Roli Sabado
It happened last November 17, 2009 in what was supposed to be a special Tuesday night with my D group. After a short devotion we decided to watch the apocalyptic film “2012.” Little did we know of what was about to take place late that night.
Peculiar things happened. Before proceeding to the movie house I took Tylenol twice to ease my migraine. Then sometime in the middle of the movie I got an overseas call from my mom and right after, I immediately excused myself and said goodbye due to extreme headache. And that would have been my last goodbye.
I didn’t realize that I was already experiencing a stroke and I seem to have “sleepwalked” from Megamall to Camp Crame. At around 2 O’clock in the morning of November 18, I was found by a mobile patrol slumped and slightly unconscious lying on the side walk in front of Camp Crame. The police said that half of my body was on the highway expose dangerously to any wayward vehicle that might run me over. If God had not protected me, that would have been my last.
The police brought me my apartment unit to the surprise of the building security. Knowing that I live alone and all my family resides in Toronto, Canada; they started calling people in the address list of my cell phone. A brother-in-Christ who is my officemate responded immediately and brought me to Medical City.
Roli Sabado at the Hospital
The hospital personnel quickly ran several tests. My CT Scan images revealed that I had a heavy collection of blood at the right side of my brain. I was experiencing internal bleeding with hydrocephalus or so much water which increased the pressure around my brain. If my diagnosis had not improved I would have needed to immediately undergo an open brain surgery.
Just like what is written in James 5 :14 -15 “ Is any one of you sick? He should call the elders of the church to pray over him and anoint him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer offered in faith will make the sick person well; the Lord will raise him up. If he has sinned, he will be forgiven. “
The Lord directed my CCF family to take care of me in the hospital while my mother and sister were still on their way back from Toronto, Canada. Pastors and friends from CCF came to visit me in the hospital and they blessed me with their heartfelt prayers.
Pastor Ito de Jesus made sure that I get the best medical attention and care possible. He requested for his personal neurologist and brain specialist to oversee my condition. Pastor Jess Lantin was so fatherly looking at my tests and talking to my attending physicians. Pastor JP Masakayan started raising funds to pay my hospital bills. My friends described every visit was like having a prayer vigil in the hospital.
Text messages circulated among my brethren in CCF updating about my condition and calling for everyone to pray for my healing. Matthew 18 : 20 “For where two or three have gathered together in My name, I am there in their midst.” God was indeed present at that most critical time and he answered your prayers.
On November 19 an MRI was conducted to scan my head and the examination results showed that “the previously seen blood in the previous CT study is no longer seen.”
My MRI showed that my stroke was due to a ruptured arterio-venous malformation or AVM. It was a congenital condition near my brain in which several veins intertwined with each other or “nagkabuhol-buhol na mga ugat” as my brain specialist described it.
But God made it so that a wall of water (the hydrocephalus) protected my brain and in the process washed away the blood coming from the ruptured vein. For this reason I was spared from any permanent damage or any fatal consequence. I was spared from a high-risk operation and was eventually released from the hospital the next Monday.
God is good!
In our visit to my brain specialist, he recommended me to undergo angiogram with embolization to disable the risk of my AVM (arterio-venous malformation). Last December 15, 2009 I underwent the necessary angiogram-embolization at the Philippine General Hospital. Surprisingly the procedure took less than an hour. Right after my brain surgeon met up with us seemingly baffled and all he can say about the procedure was, “It’s a mystery.”
To me it was a miracle.
My angiogram showed that I was negative of AVM or even aneurism. My neurologist was so happy about the result and said , ”Nakuha sa dasal !” I will be scheduled for an MRA this January to doubly make sure that the risk is no longer present and find out more what really happened last November 17, 2009.
God did not only manifest His presence by being my “Jehovah Rapha” or My Healer but also as my “Jehovah Jireh” in providing for my financial needs by using friends and other brethren from CCF who in the generosity of their hearts donated money. My mother was deeply moved by this show of love from CCF and is now encouraged to attend worship with me every Sunday.
Please join me again in praying that my MRA will bring good results. I pray that the remaining days of my life will be worthy of this miracle God made me go through. My desire is to live in the pleasure of our Almighty Father.
Just as it is written in 1 John 4 : 12”…if we love one another, God abides in us, and His love is perfected in us.” This scripture was made so real through your prayers, time and other acts of love shown to me and my family. The love of God is indeed being perfected in and through CCF. I praise God for you.
This miracle is not about me. It is about the Almighty, the one true Miracle Worker. I am Roli Sabado, a servant of the Backstreet Kids Ministry, testifying that miracles still do happen today when people pray in the name of Jesus.
Apparently I was already experiencing a stroke and seemingly I “sleep walked” from Megamall to Camp Crame. At around 2 O’clock in the morning of November 18, I was found by a mobile patrol slumped and slightly unconscious lying at the side walk in front of Camp Crame. The police said that half of my body was on the highway expose dangerously for any wayward vehicle to run me over.
If God had not protected me, that would have been my last.
Pastor Peter pointed out that we, too, should have the same perspective as we build the Worship Center. We should always remember for whose glory we are building it, and be thankful that we are part of this work which, through God’s grace, will be instrumental in bringing multitudes to Christ. Nonetheless, he warned the congregation not to be deceived into thinking that participating in activities such as this project is, by itself, a guarantee of a heart devoted to God. He cited what happened to Solomon, who died with a heart far from God despite being the one who actually oversaw the building of the Temple. Ultimately, our hearts are the most important thing to God.
The whole day Christian Conference happened on Friday, January 22, 2010, which had an overwhelming attendance of 4,500 people within CCF St. Francis itself, plus probably thousands more, who watched the live streaming via satellite TV and the Internet. Joel presented his message, “Are We Living In the Last Days”, as described in Matthew 24 and Luke 21; and, “What Is the Future of Russia, Iran and Israel?”, as described in Ezekiel 38-39. Israeli Pastor David Ortiz shared about God’s extending love for the Jewish people and explained that the persecution of the believers will intensify in the last days. Iranian Pastor Hormoz Shariat described his journey from being a radical Shia Muslim to becoming the “Billy Graham of Iran” and how God has been touching the lives of Iranians. Pastor Rey Bentley shared a message from Joel 2.
God is telling us that the end of all things is at hand. Examine your relationship with the Lord, with one another, and your service to one another. Do you have a right relationship with God? Is your prayer life a declaration of dependence and trust in the Lord? What about your relationship with other people? Have you chosen to love and forgive especially those who are imperfect and unlovable? Are you living a life in service to God and to others? Are you using your special God-given gifts to help one another?
In 1994, again God called for me to serve Him full-time. Thinking that this might be His last call, I listened and said YES to God. In my mind I was thinking that our two year reserved resources would suffice for the needs of the family. But 2 months after that decision, my mother got sick with a terrible kidney disease that depleted all our funds. The doctor suggested that she go thru Dialysis treatment but since we did not have the funds, we told the doctor that we will take the option to pray and trust God for a miracle. We brought our mother home and took care of her daily needs even as we kept on our knees praying and asking God for her healing and recovery. After 4 months, our mother’s kidneys recovered and began functioning normally. God indeed is a God who answers prayers.
During the ministerial training, our pastor once again reminded us of the trip and I told him that I would go. He told me to be serious about it. I said that I would go. He reiterated to me that I could not back out once I registered for the trip, so he asked me if I had the money. So, I said again that I would go. I could not say yes to his question about the money but I only had the assurance that God was telling me to go.
For such things, God reminds me of Deuteronomy 29:29 – “The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may follow all the words of this law”. In other words, let us not worry about the things we don’t understand; let’s worry about the things we understand and do not deal with. What the Bible has made clear is that our choice of eternal destination (which is by faith alone) is determined during our life on earth – there will be no purgatory; hence, no 2nd chance after death.
The END is NEAR? Joel Rosenberg, best-selling author, renowned journalist, and confidante of heads of state discusses current events in light of bible prophecies. Is the end coming soon? What on earth is going on? Find out!
Why is God allowing us to have problems? Very simple. History has shown that great men are never developed in times of prosperity. Men are developed in times of adversity. Study history. All successful people have gone through adversity.
This hardcore belief system involves deception, hypnosis, levitation, and many other horrible rituals performed in burial grounds that included human skulls, daggers, and cannibalism – all supposed to give me the power to attain godhood. I religiously followed all that was required of me. I received strict training in India and was posted as a yoga monk in other parts of the world for more than a decade. This gave me the status and the power that I believed I attained through my own efforts. At the same time I engaged in illegal activities for the benefit of the organization. This deception was planted so deeply in me to a point beyond logic, and it kept me in bondage to sin.
LIVESTREAM SCHEDULE
Sunday Worship
8:00 AM, 10 AM, 12 NN, 3 PM & 6 PM
Tuesday Dawn Watch
6:00 AM
