Mission Church: Faith Baptist Church Field: San Isidro, La Paz, Iloilo, Philippines Marital Status: Married
	Partner: Rick Martin, Pastor of Iloilo Baptist Church, Iloilo City, Philippines

Conversion Experience

Shortly before my 20 th birthday, I attended a Sunday morning service at Iloilo Baptist Church with my brother-in-law. It was the first time I had ever been in a Baptist church. During the invitation, a Bible student, Ernie Esteva, asked me if I knew for sure I would go to heaven when I died. I received the Lord as my Saviour during the invitation and immediately obeyed Him in believer’s baptism on December 6, 1998.

Since I was born to unsaved parents, it brings me much sadness to think about their deaths before I was twenty, because they died eternally lost.

Calling and Preparation

After getting saved, I decided to attend Brother Martin’s college, however, I wasn’t very serious about it and didn’t begin to apply myself towards being trained for the ministry until my third year when I fully surrendered my life to the Lord. I became involved in many ministries: teaching children and the mentally handicapped, Bible studies, soulwinning, school ministry, home church, prison ministry, and many others. These ministries really prepared me for the future work of being a pastor.

In September 2002, I started a route for picking up children in Iloilo City. As adults watched the Jeep come and go each week, they also began riding to the Sunday and Wednesday services. Many people were saved from that area.

The Field

After graduating Iloilo Baptist College in 2003, I felt the Lord leading me to start a church in the area where I picked up children and adults. There about 1,250 people in this village of mainly farmers, laborers, and drivers. Faith Baptist is the only church in the village. There is one Catholic chapel, but they only meet once each year during the annual fiesta holiday.

Future Goals

Republic of the Philippines

The Republic of the Philippines, in the western Pacific Ocean, comprising the Philippine Islands and forming part of the Malay Archipelago, is an island grouping that extends southward to include Indonesia and Malaysia. The Philippines includes more than 7,100 islands, but most of the land area is shared among the 11 largest islands. The terrain is mountainous and includes many active volcanoes. Manila, located on east central Luzon Island, is the national capital and largest city.

The people of the Philippines are called Filipinos. Most Filipinos are of Malay descent. Filipinos of mixed descent (through various combinations of Malay, Chinese, and Spanish intermarriage) have traditionally formed the country’s elite in business and politics. Nearly 83 million people live in the Philippines. The population is growing by about 2 percent a year, giving the Philippines one of the world’s highest population-growth rates. The republic has one of the highest population-growth rates in the world. About 40 percent of the population lives in poverty while a wealthy minority holds most political power. The official languages are English and Filipino (formerly spelled Pilipino), which is based on the indigenous Tagalog language. More than 80 other indigenous languages and dialects are also spoken.

Filipinos are generally divided along linguistic, geographic, and religious lines. Different linguistic groups developed as a result of the original settlement patterns. As the Malayan peoples spread throughout the archipelago, they dispersed into separate groups that each developed a distinct vernacular, or regional language. About 84 percent of all Filipinos are Roman Catholic, about 5 percent are Muslims, and the remainder are Buddhists, animists, or nonbelievers.

Family relationships are the basic building block of Philippine society. Each Filipino is at the center of a large circle of relatives, usually extending to third cousins. In rural areas the barangays (villages) contain sitios, or clusters of households, of an extended family. The social support provided by these close-knit communities is reflected in the absence of such institutions as retirement homes and orphanages. In Philippine villages, houses are traditionally constructed of bamboo and nipa palm thatching and raised above the ground on poles. Simple wooden houses with galvanized iron roofs are also common. Except in the remotest areas, rural houses are equipped with electricity and indoor plumbing. More services and modern facilities are available in towns and cities. The influence of Western culture is more evident in urban areas, where lifestyles tend to be more modern.

Farming, fishing, and forestry are the primary occupations in rural areas. Many of the rural poor are employed as tenant farmers and landless agricultural workers. Most urban residents are employed in the service sector or in manufacturing. There is a growing middle class of government employees, teachers, and small-business owners. The Philippine diet usually consists of boiled rice or ground corn, vegetables, fresh or salted fish, and fruits. The unit of currency is the Philippine peso, which is divided into 100 centavos (51.60 pesos equal U.S.$1; 2002 average).

Pilot American missionaries, with established works, are training nationals in the ministry of the Gospel. National missionaries are sent out by the hundreds each year to win souls in cities, towns, and villages. Thousands are saved each year as Bible-believing preachers tell Filipinos of the love of Christ.

Global Church Planters desires to financially help these national missionaries (we call them Pioneers) start thousands of churches in the Philippines.