The Birth of a New Church
The church started last Dec 14, 1999 when God sent an independent missionary couple to minister to the Badjao people living on the island of Malitam near the coast of Batangas City. Ps. Albert and Sis. Ellen Santiago have lived with the Badjaos for more than 7 years now preaching the Gospel through providing love, care, education, medical needs, food and assisting in every way to help the people. Many times their lives were endangered with sickness, disease, death threat and opposition from outside and within the Badjao tribe, accidents, yet the church has grown strong through the years and have produced strong Christian leaders among the tribe.
Ps. Albert and Sis. Ellen have seen the tremendous power of God working among the Badjaos. They have witnessed how the Badjaos came to know the living God and turned from worshiping their ancestors and how lives of the people have changed. They have seen how the dead were raised to life, how bread and food were supernaturally provided to them, how demons and witchcraft were defeated, how God protected them and the people from harms.
Revival Fire Among Badjao Children
God chooses even children as His vessel of revival. Revival fire started among the children when a group of 220 children whose ages ranging from 4 to 14, gathered every evening beginning on December 8, 2001. Daily prayer meeting and worship were happening everyday! Children were wonderfully touched by the Lord, children crying, praising God and speaking in the tongues of heaven! The fire spread among the families of these children, and from there to different partsof the nation and abroad. Click here to see some pictures of the revival.
Ministering Children
Children's lives were changed after the fire of the Holy Spirit poured upon them. From being malnourished children and beggars, God raised them, healed them and used them to minister to different churches and also to witness to other Badjao communities. Their "Igal" dance has became a tool for evangelism and tell lots of people that Jesus is alive and how He "turn old things to new". Click here to see some pictures.
These children grew up already. They were discipled and trained to become future leaders and Christian workers. Many of them are actively serving in the Badjao community as youth leaders or serving is some other ways.
Worship Service
It's not only the children that were touched but also the adult Badjaos were touched by God and are actively worshipping. Click here to see some pictures of the Badjao worship service.
The First Church Building
The Second Church Building
The church building is currently built on a land lended by a kind owner free of charge. May God bless him for his great service to the people of God! However, due to financial difficulties, he had no choice but to sell the land to another party. We are praying that he will continually feel the touch of God and delay the transaction until we are able to find another settlement place to move. The move will include moving around 50 households, the church building, the school building and all the people with it. We will be in total gratitude if you can include this in your daily prayers.