committed to advance indigenous mission despite of the economic condition of our church. To help fulfill the Great Commission of Christ, we welcome covenant partners who are willing to share the same vision and to labor together with us for the Glory of God and for the expansion of His Kingdom.
Weekly Activities
MOTHER CHURCH
Bagong Buhay Christian Church
Bagong Buhay, Naujan, Oriental Mindoro
Pastor Jun and Anie Falla – Senior Pastor
Meetings and Church Activities:
Sunday:
Adults Sunday school ……………………….8:00 – 8:45 AM
Youth Sunday school………………….…......8:00 – 8:45 AM
Children’s Sunday school.…………………....8:00 – 8:45 AM
Divine Worship………… ……………….…..9:00 –11:00 AM
Children’s Church …………………….....…10:00 – 11:00 AM
Youth Fellowship……………………………....2:00 – 4:00 PM
Wednesday:
Discipleship Training and Prayer Meeting …..6:00 – 8:00 PM
Friday:
Overnight Prayer Meeting every last Friday of the month
Saturday:
House to house Visitations
Music Team Rehearsal
(Home Bible Studies and Follow Up throughout the week)
DAUGHTER CHURCHES
Victoria Christian Church
Poblacion 3, Victoria, Oriental Mindoro
Pastor Emer, Feling and Lyn Falla - Pastors
Meetings and Church Activities
Sunday:
Sunday school ……………………………..8:30 – 9:30 AM
Worship Service ……………………….……9:30 – 11:00 PAM
Home Bible Studies…………………………... 3:00 – 6:00 PM
Thursday:
Discipleship Training and Prayer Meeting ….3:00 – 5:00 PM
Friday:
Overnight Prayer Meeting every first Friday of the month
Saturday:
House to House Visitations
Music Rehearsal
Adrialuna Christian Church
Adrialuna, Naujan, Oriental Mindoro
Pastor George and Evie Viernes – Pastor
Meetings and Church Activities:
Sunday
Sunday Worship…………………….8:00 – 10:00 AM
Thursday
Prayer Meeting ……………………...7:00 – 9:00 PM
Saturday
Visitations and follow up
Music Rehearsal
New Life Christian Church
Papandayan, Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro
Pastor Ludy and Shirley Toledo – Pastor
Meetings and Church Activities
Sunday
Sunday school…………………….8:00 – 9:00 AM
Worship Service …………………9:00 – 11:00 AM
Youth Fellowship ………................2:00 – 4:00 PM
Wednesday
Bible Study and Prayer Meeting …..2:00 – 4:00 PM
Friday
Cottage Prayer……………………. 6:00 – 8:00 PM
Saturday
Visitations and Follow Up
Music Practice
Bagong Buhay Christian Church
Bagong Buhay, Naujan, Oriental Mindoro
Pastor Jun and Anie Falla – Senior Pastor
Meetings and Church Activities:
Sunday:
Adults Sunday school ……………………….8:00 – 8:45 AM
Youth Sunday school………………….…......8:00 – 8:45 AM
Children’s Sunday school.…………………....8:00 – 8:45 AM
Divine Worship………… ……………….…..9:00 –11:00 AM
Children’s Church …………………….....…10:00 – 11:00 AM
Youth Fellowship……………………………....2:00 – 4:00 PM
Wednesday:
Discipleship Training and Prayer Meeting …..6:00 – 8:00 PM
Friday:
Overnight Prayer Meeting every last Friday of the month
Saturday:
House to house Visitations
Music Team Rehearsal
(Home Bible Studies and Follow Up throughout the week)
DAUGHTER CHURCHES
Victoria Christian Church
Poblacion 3, Victoria, Oriental Mindoro
Pastor Emer, Feling and Lyn Falla - Pastors
Meetings and Church Activities
Sunday:
Sunday school ……………………………..8:30 – 9:30 AM
Worship Service ……………………….……9:30 – 11:00 PAM
Home Bible Studies…………………………... 3:00 – 6:00 PM
Thursday:
Discipleship Training and Prayer Meeting ….3:00 – 5:00 PM
Friday:
Overnight Prayer Meeting every first Friday of the month
Saturday:
House to House Visitations
Music Rehearsal
Adrialuna Christian Church
Adrialuna, Naujan, Oriental Mindoro
Pastor George and Evie Viernes – Pastor
Meetings and Church Activities:
Sunday
Sunday Worship…………………….8:00 – 10:00 AM
Thursday
Prayer Meeting ……………………...7:00 – 9:00 PM
Saturday
Visitations and follow up
Music Rehearsal
New Life Christian Church
Papandayan, Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro
Pastor Ludy and Shirley Toledo – Pastor
Meetings and Church Activities
Sunday
Sunday school…………………….8:00 – 9:00 AM
Worship Service …………………9:00 – 11:00 AM
Youth Fellowship ………................2:00 – 4:00 PM
Wednesday
Bible Study and Prayer Meeting …..2:00 – 4:00 PM
Friday
Cottage Prayer……………………. 6:00 – 8:00 PM
Saturday
Visitations and Follow Up
Music Practice
Testimonies
TESTIMONIES OF HOW THE CHURCH
IMPACTED PEOPLE’S LIVES IN THE COMMUNITY
Here’s what some of them say:
In the past, my life was meaningless, painful and empty. At the age of 17, I am already addicted in many harmful vices. If I didn’t come to know the Lord, only three things would surely happen: I’m already dead, killed somebody or became insane. But through the ministry of Bagong Buhay Christian Church, I was genuinely saved by the Lord Jesus Christ. Now, I’m one of the Elder of this church and at the same time pasturing Adrialuna Christian Church.
- Faustino T. Viernes, Jr.
I was living a hopeless life being a notorious drunkard, addicted to cigarettes and illegal drugs at an early age. I was the problem of my parents and the community but there was no one to save me out of my condition. But through the ministry of Bagong Buhay Christian Church, I came to know the Lord and accepted Him as my personal savior and Lord that resulted to the genuine transformation of my life. Now, I’m the Chairman of the Men’s Fellowship in this Church
- John-John O. Cayog
I was addicted in gambling and drinking hard liquor. My life was meaningless and no direction. But through the ministry of Bagong Buhay Christian Church, I personally experienced the life-transforming relationship with God. Now, I’m one of the elder in this Church.
- Ricardo O. Rivera
- Faustino T. Viernes, Jr.
I was living a hopeless life being a notorious drunkard, addicted to cigarettes and illegal drugs at an early age. I was the problem of my parents and the community but there was no one to save me out of my condition. But through the ministry of Bagong Buhay Christian Church, I came to know the Lord and accepted Him as my personal savior and Lord that resulted to the genuine transformation of my life. Now, I’m the Chairman of the Men’s Fellowship in this Church
- John-John O. Cayog
I was addicted in gambling and drinking hard liquor. My life was meaningless and no direction. But through the ministry of Bagong Buhay Christian Church, I personally experienced the life-transforming relationship with God. Now, I’m one of the elder in this Church.
- Ricardo O. Rivera
Ministry Updates
BAGONG BUHAY CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Ministry Update
Ministry Update
Volume 13, Number 2 April-June 2009
CHILDREN’S HOPE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
10TH MOVING UP EXERCISES
10TH MOVING UP EXERCISES
This school year, fourteen pupils graduated from Children’s Hope Christian School last March 20, 2009 at Bagong Buhay Christian Church. Out of these fourteen pupils, eight of them were sponsored children.
Since the policy for the sponsorship program is the attendance of the sponsored children to the Sunday school every Sunday here at Bagong Buhay Christian Church and the parents or guardians every last Sunday of the month, the parent were able to hear the gospel that resulted for their salvation. At first, the parents were only attending the church every last Sunday of every month just to comply with the policy of the School for the sponsorship program, but later when they experienced the right relationship with God through Jesus Christ and the joy in serving the Lord, they are now regularly coming to the Church every Sunday. Without this program of child sponsorship, these parents who are now serving the Lord might be still living in darkness and bondage. But through this strategy, they are now in Christ. Seeing the effectiveness of this strategy in bringing souls to Christ, we are praying that we can get more child sponsors this school year not only for the Pre-school children but also for the Elementary, High School and College.
This school year, we are praying that we can be able to sponsor ten pre-school pupils, five elementary, five high school and three college students.
REVIVAL FELLOWSHIP SUCCESSFULLY
CONDUCTED IN PINAMALAYAN
This 14th day of March, we successfully conducted our first Revival Fellowship for 2009 at the New Life Christian Church in Papandayan, Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro. Again, six of our local churches gather together there for spiritual refreshing, renewal and challenge. Each of the churches hired their own service to transport them to the venue of the revival fellowship. Here in Bagong Buhay Christian Church, besides of the big truck we hired, some of the members of the church used their own motorcycle just to be able to attend the revival fellowship. Bagong Buhay Christian Church Music team handles the Praise and worship lead by Sister Charol Falla-eldest daughter of Pastor Jun. The Lord moved in a powerful way in this revival fellowship. After the preaching of the word, the crowd came forward to the front to rededicate their lives to the Lord to support their own local churches to help fulfill the great commission of Christ in their own communities. Pastor Jun prayed for them. We also exclusively prayed for the members of the host church, their leaders and their pastor. After the revival fellowship, we see the members of the participating churches are now more active in doing their parts in their own local churches. Here in Bagong Buhay Christian Church, our members are active in doing visitations, conducting home Bible studies and follow up to the new believers.CONDUCTED IN PINAMALAYAN
DEDICATION OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF NAUJAN TO THE
LIVING GOD DURING ITS 104TH YEAR FOUNDING ANNIVERSARY
LIVING GOD DURING ITS 104TH YEAR FOUNDING ANNIVERSARY
On December 21, 2008, Mayor Romar G. Marcos was prayed by Pastor Jun Falla when he came at the 13th year Anniversary of Bagong Buhay Christian Church. On December 23, Pastor Jun was invited in the Municipal Council’s Meeting to be consulted how the municipal government could celebrate the 104th year founding Anniversary of Naujan with godliness. When he was given the floor to speak, he proposes two things. First, during the celebration, there will be exclusively prayers to be conducted for the local Executive, Legislatives, Judiciary and employees. Second, The Municipal Government needs to dedicate the municipality of Naujan to the True and the Living God through a prayer of dedication with covenanting prayers in the part of the municipal government lead by the Municipal Mayor. The prayers will be written as a document. And to attest the sincerity of the municipal government to the prayers of dedication and covenant prayers, they will sign the document in the presence of the people during the event. And by God’s divine intervention after deliberations, the proposal of pastor Jun as well as other proposal of other Naujan pastors were accepted and approved by the Municipal’s Council.
After three days had past, Madam Raquel M. Umali the Organizer of the event called to Pastor Jun that since he’s the author of the proposals, he’s also the one who would prepare the prayer of Dedication and the covenant prayer. He was also assigned to pray for the local Executive, Legislatives, Judiciary and Employees.
The event was historic because for the first time in 104 years of Naujan, it was dedicated to the True and the Living God. As the result of that historic event, the Naujan pastors are now seeing the mighty moves of God in this municipality as a whole. Pastors are reporting that their church is continually growing.
BAGONG BUHAY CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Ministry Update
Ministry Update
Volume 13, Number 1 January-March 2009
BAGONG BUHAY CHRISTIAN CHURCH
CELEBRATES ITS 13TH YEAR ANNIVERSARY
CELEBRATES ITS 13TH YEAR ANNIVERSARY
December 21, 2008, Bagong Buhay Christian Church celebrates its 13th year Anniversary. It’s truly amazing what the Lord has done in this church for the past thirteen years despite of the economic condition of the members. The condition of the members of this church is like the church in Macedonia. They lacked in many things being located in the remote area where financial opportunity is seldom. Added to that is the severe persecutions from the different people and religious cults in the community, but the Lord proves us His faithfulness. And through His divine intervention, the work of the Lord survived and succeeded. To express the joy and gratefulness of the members of this church to God, as well as the members of our daughter and sister churches, they packed our new reconstructed and enlarge church building from inside to outside to celebrate God in this 13th year Anniversary of Bagong Buhay Christian Church.
The celebration was started through the reading of God’s Word by Sister Anie Falla followed by the opening song “Kay Buti Buti Mo Panginoon”, to meditate on the goodness of God, and then opening prayer by Pastor George Viernes, one of the elders of this church who are now pasturing our daughter church in Adrialuna. Sister Charol the eldest daughter of Pastor Jun and Sister Evelyn Falla Pastor Jun’s youngest sister, lead the joyous, alive and inspiring Praise and Worship.
By the amazing grace of God through your continues prayers, we now see the impact of this church in the lives of the people in the community as well as to the officials of our government from Barangay level to Municipal. Besides of the members of our church, the government officials are also witnesses to the mighty works of God in this church. They personally witnessed how this church was severely persecuted up to the demolition of our former church building, but they are also the same people who witnessed how this church rise up and moved on to fulfill its mission to the community.
In this year’s anniversary, our Municipal Mayor, our Barangay Chairman and his counselors were present to celebrate with us in our 13th year Anniversary. They are very grateful to this church because since this church came into existence to this community, the people are little by little transformed by the power of God and His Word from being the problems of the community to become the responsible and productive citizen. They have witness the people who were always involved in troubles in our community from the past, are now active in serving the Lord and have different ministry here at Bagong Buhay Christian Church.
Our Theme this Anniversary is, “Catching the Vision of God’s Agenda.” Pastor Jun Challenges the church leaders as well as the whole members of the church and the pastors of our daughter and sister churches to catch the vision the Lord entrusted to us to fulfill the Great Commission of out Lord Jesus Christ. After he made the challenges, He prayed for all the leaders of the church as well as the pastors of our daughter and sister churches that God will open their eyes to see the Vision of God’s agenda and be able to fulfill the agenda of God in their lives. Pastor Jun also prayed for our Barangay Chairman, all his counselors and our Municipal Mayor that God will give him more knowledge and wisdom to be able to serve the people of Naujan with Godly and righteous leadership. Our Municipal Mayor Romar G. Marcos is a protestant and is promoting Biblical transformation in our Municipality.
In the afternoon program, we devoted it to different games for all ages. We have games for the pre-schoolers, primaries, intermediates, youths, young adults, adults and even for the old ones ages 75 and above. No body left out in the program. We planned it that all will be bless not only for the worship service in the morning but also for the socialization through different games in the afternoon. All people went home blessed, challenged, motivated, encourage and renewed their vision for the future of this church.
ORIENTAL MINDORO PASTORS AND CHURCH LEADERS CONFERENCE
December 9-10, 2008, Pastor Jun host a province wide Pastors and Church leaders conference conducted at the Four Square Gospel Church in Victoria, Oriental Mindoro. Although at that time of the conference the whole province was experiencing none stop raining for almost two months, but it doesn’t hinder many of the pastors from different municipalities to come. Pastors from the Municipalities of Naujan, Pola, Pinamalayan and Bong bong were able to come and received blessings from the Lord. The Lord did many Great and Amazing things in the lives of these pastors and church leaders during and after the conference. The Lord put fresh revelation in the heart of our speaker and lecturer to minister to the needs of the local Pastors that greatly impacted their lives that resulted to the big impact in their own local churches and communities.
BAGONG BUHAY CHRISTIAN CHURCH CONDUCTED
MASS EVANGELISM HERE AT BAGONG BUHAY, NAUJAN
MASS EVANGELISM HERE AT BAGONG BUHAY, NAUJAN
November 10, 2008, we successfully conducted Mass Evangelism in one of the sitio’s of barangay Bagong Buhay, Naujan where about two hundred people attended and responded possively. As the result of this active participation of the church members in evangelism to the community, our church here in Bagong Buhay keep growing. Infact, our present church building can no longer accommodate people in our Sunday morning worship. Because of this, we are now extending our church building.
REVIVAL FELLOWSHIP SUCCESSFULLY
CONDUCTED AT NEW LIFE CHRISTIAN CHURCH
CONDUCTED AT NEW LIFE CHRISTIAN CHURCH
November 8, 2008, we successfully conducted our revival fellowship at the New Life Christian Church in Lido, Victoria, Oriental Mindoro. The Church is pastured by Pastor Edd and Sister Nora Falla.
Our theme for this fellowship is “Spiritual Multiplication.” Taking my text from the book of John 12:24, I challenge the members of the six participating churches to multiply spiritually. I explained to them that there is a parallel between the natural and the spiritual. The law of nature in the natural is multiplication. If it’s true in the natural, it’s also true in the spiritual. With the challenge each participating churches received from this fellowship, they went home to their own local churches with renewed strenght and vision. As the result, each churches are now more active in different ministries in their own local church that keep them growing.
MASS EVANGELISM CONDUCTED IN SAN ISIDRO, VICTORIA
Nov. 6, 2008, we conducted Mass Evangelism in one of our outreaches in Barangay San Isidro, Victoria. Over one hundred and fifty people attended and were able to hear the good news. Over fifty of them, possitively responded to thr gospel.
BAGONG BUHAY CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Ministry Update
Ministry Update
Volume 12, Number 4 October - December 2008
ADRIALUNA CHRISTIAN CHURCH
REVIVAL FELLOWSHIP
REVIVAL FELLOWSHIP
Adrialuna Christian Church is a daughter church of Bagong Buhay Christian Church and is pastured by Pastor George Viernes a home grown pastor trained by Pastor Jun Falla. Since our church building there was totally destroyed by two consecutives typhoons in 2006, we are holding our fellowship in the CARD building (Center for Agricultural Reform and Development). But only the building was destroyed not the real church – the people who are called out ones. Didn’t Christ promise that even the gates of hell will not prevail against His Church?
Last month, September 27, our five churches packed the CARD building from inside to outside for our third revival fellowship. A high light of the fellowship is when sis. Melyn Magsino gave her testimony how she came to know the Lord through the ministry of Adrialuna Christian Church and how her ten years old son miraculously healed from suffering of large cysts in his Anus and in his right hand in answer to prayers after she surrendered her life to the Lord. The cysts are big as chickens’ egg sister Melyn said. She consulted doctors for several times about her son’s condition but the doctor said that it will cost a large amount of money to remove the cysts. And since the family has no money for the surgery, they brought him to different witch doctors in the province. But as the witch doctors tried to cure the boy, his condition was getting worse and worse. Sister Melyn’s brothers in law along with her husband are well known faith healer or witch doctor in the area where people from many provinces are coming to see them seeking their services. But with all of their efforts, they were also failed. On one occasions, sister Melyn attended the fellowship in Adrialuna Christian Church where she heard the Gospel and accepted Christ as her personal savior and Lord. She also learned that God answer prayers. So when she comes home she started to pray for the healing of her son. She also asks pastor George Viernes to pray for the boy. After several weeks of continues prayers, the boy was miraculously healed and the cysts disappeared. So, sister Melyn is very grateful to God for the miraculous healing of her son. Now, she is one of the active attendees of our daughter church in Adrialuna.
Our daughter and sister churches from different places rendered special numbers during this revival fellowship. Children in Adrialuna also rendered their special number.
With our theme “ON FIRE IN GOD’S SERVICE,” members of different churches went home in their own local churches with renewed strengths and commitment to serve the Lord and to expand God’s Kingdom.
KINDER’S CLASS ROOM NOW COMPLETED
We’ve been praying for years for a small class building that we could really make into a classroom conducive to learning of small kids. We’re dreaming of a place that can be decorated and create an atmosphere of a real kindergarten classroom. This dream is now a reality after the completion of our classroom at the back of our church building. Praise God!
NEW LIFE CHRISTIAN CHURCH DEDICATED
THEIR CHURCH BUILDING IN THE NEW LOCATION
THEIR CHURCH BUILDING IN THE NEW LOCATION
On September 13, New Life Christian Church pioneered and pastured by Pastor Edd Falla is finally transferred their church building to its new and stable location. The church building was transferred from one place to another for several times before. But finally, they were able to find a piece of land where they rent to own and build their church building there now. Praise God!
JOINT REVIVAL FELLOWSHIP IN NEW LIFE CHRISTIAN CHURCH
On November 8, 2008, our revival fellowship will be conducted in the New Life Christian Church, Leido, Victoria. Our theme for this fellowship is “Spiritual Multiplication.” Again, our five churches will come together for revival and fellowship.
BAGONG BUHAY CHRISTIAN CHURCH
13th YEAR ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
13th YEAR ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATION
On December 21, 2008, we will be celebrating the 13th years of God’s faithfulness to Bagong Buhay Christian Church. The Theme for this years’ Anniversary is “Catching the Vision of God’s Agenda”
BAGONG BUHAY CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Ministry Update
Ministry Update
Volume 12, Number 3 July-September 2008
ILAW TEAM VISITS AGAIN ORIENTAL MINDORO FOR THE SECOND TIME
On the month of April this year, the team from “ILAW” (Igniting Light around the World) visited again Oriental Mindoro. This time, the member of the team is bigger than the previous visits and they come with multiple ministries. The team first visited us on the month of October 2006 here in Bagong Buhay Naujan. But this time, the team visited Victoria Christian Church in Poblacion 3, Victoria and Bagong Buhay Christian Church in Naujan. In Victoria Christian Church, they conducted music lectures in the morning on the first day and divided workshop in the afternoon. They also taught voice culture for the vocalist, basic guitar, drums playing, dance and tambourine.
In the second day, they gave lectures on evangelism and how to distribute gospel tracts to the unbelievers. Then most of the members of the team went out with the members of our church for Saturation Evangelism in the community with tracts distribution including invitation for the people to come to the Church for Evangelistic meeting during the night. As the result, many accepted Christ during the Evangelistic meeting. After the Evangelistic meeting of the same night, the team distributed clothes to the people as part of their outreach ministry in the province. The people were not only blessed spiritually, but they’re also blessed of clothing from the team. The people appreciated the clothes very much because they can’t afford to buy one due to their economic condition.
In the morning of the third day, we conducted special meeting to the people and to the members of Victoria Christian church who has special needs. And the Lord used the ILAW team to minister and to meet the deepest needs of the People. In the afternoon, the team moved to Bagong Buhay Christian Church in Naujan where they conducted revival fellowship with the members of the church. We invited unbelievers to come to hear the preaching of the Word. The revival meeting brings encouragement to the members of the church as well as to the church leaders. Again, as usual, the team distributed clothes to the members of the church. When the members received their own clothes from the team, they felt the same feelings as the people in Victoria Christian Church felt, because they have the same situation. And since Bagong Buhay Christian Church is an independent ministry, The ILAW visits is a source of encouragement to our Pastor knowing that somebody is partnering with him in this difficult ministry to reach out the unreached poor villages.
We’re praying that the Lord will continue to showers His abundant blessings to the ILAW team for their selfless love and service to the people here in our churches that through their ministry, more people will be bless!
CHILDREN’S HOPE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
KEEPING ON DESPITE OF DIFFICULTIES
KEEPING ON DESPITE OF DIFFICULTIES
Vital to the Ministry of Bagong Buhay Christian Church are the children. Fundamental to the needs of the children is education. Thus the creation of Children’s Hope Christian School in June 1999 was started in order for the underprivileged children in the community can take pre-school education. It used the church building as classroom.
Bagong Buhay is just a poor rice farming village. Because of this, the school cannot impose high fees for school improvements. Besides of this, most of the children enrolled here are tuition free. So, for ten years of its operation, it never got out of the church building.
We’ve been praying for years for a small building that we could really make into a classroom conducive to learning of small kids. We’re dreaming of a place that can be decorated and create an atmosphere of a real kindergarten classroom, something that we cannot do inside the worship center. And now that we are already seeking accreditation with the government, their condition for the approval is that the school must have first its own classroom and playground facilities. And praises God, He answered our prayers. The classroom’s construction at the back of the church building is already completed. The only needed for this church based pre-school is playground facilities. And since our God answers prayers, we believed that it will all be completed. We urge you to continue to pray for this special request.
From its inception, the school is guided by a distinctly Christian Philosophy. Children’s Hope Christian School is committed to an educational philosophy which is centered in Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. The goals of Children’s Hope Christian Schools is to glorify and enjoy God, to fear God and trust in Christ, to reason according to the biblical worldview and to love and serve God and neighbors. This school year 2008-2009, we have 16 pupils where 8 of them are sponsored children. In exchange to their sponsorship, each of them is required to attend Sunday school class every Sunday morning and their parents are required to attend church service once a month. In this way, we will be able to reach out not only the children but as well as their parents. And it’s interesting to see that the parents are now coming to the church regularly every Sunday morning. Praise God!
BAGONG BUHAY CHRISTIAN CHURCH
CONDUCTED ITS SECOND REVIVAL FELLOWSHIP
WITH ITS DAUGHTER AND SISTER CHURCHES
CONDUCTED ITS SECOND REVIVAL FELLOWSHIP
WITH ITS DAUGHTER AND SISTER CHURCHES
July 5, 2008, Bagong Buhay Christian Church headed by Pastor Jun F. Falla conducted its second revival fellowship this year held at Victoria Christian Church, Victoria Oriental Mindoro. Again, among the participating churches are: BAGONG BUHAY CHRISTIAN CHURCH (The first established church planting work of Pastor Jun), Bagong Buhay, Naujan, ADRIALUNA CHRISTIAN CHURCH (His second church Planting work), Adrialuna, Naujan, VICTORIA CHRISTIAN CHURCH (His third and presently new church planting work), Poblacion 3, Victoria, NEW LIFE CHRISTIAN CHURCH (established and pastured by pastor Eddie Falla), Leido, Victoria and NEW LIFE CHRISTIAN CHURCH (Pastor Jun’s former church) Papanadayan, Pinamalayan. The farthest church’s participant is our sister church in Pinamalayan. Although they have some problems in their economic condition but many of them came to the fellowship to receive something from the Lord. Through this revival fellowship, the Lord ministered in the lives of the members of all participating churches. As the word of God is preach, there was a great conviction in the heart of the people that all of them rededicated their lives to the Lord. Benches and chairs were all empty as all people come forward to receive something from the Lord. And because of their hunger for the things of God, the Lord did wonderful things in their lives. All the Glory and Honor belongs to God alone!!!
FAITHFUL SERVANT NEEDS MAJOR SURGERY
Faithful, dependable and never complaining for over twelve long years of continuous service. Truly indispensable part of the ministry. Very important, if not actually the most important “member” of the mission team. It goes with the Pastor wherever he goes, because it him wherever he wants to go. That’s pastor’s motorcycle. It has traversed many times the entire stretch of the province and has almost daily passed through the rough roads of Bagong Buhay to Victoria... for over twelve years. Now it calls for major repairs and replacement of various parts. But better yet, it already wishes retirement. Please pray for a replacement.
THE FAMILY KEEP SERVING GOD FAITHFULLY
Pastor Jun Falla’s family is happy and faithfully serving the Lord. For over 25 years, pastor Jun labors in full time service to the Lord as pastor and church planter to the unreached villages in the island of Mindoro. All of his children knew how their parents are serious in bringing the gospel in the far flung villages as they themselves are directly involved with the ministry since their childhood. Praise God they are very supportive to the ministry of their parents. The eldest daughter is teachings Sunday school for the children and a worship leader in the church while the second daughter is playing drums for praise and worship.
FEEDING PROGRAM STARTS IN ADRIALUNA CHRISTIAN CHURCH
While we keep our feeding program to the children here in Bagong Buhay Christian Church every Sunday morning, we start feeding program for over fifty children in Adrialuna. This feeding program in Adrialuna is finance by Sister Evelyn Viernes. She is a public School teacher and she is teaching these children while her husband Brother George Viernes is conducting the worship service for the Adult. Through this feeding, she not only helps the heath condition of the children in the community, she was able to plant the seed of God’s word into the hearts of these children. The good news is when the children come home; they shared to their parents what they learned in the children’s Sunday school. As the result, some of the parents are now coming to the fellowship. Please continue to pray for this couple who gave their lives to pastor this church in Adrialuna. They still don’t have church building. They still gather at the CARD building for worship services. Also pray for God’s provision for their weekly feeding program.
NEW LIFE CHRISTIAN CHURCH STARTED RECONSTRUCTION
OF THEIR CHURCH BUILDING TO THE NEW LOCATION
OF THEIR CHURCH BUILDING TO THE NEW LOCATION
This month, New Life Christian Church in Leido, Victoria, Pastured by Pastor Eddie Falla starts the reconstruction of their church building to the new location. They move out their church building from its former location because the members can’t able to pay the monthly hire of the piece of land where their building is built. But praises God, they find a new location where this lot is hire to own. When they reach the full amount of the property from their monthly amortization, the property will be transfer to the name of the church as the legal owner. Please pray for God’s provision to complete the reconstruction of their church building as soon as possible as well as God’s provision for their monthly amortization. At present, they are gathering in the house of one of their church member.
BAGONG BUHAY CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Ministry Update
Ministry Update
Volume 12, Number 2 April-June 2008
CHILDREN’S HOPE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
9TH MOVING UP EXERCISES
9TH MOVING UP EXERCISES
This school year, nineteen pupils graduated from Children’s Hope Christian School last March 14 at Bagong Buhay Christian Church. Through the grace of God despite of the health condition of teacher Anie Falla she was able to finish the school year. Our Theme was “Connecting Heart and Mind in Teaching”. This year we are fortunate to have Mrs. Elma Ordiales the Principal of Grace Christian Community School in Pasay City as our guest Speaker. This church based pre-school has big impact to the community. However, this school may temporarily stop this year unless we could be able to construct a class room because it is one of the requirements of the government to grant our permit to operate. For the past nine years, we only used the church building as our class room. But this year, the government will no longer permit us. Last year, we planned to construct the class room, but you know what happened to our church building, it was demolished. But by God’s divine intervention and provision, it was reconstructed in just sixteen days. So, some of the amount that we supposed to be use for the construction of the pre-school class room was used for the reconstruction of our church building. But we trust for God’s provision in order for us to construct a classroom before the classes begin on the month of June.
VIC CLOSING PROGRAM
On the Month of July 2007, we started to teach Values Instruction Class here in Bagong Buhay Elementary School. Among our volunteer teachers are: Sis. Lyo Macalanda, Sis. Ecel Cayog and Sis. Che Falla. As a result, one hundred sixty-five pupils from Grades III to VI were given certificates of completion for VIC modules Truth, Honesty, Respect and Friendliness last March 18 at this School. Pastor Abraham Latonero with his wife Teacher Lanie graced the occasion. Pastor Abe delivered the opening remarks, teacher Lanie told the story of Mrs. Smokey to an enrapt audience of children and adults. Mr. Angelito Matining, TIC of BBES, gave a hearty welcome to the VOICE initiative. Brgy. Chairman Ireneo Glodo and ex-TIC-turned barangay Councilor Mr. Angeles Ocampo also delivered warm and inspiring messages for the pupils, some parents and teachers who viewed our program. Pastor Jun Falla gave the closing remarks. Each class prepared a number taken from the Values songs they learned in VIC. We praise God for His graceful provisions so that were able to finish two modules this school year.
FIVE CHURCHES COME TOGETHER FOR REVIVAL FELLOWSHIP
April 12, five churches of Philippine Outreach here in the island of Mindoro, Philippines come together and packed the New Life Christian Church in Papandayan, Pinamalayan for revival fellowship. This group of churches is headed by Pastor Jun F. Falla. They are BAGONG BUHAY CHRISTIAN CHURCH, Bagong Buhay, Naujan, ADRIALUNA CHRISTIAN CHURCH, Adrialuna, Naujan, VICTORIA CHRISTIAN CHURCH, Poblacion 3, Victoria, NEW LIFE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, Leido, Victoria and NEW LIFE CHRISTIAN CHURCH, Papanadayan, Pinamalayan. From Bagong Buhay Christian Church, we hired a big truck to transport all the members of the church including adult, youth and children to the revival fellowship. Other churches do the same. They hired jeepney according to the numbers of their participants and delegates. As the word of God is preach, people were convicted and as a results, youths and adults as well as the children surrendered their lives to the Lord. Since the building can’t accommodate all of them at once, all the youth were the one first to come forward for prayers and you can see from the pictures how the youths packed the building. Then I called for the adults and they also came forward. Some of them cannot even come to the front because the place can’t able to accommodate them. After we prayed for the adult, we also prayed for the children to also surrender their lives to the Lord and they did. God really moved in their hearts. All the Glory belongs to Him alone!The aim of this fellowship is to empower and challenge the leaders and members of these churches to get active involvement in different ministries of their own local churches for church growth and multiplications. With our theme “Chosen by God to be Fruitful and multiply,” this revival fellowship is conducted every other month to different churches within our daughters and sisters churches. But although the revival fellowship is only design for our daughter and sister churches; some of the surroundings churches from different groups and churches are also coming to receive something from God. Please continue to pray for pastor Falla as he continues leads these churches for revival and church multiplication.
BAGONG BUHAY CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Ministry Update
Volume 12, Number 1 January-March 2008
BAGONG BUHAY CHRISTIAN CHURCH
CELEBRATES 12 YEARS OF GOD’S FAITHFULNES
Ministry Update
Volume 12, Number 1 January-March 2008
BAGONG BUHAY CHRISTIAN CHURCH
CELEBRATES 12 YEARS OF GOD’S FAITHFULNES
Bagong Buhay Christian Church is 12 years old! Praise God! We thank Him for His faithfulness in meeting the needs of the church. We celebrate Him as the real source of all the blessings, the success and the victory this church experienced for the last twelve years!
We cannot deny the fact of the many struggles of the small churches in the remote and unreached poor villages because of the economic condition of the place. Added to that is the continuing decrease of the attendance of the small church in the remote places every year due to lack of job opportunity in place. Every year, youths of the church went to the cities to study while other church members and even church leaders also went to the cities to seek job opportunities and stayed there living behind their ministry in the church and the pastor again do the church work alone. Bagong Buhay Christian Church is no exception to this kind of struggles but it survived for the past twelve years.
We thank the Lord for giving us highly committed members in the church that stayed with us in the place for the sake of the ministry of the church and sacrificially supported the Pastor in extending God’s Kingdom.
We also thank the Lord for giving me mentors that gives me direction in the ministry when I needed it. These include Pastor Leo Ordiales of Pasay Christian Reformed Church and Pastor Carlos Novisteros of UP Diliman Bible Church. God always used them and their lives to encourage me to go on in the ministry that the Lord called me to do.
Our theme for this years’ Anniversary is, “Chosen by God to be Fruitful and multiply.” We are privileged to have Pastor Carlos Novisteros again to be our speaker. Taking his text from the book of First Thessalonians 1: 6-10, he challenges the people, first to receive the word of God with joy. Secondly, live a clean life and be a good example to all believers. And thirdly, as a Christian we need to faithfully share our faith to others. This is the kind of life the Thessalonians believers have. And since travelers from anywhere choose to stay in the home of the believers there, they were able witnesses the kind of life the believers has and were able to hear the word of God from them. As a result, these travelers were able to experienced regeneration and they were the one who brought the gospel in their own place when they come home. This is how the Thessalonians believers became fruitful and multiply their faith to others.
After the preaching of the Word, Pastor Novisteros prayed for the people who dedicated their live to the Lord. He also prayed for all the church leaders with the chairman of our Barangay who was with us in the occasion.
After the Anniversary celebration, people were blessed, challenge and renewed their commitment to fulfill God’s calling in their lives. In fact, one of the elder of this church gave his life to the Lord to pastor our daughter Church in Adrialuna, Naujan.
But of course the success of this 12th year anniversary will not happen without the handwork in the part of the members of the church days before the event. There were lots of preparations and people involved, but the Lord gave each one of us a willing heats to do all our parts according to our gifts, talents and capacities. Please continue to pray for God’s continues blessing for the future of this church.
THE BAGONG BUHAY CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Ministry Update
Volume 11, Number 4 October-December 2007
Church Volunteers Teach Bible-based
Values Classes to 300+ Children
Ministry Update
Volume 11, Number 4 October-December 2007
Church Volunteers Teach Bible-based
Values Classes to 300+ Children
In a period of history when the highest officials of the land are being convicted of high crimes, bribery is SOP in government transactions, lying and cheating is commonplace, there is no greater need but teaching absolute Biblical truths and values to small children.
Teachers Lyô Macalanda, Ecel Cayog and Che Falla conduct weekly Values Instruction Classes (VIC) to the pupils of Bagong Buhay Elementary School. Each class receive forty-five minutes up to one hour of Bible-based values instruction composed of Scripture memorization, singing, storytelling, and fun class activity. The values taught to them this first semester are Truth and Honesty. Week after week, VIC instilled to the children the absolute truths of the Bible. They also have a take home sheet that are filled-up and signed by their parents. The curriculum and teachers training was provided by VOICE Phils., a Christian NGO.
VIC was only intended for Grades III-VI but Mr. Angeles Ocampo, the teacher-in-charge, repeatedly pleaded to include the Grades I and II as well. Therefore, 60 minutes per week were also devoted to each Grade I and Grade II class. Including the Kinder class of the church, over 300 children receive Bible-based values instruction in the barangay.
Before the VIC began in July, we have contacted the local Gideon and they distributed the VIC textbook, the Tagalog New Testament, to all Grade III to Grade VI pupils. During our first meeting, several Grade IV pupils have already read our story for the day. It is about the wise and foolish men who build their house. These children never attend Sunday school or any Bible-believing church, yet they know the story because that’s exactly what they are reading that day – the seventh chapter of Matthew. They started the first chapter since they received the book the week before! We also hear feedbacks from some parents that their children read their Bibles at home.
The children eagerly await the VIC each week. The twelve-week session was concluded with a simple pre-evangelistic presentation.
PUPILS EVALUATE VIC
“Bible verses” is the most favorite part
“Bible verses” is the most favorite part
After ten lessons on truth and honesty, pupils of the Bagong Buhay Elementary School evaluated their Values Instruction Class. One hundred fifty-eight pupils from grades three to six took the survey. Here are some highlights.
According to the pupils, the values instruction class is helpful (78%), fun (72%), life-changing (59%), and liked by their parents (53%).
When asked what did they like best about VIC, interestingly, they chose the Bible verses (46%) the teacher (35%), Class Activities and songs (both 34%). Only 22% chose storytelling and 19% liked the Take Home Sheets.
We also asked them to choose which two, among the ten specific values they learned (called Values Voice), are the most difficult to obey. Thirty-two per cent (32%) thinks the values voice “I will always tell the truth” is most difficult. The closely related “I will be honest” comes close second at 29%. The first values voice “I will choose good values for my life,” “I will be honest even if it is difficult,” and “I will admit when I am wrong” all got 25% each. There are 19% who think “I will not cheat or steal” is difficult to do. And there were also those who think the truth about God and they are difficult to believe.
What is the overall effect of the Values Instruction Class in their lives? A large 83% said that their knowledge about God and self have improved after taking the class. They know now that God made them special, that God loves them and He has a good plan for their lives. Another 66% said that their values about truth and honesty are much better because of VIC. Fifty-four per cent (54%) actually said they are more honest now. Only 12% said that nothing has actually changed in their lives.
Now what? What is their plan of action after they’ve finished the first semester of VIC? Eighty-three per cent (83%) said they will continue reading the Bible. Ninety-nine children or 63% expressed
their willingness to talk with the teacher about God and the Bible. (We will grant their wish soon.) And 33% or 52 children actually want to introduce their Values teacher to their parents. .
CHURCH CONSTRUCTION CONTINUES
After the remarkable, incredible, historical, and miraculous reconstruction of the worship center of Bagong Buhay Christian Church some finishing touches are still being done. The toilet is still being constructed. Materials such as galvanized sheets, lumber and plywood are needed for the construction of the Sunday school building. This building will also be used by the kinder class. Please pray with us for these needs.
FIVE NEW PEOPLE BAPTIZED
Last month, September 2, Pastor Falla baptized five people from the new church-planting work Victoria. This month Pastor is very busy in conducting home Bible Studies for another batch of people who are candidates for baptism for the month November.
FROM VICTORY UNTO VICTORY
The enemy relentlessly schemes every possible way to get rid of the Bagong Buhay Christian Church in its present location. But with our equally relentless prayers to our God who sit on the heavens, He keeps us safe. For didn’t He promise that even the gates of hell shall not prevail against His Church?
When the worship center of the Bagong Buhay Christian Church was successfully built on what the adversary cult thought was their property, they turned their seething anger to the one who granted us permission to stay on the lot. The new land-owner, henceforth we will call as Mr. S, filed a suit against the church and the barangay chairman, Mr. G. He timed the giving of summons during a barangay chairman’s meeting at the provincial capitol to embarrass him in front of all his colleagues. But the chairman wouldn’t be intimidated, valiantly fought and stood his ground. In the end it was the Mr. S who was to be embarrassed. The suit was easily dismissed for lack of merit. The chairman defended the church because, he said, it is a great help to the community. It has a kinder school; the members are peaceful and responsible citizens who have actually helped in the development of the barangay.
When they failed, did that stop them? No. Next, they allied with the former barangay chairman, Mr. C, who is in the same situation as they are. A portion of Mr. C’s land was also used by the Department of Public Works and Highways as a road. Mr. S now found company. They worked in tandem. They thought some more. There’s one more possible solution, they thought. Change the barangay chairman. How timely! Barangay election was coming!
So they sided with the contending party, with Mr. C running as councilor. Mr. S, along with the voting members of his family, registered as voters of the barangay even they don’t actually live here. His group wants to increase their voting power in order to topple down the present administration, and with Mr. C in, they hope they can already get rid of the church.
The contending party has all the characteristics of winnability. He is a civil engineer from a wealthy and large clan. The councilors were strategically chosen. They have a good and carefully thought-out plan. They predict a 5-2 result – their engineer winning plus five councilors, only two from the administration party.
Before the election, the church held the regular monthly midnight prayer meeting. The focus of the prayers that night is the coming elections that it will be clean, peaceful and the Lord will choose the right person to be the leader of our community.
Being a member of the Development Council of our community, I attended to the forum of the entire candidate and open it in prayer. I prayed the same prayer that the Lord will choose the right person to be the leader of our community. Then come October 29, the day of the election. The result: our friend, Mr. Chairman, won by a margin of 163. Mr. C lost and all the persecutors of the church. Only one councilor from the contending party won. Because of what happened, all the persecutors of the church in the community as well as the cults are all silent while the church is continually doing its missions to the community. All the glory belongs to God alone.
BAGONG BUHAY CHRISTINAN CHURCH
Ministry Update
Volume 11, Number 3 July-September 2007
OUR NEW RENOVATED CHURCH BUILDING DEMOLISHED
For years, since the beginning of my church planting ministry here in Bagong Buhay, the cults have been persecuting the church. The former land-owner who is a member of the cult was very hostile to. They are very hostile to all born-again Christians but most especially to me and to my wife Annie. During that time our house is only a small quarter attached at the back of the old church building. Many times she ordered us and the church building to get out of her land, piling insults and invectives. She even filed a suit against us at the barangay council, accusing us of avarice and land-grabbing. She’s angry when we clear the periphery of the building, or even cut the branches of the trees beside the church when in fact the land was already donated by her late husband to the church. Together with her brothers and sisters at their religion, they schemed of ways on how get rid of the church for so many years. Their last recourse was to sell her land just to force us to leave the property. They tried harassment and intimidation to me as the pastor, to my family, and the church members. Only her Christian daughter who was then the treasurer of our church prevents her from doing this. Finally, her chance came when her daughter died. Only several months later, indeed, she has successfully carried out the plan. She’s sold the property through a fellow member of their religion. The arrogant man, ordered us to leave the church at once without mercy, without a tinge of consideration. “Can you give us at least one month?” I pleaded. That’s too long, the man haughtily replied. “Two weeks then.” That’s still too long! Finally we settled on one week to leave their land. Because our church members are peace-loving people, we did not anymore fight. It’s sad but we have to do it.
During that time, our members in the church were still busy with their rice fields and the only time to do the demolition was Sunday afternoon. So on July 8, 2007, the demolition job was done two days after the eviction order.
How happy the cults were! They held a celebration that afternoon! We can clearly see their reaction. They were passing back and forth on the road looking happily while we demolish the structure. Two days later, they even invited their members from other nearby towns to look at the ruins. Many of them entered the ruined church building. As I passed by, I heard those heaping insults and mockery on the ruined church building. But only the building is demolished. The real “church”, the people who are members of Christ’s body, remained steadfast and strong. The ministry continues. Presently, our worship services and prayer meetings and the daily kinder classes are temporarily held at the pastoral’s house. However, this is a very difficult set-up because the living room/office in the pastoral’s house is very small. Pastor’s family need to empty the room of all the furniture like seats and tables in order to give room for the chairs and desks of the 19 children and then return everything back again at the end of the class at noontime– rain or shine, daily. We also do the same during prayer meeting and worship service.
GOD’S GOODNESS IN THE MIDST OF SEEMING TRAGEDY
We were all astonished at the result of the engineer’s survey. It was discovered right in the following day that the area where the church stands is part of the public land and outside of the land that was bought. Although during that time, our brothers and sisters were really disheartened but keep actively serving the Lord and determined to reconstruct the building. So, all the church members including children, women, youth and the very old - from four to seventy-six years old - came to help in the reconstruction in whatever capacity they can. They sifted and hauled gravel and sand, fixed the fence, tampered the flooring, cleared the surroundings, while the men fix the roof. Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! (Psalm 133:1)
Those two weeks, we worked from morning and sometimes till midnight. And yesterday, the church members worked together again to prepare our new church for the worship celebration! No tiredness, only pure joy. The joy of the Lord is our strength. (Nehemiah 8:10) How happy everybody’s faces are in bringing the chairs, musical instruments, pulpit and putting the curtains back to the Lord’s house again! Even the unbelievers are amazed. All passers-by turn their heads to look at the new church building, now surrounded with flower pots. All... except the cult members. They either look down or look the other way.
Month of August is the poorest month of the year among farmers. The planting season is already past and there’s no work available. The harvest season is still two months away. Money is scarce. Therefore, it is really amazing to see the church being built in this time of year, and that quick. It is the Lord’s doing and it is marvelous in our eyes. (Psalm 118:23)
So even in the poverty of August, we made a feast to celebrate our first worship service at the building. The whole church is overflowing with heartfelt praises, thanksgiving and rejoicing. Few eyes are left dry. It was totally awesome. Thou preparest a table before me in the presence of mine enemies... my cup runneth over. (Psalm 23:5)
August 12, 2007, exactly seventeen days after we started rebuilding, and thirty-five days after the demolition, we held the first worship celebration at our new and bigger church building. As in the time when the Israelites finished rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, “God had made them rejoice with great joy; the women and the children also rejoiced.” (Nehemiah 12:43) This is the exact atmosphere at Bagong Buhay Christian Church today. We share with you, our beloved friends and brothers in Christ, our great joy for what God has done.
Now, they can’t bear to look at the new church building. All their scheming and planning for many years had come to naught. They failed in getting rid of Christ’s church in the property. It has grown even bigger a very painful sore in their eyes. The Sanballats and Tobiahs are seething in envy and anger but they can no longer do anything else.
VALUES INSTRUCTION CLASS IN PUBLIC SCHOOLS STARTS
Despite of the many struggles this church encounters the expansion of the ministries keep on going. Values Instruction classes in Bagong Buhay public Elementary School is now on its third week. The children eagerly await the values classes. They are all excited when the volunteer teachers arrive, attentive and participative in all the class activities. We get feedbacks from some parents that their child read their textbook, the Bible, at home. The values classes are given to all Grades I to VI. Over 300 children read and memorize Scripture verses each week.
VILLAGERS SCHOOLOF THEOLOGY AND MISSIONS STARTED
The Villagers School of Theology and Missions is a church-based modular Bible School that we started in Victoria, Oriental Mindoro to provide free training to pastors who have no formal education from Bible College. It is also open for all church leaders in order to prepare them for the Lord’s service. At present, only Pastor Jun Falla is teaching at the VSTM. But there are also times when he invites a visiting professor from another Bible College. Like last Friday and the next Friday, our visiting professor is a Director of a Bible College. Our goal is to train and equip men and women in the Word of God to be effective church workers, preachers and leaders who, with godly character and in the power of the Holy Spirit, will transform communities and nations for the glory of God.
BAGONG BUHAY CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Ministry Update
Volume 11, Number 2 April-June 2007
ANSWERED PRAYERS
God answered prayers for the rice field of our church members. The condition of the rice field of the people here were alarming, including the rice field of the church members because of the drought the farmers is experiencing due to seldom rain. The rain is very important to the farmers here in our community. The soil in their rice plantation is sandy. This kind of soil absorbed the water so quickly. So it needs continues supply of water but they don’t have natural irrigation here from the river that will supply enough water to their rice plantation. The farmers here only have their own deep well with water pump to draw out the water, but the common problem with this kind of irrigation is the high cost of the fuel and they don’t have money to buy. But since they have no choice, they are force to use their water pump with the high cost of fuel. And since they have no money to buy the fuel, they were forced to borrowed money from the lending company and promise to pay after harvest. But when the harvest time comes, the amount of the harvest didn’t reach the big amount of the input they apply for their field. As the results, many farmers weren’t able to pay for their credit in the lending company. And it will add to their present problem because the interest of their unpaid loan will continue to rise. And another problem they face is they will borrow again for the next planting season that will add to their previous unpaid loan. So these farmers can’t get out from debts. But praise God, the member of our church was able to discern God’s will. They don’t put over input to their rice field. They just trust the Lord for His favor and grace. When they need water for their rice plantation, since they also have no money to buy extra fuel, they always go to God and cried out for help in prayer and God usually answered our prayers.
Now, most of our members were now able to harvest their rice. And they have a good harvest this harvest season beyond their expectation because of the experienced drought.
Through their good harvest, they were able to pay all their loans as well as the interest from the lending company. They also keep enough sacks of rice for their food up to the next harvest season. Through God’s blessing to these members the people saw that the favor of God is in His children who are faithfully serving Him. Their lives is a living testimony to the community how God is faithful in answering the prevent prayers of His obedient children. Because of this, the members are very grateful to God who allows them to personally experience His goodness and provision. In the expression of their gratefulness to God, many of them gave rice offering to the Lord. Some of them brought one sack of rice, others two sacks and other brought as many as five sacks about 50-60 kilos each. And they agreed that the sacks of rice they brought as an offering to the Lord will be use for the food of their pastor. Although these sacks of rice are not enough until the next harvest season for the food of the pastor, but it help a lot.
BAGONG BUHAY CHRISTINAN CHURCH
Ministry Update
Vol. 11, No. 1 January-March 2007
ILAW TEAM VISITS ORIENTAL MINDORO
On the month of October, a team composed of five members from “ILAW” (Igniting Light around the World) visits Oriental Mindoro and conducted Music lectures and workshop at Bagong Buhay Christian Church, Naujan. The team is headed by Pastor Romy Hintay. Among the participants to this workshop are the members of Bagong Buhay Christian Church, Adrialuna Christian Church and Victoria Christian Church. The team also conducted revival and evangelistic meeting during the night where unbelievers come to hear the preaching of the word. They also distributed clothes for the members of the church.
BBCC TURNS ELEVEN YEARS OLD!
For eleven years, the path of Bagong Buhay Christian Church has been strewn with difficulties yet in all occasions, we were able to triumphs with the grace and the power of the living God. You are aware of our manifold struggles in the ministry, but every trial we surmount, victory is always won. So we share with you our great joy on the occasion of out 11th year Anniversary last December 21. In spite of the typhoons and floods that plagued us last year, still our hearts are filled with gladness and thanksgiving.
Looking back on the eleven years that was past, we can boast on nothing but the amazing grace of God for the victories that He has privileged us to accomplish for His glory.
BBCC SEEKS S.E.C. REGISTRATION
As of December 27, 2007, Bagong Buhay Christian Church is already registered to the Securities and Exchange Commission. The church leadership sought the government registration in order for the church to be able to transact legal matters for the growth and for the expansion of its ministry.
NEW LIFE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN PINAMALAYAN HOLDS ANNIVERSARY
NEW LIFE CHRISTIAN CHURCH IN PINAMALAYAN HOLDS ANNIVERSARY
In a celebration of praise and thanksgiving for God’s faithfulness through out the year, New Life Christian Church held its Anniversary last December 24. Pastor Jun Falla was the speaker. The Church is headed by Pastor Ludy Toledo.
WEEKEND CHILDREN’S MINISTRY SUCCESSFULLY LAUNCHED
Weekend Children’s Ministry is part of the ministry of Bagong Buhay Christian Church that aims at reaching the Children of the entire community of Bagong Buhay. The program kicked off on October 28, 2006 and was done every Saturdays thereafter headed by Sister Leoncia Macalanda, the children are taught the Word of God, through Bible stories, songs, games, arts activities and video viewing. They also held special five-day session last Christmas vacation where they tackled in-dept the first coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. Among the volunteers are Carol, Cheryl, Marilyn and Sally.
BAGONG BUHAY CHRISTINAN CHURCH
Ministry Update
Vol. 10, No. 4 October-December2006
FOUR PEOPLE BAPTIZED IN WATER
Rafael Rivera was a notorious trouble-maker and drug user who lives in a sitio called Islang Itim (Black Island). After years of messy lifestyle, the loving father, in His abundant mercy has brought this man to his senses by means of serious diseases that threatened his life. Having heard the gospel many times before, he just ignores it. He now remembered that there is a savior and earnestly sought him. The he joined the intensive Bible studies for the next batch of candidates for baptism.
Marlon Marcos, Maricar Cayog, and Mary Grace Aclan are highschoolers. By the grace of God, they understood and accepted the Gospel. Pastor Jun conducted a Bible study with them twice a week along with Rafael, and together they obeyed the commands of baptism last September 16.
Praise His Name!
THREE YOUNG MEN RECEIVED CHRIST
Recent convert Rafael Rivera ardently wants to lead his love ones to his newfound Savior. He organized a Bible Study in their area and invited his parents and friend along. So far, three young men have already responded positively to the Gospel and they are; Edward Marcos, Andy Marcos and Erwin Marasigan.
EARLY CHRISTMAS GIFT RECEIVED FROM LOVING BRETHREN
Delighted church members rummaged through a box containing clothes, shoes, bags and other items given by our loving brethren to the members of the church. Our poor people really appreciate the gift so much. The income they get two times a year from rice farming is so meager that they have very little or no more budget for clothing. That’s why every family is really very happy because they all received some gifts. And every one loves wearing his or her share.
ARIALUNA CHRISTIAN CHURCH GATHERS TEMPORARILY AT CARD CENTER
The Church building in Adrialuna was destroyed by typhoon Caloy last May this year. Since then, our church members there borrow the meeting place of CARD (Center for Agricultural Reform and Development) for worship service. They cannot reconstruct the building in the same site where it was previously standing because the land-owner would not anymore renew the contract of lease. The owner offered another site but there are high-voltage electrical wirings overhanging the area and it is very dangerous to build under it. Therefore, the church’s concern now is to find another lot within the barangay where we can construct the church building.
PASOR JUN FALLA INITIATES BLESS THE PASTOR FELLOWSHIP
On October 12, 2006 Pastor Jun initiates Bless the Pastor Fellowship for the Pastors of Victoria, Oriental Mindoro. Thirty Pastors and several church leaders and workers participated in this event that was held at Sound New Garden Hotel. The aim of this fellowship is to unify the body of Christ in the town of Victoria as well as to remain steadfast in the ministry despite of difficulties.
On the next day, October 13, we conducted revival for the church members with the topic: Hear and Obey.
The first Bless the Pastor fellowship was held in 2003 that we called, “Maligayang Pasko, Maligayang Pastor” (Merry Christmas, Merry Pastors) where many pastors and their families received many Christmas gifts.
Pastor Jun Falla initiated these events because of his deep concerns for the welfare of his fellow pastors.
BAGONG BUHAY CHRISTINAN CHURCH
Ministry Update
Vol. 10, No. 3 July-September 2006
VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL
We praise God for over 100 children who participated in the Daily Vacation Bible School we conducted last April 24-29. It left a great impact to the children, parents and the whole community.
CHILDREN’S HOPE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL AND CHILD SPOSORSHIP
Seventeen children enrolled this year at kinder school. Seven out of these seventeen pupils are sponsored by several individuals.
FEEDING PROGRAM CONTINUES
The church feeding program continues. Some mothers prepare simple snacks for the children which they serve during the children’s church
MIRACLE BABY NOW A HEALTY 11 MONTH-OLD
Mark James, son of Brother and Sister Marife Fresnoza, was born after only six months. The doctor told the couple then that the baby wouldn’t survive. But God made the impossible and let the child live. He is now a very healthy 11 months old boy. Praise God for answering the prayers of His children.
BBCC TO OPEN BIBLE SCHOOL
To formalize the discipleship training that we are presently conducting in the Church, we are planning to establish a school of mission and evangelism. Last summer, we already have fourteen students who underwent the evangelism training. We plan to give modular classes on mission and evangelism in the near future.
BAGONG BUHAY CHRISTINAN CHURCH
Ministry Update
Vol. 10, No. 2 April-June 2006
ZEAL FOR EVANGELISM SPARKS ANEW
Ministry Update
Vol. 10, No. 2 April-June 2006
ZEAL FOR EVANGELISM SPARKS ANEW
This Holy Week, we conducted an Evangelism Training Seminar and Workshop here at the church. Fourteen church leaders participated in the two-day seminar by Rev. Anselmo Gregorio, Director of Mindoro Bible Training Center and Pastor Jun Falla, Pastor of this Church. Lectures were presented on the first day and workshop in the morning of the second day. The last part of the training is a practicum wherein four groups composed of three to five members went out to the community and applied what they learned. After three hours of actual evangelism, each one made a report of their experience. Just like the disciples in Luke 10, they all came back with joy.
HIGHEST NUMBER OF GRADUATES ACHIEVED
THIS YEAR AT CHILDREN’S HOPE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
THIS YEAR AT CHILDREN’S HOPE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
The number keeps going up. From thirteen children who graduated when the school started in 1999, thirty children graduated this year. But the painful reality is that out of these thirty pupils, only three were able to pay their school dues in full before the graduation. Many of them weren’t able to pay even the entrance fee up to the present.
Despite hardships and struggles, we are thankful to the Lord for continuously using it to serve the community. We thank Him for the patience and wisdom He gives our two teachers, Teacher Anie and Teacher Ecel Cayog. Four children were also beneficiaries of our sponsorship program. We hope to increase the number of sponsored pupils next school year depending on the availability of willing sponsors.
BAGONG BUHAY CHRISTINAN CHURCH
Ministry Update
Vol. 10, No. 1 January-March 2006
A MIRACLE BABY
A Miracle Baby! This is what the doctor said to a twenty-six weeks old pre-mature baby of Pastor Robert Fresnoza and Sister Marife.
October 7, 2005, Sister Marife Fresnoza was admitted to the Hospital in Calapan City, Oriental Mindoro, Philippines. About five o’ clock in the morning, Sister Marife was brought ton the Hospital delivery room where the attending physician informed Brother Robert that she is not sure that twenty-six weeks old pre-mature baby will live. She added “if we have a chance to send the baby abroad, there’s a big chance that the baby will live through their advance medical technology and facility there.” When Pastor Robert heard the Doctor’s statement, he asks permission to pray with his wife, who is lying at the delivery room. He kneeled and cried to the Lord asking for His favor that the baby will live. At one o’ clock in the afternoon on that same day, Sister Marife gave birth to a baby boy that weights only 1.3 kilograms with fifty-fifty chance of survival. When Pastor Robert learned the condition of the baby, again he cries out to the Lord and said, “Lord my son belongs to you. Let my son live!” When he uttered those words, he knew God answered his prayer. And that same moment, the Lord gave him one hundred percent assurance that his baby will live.
They expected the baby to be incubated for fifteen to thirty days depending on the baby’s development. The doctor enumerated the critical stages the baby needs to pass through. Every minute they have to carefully monitor the condition of the baby. The hearth beat and breathing must be normal within three days. Veins in the brain and i9n the body must not collapse or explode within the given period of time. Internal organs must be put in normal shape and function. Skin color and the body temperature must be maintained in normal condition and the blood counts must improve. Failures in any of these will endangered the survival of the baby. Upon learning the true condition of the baby, Pastor Jun prayed with Brother Robert and his wife for God’s protection and for His divine interventions for the life of the baby.
While still in the incubator, every one who saw the baby said, “the baby is impossible to survive.” They were right! In fact, most of the pre-mature babies that were born in different hospitals in the city on the same time that Mark James was born died. But the mother of Mark James has a strong faith. Every time she heard the negative words and reaction of the people about her baby, she continually confesses that her baby will live and will survive. To strengthen their trust to the Lord, Pastor Jun frequently visited them in the hospital and prayed for them and the baby. As the result, the impossible thing became possible. Instead of fifteen the baby stayed in the incubator, the baby only stayed there for only three days. What a Miracle God performed! After a month of careful monitoring, testing, and treatment, the baby was able to pass through all the critical stages of his life.
Prayers can truly change things. It proves that there is nothing impossible with God. From the hopeless condition, the baby turned out to be completely normal. What a Miracle God has performed to the baby!
On November 8, the baby boy Mark James O. Fresnoza was discharged from the hospital. Now the baby was almost four months old, healthy and growing normally. All the Glory belongs to God alone!
MOTHER AND DAUGHTER CHURCH CELEBRATE ANNIVERSARY
In December 18, 2005, Bagong Buhay Christian Church celebrates its 10th year Anniversary while Adrialuna Christian Church celebrates its 1st year on January 22, 2006. It’s not counting the years though. It’s counting the blessings the Lord has showers us with.
Ten years ago, Bagong Buhay was filled with darkness. Pastor Jun Falla had distinctly felt the call of God to come to evangelize this place. Yet he meets opposition everywhere. All his colleagues discourage him to continue the work. “That’s impossible place to establish a work!’’ they warned. Many groups have attempted to go and start a ministry there but they all failed. Indeed, it was – and still is – a host of many religious cults. People are so hostile to the Gospel or indifferent at best. But Pastor Jun was adamant. He was determined to find the lost souls in Bagong Buhay and bring them to the fold.
He faced all difficulties and hardship imaginable. At that time, he receives no support whatsoever, but God graciously provided a means for his family. First was a puto-making business and junk trading later. But he stopped all these when he moved his family from the town of Victoria to Bagong Buhay. Added to their difficulties is they crammed in a tiny pastoral house, persecuted by the cults and unbelieving neighbors left and right. But the Lord is moving in many people’s lives! Little by little, the Lord saved them and added to the church.
Came a time when there was an opportunity to plant a new church in neighboring barangay of Adrialuna. Our relentless pastor, sometimes with one or two leaders went there to conduct Bible studies and visitation almost daily. Attendance grew and the burden to erect a church building also grew in our hearts here in Bagong Buhay. The thought of having a daughter church near the town excited us. And so we prayed. And you prayed with us. God was pleased to answer our prayers because it’s so much in accordance with His will. January 23, 2005, the church in Adrialuna was born!
While the embryonic church in Adrialuna is little by little growing, eight months later, the church was bombarded by gigantic problem. All the buildings in the area where the church building is located were ordered to be demolished! We prayed for God’s intervention and the demolition job was reset. We prayed again and the demolition was postponed. Five times in the space of three months did we experience the tension of the eminent demolition of our new church building. Finally, in December, the owner of the property decided to give us freedom to stay in the area for two more years for free. After two years, they also offer to just transfer the building to the lot across the street.
So difficult was the situation that our churches had gone through, so sweet is the joy for having survived them all! We thank God for His great faithfulness.
ANOTHER CONSTRUCTION JOB COMPLETED:
MOTHER CHURCH BUILDING RENOVATION
MOTHER CHURCH BUILDING RENOVATION
Sunday school annex, Adrialuna Christian church building, and pastoral house… All these were completed in succession because of the mighty hand of God at work. Then the most recently, we embarked on another construction project – the renovation of our church building here in Bagong Buhay.
Three years ago, people of the church planned and prayed for a better worship center for us where worshippers would fell comfortable. No leaky roof, more spacious and more attractive. At that time we started to collect funds for the project. A brother made a miniature church building and sawed an opening on its roof. In it we drop coins and bills, determined to make a better house for the Lord. The Lord blessed this little collection and it increased until we put it to use.
And so amidst the weeklong downpour in early December, our ever-industrious men in the church repaired and have the church building ready for the anniversary celebration December 18.
We thank God for His provision to finish this task. Our men replaced the old, rotten beams and trusses with new lumber, replaced the leaky roof, concreted the lower wall of the extension which used to be thatched nipa and the crisscrossed bamboo on the upper portion was replaced with plywood. There is now also inviting façade. The renovation was finished before the target date 2006.
CHURCH-SCHOOL CONTINUES TO IMPACT THE COMMUNITY
Mr. Eduvejes Cayog is a product of our kinder school. No, he’s not a former student because he’s already a forty-plus year old adult while the school started only six years ago.
You see, Mr. Edu Cayog is the father of Jerome. Jerome is one who studied at our kinder school. Jerome was an oversized boy, the bully of his class. But he heard the Gospel at school and he also faithfully attends the Sunday school. He learned to pray before meals and asks his parents to do so at home. In times, his naughtiness mellowed and his parent noticed it.
Jerome started to invite his parents to church. He said, they would go to hell if they don’t believe in Jesus and go to church. Because he’s the only child, and his parents love him so much, they gave in to his request just to please him. They went to church! That was happened four years ago.
But because of that, they were able to come to the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. And since then up until now, brother Edu and Sister Dolores didn’t stop serving the Lord. They were both baptized in March 2003. Brother Edu was formerly an ardent persecutor of the church while Sister Dolores was a member of a known religious cult.
Now the whole family is a faithful member of Bagong Buhay Christian Church. All because of a child named Jerome who heard about Jesus at kinder school.
BAGONG BUHAY CHRISTIAN CHURCH ORGANIZES MUSIC TEAM
Bagong Buhay Christian Church has a new music team! This is compose of Brother Robert Fresnoza as the music Director, Randy Golloy as lead guitarist, Ricardo Rivera bass guitar, Kenneth Gonzales and Ronaldo Cayog for the drums and Charol Falla with her sister Cheryl as vocalist. We praise God for the talents He has endowed to these people and their willing hearts to be use for the Lord.
CLOTHES WERE DISTRIBUTED TO CHURCH MEMBERS
Sister Marife Fresnoza distributed clothes to Bagong Buhay Christian Church and Pinamalayan Christian Church’s members. Pastor Eddie Falla and his family also received clothes.
BAGONG BUHAY CHRISTINAN CHURCH
Ministry Update
Vol. 9, No. 4 October-December 2005
IS GOD GOOD?
Is God good? This is the question of Sister Annie Falla, the wife of Pastor Jun Falla after undergoing extreme difficulties and inconveniences in their 10X20 foot pastoral house extended at the back of the church building with their family of five.
The small structure contains their kitchen, dining room, living room, bed room, comfort room, bath room and wash room. For seven long years, the family lived in that poor living condition for the sake of the gospel and love for the people in the area. Many times during those years, they experience embarrassing pain after they failed to accommodate their friends who visit them in the area. Add to their extreme difficulties, is the dust brought by the incessant passing of dam trucks from a nearby quarry that resulted to the sicknesses to the family.
In the midst of those hardships, sicknesses and despairs, the family has no other choice but to keep trusting the Lord and to keep praying with all the members of the church, close friend and our faithful prayer partners. And as we keep praying, the Lord miraculously provided not only the piece of land, but as well as the house itself. Although the house is not completely finished yet, on August 6, the family transferred to this new pastoral house. Because of what the Lord has done, Sister Annie cannot contain herself but to exclaim- “God is really good!” She rejoices not only because God change their situation but they have proven once more that God is always with them even when they’re still in their difficult situation.
God moved many others to meet all their needs. Now, the Pastoral house stands as another eloquent expression of God’s grace and cares for his beloved children here at Bagong Buhay Christian Church.
ADRIALUNA CHRISTIAN CHURCH KEEPS GROWING IN NUMBER
Since it’s opening on January 23, 2005, Adrialuna Christian Church keeps growing in Number. People from different communities are coming to worship with us. But the church needs effectual fervent prayers because the owner of the property where the church building is built is now sold. Because of this, the church building is ordered to move out from the property. The church building is easy to transfer but still we have no place to transfer. Please help us in prayer that we could find a more stable site for the church building.
DAWN PRAYER WATCH STARTED
While maintaining our Prayer Network, four women in the church started to conduct dawn prayer watch to intercedes for the salvation of the lost in the community and for the various needs of the church and it’s mission. Every 4:30 – 6:00 o’ clock in the morning daily, they meet in the church for this purpose. For about two months of daily and consistent intercession, we started to see God at work in our community. People started to fell they need God. Youths in the community who used to be active in different cultic group are now stopping. Many of the activities of the various cult religions in the community weakened. Moreover, despite of the difficult trials the members of the church are going through, they keep standing and grow stronger for God because of their passionate spirituality.
UNDERPRIVILEDGE CHILDREN IN THE COMMUNITY
FOUND HOPE AT CHILDREN’S HOPE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
FOUND HOPE AT CHILDREN’S HOPE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL
Four underprivileged children in the community found hope at Children’s Hope Christian School when we admitted them for sponsorship. They are Jerold Mangesil, Aries Donato, John Mark Labartine and Gaydle Vicente. The parents of these children can’t afford to send them to the school because of their economic condition. As a matter of fact, at Jerold’s age, he is supposed to be in third grade now, but the public school in the community would not admit pupils without preparatory education. So, Jerold’s schooling in grade school is delayed. But since Jerold is now taking preparatory education, at this school, with other three sponsored children, they have hoped to be admitted in the public school for grade one next school year.
KEEP PRAYING FOR GOD’S PROVISION FOR BBCC EXPANSION
With the Lord’s blessings, we will start to renovate and extend this church building on the month of November because it’s roof is ready to collapse and is overcrowded with Sunday worshipers.
OVERCROWDED MOTORCYCLES ON THE GO TO THE MISSION
Youths of the church are always excited to go with Pastor Jun Falla to the outreaches and missions. Due to the high cost of commuting, they use motorcycles. But the problem with using motorcycle is that they are always overcrowded and the roads are very rough so they are prone to accident. In fact, it already happened twice that they were thrown away on the road when they lost their balance. To avoid these mishaps again, in the future, we’re praying for a new side car to be fixed to the pastor’s motorcycle. This tricycle will then be use for other ministries of the church. And for the pastor’s vehicle, we are praying for a smaller, less fuel-consuming motorcycle to be use in conducting home Bible studied, follow ups and visitations.
BAGONG BUHAY CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Ministry Update
Vol. 9, No. 3 July-September 2005
PASTORAL HOUSE HALFWAY DONE
Ministry Update
Vol. 9, No. 3 July-September 2005
PASTORAL HOUSE HALFWAY DONE
We prayed for it, God gave it.
The pastoral house will soon stand as another eloquent expression of God’s care for His beloved children here in Bsgong Buhay. Born out of urgent necessity because Pastor Falla’s family are already getting sick due to poor living condition in their current borrowed quarters, we prayed – ask, sought and knock. And by God’s miraculous means, construction kicked off last May 9.
All the able-bodied males of Bagong Buhay Christian Church and several members from Adrialuna Christian Church worked together to erect the Pastoral House while the mother prepared the daily meals. True to the Filipino bayanihan spirit, they literally shouldered all the works especially in bringing the bamboo poles from the riverbank more than a kilometer away to the construction site. This endeavor fostered camaraderie and pride among the members in their being able to build a house for their pastor and for the Lord, with their own hands.
The house is semi-concrete, with the half-lower portion made up of hollow blocks while the roof is thatched nipa leaves. The upper half of the walls is still undone. We plan to use either plywood or bamboo for this. At present, about 75% of the construction is already finished.
COMBINED YOUTH FELLOWSHIP GOES TO THE BEACH
Over forty young people from Bagong Buhay Christian Church and Adrialuna Christian Church spent the whole day of April 2, 2005 at the RGV Beach in Naujan. The aim of the event was to strengthen their walked with God and to promote unity and camaraderie among the youths of the daughter churches.
Activities include singing and listening to God’s word. Then they were divided into groups with a designated adult leader for deeper exhortation and more intimate fellowship. After that, were a a series of sand and water games such as treasure hunting, human pyramid, etc., and of course swimming!
Simple foods were prepared by the youth from Bagong Buhay Christian Church night before the event. Several mothers also came to the Beach to cook more food for the party. As the result, everybody went home happy, energized physically and spiritually.
FORMER DEACON OF A CULT RELIGION TURNS TO CHRIST
Mr. Jimenez Patiag, 74 years old and a former deacon of the largest native cult religion in the Philippines, and his wife turn to Christ and are now consistently attending in our worship service. The first time I shared him the gospel, he was resisted but as I keep explaining to him the gospel with love and compassion, God touched his hearth and eventually accepted Christ as his personal savior along with his wife. Their prayer now is for the salvation of all their children, grandchildren and relatives.
BAGONG BUHAY CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Ministry Update
Vol. 9, No. 2 April-June 2005
ADRIALUNA CHRISTIAN CHURCH OPENS
Ministry Update
Vol. 9, No. 2 April-June 2005
ADRIALUNA CHRISTIAN CHURCH OPENS
Yes! January 23, 2005 marked the first worship service of the Adrialuna Christian Church. We want to share with you our brethren, the joy we are experiencing seeing God’s hand bless the ministry.
The Church building is made entirely of native materials, thatch roof made of nipa leaves and walls of bamboo and nipa. This is what we could afford and there was no limit to the hard work each member contributed to see the church stand. Pastor Jun Falla rejoices that now there is a visible structure where the community can gather to worship the Lord.
Looking back now at how God worked toward the completion of the church building, we can only thank and praise Him. He really provided all the needs, in ways we would never imagine. In spite of the difficult hurdles along the way, He also removed them one by one. We praise God because the construction was finally completed by January 22!
The simple inauguration and dedication last January 23 was really a joyous one both for Bagong Buhay and Adrialuna worshipers. A highlight of the program is when the prominent witch doctor accepted Christ as Savior. He was invited because he is the barangay councilor in charge of the area.
As of 2004, 47 out of the 70 barangays in the Municipality of Naujan are still unchurched. Because of the new church in Adrialuna, this statistics is now changed. Only one church… yet in the Record Book of Heaven, hundred of souls were and will be written.
CHILDREN’S HOPE CHRISTIAN SCHOOL MARKS SIX YEARS
Now on its sixth year, the kinder school started by sis. Annie Falla, is a living testimony of God’s faithfulness. Other twenty-two kindergarten pupils graduated from Children’s Hope Christian School last March 11. Seeing the tearful yet joyful faces of the parents and the smiling faces of the children during our simple graduation ceremony is enough reward for another year of hard work and painful sacrifices.
The yearly testimony of our graduates, having received a quality, Christ-centered education, encourages more parents to clamor for the much-needed education for their children. They have nowhere to go because there’s no other kinder school in the entire community.
FEEDING PROGRAM FOR CHILDREN STARTED
As part of our ministry to the children, Bagong Buhay Christian Church started a feeding program after Sunday school and during the children church. Children below twelve years old are gathered in the Sunday school annex where they serve simple snacks like lugaw, macaroni soap, and champorado. These snacks are prepared by the mothers Saturday night. Two mothers are assigned to prepare the meals every week.
A broader feeding program is set this summer. This will reach the malnourished children in the community. Here fortified formulation of milk will be served daily to kids twelve year old and below.
NEW BIBLE STUDIES
While Pastor Jun continues his Bible studies and follow-ups in the new church planting work in Adrialuna, new Bible studies are emerging in Bagong Buhay.
MACEDONIAN CALL FOR YOUR BBCC BRETHREN
Poverty in the Philippines will remain a problem for years. According to the World Bank some 51% of the country’s 84 million people live on less than P100 a day. - Philippine Star, January 22, 2005.
We at Bagong Buhay Christian Church are undeniably part of that statistics. Poverty for us is a day-to-day reality. There are more than thirty families in our congregation. Each these families bemoan to hard life.
We are basically a hardworking people. Among us are talented and educated individuals with marketable skills, but employment opportunities are scarce. Almost all our members have small rice fields, but rice farming is becoming more and more unprofitable each year due to the huge amount of inputs required, such as fertilizer, pesticides, irrigation, farm labor, etc., yet the price of palay is very law. These capital inputs are often acquired through loans. After harvest, almost all our yields also go to loan payment and interest. Whatever income left could hardly catch-up to the ever-increasing prices of basic commodities. Because of the financial dearth, most of us resort to debts with exorbitant interest rates especially when emergency arises. Most of us are buried to the neck I debts. Some of our children may not be able to go to school anymore this coming school year. So, even with out media making dire predictions for us, we know and feel that there is no realistic source of hope for our future… except from God. Yet, despite of the grinding poverty that we are in, our faith never steadfastly wavered but all the more becoming steadfast and fruitful. We may be limited in many resources but we still have the greatest resource: ourselves. Opportunity also for those who will be touched by God, to show their deep love and devotion to Him by committing to pray with and for us, and extend whatever form of help they can send us. We need capital to start simple sustainable livelihood projects.
We believe that with our minds and muscle, using the capital, empowered by our constant fervent prayers, and working together toward one goal-that of increasing productivity to supply the needs of our families and something to share with our neighbors-we can victoriously overcome this crisis. Please help us in prayer that we could come up with workable, sustainable, comprehensive poverty alleviation plan for Bagong Buhay Christian Church and for our sisters and daughters churches.
BBCC ORGANIZED PRAYER NETWORK
This month of February, Bagong Buhay Christian church organized a Prayer Network. The Prayer Network is a prayer generating link designed to mobilize the whole members of the church to pray for specific concerns of the church, nations and the community as well as to pray for one another.
BAGONG BUHAY CHRISTIAN CHURCH
Ministry Update
Vol. 9, No. 1 January-March 2005
IN MY FATHER’S HOUSE ARE MANY SLIPPERS
Almost two year ago, we started a relief distribution and medical mission for the unreached group of Alangan Mangyans in Kisloyan, Pag-asa, Sablayan, Occindental Mindoro. This group is hostile to any intervention from the outside and they are among the most primitive of the Mangyan tribe. Dark superstitions are deeply entrenched in their culture. They worship the swine. Our relief distributions paved the way to their trust and their friendship. We gave away clothing, canned goods, rice, salt, vitamins and distributed sacks of slippers.
One time after the medical mission, we visited a sick Mangyan mother. We also brought some medicines and grocery items with their favorite – Sardines. Pastor Jun and Sister Annie and myself rode a motorcycle to the end of the road in a village named Villa Cerveza, then we started walking. We then crossed the waist-deep, raging, about 50-feet wide murky river that separate Oriental Mindoro from Occidental Mindoro, then we walked a kilometer or so more to reach the community on the hilltop. Then we reached Rambo’s place.
Rambo’s house is a typical Mangyan house. It is surrounded by circular fence made up of post of various lengths and sizes and apparently also from branches of various kinds of trees. There is no gate. We crossed the fence by means of a stump of a tumbled tree. On it two bamboo pieces are secured that serve as the ladder leading to the house’s interior about seven feet above the ground. We sat Indian-style, on the floor made of bamboo slats unevenly cut and fastened with rattan. There are three native pigs munching cassava roots on the ground under the house. The fence surrounding the house is to enclose the pigs and wards off wild animals.
I look around and noticed that the house is relatively new. Indeed, agreed Rambo, our perpetually smiling host, his house was only built several days ago and it was finished in just one day! The entire house has a floor area of about 10sq ft. The roof was made of cogon grass, the walls are banana leaves inserted between bamboo slats. The banana leaves still green. That really gave the house “new” look. In a corner is a pail of water beside the stove, several plastic plates, and a bolo. Plastics of clothes dangle on the wall.
Jeffrey, Rambo’s son, wearing the striped shirt he received (and quickly worn) during the medical mission a week past (and apparently never washed since) was also all smiles beside his father. He recognized me because I talked with him lengthily during the medical mission. He is about ten years old, attended Grade I but dropped out after a few months because the school is too far and crossing the river everyday is too dangerous. He can write his name and not much else.
I ask the name and age of his sister, the naked baby crawling on the floor. Carina, the ailing mother said, they don’t know how to count. Rambo explained that his daughter was a little baby the previous Christmas (They know Christmas because they go down from the mountains during this season, going from house to house, and greetings the lowlanders Kurimasmas! and begging for old clothes and foods). I reckoned the baby is about seven or eight months old. (The big dap between the siblings is due to the high infant mortality rate among Mangyan). When asked the child’s name, Carina replied, “Wala pa.” (no name yet) Seven-months old and still nameless! So, Sister Annie named her Mary Rose. In the course of our conversation, Pastor Jun shared about Jesus Christ and mentioned the term “Kaharian ng Diyos” God’s Kingdom) “Alam mo ba ang Kaharian ng Diyos?” (Do you know the Kingdom of God?) “Oo” (Yes) Carina replied confidently with a smile, “Maraming tsinilas!” (Many slippers!)
Folks, here is a vast mission field! Pray for these people that they will come to grasp the full meaning, and change their pathetic view, of the Kingdom of God.
ADRIALUNA CHURCH BUILDING UNDERWAYS CONSTRUCTION
Pastor Jun started Bible studies in Adrialuna a year ago and by the ever amazing grace of God, his efforts bore fruit. Then the people whom he has led to Christ desired to have a church building in the area. So we began to pray.
As always, God answers prayers. He provided the lot, bamboo, nipa, the co-co lumber, and other building materials, and by the willing hands of the brethren, the construction commence last October 25. Though the enemy tried tactics to put it off by hitting the pastor’s motorcycle with another motorcycle in a near-fatal accident last November 30, God miraculously delivered him and his companions, as well as those from the other motorcycle. Came the harvesting and after that the planting season and the construction was deferred for some time. But presently, the church building already has a roof. Our target date to finish this church building is before the end of this month of January.
VICTORIOUS 9TH YEAR ANNIVERSARYCELEBRATION
Despite of the faith-shaking experience of some of the members of the church, they remained steadfast in the faith. The day before the anniversary celebration, last December 19, every body was excited and busy. Each one has his own task according to his gifts and talents to make the anniversary meaningful and successful. The event help us to rededicate our lives to the Lord, have clearer vision for the future of the church, and express our willingness to be use of God in any way we can.
THIRD MANGYAN MEDICAL MISSION A HIT
Over 300 Mangyans from four Mangyan communities converged at Bagong Buhay Christian Church last November 5, for evangelism, feeding, medical and dental checkups with free medicines, and distribution of relief goods. This is the third mission of this nature for the last two years.
Much has been changed from these Mangyans since our first encounter with them in May 2003. They used to exceedingly shy and doubtful to us (what they call the non-Mangyan lowlanders). In fact, less than fifty Mangyans came to our first Mangyan because many hid in their houses and run in the fields and to the forest when we invited them. They don’t trust the lowlanders because some greedy lowlanders harassed them and grabbed their ancestral lands. But when they flt the sincerity of our efforts to reach and help them, they start to become friendly to us. Group of three to five Mangyan families often drop by to the church, asking for various assistance. They have found hope in us.
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