Spotlight: EMC Calasiao

EMC Calasiao is another member of our EMC family in the Philippines. Located next to Dagupan in the town of Calasiao, it is led by Pastor Edison Ferrer who we affectionately call Pastor Eds.

When our missionaries were in the Philippines in 2010, EMC Calasiao was on the verge of forming. We did however get the opportunity to work with Pastor Eds during that transitional time. And although we haven't met our Calasiao congregation, we love them very much.

EMC Calasiao first began meeting in the home of one of the church mothers, Nanay Ida and soon began to grow. Today we have 22 adults and 8 young people who are attending the church and serving.

Pastor Eds helping clean our new building

Recently, EMC Calasiao was able to sign a lease so that way they would be to meet and worship in a building. This is especially helpful during rainy season when typhoons and floods are frequent. Members from both EMC Calasiao and EMC Dagupan have been working hard cleaning, renovating and putting up dividers and hopefully by September 1st, EMC Calasiao will be able to start using the building for meetings and services.

One of the programs EMC Calasiao is working on right now is the creation of a student center. The student center would be a place where students can study, fellowship with one another, hold bible studies and just relax and play games. Additionally, the student center would have after school tutoring programs and counseling services available to students in need. We hope that students would not just benefit academically from the student center but spiritually and morally as well. I have seen the wonderful long lasting effects of establishing a student center and I pray that God will use EMC Calasiao and the student center to help change lives.

Are they working or having fun or both?

EMC Calasiao is located in a town where many people have religion but few people have faith. Real faith isn't about going to church on Sundays and saying a few prayers. EMC Calasiao hopes for a religious breakthrough where people realize that the number of prayers or services one attends doesn't matter but having a personal relationship with Jesus Christ is the most important thing in one's life. Please pray with us as EMC Calasiao continues to minister to the people of Calasiao.

-Melissa M

(My apologies for the absence. School is starting to rev up for me. But fear not! I will update!)

Outside our new building

Our future sanctuary

Everyone working together to clean!

Children's ministry at EMC Dagupan: Sidewalk Sunday School & Feeding

"Every child you encounter is a divine appointment."

Children are magical. Really, they are. They have an innate ability to steal your heart when you're not looking. Their innocence takes you back to a time when the world was an open frontier full of endless possibilities and the smallest smile can melt your heart no matter how hardened or frozen your heart is.

Mimi teaching the children

Every week EMC Dagupan ministers to about 75-80 children ages 4-12, via feeding programs and Sidewalk Sunday school. Sidewalk Sunday school takes place (you guessed it) on sidewalks and side roads and provides children with knowledge of who God is. In our last mission, our missionaries had the opportunity to evangelize and teach children during sidewalk Sunday school.

Today one the biggest problems the children of Lasip chico face is malnutrition. As I've mentioned before, Lasip chico-pantalan is a poverty stricken barangay. The parents here cannot afford to consistently feed their children. If they are able to provide meals, often they are very small and insufficient to provide proper nutrition. For many of the children, breakfast (if available) is composed of just rice mixed with coffee to provide flavor. If the parents can provide some money, the children can then buy lunch school. But many times, that is not the case. It is difficult to tell how many times a child eats a day or worse yet, if he/she eats at all on a daily basis.

Alfred preparing the food

Each child gets ONE. JUST ONE

When Pastor Ferdinand and Tita Hannah first began their ministry in Lasip chico-pantalan, they saw how malnutrition ran rampant in the surrounding barangay and began a weekly feeding program. As of today, almost all the children who attend Sidewalk Sunday also receive food from our feeding program. EMC Dagupan does its best to provide nutritious meals to every child. The children are fed porridge, champorado (rice porridge with chocolate), lugao (plain rice porridge), and arozcaldo (chicken soup). However some months, there isn't enough funds to provide food and sometimes EMC Dagupan can only afford to provide the children with biscuits.

Most of us live in places where food is at our fingertips. Many of us have been blessed with the kind of life where we never have to wonder where and when will we get our next meal. These children do not have such a life. Many of them have never even seen the inside of a fast food place like Burger King or McDonalds. EMC International and EMC Dagupan struggles to provide nutrition to children trapped in an endless cycle of poverty and malnutrition. I am confident that God is with us and will continue to be with us as we reach out to the children. God will not only do miraculous things, but we will use us to change lives and help break this cycle of poverty and malnutrition. Will you answer God's call and help us break this cycle?

-Melissa M

Children's Ministry @ EMC Dagupan: Videos

Here are some videos of EMC International & EMC Dagupan working together during Sidewalk Sunday School & Children's feeding. Some of us taught in the sanctuary, sidewalks and on the steps of houses in construction. Since then EMC Dagupan's Children's ministry has increased! Praise God! Enjoy!

Update/Email

If you would like to reach us, please feel free to email us at emcphilnyblog@gmail.com

Thank you,
Melissa M

WANNA SEE MORE?

OF COURSE YOU DO!

This past July was our one year anniversary with our EMC Philippines ministry. Below is a video made by EMC International greeting our churches as well as a quick video recapping our mission in 2010 and showing pictures from EMC Philippines' celebration. Enjoy and don't forget to pray!

-Melissa M
(Yes that's me in this frame)

Spotlight: EMC Dagupan

EMC Dagupan is our home base in the Philippines. Located in the barangay Lasip Chico-Patalan, Dagupan City, EMC Dagupan is led by Pastor Ferdinand Balmores and his wife Hannah Balmores. But enough geographical information, let's get down to the nitty gritty.

EMC Dagpuan was the church we first worked with when our short term missionaries arrived in the Philippines and it also holds a special place in our hearts.  With the cooperation and help of the youth and its leaders, we were able to reach out to universities, adults, youth, children and the surrounding towns all for the glory of God. 


But EMC Dagupan is more than just another church to us. EMC Dagupan is our family. EMC Dagupan members are our friends, our brothers, ours sisters, our aunt and uncles, our mothers and fathers. A few nights before we left, we had a goodbye party and not a single eye was dry. Some of us could barely speak as we choked out our goodbyes. Even though we are miles apart, the missionaries understand that we are one family, with one goal under the same loving God.


 



Pictured left: Our first night with EMC Dagupan Youth                                                                                                                                               

Today EMC Dagupan has about 30 adults with 25 young people. We are in the process of finishing an outdoor bathroom and the outer walls to give our worshipers a little privacy. We are also in the process of finishing work on the roof as it was destroyed in the mega typhoon last year.


But aside from the physical and mechanical aspects of church life, EMC Dagupan faces the challenges of reaching out to a neighborhood in serious need. Lasip Chico-Pantalan is a poverty stricken barangay where drinking is rampant but food is in constant shortage. Pastor Ferdinand and Tita (Auntie) Hannah have implemented the D3 program to disciple others in faith. Their desire is to be able to reach out to the entire community and to also develop leaders who will further the cause of the gospel.

This past July we were blessed to celebrate our  1 year anniversary of being together with EMC Dagupan and all of our other Philippine EMC churches. God has truly done amazing work in the Philippines and we are confident that God will continue to do amazing things not only in Dagupan City, but throughout the entire Philippines.


As EMC International we are committed to helping and supporting them in every way possible. As the Philippines mission coordinator, I pray that God would move through Dagupan city and use EMC Dagupan and EMC International as a tool to reach the broken hearts, the addicted and the unloved. I pray that as you're reading this right now. Your heart will be moved to pray for us and help us in any way you can. And although the task ahead seems daunting, we know that we "can do all things through Christ".


-Melissa M
EMC International: Philippines coordinator.


If your heart has been moved, in the coming weeks there will be a way for you to donate to this site. All proceeds go to our EMC Philippine churches. But above all, continue to pray for us. Below are more pictures. CHECK IT OUT!!! (or I'll be really sad)

Roof Undersconstruction

Bathroom underconstruction

One Year anniversary celebration!

Bathroom almost fixed! (We all love a good toilet)

Sa Pasimula-In the beginning

Hello Dear Readers,

Anyone like history? Yes? Good. No? Humor me. Read on....

Once upon a time, I was a burnt out college graduate completely unready for medical school. As God had it, I went to the Philippines with my childhood bestfriend to relax, connect with hld friends and spend time with family. And as corny and cliche as it sounds, little did I know that my life would be changed.

I was invited to different churches, work with different people and even to teach a little. An opportunity came for me to work with children in a town called Bayambang and honestly, my life went in a new direction from there. The children literally stole my heart while I wasn't looking. In one day I must have met and played with over 30 children and yet I was unable to communicate with them because I knew very little Tagalog (Philippines language). I was astonished to see how they loved regardless of language barriers. My heart melted as they smiled and affectionately called me Ate (older sister).

But looking at the children and looking at the surrounding town, one could tell all was not well. Most of the children were underweight. Picking up an 8 year old Filipino child felt like I was picking up a 5 year old American child. The mouths and tongues of many of the children were crusted with white, a telltale sign of thrush. And then slowly the stories came out. Some children suffered physical abuse at the hands of alcoholic fathers. Others suffered sexual abuse at the hands of family members. Children scrounge for the tops of soda cans to sell for less than a penny. Other children's parents left them to work in other provinces; some of the parents came back for them and some of them didn't. But when I was with the children, never once did they cry in front of me. They only wanted to laugh and play. I marveled, 'How could they smile under such circumstances?' And honestly, I still don't know the answer.

I left the Philippines. But I left my heart there. I was determined that I wouldn't forget what I had witnessed. I didn't want to go back to how things were before. And truthfully, anyone who saw what we saw could never go look at the life the same way. I came back to the States wondering how could I help make the children's lives better and God answered me.

That fall I walked into Ebenezer Mission Church. A few months later, under the guidance of my Dad, I brought up the idea of adopting a church in the Philippines. I knew my family and I could not undertake such a burden alone. Who better to help than a church dedicated to missions? A few months later after many twists and turns and lots of prayers, Ebenezer Mission Church decided on adopting a church in Dagupan City-my family's hometown. And two years after I walked through EMC International's doors, short term missionaries flew to the Philippines and we began working with our first EMC Philippine church: EMC Dagupan.

Today our ministry in the Philippines has grown to five churches; EMC Dagupan, EMC Calasiao, EMC Tumbor, EMC Namolan and EMC Mangaldan with mission points in the towns of Anulid and Umbatel. We not only have children's ministry, but we have youth and adult ministries. This ministry grew far beyond my wildest imaginations. I am grateful and honored that God allowed someone like me to have a small part in this ministry. And I am honored to work with people like Pastor Jae and the members of EMC International who have nothing but love for the Filipino people.

Ebenezer means "Thus far the Lord has helped us". Our church, Ebenezer Mission Church firmly believes and understands that it is only by God's providence that we are where we are now and it is only through Him that we will move forward to better and greater things.

"Thus far the Lord has helped us" (1Sam 7:12)



In the coming days I hope to give you a glimpse into our EMC Philippines ministry and perhaps you might be moved to help out in anyway you can.

All the glory to God for "thus far, the Lord has helped us"

-Melissa M
EMC International: Philippines coordinator.

Why Missions?

What it is missions? What does it mean to be a missionary? Why should we be involved in missions? Better yet....why bother at all?

The answer is simple, because Christ called us to. To be a missionary is to have the understanding and the knowledge that God has called you to a place to serve Him, preach His gospel and last but not least, love the people. Christ didn't ask us to stay comfortable in our little microcosms. Christ said it himself, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. ¹⁹ Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.” (Matt 28:16-20) Christ asked us to to go forth in His name, and through Him the the lost will be found, the prisoner will be set free and the unsaved will be saved. 


To be a missionary is to be called by God and to obediently respond to His call. A missionary sacrifices, loves, teaches and shares the gospel and he/she is confident that the very same God who called him/her to whatever country, whatever place is will be with him/her to the end of time. 


When it comes to missions, John Piper said it best, "There are three times of Christians: The Senders, The Goers and The Disobedient." Are you willing to answer God's call?

"The harvest is plenty but the workers are few"
(Matt 9:37)


Stay tuned....I'll be writing more about who we are and what we do!


-Melissa 
EMC International: Philippines coordinator