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.

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.

In 1976, I received Jesus as my personal Savior and Lord during my freshman year thru the ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ at UP Los Banos. Trained as a disciplined follower of Jesus, I realized the value and power of prayer early in my Christian life. God answered my daily petitions for me to pass all my courses and thus managed to maintain my scholarship until I finished college.

Upon graduation, I received a word from God telling me to serve Him full-time. But due to the financial difficulties our family was in, I begged off and instead asked God to help me land a high paying job so I can help support my younger siblings. Through constant praying and fellowship with God, the Lord granted me success in my work and I was blessed with favor after favor from my bosses which led to a rapid promotion and a climb in the corporate ladder and financial stability.

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.

While we were rejoicing, we suddenly heard a commotion just outside our gate. Our 6 year old daughter was run over by a 5-ton water delivery truck. On our way to the hospital we kept on praying that God will spare her. Once again God proved His power and response to prayer as the x-ray results showed neither fracture nor dislocation. She was up and about in just 3 days and is now 21 years old. Glory to God! God assured me that He can take care of my family better than me and all I needed to do was to abide in Him. In 1996, God even provided schooling for my children after we returned from 2 years of studies in Singapore. God allowed my wife to be employed as a teacher in International School Manila, which paved the way for my kids to study almost for free.

The following year, the Lord opened a door for us to minister to the Anito Motels. Armed with prayer and 35 other pastors, we set up 77 small groups. We had to deal with prostitution and other vices which we battled out by fasting 3 days every month, early morning prayers every Monday and Wednesday. In 18 months, 70% of the 2,000 employees Metro Manila wide became Christians. The next year everybody has come to the saving knowledge of Jesus. Today, God has totally transformed this motel to become a family hotel. Each hotel now has a prayer room where prayers are offered up for their operations and customers too.

Riding on this momentum, the Lord brought me to debt ridden Paranaque City. Together with two other believers, we offered to pray for the city and the newly elected Mayor. Jun Bernabe allowed us to pray inside his office every day. Soon other pastors and some city employees join us in prayer.

God started to answer our prayers when the people started to pay their taxes and gradually the city’s income grew significantly. The mayor was so encouraged that he allowed us to teach the PDL to every department and to hold monthly fellowship inside the city hall premises. Because of these activities, the spiritual climate of the city hall was changed and God was welcomed into the whole city hall. After nine months of praying every day, our mayor dedicated the city to God and the City has been blessed.

The City has since been able to pay off its P900 million debt; the garbage problem was solved, streets were lighted up, graft and corruption curbed and peace and order improved. Our mayor was awarded as the best mayor in 2006 and the city now ranks 6th place according to a study done by AIM. Our treasury department has also been awarded by the Dept. of Finance as one of the most efficient tax collection unit nationwide for two consecutive years.

Last year our mayor asked for prayers for his quadruple bypass. God miraculously granted our request that in only 2 weeks, time our mayor already went back to work. Last September, our City was spared by the ravages of typhoon Ondoy. The following Monday, our mayor during the flag ceremony attributed this all to God with a ringing PRAISE THE LORD from his mouth.

The greatest news of all is that more and more souls are being saved. More and more employees and residents received Jesus as Savior and Lord into their lives and bible study groups are multiplying.

We are CONTINUALLY praying that all the 1 million residents in our city will enter the kingdom of God. We have now expanded into the business community like the banks, the urban poor and the other sectors of the city. Indeed the harvest is plentiful and God is simply waiting for us to pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send out more workers into the harvest field.

My name is King Flores. I have been attending CCF with my family since 2005 and I am part of the ministry to the Government called GMEN under the church planting ministry.

May the Lord touch our hearts that starting today we will make use of this privilege of prayer more than ever so we can altogether expand God’s kingdom wherever we are. All it takes for God to move is for us His children to pray.

Speech is that which distinguishes men from animals, but prayer distinguishes the children of God from the children of this world. Speech is what we use to communicate our thoughts to each other, but prayer is the speech used by the believer to commune with God.

Allow me to share with you one of the hundreds of my miraculous experiences with God who deserves all the honor and the glory now and forevermore.

When I came to know Jesus personally, prayer and fasting became part of my lifestyle. In fact, praying every 4 am for 45 minutes was my personal spiritual discipline. This changed when I entered into full time ministry where the demand for prayer increased.

To confirm my calling from God, I asked him to bring me to Korea for a prayer study tour because I had been hearing and reading about the prayer life of the Korean Christians. At that time, Korea prayer study tour was not yet offered in the ministry where I was involved with. However, within a matter of days, our senior pastor in the said ministry, all of a sudden, announced during our ministerial meeting that there would be a mission seminar to be held in Korea. The seminar and the accommodation were free and we would just need to raise the airfare and pocket money to Korea. I brought the matter to God in prayer for I felt that this might be his answer to my plea. As I was praying during my usual early morning quiet time, God confirmed that I would go to the seminar. My prayer was simple. I just told the Lord that since He was calling me to work with Him full time, I needed to learn about prayer. Besides, I also wanted to experience to fly on a plane. After receiving confirmation from the Lord, I started thinking of potential people from whom I could possibly borrow the money for the airfare. I listed all the names of the people I would talk to. But as I was reading a Christian magazine, I came across a verse from the scripture which says, “Owe to one but love”. I felt a thug in my heart that I should not borrow from anybody nor ask from anyone regarding this trip.

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.
One day before the deadline of payment, I still did not have the money. During the service, our pastor challenged the congregation to raise their hands if they had a special need. I felt the Holy Spirit prompting me to raise my hand but my pride as a “full time minister” was stopping me to acknowledge my need until the Lord rebuked me to humble myself. I wept as I prayed. When I sat down after praying, a lady seated 3 seats away from me, approached me and gave me an envelope with an inscription, “for your Korea trip.” As far as I knew, that lady had no idea about the trip. The envelope had enough money for half of my airfare. I prayed and told God, don’t you want me to come back to the Philippines? But God assured me that everything would be provided. When I got home from the service, while my eldest brother and I were having lunch, he said that my mom told him that I would be going to Korea. He asked me where I would get the money to get there. I told him that everything was fine but he said he would pay half of my fare. To make the story longer…I am just kidding. The full amount for the fare was already complete.

The only problem left that I needed to deal with was my pocket money. The day before the departure, somebody approached me before the service and said he had been looking for me for the Lord prompted him. He handed me an envelope which had $14 in it. I complained to God and said, Lord, how can I survive in Korea with this pocket money? Then I felt an impression that I should put the money in the tithe and offering box. I prayed struggling whether or not I correctly heard the Lord. After a few minutes in front of the box, I finally surrendered to god and received peace that I knew only God could give.

At the NAIA airport the following day, the deacons of the ministry said that some gave love gifts to me when they counted the tithes and offering so she decided to pay the airport tax and terminal fee from my love gifts. I did not know that there were still other expenses to be paid. But praise God He knows everything. She then said that she exchanged all the remaining love gifts to dollars, which totaled to $17, $3 more than the money I gave up. But I still felt embarrassed with such a “big” pocket money. When we arrived in Korea, I saw the other delegates exchanging hundreds of dollars to Korean won. They told me to also change mine. I just told them that I would have it changed at the hotel. I could not tell them that I only had $17. At the hostel, a lady stranger came to me and gave me $50 and said the Lord told her to give it to me. I praised God for such generosity. I changed it to won right away.

During the seminar, the Lord prompted me to give 10k won to mission. I almost complained and said, Lord, my pocket money is too small to give such a big amount of money to mission. The prompting was so strong that I submitted and again felt the peace of God.

On the bus after the seminar, another lady came to me and gave 20k won. Again, in shame, I wept before God because of my previous struggle. Because He gave more every time I gave, I jokingly said to God, “Lord, do you want me to give to your work again? “

The journey did not stop there. The seminar ended after five days but we were to stay for another 5 days. There was a miscommunication. The free accommodation was only for 5 days and not for 10 days. So on the sixth day, I forcefully fasted. I did not tell anybody that I had nothing to spend for food. However, the Lord did not allow that on the following days. One of the delegates offered me money to watch the Olympics and thought that this was it. But God impressed on me not to accept it. He wanted me to spend a little more time in prayer and fasting and to wait for his further instruction. While the others were watching the Olympics live, I stayed in my room. After lunch, a Korean brother came and asked if I had lunch already. I said I didn’t know how to get around. He told me that he would bring me around. I got nervous for I had nothing to pay if we had to eat. I could not tell him my predicament so I just followed him. I thought that God would just make a miracle that when I pulled my wallet out, I would just see bills inside. The Korean brother ordered a lot of food. When the bill came, I pulled out my wallet, but he said, “No I will pay. I am your host.” I said no, I will pay. But the Lord reminded me of peter when he refused to let the Lord wash his feet. So I humbled myself and let him pay.

On our last day, our assistant team leader told us that we had to pay first before we could check out. He called the names of the delegates one by one. I was really in prayer for I had no money to give him. When my name was not mentioned, I asked him how come my name was not called. He looked at the list again and said, well, somebody paid for you. I asked him who it was that paid for me and he said he did not know for they already left for HongKong. The lady even left an envelope for me with a traveler’s check amounting to $200.

God is truly amazing. That journey was really a journey of praying without ceasing. Up to today the God of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Elijah, Daniel, David, Peter, Paul, John and the disciples of Jesus is taking care of me and my family. I know he is taking care of you. Always commune with him in prayer, even with fasting for his honor and glory.

God bless you.

I grew up in a very religious family. My parents were prominent members of the church who often contributed money for projects and scholarships. At home though, my father was an abusive and demanding person. For the smallest mistakes I made, he would give me a hard beating out of unexplainable rage without giving me a chance to reason out or defend myself. He would often beat me up while making me kneel down with outstretched arms in front of a crucifix. My heart grew hard with anger against my father to the point of plotting a plan to kill him. My view of Jesus on that crucifix was that of an impotent god, uncaring and unable to save me.

To escape this hostile environment I found acceptance among friends who introduced me to drugs. I chose to be in the company of drug users and pushers. Before long, the habit of using drugs turned into a way of life for me, not letting a day pass without using it. I became a slave to drugs but had too much pride to admit it. This went on for years and even led to a shot-gun marriage where I became an absentee husband and father. When I was around I would steal prescription drugs from the pharmacy where my wife was the chief pharmacist. My irresponsible behavior led to the annulment of our marriage and my son developed a hostile resentment against me. Through it all and with the constant use of drugs I had a false sense of being above everything, of being superior to everyone, of being god.

With my altered state of mind in a constant high, I was led to the yoga ideology. For the next twenty years I was an ardent yoga practitioner and worked full-time for an international yoga society. This is not the kind of yoga as we know it today as a form of fitness or stress relief. Rather, it is a system where one needs to exert maximum human effort for spiritual progress. It is taught that “struggle is the essence of life”, and that the ultimate goal of all these struggles is godhood. I was programmed to believe that one does not only become like god, but one can eventually be god.

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.

In July 2001, as I was preparing to set up a children’s home in Palawan as a front for one of my illegal activities when I met a college classmate who told me about God’s love. This initially sounded absurd as I was convinced of my ability to reach godhood. Through this meeting though, God prevailed on my plans. My friend shared the Good news about Jesus Christ with me, and on November 2003 I accepted the invitation to attend a worship service in CCF.

There, I felt God’s presence and from that time on I knew something right was happening to me which I had never experienced before. I began to realize that my convictions were nothing but a big lie. No amount of rituals could bring me salvation. Instead, I was filled with awe for the kind of love that God has for me – sending His Beloved Son to die for a sinner like me. I never knew this kind of a Fatherly love. Jesus Christ did it all for me. “It is finished”, as He said. Broken and shattered, I humbly surrendered my life to Jesus Christ as my Savior and Lord of my life.

The first thing that God led me to do as His new creation was to make amends with my father. God showed me Matthew 5:23-24 “So if you are standing before the altar in the temple, offering a sacrifice to God, and you suddenly remember that someone has something against you, leave your sacrifice there beside the altar. Go and be reconciled to that person. Then come and offer your sacrifice to God.” felt responsible to take the first step in trying to restore the broken relationship with my father. Knowing that in my heart I had already forgiven him, I decided to go home and share my new found faith in Jesus Christ. Though in my mind my father’s abuse could not be justified, God spoke to my heart through Exodus 20:12 “Honor your father and mother. Then you will live a long, full life in the land the Lord your God will give you.” I asked forgiveness from my father and in tears, embraced him for the very first time. Now I know Jesus Christ not as the uncaring man on the cross from my childhood, but as the living Savior, Lord, and Shepherd of my life.

A few years ago, God made a way for my son and I to meet again and thus began the healing of our relationship. Thankfully, God has protected him from being involved in drugs the way I was before. I also asked forgiveness from his mother who has since remarried and moved on.

In His perfect way God can use things in our past for the advancement of His Kingdom. I began serving God as a volunteer at NxtGen children’s ministry until I was invited to help at the Penuel Home, CCF’s Christ-centered Recovery Program. Today I am a senior facilitator of Penuel Home, where God continues to use my life to encourage men with addictions on their journey to healing and restoration and to remind them that no matter how powerless we are over the mess we made of our lives, God’s grace is sufficient for us and that His power is made perfect in weakness.

I am so grateful to God for keeping me so close to His heart and delivering me from the bondage of drugs, the stronghold of pride and false beliefs that kept me in darkness for half of my life. I thank God for my CCF family who lovingly cared for me as a new brother in Christ. I thank God for molding my heart and giving me the Precious Hope in Jesus Christ.
My name is Bonn Guia. My life is in the Potter’s Hand…

I am Celito A. Tamban. Since early childhood, I never had peace. I would see my parents fight everyday, and most of the time it was my father’s fault. My father was jobless, a drunkard, and a gambler. That time, I thought he was the most irresponsible father in the world and I was the most unfortunate son. There were times that whenever I committed mistakes, he would hit me very hard- he would punch me, kick me and would ask me to get naked and leave the house. I told myself that time that I would never be like my father.

To forget the family problems, I focused on studying. Indeed, I was a consistent honor student from grade school to high school. I was given a scholarship for my 4 year pre-medical course and I had to leave my family and go to Manila. I am happy with my achievements but deep inside I felt hurt whenever I thought about the kind of family I had.

Without the knowledge of my mother, my father sold our family properties one by one and spent the money on his vices, drunkard friends, and a suspected 2^nd family. During that time, my mother resigned from her job so she could take care of my other siblings. After a while, my mother was no longer able to send me money to support my studies. I decided to go home and what I found broke my heart.

Our house had no electricity. My mother and siblings would only eat once, maybe twice a day and no stores would allow them to borrow goods. Worse, all of them were sick. I blamed God and asked Him why He let this happen to us. I went back to Manila very sad and frustrated. My dreams of becoming a doctor faded.

Sometime in 1999, a dorm mate shared with me about Jesus. He quoted Matthew 11:28- “Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest.” Having no one else to turn to, I prayed to Jesus and began reading my bible. I started sharing Jesus with my classmates and friends. I felt peace that I never felt before, even though the condition of my family remained the same.

By God’s grace, I graduated Magna Cum Laude and I was to receive a scholarship to finance my degree to become a doctor of medicine. I was excited to invite my parents to my college graduation but all the excitement vanished when my mother told me that she had separated from my father.

My father admitted that he wasted all the money and he really was having an affair. I began questioning God and started to backslide. I wanted to quit studying medicine and just work so that I could help my mother who was deeply troubled. By this time she had been working as a fish ball vendor trying to make both ends meet.

But God is good! When I was about to quit, a classmate from CCF counseled me and prayed for me. She invited me to attend a service and that time God spoke to me clearly. The pastor said “If He gave His only son for us, will He not give everything to us?” That night, I cried and asked God to forgive me. The same night I remember the story of the prodigal son and realized how much God really loves me. I opened my heart and asked Jesus to be the Savior and Lord of my life. Since then, I committed myself to become His servant. He changed and healed my heart from the hurts and failures of the past. I regained the inner peace that I had lost. I started attending the worship services and my discipleship group.

Everything was fine until December 24, 2004 when my father came to us. I could see in his eyes that he wanted reconciliation. In my heart, I know I have forgiven him. But that time my mother was not ready to accept him and I respected my mother’s decision.

After years of constant praying, the Lord answered my prayer. Last December 2005, my mother and 2 other siblings accepted Christ in their lives. I’m really thankful to God because He gave me the wisdom and strength to share the gospel with them. In April 2006, just when I was giving up on my dream of becoming a doctor, I finished my degree to be a doctor of medicine and landed at the top of our batch. In August 2007, I passed the physician licensure examination. In January 2008, I began working as a resident physician in Internal Medicine, in one of the premier hospitals in the country. In the same hospital, I also started sharing the gospel with my co-workers, both doctors and nurses and some of them accepted Christ in their lives. Some of them are already attending CCF regularly. I also started sharing the gospel to my patients because as a Christian doctor, I honestly believe that I need to attend to both their physical and spiritual needs. At present, I’ve been reconciled with my father. There were times he would even visit me at my work place.

I told myself once that I was the most unfortunate son because of what my earthly father was like and what he has done to us. But now, I consider myself blessed because I have the most loving Father I could ever dream of- our Heavenly Father. God is faithful. As He said in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” To God be the glory.

As the youngest of a family of ten, I learned to be independent and self-reliant very early on in my life. I grew up thinking “if it has to be, then it is up to me”. I thought if I want to make something of my life, I have to take control of my own life and destiny. I did not know that my heart was slowly hardening. Outwardly, I thought I was okay life but inwardly I was full of resentment and pride. Pride led me to think that everything I am and everything I had was all because of the choices I made. It was all about me.
The thing with having pride is that everybody else can see everything wrong about you except you. It was so hard for me to accept correction because of pride. I would be rude to people if they didn’t meet my high standards. I would lash out at people if things do not go according to my plan. There would be moments of regret, but I could not help myself. I thought that since I was the one in control, things will never go wrong, but I was proven wrong. I was brought to my knees thru an experience that made me realize that I am not in control and cannot ever be in control.

A fire gutted everything I had accumulated over the years and reduced the house that I was living in down to ashes. I felt stripped bare of everything I have. I lost my home, and being the proud person that I was, I found it hard to ask help from family and friends. I questioned God and even had the temerity to tell Him that I have always lived my life always doing the right thing. I thought I was good, but why did He allow this to happen? There were so many questions in my head, I felt aimless and confused.

I was in this state when a friend from the office invited me to a Sunday worship service at CCF. Even then, pride issues kept cropping up and this time it was spiritual pride. I thought to myself, “I have lived my life believing in my God, I pray occasionally, I do things that any self proclaimed Christian does, is there anything new to learn?” I eventually went and with just a song in one CCF Sunday Service I attended, I found myself weeping. After this initial encounter, I found myself having a hunger to really know who God is. This hunger was so unquenchable that I went to every retreat, bible study, Sunday worship that I can get a hold of. I thought I surrendered my life to God but why was I struggling with control issues still? Didn’t He say, “I have come that they may have life and have it to the full”? I found myself trying so hard to wrestle the steering wheel of my life from the Lord. The more I did this the more it wore me out. I did not have peace within my soul and I certainly was not bearing the fruit of the Spirit in my life. I was frustrated with the prayers that were left unanswered and deep inside resentment was building up again. The Lord soon made me realize that I initially came to God with a personal agenda. But God is faithful.

Little by little the Lord brought me to a point that I would learn total dependence on Him. Jesus’ word in John 15:5,“apart from me, you can do nothing“, resonated so loud and clear. At a retreat I attended, the Lord spoke to my heart and made me realize that He is after my transformation first and foremost. This time, I totally surrendered my life to God and asked Jesus to be my Lord, my Savior and be the master of my life. I ceded full control and offered my life to Him.

I gave up my self-made plans one by one. Plans to live abroad and be on my own away from my family. Potential relationships that I know will hinder the growth of my relationship with my Lord. I decided to end a flourishing career with all its benefits, to start a business that has become my ministry. The Lord patiently spoke to my heart to surrender my all to Him and pursue His will, and He encouraged me to take a leap of faith.

This time, I really leapt. I leapt high and I did not mind where or how I would fall. This time, my personal agenda did not matter anymore. Nothing was more important to me than pleasing our Lord Jesus who loved me so much that there was nothing He was willing to withhold from me, even His very life.
I realized pursuing God’s will is never easy. Contrary to my thinking before that when we give our lives to the Lord, our lives will become a bed of roses. Romans 8:29 says, “For those God foreknew He also predestined to be conformed to the likeness of His Son”… I learned God’s purpose in our lives is to make us like His Son Jesus. The Lord may not give us comfort for comfort’s sake but He is more concerned that we will mirror the image of His son Jesus. Today, I am still learning how it is to depend on Him, for His provisions, guidance, strength, grace, mercy and wisdom. From a life lived for myself and led by my controlling nature, I have now learned that I cannot live without the Lord. You can take away anything from me and I will be okay but take the Lord from me and I will be reduced to nothing.
I am Boom Mangoba, a committed follower of Jesus Christ!

I got kidnapped at age 14. It shook my whole life. Before that incident I thought life was OK having come from a religious family from Davao. My family would all go to church together and spend time praying to God. But there I was blindfolded for 2 nights and preparing myself to meet God. I really thought my life was over. During those days, kidnapping in Davao was pretty rampant and very few people returned to their families alive. Surprisingly on the 3rd day, I was released and was just so happy to be reunited with my family. There were so many policemen at our house and neighborhood and they said that the ransom was such a big amount that even if we pooled all our resources it would not be enough. However, some family friends and relatives decided to donate some money and somehow helped to reach an amount close to what was demanded.

It was at this time that I learned that my father, doubting that I was still alive, did not agree to pay the ransom. He told the kidnappers that he only worked in a church and had no money, so they might as well kill me if they wanted, but he did not have that amount of money to pay for my release. This angered me and I began to hate my father. I began to rebel in high school and college. I didn’t want to stay at home so I constantly went out with my friends for parties and gimmicks.

When I got a job, I chose the assignment farthest away from my parents so I got assigned to Isabela province. Having my own apartment, a brand new car and money, felt like I was living in paradise. My lifestyle by this time included, cheating, lying, and sexual immorality and it was becoming my normal way of life. Despite all the worldly fun I was having, it felt like there was a big vacuum growing inside me that nothing could fill.

I met a friend in Isabela at a badminton game and was invited to attend worship at CCF Isabela. There I watched a life testimony being shown on video and since I easily cry and didn’t want to be embarrassed in front of my friend, I just told myself that I will never come back. However, I could not stop myself from going back to hear the messages and actually developed a thirst for God’s word. I began to lose interest in the party life and decided quit my job in Isabela and return to Manila.

In October 2005, I joined the “Be one with God” retreat in Subic. There I learned how much God loves me as it says in John 3:16. “For God so loved the world, He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life”. I then got invited to a retreat in Baguio and even if I was already scheduled to go to Boracay that same week, I found myself registering to attend the encounter 1 retreat instead.

There God spoke to me in Revelation 3:20 “behold I stand at the door and knock, if anyone hears My voice and opens the door I will come in to him and eat with him and he with Me”. I cried out to the Lord and I said enough is enough. I surrendered my life to Jesus and gave him full control of my life. It was as if Jesus himself was standing in front of me telling me “my son, my son, I love you and I welcome you back to me”. I felt God’s embrace, comfort, protection and acceptance into God’s family.

Having Jesus come into my life gave me peace. By God’s grace I was able to forgive and understand my father and was able to express my love for my family to them. Being a child of God becomes sweeter as each day passes by. Wishes became prayers even as coincidences or luck became God’s appointments for blessings.

As I was preparing to write my testimony, my office mate of one year, asked me what I was writing and I shared what God has done in my life. My office mate was speechless and what I heard really blessed my heart. He said, “Don’t you know how much you have changed? You have become more prayerful. You no longer use destructive words and comments. You are always calm and at peace and it is all radiant.”

I praise God for the work of the Holy Spirit in my life and even if I am far from perfect, by God’s loving grace He is always there to guide me. I was lost and was found, I was hurt but was comforted, I was wounded but healed.
With each day I walk with Jesus, I look forward to what is ahead because I am confident that my life is in God’s hand. I can honestly say that by God’s grace, I walk by faith and not by sight.

I am Julius Uy. To God be all the glory!

“Win Build and Send. Make disciples and bear much fruit.” These were the words that kept ringing in my ears shortly after I received Christ into my life while I was in college in 1975. I was immediately discipled by godly and dynamic Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC) missionaries who nurtured and trained me how to minister to others also. As I grew in my Christian life, my passion to bear much fruit for the Lord kept increasing which led to my joining CCC as a full time missionary.

My passion to help reach the Philippines for Christ continued until the tragic death of my godly mother in California. Against my will, I left the Philippines to join my family in San Diego with the plan to encourage and minister to them for just one month then come back to the Philippines to continue my missionary work.

But, God changed my wonderful plan for my life. That one month plan became 21 years instead. I completed my Masters in Business Management and enjoyed pursuing my career in Accounting at Chase Manhattan Financial Services. My passion to bear much fruit however, continued even across the world. With God’s power, grace and mercy, He blessed me with a fruitful ministry in San Diego with my family, community and my church, where I met my godly husband during the prayer meeting. He was a beloved youth leader and passionate bible teacher. We served the Lord together and six years later he asked me to marry him. We continued to serve God together and expressed our desire to become full time missionaries someday.

God blessed us with 3 wonderful children, Leah, Bekah and Andrew, a nice home, a stable job, a fruitful ministry in our church, at work and community. Little by little, my heart for the Philippines completely faded away. Philippines became just a part of my history, a place that I might visit someday with my children to show my roots, but never to live again.
But again, God in His wonderful way, changed my wonderful plan for my life. Martin, a lay pastor in our church, Maranatha chapel in San Diego, was asked by our senior pastor to come to the Philippines with another missionary to scout the land just see how our church can send short term mission groups to the Philippines. Instead of just scouting the land, God put a desire in his heart to come back not just for 2 weeks but as full time missionary with our family. To leave everything behind, including his job of 23 years as senior electronic applications engineer . I said, “Dear, I’ll be behind you, far, far behind. I wanted to obey God but according to my time table.” Maybe when my children are older and in college. But, Martin in his godly attitude, never forced me but continued to abide in God’s word and prayed for God to change my heart instead.

With desperation, I appealed to God presenting him a long list of “why Beth Sanders should not go back to the Philippines.” Number one of which was my love and concern for our children. I asked God to speak to me and give me direction and confirmation in context or out of context to prove my husband wrong. God met me at my level through His word. As I continued my daily devotion reading Isaiah chapter 32, I came across verse 9.
Isaiah 32: 9 “Rise up, you women who are at ease, and hear my voice; give ear to my word, you complacent daughters.”

I closed my Bible and argued with God. “That was so out of context Lord. That was not for me”, I said. But my heart was pounding. I knew it was for me.

God was right. He made me realized how my heart had become complacent, and too contented with my daily routine, amidst the many blessings He has given me. I was no longer excited for God to do new and greater things in and through my life. I did not want Him to shake my comfortable nest.

(Garden experience with God)
God in his creative ways comforted me while I was gardening in my backyard one day. For some reason, almost everything that I planted in my yard died except for the one geranium by my fence. It grew so big with beautiful flowers and healthy branches. However, it started to cover the sprinkler and the light that my husband installed. I made a decision to uproot it and planted it by my side yard where there was an empty spot. It looked beautiful as it added color to the empty spot. But as the summer heat hit it at noon, it started to slowly wither. In just few days the leaves started to dry and the branches just laid weak. But I faithfully watered it hoping it will grow again. Sure enough, after 2 weeks the branches started to stand and leaves started to sprout then some flowers budded too. I was so happy as I watched it grew back to health. All of a sudden God, in His still small voice spoke to me and ask, “Beth, did you get the message. That’s how you are. I have planted you in San Diego for 21 years and made you bloom and now I will uproot you and plant you in Manila. Yes, you can get dry and wither when discouraged if you don’t stay attached to the vine. But if you continue to stay attached to the vine and water yourself with God’s word daily, I will sustain you. I will make you bloom again where you are planted and bear much fruit that remain.” Crying by my plant I repented and said, “ Yes Lord, I got your message.”

So, I decided to obey God and submit to my husband. He reminded me that everything I have came from Him including our children and He can take it away if He wants to. He also comforted me with His promise in Jeremiah 29:11; ‘For I know the plans that I have for you,’ declares the Lord, ‘plans for welfare and not for calamity to give you a future and a hope.” I surrendered my children to God believing that He is much more concern with the life and future of my children more than I am as their mother.

After more than one year of preparation, we came to Manila with our 3 young children. However, I did not tell Martin that I secretly made a commitment with God for only 2 years. So I came to Manila with a mission: to minister to the Filipino women with a sense of urgency to bear much fruit fast so I can go back home with a fruitful ministry. I shared the gospel to every human being that I came in contact with in my neighborhood but no fruit came out for the first 6 months . I was running out of time and feeling like a failure. I got so discouraged and depressed and thought it was a mistake that we came. I was ready to go back to San Diego especially when I saw my children crying and missing their many friends.

Until on New Year’s Eve, God brought to my remembrance His promise before we left in John 15: 5 “I am the vine, you are the branches; he who abides in me and I in him, he bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing.” He assured me not to fear and that He has gone before us and will continue to be with us. That He is not concern about the success of the ministry He has called us to do, and the number of women I minister to but rather with the condition of my heart. He wants my heart to be completely devoted to Him as His child not to the ministry. That the ministry should be just an overflow of my private walk with Him as I abide in His word and be motivated by His love. He revealed my selfish agenda and wrong intention for rushing to bear fruit- just so I can do the ministry with success and go back home to San Diego.

Prostrating myself on the floor, I repented to God and devoted my heart back to Him. He gave me a new heart, one that is motivated by His love resulting to true joy and excitement to stay in the Philippines as long as He wants us to stay.

Few days later, after I made my heart right with God, He directed me to a handful of women to invest my life by discipling them, who in just a short period of time started to bear much fruit also and still continue to do so. The 4 became 10, then 20 then 50 and still continue to bear much fruit, not by my might nor my power but by His spirit alone.
It’s been almost 9 years now, and as I look back, I praise God for His grace that enabled me to obey Him and submit to my husband. I could have missed out from the many blessings of knowing Him deeper and witnessing the work that He has done and still continues to do in and through my life, my family and the many lives whom we have the privilege to minister to.

God showed me that the best place to be is not California, but it is at the very center of God’s will and if Manila it is, so be it. It is my prayer that when God looks into my heart daily, He will find it completely acceptable and devoted to Him and hear Him say, “ Well done Beth, my good and faithful servant.”, then make Him smile. That’s enough to motivate me, to abide in Him daily so I do not miss out on His perfect will for my life, until that day when I see Him face to face.

May it be the choice of our heart, to intentionally abide in His word and His love daily resulting to bearing much fruit that remain for the audience of “one” alone. To God be the glory. God bless you .

I was born into a Hindu Brahmin Family in Nepal. Brahmins are considered the highest caste in Hinduism and it was a source of pride for my family. My grandfather was a devoted Hindu Priest. But my father was an alcoholic. At an early age I followed after my father’s way of life and like him I became an alcoholic.

In 1990 I was searching for a greater cause to live for, so I became a communist. I began to oppose the small Christian church in our community. I thought that Christianity is a religious weapon used by the western world to expand their empire. In my attempt to discredit Christianity, I visited the church and obtained a New Testament Bible. I looked for weaknesses and loopholes about Christianity.

But one day as I was reading about the crucifixion of Jesus, my heart was deeply touched. My conscience repeatedly asked me “why are you trying to find proof that Jesus is wrong, didn’t He die a painful death that was not for His own benefit?” I compared Him to all of the Hindu gods but I couldn’t find anyone like Him. When I understood the reason why Jesus was crucified, I finally received Christ as my personal Savior and the Lord.

When my family discovered that I had accepted Christ, they tried to force me to renounce Christ. I was expelled from the community and was not even allowed to enter the homes of our friends and relatives. I was treated like an untouchable person – a total humiliation for a Brahmin like myself. Although I faced constant mental and emotional pressure, the persecution helped me to find my strength in God. That perseverance began to bear fruit for the Lord.

God changed my life and helped me overcome my past habits and wrong attitudes. As my family saw the changes in my life in 1993 my whole family received Christ as their Savior and Lord. God began to bless our family. After 30 years as an alcoholic, my father stopped drinking. We had real peace in our home; God transformed our family. Over time we began to be invited in the homes of those who had formerly rejected us. Those who stopped talking to us began speaking with us again. Indeed, God changed their hearts and attitude towards us.

In 2001, God gave me the vision to fully dedicate my life for the expansion of His kingdom. The Lord led me and my wife Kamala to come and study at a Christian seminary. The Lord used that seminary now called International Graduate School of Leadership (IGSL) to equip us for the ministry that He wants us to do.

I was discipled by Jim Whelchel and Nelson Reed at IGSL and was blessed to have been part of their respective groups. Although I came to Christ in Nepal, I actually started learning about ministry at IGSL and here in CCF.

After graduating from IGSL in June 2006, we returned to Nepal and I began to pastor a church in my home city, Tansen. By God’s grace, in the last three years we have seen more than seventy former Hindus in our community come to faith in Christ and be baptized. The youth ministry of our church now has over 100 young people meeting and growing in small groups. We started a children’s ministry, a prison ministry and planted two new churches.God also led us to some creative ways to reach influencers. We began Little Lamb School which was highly ranked as a model pre-school in our city. The former city Mayor visited and was so impressed that he invited us to his place so we can do Bible study.

I recently was asked to be part of a planning committee for our city. We trust this open door will lead to other leaders in the city finding Christ. Two weeks from now pastor Nelson Reed will conduct a training program for 50 business leaders, organized in cooperation with our city’s chamber of commerce. In a country where violent persecution was common place only a few years ago, it is amazing how God is allowing us to impact our city for Christ.

I, Bishnu Regmi and my wife Kamala, would like to take this opportunity to thank you, our CCF family, for the significant role you made in helping us carry on the ministry that God does through us in Nepal. We would not have made it this far had it not been for your prayers and support for us in the ministry. Together with you, we commit to serve to further expand God’s kingdom in our country and among our people. Please pray that we will continue to bear much fruit; fruit that will last.
To God be all the Glory!

I’m Luchi Cruz-Valdes, a wife and a mother to three boys aged 18, 15, and 6. If I look strangely familiar to some of you, it’s also because I have worked for many years as a TV journalist, so I hope this bit of information spares you some needless guessing.

I have been a Christian for many years and I thought I knew God and knew what faith in Him meant, until a twin adversity proved me totally wrong.

Growing up and old I had always believed that as long as I gave it my best, God would do the rest. So give my best I did. And do the rest God did as well – or so I thought. Little did I know that God does not work that way. He doesn’t finish the work we begin. He begins and finishes His work, His way.

And in my life, this has been His work and His way.

In July 2007, at the age of 46, my husband Lito suffered a stroke. It was not a mild stroke nor an ordinary one. It was, doctors say, the worst stroke you could ever have. It was in the area of the brain called the pons, at the base of the brainstem which is the bridge that links the brain to the body. In many brainstem stroke cases, patients end up with what they call the “locked in” syndrome, where the person’s brain is working perfectly – it hears, remembers, processes everything, but is unable to command the body to do anything, not even to breathe or digest food or open his eyes!

I vividly remember the depth of fear and hopelessness I felt when I learned this for the first time. I had been a journalist for 26 years and witnessed many terrible things up close, but nothing I had encountered before prepared me for the dreadful prospect of my husband lying like a vegetable, but totally conscious of everything. It was like being the living dead! The fear so overpowered me that it threw me down on my knees to plead with God to please take Lito instead.

It was in this moment of total weakness and helplessness that I heard the word of the Lord quietly but powerfully telling me, “Be still and know that I am God.”

Over and over in those dark days, I found the Lord bringing Lito and me to total stillness, I, in my helplessness over his condition, and Lito, in his paralysis. God made both of us to be still, so that we would come to know His grace. We would come to know Him.

Fast forward to one year later, July 2008.

God had spared Lito from the locked-in syndrome, praise Him! But the road to recovery was to be excruciatingly long and tedious.

Inspite of God’s faithful and miraculous provisions, the high cost of Lito’s rehabilitation and maintenance drove me to plunge myself back full force into my work. In it, I not only found financial security from my fat salary but also, an escape from the burden of caring for my sick husband and my traumatized kids. I began to work the 12-hour shifts, and work even when I was at home. In this mindless work grind, I had ceased to be still. I had ceased to know God.

One fine day, without any warning whatsoever, totally ignorant of what was going on, I found myself entangled in office politics in the highest places, and suddenly, I was being asked to retire. I was losing a high-paying job and ending a 27-year journalism career! I could hardly believe what was happening to me. Once more, down on my knees, I cried to the Lord in my anguish, begging for rescue and vindication. But these were not forthcoming. Instead, God said to me, “Trust in the Lord with all of your heart and lean not on your own understanding.” (Prov.3:5)

At this point it became crystal clear that God would not be robbed of absolute control. He wanted to do all the work in my life, and there was no need for me to keep striving. He had taken away all my crutches and I was left standing in total dependence on Him. It was frightening.

Without a job and so much time in my hands and questions in my mind, I found myself seeking the Lord like I never did before. My prayer time increased in length and frequency. Praying without ceasing, which I used to think was impossible, now came to me naturally. I would talk to God — in the car, in the grocery, and in those brief moments when I would wake up from my sleep in the middle of the night. The Lord had also increased my hunger for Him. My Bible and devotional reading stretched exponentially. Christian books and audio CDs given as gifts over the years and which remained unread and unheard in my shelves found their way to my bedside table and my iPod. I rested in God. And I came to know Him.

Today, Lito is still not walking, I’m still without a job, and life continues to be challenging in many ways. And when I find it hard to trust God and lean on Him alone, I turn to the Bible and come to Him in prayer. “Only in God is my soul at rest; from Him alone comes my salvation. He only is my rock and my stronghold. I shall not be disturbed.” (Ps. 62:1-2)

Yes, these past two years, Lito has lost his health, we have lost our livelihood, the kids have lost a way of life they had grown accustomed to. But I know now that God allowed all this loss for the gain of knowing Him through Jesus. Like Job, I say to God, “I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you.” (Job 42:5)