News Archive

A Legacy Of Triumphs

By: Bishop Reniel Joel A. Nebab,
Auxiliary Bishop Eduardo C. Cajes,
Rev. Joseph I. Reyes,
Rev. James E. Quisquirin,
and Dr. Gerryl S. Nillos

The CAMACOP 50th Golden General Assembly has commenced! Welcome to all!

We in CAMACOP are glad that we have reached this 50th general assembly and the CMA's 109th year of ministry in the Philippines. Truly the Lord is great! We should praise God for what He has done. Looking back at our history, we see sacrificial efforts by our predecessors in order to establish a strong evangelical denomination in our land. Of course we remember Miss Ella White, the first Alliance missionary to the Philippines, who came in 1901, and also John A. Mckee, the courageous layman who died of cholera because of his love for the Filipinos in Mindanao. We also remember Charles Carlson and William Abell who established the first CMA and first evangelical church in Mindanao - the Tetuan Alliance Evangelical Church.

Many years had passed since then. The ministry had grown. In 1947, the CAMACOP officially organized as a denomination. Thirteen self- supporting churches agreed to join each other in reaching the whole country with their message: Jesus is Saviour, Sanctifier, Healer and Coming King. Rev. Jeremias Dulaca was elected first president. The second president was Rev. Florentino De Jesus, Sr. That was in 1957. Other men of faith and vision came too: Rev. Leodegario Madrigal, Rev. Vicente R. Pada, Dr. Benjamin P. De Jesus, Dr. Valmike B. Apuzen, Dr. Rodrigo D. Tano, and Dr. Jose D.C. Dalino. These years from 1901 until today were and are years of challenges, opportunities, and triumphs. Until now, we see many opportunities for faith. Towns and barangays to start local congregations. Provinces to occupy. Outside of the country, there are many lands to conquer, too. And our locally- trained missionaries are excited to go.

There is no doubt that the first administrations under Rev. Dulaca, Rev. De Jesus, Sr., Rev. Madrigal, and Rev. Pada were visionaries in nature. They sought new lands and areas to conquer. After them - during the times of Dr. De Jesus, Dr. Apuzen, Dr. Tano, and Dr. Dalino -- came leaderships of growth and leadership development.

We, of the present CAMACOP national leadership, say that we are following their footsteps. We move forward because we have vision. We move forward because we have clear objectives. We seek out leaders and train them because we know that leadership spells a great difference in the success of any organization. And we strengthen our relationships.

We recognize that the strength of our organization is found in the workers. Without the local churches, we will never grow as a denomination. This is the reason we value so much our pastors, lady workers, missionaries, church lay leaders, and everybody in the church.

We at the national leadership are your servants. We exist because you exist. Your victory is our victory.

We remember these that is why we declare "Together Everyone Achieves More." That is T.E.A.M. The understanding of our team in Pasig City is "We are one big team. You and us. We can become successful only if you are successful."

That is why our objectives have focused on enabling our pastors and local churches grow. That is why we say that YOU IN THE LOCAL CHURCHES MAKE CAMACOP SUCCEED. You, the pastors and leaders of CAMACOP are our most important asset as a denomination.

We treasure all of you more than any aspect in the ministry. We keep you in mind each night that we go to sleep. You are in our prayers.

The immediate impact of this conviction is that we seek the financial success of our local churches. And this is the reason why our Division of Administration and Finance seeks ways and means to enable them to be so. The implementation of stronger economic services to our local churches such as the Church Revolving Fund (CBRF), the CAMACOP Urban Ministry Project (CUMP), the Regional Refunds (RR), the Redemption of Mortgaged Coconut Land (RMCL), and the Ministers' Fund (MF). All these aim to strengthen our local churches and members in order that they may find God's favour through the guidance of our policies.

The hope of these programs is to help our people financially. We do not just aim for increased income and dues from churches. We want the churches and workers to grow and be healthy. Their participation and willingness to give for our programs should be anchored on the principle that they have been blessed so they should be willing to share their blessings. We cannot imagine healthy financial figures at the expense of impoverished local churches. No. That will never happen. We envision healthy and strong churches that will bring about a healthy and strong CAMACOP.

As a result of this, our churches are growing and the number of our churches has increased tremendously. The Division of Church Ministries has reported that as of December 31, 2008, we have reached 2,735 local churches. At this rate, we are planting one church every two and a half days. Praise God! We should mention that the glory belongs to God, and to you. You did this.

Our Division of Missions program is also anchored on these principles. We are now able to send more missionaries to other countries because our churches are healthier. Below is a table that shows how healthy our missions program is:

We now have 52 missionaries worldwide! This would not be possible if our churches are not healthy and are willing to sacrifice for the spread of the Gospel.

We also have the Missions' awareness activities. Keys to this program are the Kairos Training Course and the God's Global Glory seminars. For the year 2008, we conducted the following Kairos Training Course:

* KC = Kairos Course; FTC = Facilitator Training Course. *ACM = Asian Center for Missions

There is truth to the saying that we are getting more and more involved in missions because that is our calling: to be a missionary- sending denomination. And the success is again credited to our healthy churches.

Our Division of General and Theological Education is also about to create a strategic impact in our Society. In 2008 two theological summits were held, attended by school heads, national administrative team members, and by the district ministry supervisors. The summits were aimed to align all CAMACOP theological education programs to the denomination's vision and mission, and to develop a unified curriculum. In the October 2008 summit in General Santos City, the heads of our Bible schools approved the unified curriculum for the Pastoral Ministry and Christian Education programs. This means that a student in Shekinah Alliance Bible College can transfer to Philippine Alliance College of Theology and expect little problems when his courses from the first school are credited in the latter school. Similar problems have caused misunderstandings in the past, but with the agreement of all school heads to the unification of our courses, we expect higher quality and similarly- trained pastors and other church and institution workers for CAMACOP.

*The training seminars were conducted upon the request of the DMS.

We also had Christian Education training seminars throughout the whole year. The seminars were aimed at enriching the workers' spiritual life sharpening their competence in educational ministries and their advocacy in the implementation of CAMACOP goals.

The harvest is so great! (Matthew 9: 37) We have succeeded in the past. Our trailblazers have led us to victory. And today, we are in a very good position to carry on the battle. Let us not lose heart. True, there are hurdles to overcome. There are challenges to meet. But, let us not lose heart.

You and your parents and your grandparents have invested your lives to the cause of the Great Commission. And you have prevailed. For this, we salute you and say: well done! We know your rewards in heaven are manifold.

Let us continue on rallying behind our sacred cause. Let us exalt the name of Jesus. Let us keep our legacy of triumphs!