SEEDS OF FAITH, FRUIT IN GOD’S TIME

Every growing church has the potential to become a catalyst for reaching more people for Christ. With this vision in mind, we partnered with Faith Christian Fellowship in 2024 through Operation Jabez (OJ), seeking to equip their congregation in evangelism and discipleship while expanding their vision for church planting and sharing the realities, challenges, and opportunities of church growth in the Philippines.

During OJ, our days followed an intentional and fulfilling rhythm: mornings were dedicated to intensive training, afternoons were spent putting their training into practice through hands-on field ministry in Pagrai-Cuenco, Antipolo, and evenings culminated in community Jesus Film showing.

However, shortly after Operation Jabez concluded, changes in their leadership and priorities brought our partnership to a pause. At the time, I walked away thinking that our ministry in that area had ended with evangelism—a brief season of planting seeds with no opportunity to continue nurturing what had been started.

Two years later, I received an unexpected message from one of their church elders. He invited me to a special celebration—the first anniversary of a newly planted church right there in Pagrai-Cuenco, the very same community where we had conducted our afternoon field time back in OJ 2024. I was completely caught off guard.

Unknown to me, what I thought was a closed chapter had taken root and blossomed into a thriving local church.

This beautiful surprise was a powerful reminder of the truth in 1 Corinthians 3:6: “I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God has been making it grow.” It reminded me that God uses every contribution we make to advance His Kingdom, whether big or small. In His hands, “walang tapon, walang sayang”—no effort is ever wasted. We are simply called to be faithful in doing our part and faith-full in trusting God to do His. We can rest in the assurance that He is always at work, even when we cannot see the immediate results of our labor.

Ultimately, this story beautifully affirms the promise of 1 Corinthians 15:58: "Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."