From its launching on a rainy day last August 19, 2001, through the three different venues for the first three Sundays, the Pag-ibig Community Church has continued to proclaim the word of God to its congregation of about 80 (average, including workers) to this day. Most attendees come from the various Bible Study groups under the ministry. At this time, worship services are being held every Sunday from 1 to 3pm at the second floor of MetroBank Pasay Road (fronting Coronado Lanes Greenbelt). The Praise Community Church graciously let the ministry use their worship venue during its vacant time.
The church was established to provide an opportunity for our Bible study attendees to have a home for worshipping and serving the Lord. At present, most of the workers are from the ministry. But slowly, members of the congregation are being encouraged to share their gifts with the church.
Pastor Ellis Dean Carter, an American missionary pastor from Jubilee Christian Center in San Jose, CA, is pastor of the Pag-ibig Community Church. Together with his wife, Ellen, the couple have a 4 1/2 month old daughter, Alyssa Lynne.
RYMI celebrated 17 years of God�s love and faithfulness last February 16 from 2 to 5 p.m. at the WWCF Sanctuary. The celebrations started with praise and worship leading to the preaching of the Word of God. The Word for the day was KINDNESS. The kindness of God to man. The kindness of men to fellowman. That when we show kindness to others, God will show kindness to us. And how the ministry has shown kindness to the poor and underprivileged. This was followed by a program which included the ministry history.
On May 2001, the RYMI husband and wife team of Art and Mariz Ungson migrated to Davao City to fulfill God�s calling.
As they were exploring opportunities in Davao City, they were able to observe the problem of street children in Davao, particularly in Magsaysay Park. This led them to consider working with street children in Davao City. Last January, the ministry sent over some administrative and teaching materials to assist the couple in starting the work.
On the afternoon of February 2, the couple held their first Saturday teaching and feeding session at the Agdao seaside. About 40 kids attended and were blessed. They promised to invite their friends the following Saturday.
The couple also have been sharing their mission with their churchmates at Victory Christian Fellowship. To support the Davao work, a team from Manila fled to Davao the week of April 14 to conduct a 5-day VBS program and speak to churches and groups that may be willing to help.
From January 20 to February 10, congregations who participated in the �Pick-A-Name, Bless-A-Child� Christmas project were greeted and thanked by Reach Youth volunteer teachers. As they were leaving after their respective worship services, they were werved bite-size portions of puto, bico, cuchinta and biscuits amidst smiles and greetings of �Thank you� and �Salamat po�. The teachers prepared these delicacies as an expression of thanks for the congregations� support in making this year�s Christmas project a success.
The church held its very first child dedication service on March 17th. Fourteen kids, including our pastor�s baby girl, were dedicated to the Lord in a simple ceremony. A prophetic word was spoken to each of the kids by Pastor Ellis. The proud parents, ninongs and ninangs, relatives and friends were charged to raise up the children in the way of the Lord. Succeeding child dedications are scheduled during the worship service every 4th Synday of the month.
Congratulations! A total of 157 children completed one year of pre-school (nursery or kindergarted) this school year. The Las Pi�as Daycare Center held its graduation March 13th while the three Makati Daycare Centers held a joint ceremony last March 15th. The number of graduates are listed below:
Kinder |
�� Nursery | �� Total | ||
Mayapis��������������
|
28 | 28 | 56 | |
| Zonta |
15
|
38 | 53 | |
| Mascardo |
14
|
17 | 31 | |
| Las Pi�as� |
5
|
12 | 17 | |
| TOTAL���� |
62
|
95 | 157 | |
During simple graduation ceremonies, a number of graduates received achievement awards such as Most Outstanding Student, Best in English (reading and language), Writing, Pilipino, Sibika at Kultura, Science and Math. Some garnered special awards like Most Behaved, Most Helpful, Best Groomed (clean) and Most Punctual. The graduates also performed some specialNumbers. Barangay officials, sponsors, donors, friends and supporters of the ministry graced the affair and helped award certificates of attendance and achievement.
The kinder graduates (aged 5 to 6) are eligible for Grade 1 if they meet requirements of the grade school. The nursery class (aged 3 � to 4 � years) may attend the kinder class next school year. This is the daycare�s 12th batch of graduates since the program was launched in 1990.
During a workers meeting last February 10, Bro. Gus Lising, head pastor of Word Community Church (WCC), announced that WCC has partnered with Reach Youth Ministries is reaching urban poor and street children as a part of the church�s missions program. Being targeted is an area near the church office in Eisenhower St.. The mission is scheduled every Saturday, from 9 am to 12 noon. Reach Youth will provide training and technical support in starting the work, while WCC will invite volunteer workers from their congregation and will provide financial and logistical support for the mission.
To raise funds to support WCC missions, singer Gary Valenciano and WCC joined hands and organized a Valentine Concert �One 2 One� held last February 14 and 15 at the NBC Tent at The Fort. During the event, youth benefeciaries from RYMI, among others, helped sell soda and water to the concertgoers during intermission. This is to help make them aware of the missions the concert was supporting.
