Practically my whole life began and revolved in the church. My parents were already saved before they met each other. So, I was born and raised up in the church, together with my brother and sister.
Since childhood, I already attended the church meetings such as the children?s meetings and prophesying meetings together with my family. But though my whole family was preserved in the church, I was not.
Thank the Lord that during my college days, the Lord exposed me. He showed me that I could do nothing and was nothing before Him. My being good-natured did not work. I was unworthy before Him. Though I was born in the church, I can say that my enjoyment before the Lord was not sufficient and my testimony was not proper.
In a short-term training in the South, the Lord opened my eyes, especially through one of our subjects, Consecration. Consecration is not only to give ourselves to the Lord but also to allow the Lord to work within us. In response, I consecrated myself to the Lord. In addition, I consecrated to spend at least two years of my life in the full-time training after my collegiate study.
Praise the Lord that He preserved me and released me for the full-time training. At first, it was really hard for me to adjust with the environment and with the schedule. But later on, by being open to the Lord, I was able to adjust. In the training, I learned to walk in a restricted way. Restriction helped me not to live in myself but to live out Christ and say, ?Amen, Lord!? in everything. This also helped me to come to Him, to depend on Him and to enjoy Him more.
There were also times that the sessions became a bore to me and I felt exhausted. But the Lord still spoke to me. He did not want me to remain in my situation. He is the fountain of life flowing from the top of the mountain to water and refresh me again. He spoke to me through Romans 8:6 which says, ?For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the spirit is life and peace? and 2 Corinthians 4:16, ?Therefore, we do not lose heart, but though our outer man is decaying yet our inner man is being renewed day by day.? Through His speaking, I learned to turn to Him always so that I can enjoy Him as life for me to be renewed all the time and have peace.
The life in the training is the best way to enjoy and experience the Lord in a deeper way so that He would become my constitution and my living, making me worthy before Him and cooperating in His move here on earth.
Real Quidet (FTA)
Church in Oroquieta City
Divine Sound of Warnings
Life in the training is regulated by the sound of a small steel bell. The sound of this bell starts and ends the day of a trainee. It is just a small sound but it can synchronize the movements of all the trainees, coordinators, trainers?practically everybody in the training center.
For every sound of the bell, there is a corresponding change of activity. The ringing of the bell at 5:30 a.m. is an indication to leave one?s beds. Another ring may mean a time for a short queue in the ?conscience store,? or a quick flight down the stairs to the canopy for lunch or dinner. For the meal servants, it is a race between serving on time or a penalty for being late. For the servant of the day, it is a skill of listing as many names of running trainees late for the sessions, as if on their second wing for the last leg of the race.
The sound of the bell also signals the start of mundane things such as bathing, washing clothes, napping; and of spiritual moments such as fellowshipping with the Lord, pursuing spiritual books or studying for the next class. Sometimes, the mere sound of the bell brings panic to those caught unprepared, but joy to those who have disgruntled tummies (eagerly awaiting lunch, break-time, or dinner). Nothing beats the sound of the bell when it comes to regulating our activities.
I was thinking why of the many saints who joined the training, none thought of using a more modern way of making sounds to replace the sound of the bell. There is a wide range of ringing tones available. In one of our sessions, however, God dealt with me regarding this thought.
I was exposed. In our All-Inclusive Christ class, a trainer mentioned about pomegranates and little golden bells hewn alternately at the bottom part of the priestly robe in the Old Testament. Many were awed about the linen pomegranates as the fullness of Christ being expressed in His humanity. As the brothers and sisters in the class were drawn to the big things, I was drawn to the little yet golden bells. Lack of time in the class prevented us to go deeper into the significance of these bells. Little golden bells? We have just one small steel bell here in the training. It does not matter. I was, nevertheless, compelled (Praise the Lord) to dig further.
Praise the Lord for the Life-study of Exodus. As gold is to divinity, the sound of the bells is to the warning sounds. In the days of Aaron, the sound of the bells gives warning to the priest, if he is walking too fast or carelessly. Today, this corresponds to the voice of warnings we hear from the brothers and sisters whenever we act or speak carelessly. But these voices come from a divine source, that is, from the fullness of Christ already grown into them.
When we were regenerated, we received the divine life into us. Our Brother Lee said that each has received a certain amount of divinity that can generate a sound?in small scale?like the ringing of a little bell. This can be learned. We can produce a sound that is pleasant and gentle. We were not given a steel bell but a little golden bell, which produces a sound that comes from divinity, not from our natural self. But, as a caveat, the golden bells can not be separated from the pomegranates or the fullness of life being expressed in our humanity. Out from the fullness of life, we can produce the pleasant and gentle sound of the bells. This is a cycle. Once we submit to these divine sounds, we are into another level of growth in life.
I was so impressed that within us there is a little divine sound. Here in the training center, the bell is outside of us. But the sound of this small (though made of steel) bell reminds me of my little divine sound. The next time I hear the bell, whether in the sisters? quarters or during the class, it will bring a different ring. In or out of the training, we already have little divine bells in us. As destined priests, the golden bells (divine sound of warnings) and the pomegranates (fullness of life) can regulate us. May He be gracious to give us a normal growth in life day by day. May our whole being produce pleasant and gentle divine sound of warnings in our church life.
Gizelle Liwag (FT2)
Church in Quezon City
February 2002
A Learning Experience
My first few weeks of stay in the training center were particularly difficult and exhausting. I had to adjust to many situations in many aspects of corporate living. I was particularly burdened with doing things, which I did not ordinarily do. This included having to keep up with the pressure and a hectic schedule, catching up with the day?s lessons and having to maintain good inter-personal relationships with the saints.
Despite the difficulties, gradually I was able to adapt. Learning and enjoying the Lord came in handy. Thank the Lord for His grace and mercy!
What I have learned so far in the training is the matter of giving the Lord the preeminence in my life. Since the time that I was saved, I had not really given the Lord the first place in my heart?not until I came to the training. In our locality, I was pre-occupied with secular matters; thus, I really did not give much time to pursue the Lord. I would only remember and pray to the Lord whenever we had our home meetings and the Lord?s table meeting.
Having an intimate, affectionate fellowship with the Lord is another thing that I truly treasure here. Never had I been so intimate with the Lord than I am today.
Everyday in the training center is a learning experience?being constituted with the divine truth and learning to live a God-man living.
More importantly, I have learned to do the will of the Father?to build up the Body of Christ according to God?s New Testament economy.
Jose Mari Almonte (FT1)
Church in Zamboanga City
Most Valuable Time of My Life
My first term in the training was not as grave as the second. During the first term, I thought everything would be easy for me?things like being mingled with the saints with different backgrounds, doing levitical services, going out for door-knocking, etc. I thought it would only be like a young people?s training, but it was not. There were many situations, which exposed me and even made me cry.
One time I already wanted to go home. But the trainers called me, with some other trainees, to inform us that we would be the coordinators of the different departments during weekends. I was assigned as one of the coordinators in the environment department. That arrangement did not make me happy. I thought it was an obligation that would just weaken me spiritually. I cried and prayed, ?Lord, I don?t want to become a coordinator. This is really a hard job for me!?
When we were called for a meeting, I was thinking and wishing that I would either be in the accommodation department or registration department, but under the Lord?s sovereign arrangement He put me in a place where I would learn things, gain Him and enjoy Him with the saints. To be a part of the environment department was not easy. It took me two weeks to get used to my responsibilities.
That was my first term in the training. Today whenever I compare it with my second term, I sense a great difference. I don?t know why, but my second term is much more enjoyable. I feel good whenever I am with the saints. Before I always went home, but now I just stay in the training center to spend time with the saints and do my personal things.
My relationship with the Lord has become more intimate, affectionate and personal. I became more open to Him. I spend much time with Him to contact Him. He has brought me into sweeter experiences of life.
I appreciate the training more because here the Lord taught me how to face difficulties and gain the Lord through sufferings. Though there were pressures from all sides, I was filled with the heavenly wine to cheer God and the saints.
And now, the end is near. But my training won?t end here. I will always treasure my one-year training. It is the most valuable time of my life.
Maricel Evangelista (FT2)
Church in Malabon
April 2002
An All-inclusive Propagation
After almost two months of propagation, each of the trainees has special experiences of Christ that affords him with much spiritual strength in entering a new chapter of his Christian life. As for me, my stay in Oas, Albay provided me with hilarious, self-breaking and restricting, life-dispensing and Christ enjoying experiences that I would never forget in my life.
Why hilarious? Because there, we experienced an all-inclusive restroom. We had no other place to wash our dishes, no other room for laundry, brushing, bathing, but only in that dark, small restroom we had at the back of our rented house. I seemed too big for that restroom. In fact, the first few times I used it, I liked to break the walls and tore the ceiling that kept me dizzy (because my head bumps a lot of times on that low ceiling).
Why self-breaking? I had an in-grown, backpains and a series of stomachaches. There were times that I had to go out ahead of time for home meeting because I walked too slow and my foot kept on hurting. I knew Satan was attacking me. So I told him, ?Satan, you can attack my body, but not my spirit!?
Why self-restricting? The money entrusted to us by the Lord was supposedly just for the three of us. But during the propagation, three more saints, who had already gone through at least four months of training, were added to our team. Each day we planned to spend one hundred pesos only, which should include our three meals plus miscellaneous expenses. It was really a restricting moment for the six of us. But, it was then that we experienced the real blessing of the Lord.
Why life-dispensing? We experienced a daily, non-stop shepherding for the establishment of the church in Oas. We focused on life-dispensing rather than on imparting dead doctrines to people. Cherishing and nourishing were our only goal. We preached the gospel to them and taught them to sing hymns.
Why Christ-enjoying? Wherever we were, we were all reminded to turn to the Lord and enjoy Him in our spirit. Even to the last moment, when the church in Oas was already established, we were still enjoying the Lord. A tear-dropping moment it was, when we saw the new saints functioning during the meeting. It was an experience worth my life-long remembrance. Praise be to our Lord!
Mervin Chua (FT2)
Church in Quezon City
To Be Constituted with Christ
After the propagation, many saints asked me as to how it was. I answered, ?I cannot describe it in one sentence.? During the propagation, I was exposed and broken. I experienced Christ so much. Sometimes I couldn?t believe that I was here in the Philippines. But it?s true that I had chosen the FTTM and came here from Korea to be constituted with Christ Himself.
I was assigned in Los Ba?os, Laguna. Before going there, many sisters told me that I could get much benefit through the campus work. They were right.
I stayed at the meeting hall with the student saints. I had morning revival with them, pursued the Life-study of Genesis, sang hymns and worked on campus with them.
I can say that it was I who received shepherding from the student saints, instead of they receiving it from me. Whenever they were available, they were always willing to accompany us in preaching the gospel. I really enjoyed their youth within for the Lord?s recovery. How active they are in the spirit!
Also, I was impressed with the sisters in the districts. Even though they were busy with housekeeping, they were always striving to participate in the Lord?s work. Due to their help, many times we approached their neighbors without any problem. Through their shepherding, too, our contacts will surely remain in the church life.
Like these sisters, I want to be useful in the hands of the Lord. But the more I was desperate to be something for Him, the more I found myself really nothing before Him. When my self was exposed, I was grievous. I couldn?t bear it. But the Lord always covered and embraced me with His grace and mercy.
Praise the Lord for all the work He has done! He not only gained the Gentiles but also drew us near to Him and gradually occupied our whole being. Now I am willing to be more constituted with His divine element so that I could stand with all the overcoming saints as His Bride on that day.
Pauline Kwon (FT1)
Church in Seoul, Korea
June 2002
Gained Through the Full-time Training Poster
I planned to pursue another course or to enter a seminary after college. I was young and active, wanting to gain a lot?even to conquer the world. As I was waiting for my sponsors in the seminary, I was also looking for a scholarship for any course. Then, one day as I was searching for my fate, I saw an announcement on our school bulletin board. On it was an invitation for a scholarship in the Full-time Training in Malabon. As I was reading the details, a man came and asked, ?Are you interested?? I said, ?Yes.? Then he immediately said a lot of things I couldn?t understand. But one thing I knew was that, ?I am a Christian and I love the Lord. In fact, during my childhood I was in the ?church,? serving the Lord.?
That was just the beginning of my encounter with that man. More meetings with him followed. Finally, I received the Lord Jesus as my life and Savior on April 28, 2000 in a regional conference. I was touched on the message concerning God looking for Adam in the Garden of Eden after his fall. I felt that I was Adam whom God was looking for. In that conference, I started to see who He is and who I am and what the purpose of my human life is.
Nevertheless, it is easy for men to forget. After that conference, I went home as if nothing happened. I started to dream again, working on my future. When I found a job, I became worse than ever. I was meeting with worldly people in their worldly ways.
Because of the encouragement of the brother who reminded me of my consecration (even visiting me in our office), one day, I just found myself in the training center in Malabon.
In the training, I realized that the Lord is really a working God. He changed me a lot. At first, I saw myself as good, fresh and active for my own pursuit. But now my concept was changed. Now, I see myself as nothing but a pitiful man, trying to work for God.
God has arranged all things, environment and experiences to transform me and cause me to enjoy Him. I enjoy Him very much, even to the fullest extent. I praise the Lord that He is my life, my hope, and my salvation; He is my everything!
Propagation, weekend assignment, field assignment?these really helped me to gain more of Christ. One thing I learned from all these is our daily and constant fellowship with the Lord and with the brothers and sisters. This really preserved my enjoyment of Him and His presence. All we need day by day is to open to Him, love Him and pursue Him.
Nothing in this universe far exceeds the Christ I saw in the training. Still it is by the Lord?s grace and mercy that I know I can be preserved in the church life. I am very thankful that I am part of His recovery, to recover the enjoyment of Him. Wherever I may be may the Lord be gracious and be merciful to me together with the church.
Emmanuel Travezonda (FTA)
Church in Legaspi, Albay
Among the Blessed People
Once the Lord had visited me and showed me mercy me and told me, ?You did not choose Me, but I chose you??(John 15:16a). Before, when I was not yet in the training I could not understand His word. But when I joined the 28th term of the full-time training, the Lord made me realize the meaning of His choosing.
I consider my being in the training as the Lord?s choosing. Why? Because not all of the young people are given the chance to be trained in the matter of life, truth, character, living, and service. I thank the Lord that I have received His life, but this life needs to grow and be molded according to what the Father in the heavens is; and the training is the proper place for this molding.
During my first term, I had to learn to adjust myself in the training. Being separated unto God, I needed to follow and comply with all the rules and regulations in the training for me to be restricted. Here I learned how to love the proper Christian living and being with the brothers and sisters.
My second term in the training was more enjoyable because I really enjoyed and appreciated the high peak truths through the speaking of our trainers. This time, I also enjoyed being mingled with the brothers and sisters. At the same time my real self was also exposed. I realized that the natural man had to be burned. Praise the Lord that the corporate living helped me to know how dangerous the self is. It must be crucified so that I might be well suited for the building up of His Body.
My third term was for the application of everything that I learned during my first year. The experience of Christ was much deeper then, especially my intimate relationship with Him. I was more affectionate and personal with my Lord. I also found out that after being equipped and having experienced the outward restrictions and regulations during my first year, I should go on a step higher. To grow in life, I should learn to be regulated, not through the outward regulations, but through the inward anointing and working of the law of life. My character was also improved and exercised to make me a proper vessel to serve the Lord and the church.
Now in my fourth term, what I really enjoy is the practice of the new way, the God-ordained way. I thank the Lord that He assigned me in a certain locality where I can apply this kind of perfecting. Through this assignment, I saw how vast the work of the Lord is and how much He needs people to be one with Him. I can?t say that this would be my last term (probably this is just the beginning of my life-long service to Him).
The more I stay in the training, the more I hear the Lord says that I am one of the most blessed people in the whole earth. I have a part in God?s eternal plan, that is, to express Christ, and be molded into His image that I might be a member of His Body and be one of the young people who will turn this age. I just pray to the Lord to keep my entire being open to Him to give Him the full ground to work in me more. May I give Him the free way to serve Him, which is the very purpose of my full-time training.
Alma Hermogenes (FTA)
Church in Malabon
August 2002
Finding the True Satisfaction
The full-timers were the ones who attracted me when I was still very new in the Lord?s recovery. So the seed of being a full-timer had been sown in me even though at first I thought that it was my son who should join the Full-time Training. But the point came when the Lord made me realized that I should also be trained.
I waited for a long time before I was released for the training. Prior to my training, I continued to love and serve the Lord and the saints in the church, thus preserving me in the church life.
Truly, God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose (Rom. 8:28). In spite of many contradictions, persecutions and threat, I applied for an early teaching retirement, together with another sister, so that both of us could join the Full-time Training. Praise the Lord, it was under His sovereign arrangement that I was brought to the training center in Malabon?the best place where I can enjoy the Lord Jesus in the deepest, highest and richest way.
At the initial stage of the training, I had a hard time adjusting to the hectic schedule. But later, I experienced the verse that says, ?I am able to do all things in Him who empowers me? (Phil. 4:13). My time in the training was not wasted because here I finished reading the Bible, both the Old and the New Testament in three months.
Every session enlightened and exposed my true condition of being short of Him. I am thankful to the Lord for supplying me richly so that I may live Him out. Here I am continually transformed, especially through our Character class.
I have learned to have the best fellowship with the Lord during our intimate fellowship time (part of the training?s curriculum is to give all the trainees sufficient time everyday to contact the Lord privately). My fellowship with the Lord causes me to have more burden for His work, especially for our locality.
I truly need more of the Lord?s mercy and grace to preserve and keep my first love for Him so that I may be the proper person to preach the gospel and to shepherd the saints. My burden is for the ones I am shepherding to be a part of the 600 experimental homes in cluster 2 (this cluster in Malabon has a goal of establishing the Lord?s table meeting in 600 homes). I thank the Lord that shepherding them has become a strength to me, especially during our corporate morning watch every Saturday at 6:00 a.m.
One thing I have learned is that in coordinating with the saints, we truly need to be open, honest, and submissive to those who are already matured in life. A constant fellowship with them is a must for us to receive the Lord?s blessing.
In the training, I have experienced the love of the brothers and sisters, whom I consider my children because many call me ?Mommy.? It is here where I found true satisfaction. To serve, and work for, the Lord is truly glorious.
Adelaida Chengco (FT1)
Church in Malabon
Are You Willing to Take this Way?
Years of wandering filled my life before I joined the training. Not only did I journey from one place to another, I also became involved with one denomination after another.
Moreover, I studied to gain a Master of Divinity. But deep within me was a hunger and cry for truth and inward reality, and a longing for a real family.
One time, I had a feeling to go home to Mindoro after seven consecutive years of having no communication with my family. I thought my brothers and sisters would be needing me because I heard that they would no longer want to be addressed as pastors. Perhaps they were misled, if not backslidden. In that proud young man manner, I took the way to Oriental Mindoro where I met my brothers at Sablayan. I cannot forget their warm embrace, saying, ?Amen? as a response to my excitement of coming home again.
Several things I observed during a week of my stay there. First, each house of the saints has books and reading materials. Second, they seemed more spiritual than ever. They did not share anything to me, they just sang a hymn, one night after their prayer meeting, which says: ?Home, home in the church / where our brothers rejoicing all day?? (Hymns, # 1233). I was deeply touched by that song.
On the night before I went back to the Seminary, my brother (in the flesh) Abet asked me to visit the on-going propagation at Paluan with him. Thus, I was able to hear some principles of the Lord?s table meeting and the church life during the establishment of the local church. Silently, I confirmed everything I heard in my heart. The full-timers assigned there also shared to me about the book of Revelation, which impressed me much because it has been a book of wonder to me. I asked, observed, examined and even prayed with them, not knowing that I was also enjoying our fellowship.
On December 2, 2000, another brother accompanied me to Brother Liu Chi Cheng and Sister Charing. After explaining the ground of the church, Sister Charing asked me a simple, yet decisive, question, ?Are you willing to take this way?? Yes, yes, I answered. ?Then come back on Monday,? she replied. Monday was December 4, the start of the 29th term of the Full-time Training.
From that day to the present, a great change had occured. I heard some of my former colleagues said that I was misled by a cult. Some dear friends even spread rumors that warned everyone who knows me to avoid me. They are saying, ?You must be mistaken.? Praise the Lord I was ?mistakenly? brought here. Through this, I was brought closer than ever to the Lord Jesus. I also found my real family?His Body.
It is in the training that my vision became clear concerning Christ and the church. Aside from the subjects on God?s Ordained Way, Genuine Ground of Oneness, Service, Experience and Growth in Life, etc. I also experienced the reality of this vision through my fellowship with the brothers and sisters during my weekend assignment.
As I read the Bible again and again, especially the book of Acts, the verses became a reality to me in the church life. What else really counts than the ministry which the apostles have began? There was nothing like this in my whole life. It is only here that I learned to love my Bible even more.
Yes, it is here that I also discovered that I know nothing! It is here that I learned that I cannot serve the Lord by my own ability and strength. This training taught me to be nothing. I cannot do the work for Him if I would not allow Him to do the work within me. I was not only impressed by the truth, I was also subdued, exposed and captured by the Lord!
Though it is quite painful to be dealt with, I treasure all the times that I am rebuked, humiliated, corrected and even exposed by the loving brothers and sisters. Yes, it?s hard for a proud pastor to receive dealings. There were times in the training that I wanted to vindicate myself. Thank the Lord, He is the Savior within me, I?m still preserved. I?m still here willing to be perfected, especially in my character. It is a requisite for us to be trained before the Lord can entrust His precious lambs to us. Because of this, I treasure the training.
Moreover, in this training you would really see the need to be perfected because of the vastness of the Lord?s work, as you would directly and personally touch people?s lives during the propagation. This was my experience last April-May 2000. What would you do when you see the need of the Lord and then see your unworthiness to serve Him? Though I knew how unworthy I was, the Lord granted me an all-sufficient grace while gently opening my eyes to the vastness of the field and to the scarcity of the workers. I then whispered a prayer, ?Lord of the Harvest, thank You for the revelation from Your Word concerning Your economy and for the vision of Your Body.?
I thought that dedication, love and compassion were enough to touch people?s lives. I tried that way during my five years of pastoral service in the denomination, but I just unconsciously led people to nowhere. Yesterday, I only saw my small congregation; today I see a vast field?the whole world. What else can I do but to fall prostrate before the Lord asking for His grace and mercy! Without Him I can do nothing. Again I repeat my prayer three years ago, ?Lord, use me or I?ll be useless.? I do not know what that prayer means, but I feel perfecting is the answer.
As I tried to define this ?training,? I hardly found words to express my desire after this one year. I feel I have not yet entered into the reality of the Full-time training. Honestly speaking, before I came here I had a five-point goal in life (5-digit income, 4 wheels, 3 bedrooms, 2 children and a faithful wife). Now, everything to me is vanity. I?m afraid to go against the Lord again. It seems to me that my life would have no meaning if not spent for the One who bought me with the highest price. It is my fear to lose God?s presence again. Nobody hinders me to serve the Lord. No parents to check with my plans, just brothers and sisters to encourage me to go on loving the Lord. Now, if you were in my shoes, would you not choose to follow the Master?s footsteps and run after Him? What else gives meaning, anyway?
Jeremiah Palomar (FT2)
Church in Bulacan, Bulacan
O What Joy!
Joy has really changed!? My dad can?t stop talking about my ?noticeable? progress and about me over and over to our family. It was February 2001, and I had been in the training for over two months already, when my Dad traveled from Zamboanga City to the training center in Malabon to visit me. When he went back, he told them that it was very unlikely of me to speak and act the way I do now. The Joy he saw then was just so different from the Joy he knew before. That was, I?m sure, the Christ in me that he saw. He can?t help but be attracted to this wonderful Person, whose beauty is unrivaled and who is of peerless worth.
My dad, Alfred Lim, a pure Chinese, was born and raised up here in the Philippines. Like most Chinese, he grew up a Buddhist, embracing Chinese traditions. Ever passive in his religion, he left Buddhism as easily as he got in and attended a ?Christian church? where a lady whom he fell in love with had been attending. That lady turned out to be my mom, and the ?Christian church? is the local church. Just to impress and win her, dad continually pursued her and attended the church meetings until they got married, after which the church saw him no more. It would be twenty years after when he would again set foot on the meeting hall of the church in Zamboanga City and have fellowship with the saints, this time with a pure motive.
Four years ago, a pastor of a certain denomination started conducting a Bible study in our home. It ran for three years until my dad finally agreed to attend their Sunday worship. Meanwhile, my mom continued with her church life. But she had to leave the Lord?s table meeting early so that she could accompany my dad in that denomination. It was but a temporary compromise which the Lord soon put to an end.
Everything was under God?s sovereign arrangement. Since I was a kid, I was very passive in the church life. Though I grew up in the church meetings, I was just there physically but was never one with the saints spiritually. However, the Lord just started doing His work. I don?t know how things happened the way they did. They just happened. It was like a whirlwind romance with the Lord. All I know was that on that fateful day, December 3, 2000, I registered as a trainee in the 29th term of the Full-time Training in Malabon.
February of this year, dad came to visit me. I briefed him on the Full-time Training and introduced him to some of my batchmates. He was so impressed that when the gospel was preached to him, he readily and gladly received it. He promised to be baptized upon his return for the 29th term culminating meeting. Indeed, on that joyous day, the gate of heavens was opened for my dad.
It was the beginning of his eternal organic union with the Lord Jesus. His first Lord?s table meeting was with the church in Malabon. From then on, he has been continually keeping the fellowship with the saints in Zamboanga City. He never went back to the denomination again. Moreover, every night, he and mom read the Bible.
Things and events are unfolding , and still are, before me like I never expected them to be. I just thank the Lord for His faithfulness in fulfilling His promise of a household salvation. He not only truly gained me, but my family as well.
Joy Lim
Church in Zamboanga City
October 2002