This is My Story.

I can’t imagine what my life would be today if not for the three women God gave me to play unique roles in my spiritual life. 

First was my mom who would take me with her every time she went to church so I could attend the Children’s Sunday School. I was still in preschool then. 

Then there was Tita Nonie- a friend of my mom, who I met when we transferred residency in Bonuan. She introduced me to one of her children who happened to be a Sunday School teacher in the church they were attending. They invited us to come, and we did. From then on, we became regular attendees in their Sunday worship and the Children’s Sunday School. I must have really enjoyed Sunday School because I remember that I was always participating in all its activities. I even treated it as important as my academic classes. Though I was too young to remember dates, it was in one of those Sunday School classes that I first prayed to receive Jesus into my heart as my Lord and Saviour. 

But the one who really had such great impact on my spiritual life was Tita Beth. She organized a small discipleship group for teens like me and met with us every week. It was there that I came to deeply understand the meaning and importance of being a child of God. I learned that my salvation is secured for all eternity. And that baptism is a particularly important step in following Jesus for it is a public declaration of my faith in him. 

Growing up as teenagers, my siblings and I joined another church when our parents moved to my dad’s hometown in Mangatarem. I tried to be as active as I was in my previous church, so I joined their youth group. I even assisted in their Church planting mission in Sta. Barbara where I served in the Children’s Sunday School. However, the absence of personal spiritual guardians who would look after me took a toll on my young Christian life. I started to become inactive. I became “pasaway” in some ways and stopped attending church activities. I spent most of my days with my non-Christian friends.  

Then I went to Manila to study for college. My sister and I found another Christian church which we attended as often as we could except during the summer season when we would go to my parents‘ place to visit and help in their church’s ministries. But it was all for “compliance” as a Christian to lessen the guilt I was carrying in my heart. 

In 2005, I got pregnant with my eldest, and everything changed from there. I didn’t want my child to grow up outside of church for I know that the most important thing in this world is his salvation.  

It was a wakeup call and I found myself attending OBOLCF again. And in 2011 during a leaders’ retreat called Encounter God Retreat (EGR), I found grace and recommitted my life to God again. God made me realize that no matter how long I’ve stayed wandering away from the Lord, His love for me would never change. God reconnected me again to his church and surrounded me with spiritual guardians who would look out for me. Once again, I am experiencing the joy of worshipping and serving my Lord Jesus here in OBOLCF.