The Mission Team
The Mission Team
Our First worship Service
My Uncle whose wife died in accident
The Mission Team & the youth from Ilagan
Our first service at our Worship Center
It is such a joy to write what God has done in our church and through our church. Seeing the wondrous work of God in people’s lives that you have never imagined makes a heart sing for his goodness and mercy.
It has been my desire to see my family come to know the Lord. I prayed for a decade that God would send someone else to share the gospel to them. Until September of this year, a tragedy happened. It was a very hot evening and my uncle and his wife were sitting outside near the car park (the street is narrow and a lot of motorbikes and cars were parked in the street). At that same night, my brother and his wife were to go out and got into the car. While he maneuvered the car and his foot trying to reach the brake, his foot slid to the accelerator causing the car to speed forward. The car hit my auntie (my uncle’s wife) and she was pressed against the wall. They brought her to the hospital but died after a few hours because of hemorrhage. My sister phoned me that night asking me to go home because my brother was devastated. I was hesitant to go home because I do not know what to say to my brother. However, the Lord spoke to me and my husband letting us know that he is about to turn this tragedy into blessing where people will come to know Him. My husband and I spent the whole night praying in the Spirit and continued to pray while travelling to Ilagan the next morning. I remember one specific prayer that I asked from God, I said, “God, you know that I do not know what to say to my brother. However, I ask you to fill me with your presence in such a way that my brother and his family will sense it, that even if I do not have many words to say, they will know that you are here with me". Indeed, God granted my request. My sister-in-law testified that when we arrived, they felt a strength and peace that defies description. With that, we saw an open door for us to share God’s Word. My husband was able to deliver God’s revelation to their family about “the new beginning”. God did an amazing work in their family. For two Sundays, they travelled for two (2) hours just to attend the service here in Santiago City and even brought with them one family in their second time to attend. With this situation, we saw the need to start a church in Ilagan. We prayed and planned for a one-week mission prior to starting a church. Cornerstone Church Santiago scheduled the mission during the school holidays (October 26 to 31, 2009) for we have brought with us our young people to do the mission works.
All that we saw and experienced in this mission is God’s faithfulness, mercy and grace. We talked to the owner of the place that we intend to rent having no money yet but only have in mind that it is God’s will for us to start a church and that we have to step out in faith. We went to a mission with no enough funds but a faith to believe that where God guides, He provides. And God did not failed us. Everyday, God used different people to provide all our needs. Halleluiah! What a faithful God we have, so faithful and true!
Finally, we started our Sunday service in Ilagan on November 1 with Pst. Cristeta Manio as the emerging leader of the church. Fifteen (15) people turned up that day (kids excluded). Now, the church is just five (5) weeks old but it grew up in number to 30 people (kids excluded) attending every Friday night and Sunday morning. Moreover, I am amazed by what God has done and is doing. My uncle, whose wife died in the incident that I mentioned above, and nine (9) of his grandchildren are actively coming to church every Friday night and Sunday morning. In addition to that, my sister-in-law’s relatives started coming to church. I never imagined that I could be able to minister to my own family and relatives.
It has been my desire to see my family come to know the Lord. I prayed for a decade that God would send someone else to share the gospel to them. Until September of this year, a tragedy happened. It was a very hot evening and my uncle and his wife were sitting outside near the car park (the street is narrow and a lot of motorbikes and cars were parked in the street). At that same night, my brother and his wife were to go out and got into the car. While he maneuvered the car and his foot trying to reach the brake, his foot slid to the accelerator causing the car to speed forward. The car hit my auntie (my uncle’s wife) and she was pressed against the wall. They brought her to the hospital but died after a few hours because of hemorrhage. My sister phoned me that night asking me to go home because my brother was devastated. I was hesitant to go home because I do not know what to say to my brother. However, the Lord spoke to me and my husband letting us know that he is about to turn this tragedy into blessing where people will come to know Him. My husband and I spent the whole night praying in the Spirit and continued to pray while travelling to Ilagan the next morning. I remember one specific prayer that I asked from God, I said, “God, you know that I do not know what to say to my brother. However, I ask you to fill me with your presence in such a way that my brother and his family will sense it, that even if I do not have many words to say, they will know that you are here with me". Indeed, God granted my request. My sister-in-law testified that when we arrived, they felt a strength and peace that defies description. With that, we saw an open door for us to share God’s Word. My husband was able to deliver God’s revelation to their family about “the new beginning”. God did an amazing work in their family. For two Sundays, they travelled for two (2) hours just to attend the service here in Santiago City and even brought with them one family in their second time to attend. With this situation, we saw the need to start a church in Ilagan. We prayed and planned for a one-week mission prior to starting a church. Cornerstone Church Santiago scheduled the mission during the school holidays (October 26 to 31, 2009) for we have brought with us our young people to do the mission works.
All that we saw and experienced in this mission is God’s faithfulness, mercy and grace. We talked to the owner of the place that we intend to rent having no money yet but only have in mind that it is God’s will for us to start a church and that we have to step out in faith. We went to a mission with no enough funds but a faith to believe that where God guides, He provides. And God did not failed us. Everyday, God used different people to provide all our needs. Halleluiah! What a faithful God we have, so faithful and true!
Finally, we started our Sunday service in Ilagan on November 1 with Pst. Cristeta Manio as the emerging leader of the church. Fifteen (15) people turned up that day (kids excluded). Now, the church is just five (5) weeks old but it grew up in number to 30 people (kids excluded) attending every Friday night and Sunday morning. Moreover, I am amazed by what God has done and is doing. My uncle, whose wife died in the incident that I mentioned above, and nine (9) of his grandchildren are actively coming to church every Friday night and Sunday morning. In addition to that, my sister-in-law’s relatives started coming to church. I never imagined that I could be able to minister to my own family and relatives.
"With God’s power working in us, God can do much, much more than
anything we can ask or Imagine."
(Ephesians 3:20, NCV)
Posted by:
Pst. Maria Cristina Javier
Pst. Marlou’s (Senior Pastor - Cornerstone Church Santiago) wife
Posted by:
Pst. Maria Cristina Javier
Pst. Marlou’s (Senior Pastor - Cornerstone Church Santiago) wife
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