Mission Trip Report: Visiting A Message Church in Cagayan Valley
There is a sleepy town about 635 kilometers north of Manila, called Santa Ana in the province of Cagayan Valley. With only about 25,000 population it is already a 2nd class municipality, and home of the northernmost port of the country called Port Irene, and the Cagayan Economic Zone Authority.
But what makes this place special, and the reason we travelled so far, is because there is a local congregation in it that has been believing the Message for more than eight years, but with practically no communication with any Message church. Under the care of Pastor Roderick Amparado, the church quietly lived the faith and learned of the Message through the message booklets of the prophet and the books of Richard Gan that came their way. This year, after much prayer and consideration, their pastor has finally decided to communicate and establish fellowship with ministers and saints of like precious faith.
In January 3, 2010, Pastor Roderick and his wife Angie came to New Life Center to pursue his desire for fellowship and communication. He has always wanted to meet the ministers that he only knew by name through the website of Richard Gan’s. Since I happened to be the nearest that he can go to, Pastor Roderick came to our place to personally meet me and extend his invitation to visit his congregation in Sta. Ana.
Responding to the Invitation
I accepted Pastor Rod’s invitation for several reasons. First of all, I was amazed by his testimony of how he came to know the Message, how he received it and taught it to his people, without any outside help except the books that he read. I am equally amazed and inspired by how he patiently endured the cost in the form of rejection by many of his friends and fellow pastors.
I also accepted his invitation because I wanted to welcome them to the fellowship of the saints. They have been on their own for the last couple of years. They needed fellowship and the ministering of other servants of God. They are our brothers and sisters in the same precious faith.
The third reason I accepted Pastor Roderick’s invitation for opportunity of discovering missionary possibilities in the north. As far as I can tell, there is practically no mission work that’s being done for the people in the provinces of Cagayan Valley and Ilocos Norte. This could be the final frontier of our evangelistic thrust in the country before the Lord comes.
Ministering to the Saints
We arrived at Santa Ana in the morning of 19th of January, after 12 hours of land trip. Our team, consisting of Bro. Wandy Bro. Bong and my son David, was very warmly received at the pastor’s residence. There were two elderly sisters already waiting to minister to our needs during our short stay there.
Pastor Roderick arranged for two nights of services with his people. They came from different barangays 5 to 7 kilometers away to listen to the Word of God. They even brought unconverted friends with them.
Knowing that they are already familiar with the Message, I didn’t need to introduce the prophet and the end-time work of God. I just gave them inspiring words related to the soon coming of Christ. On the first night I taught on the “sign” of the coming of Christ that would appear in heaven. On the second night, I showed them how the saints will stand with Christ at His appearing. I also gave them a short historical background on how the Message came to the Philippines.
We took our long journey home in the early hours of the 21st January. Pastor Roderick bid us Godspeed with a prayer for a safe trip.
Kingdom Possibilities
Our short trip to northern Luzon showed me quiet a number of interesting things that might be helpful to future missionary endeavors.
First of all, the region is fresh ground for Message evangelism. On our trip back home, instead of taking the same road , we chose to go through the Ilocos region. The trip took us through towns and villages waiting to be evangelized.
I also discovered that many churches in the area are already familiar with the End-time Message, although not in a positive way. Nevertheless, that in itself is an opportunity to share what the Message really is from a biblical, prophetic and apostolic stand.
Pastor Roderick has already expressed his burdens to evangelize the other barangays of Sta. Ana, and to start a radio program broadcasting the Message of the hour in the region. According to him, there are local radio stations in the Tuguegarao, Aparri, and Laoag City that can be utilized for this purpose.
I am reminded of the word of the Lord which He said to His disciples: “The harvest truly is great, but the laborers are few; therefore pray the Lord of the harvest to send out laborers into His harvest.” (Luke 10.2)
May the Lord raise men who are willing to be sent to these places for the great harvest of souls for the Kingdom is my prayer! Amen.
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