Maao Central Evangelical Church was located in an industrial community, with Maao Sugar Central Company, Inc., one of the big sugar centrals in Negros that time. It was surrounded with thousands hectares of sugarcane plantations that covers most Bago villages and some nearby towns.
The central rail road crisscrosses the villages, with nearly a hundred bagoons, working 9 months during the year on harvest season. People were always busy. The Sugar Central operates 24-hours a day. The village has several small housing subdivisions, where sugar central families reside with their families.
Nearby, in La Carlota, about 10 kms away, is La Carlota Sugar Central, a bigger sugar central company with wider sugarcane plantations covering four towns around.
I requested Mr. Childe Alvarez to help make a vicinity map of the housing areas.
I requested him to marked the home of members with blue. The home of potential members, with red. The families that were not associated with MCEC marked with green. I pasted the vicinity map on the wall, near the area where I sat for study and knelt for prayer. There were 6 small housing villages in Maao Central, where the where people resides. At the center is the community market.
Looking at the vicinity map, I can see clearly the members of the households and the community they were living. Then, I can reached them in prayer.
To make the work more easier, I requested Mr. Alvarez, to give me a list of all the members of the church, with their names and the ages of their children. It will be easy for me to learn all the church members and names of their children. I would like to call, if possible, all the youth and children by their first names. I can pray for the whole family.
I scheduled my home visitations. I visited the homes of members alone. I discovered that only women were mostly at home. The men were in there works. Or they were sleeping. They rests and slept during the day. While the others, works during the day. At most, only 50% of the men in our church can attend worship on Sundays. For the other 50% were working in the sugar central. I kept thinking of the situations. And brought it go God in prayer.
Mondays were my oft day. I usually go to Bacolod City and hang at the Record Bar and met friends. Tuesdays were my visitations. Wednesday was Prayer Meetings. Thursdays mornings were visiting days. Wednesdays are Prayer Meeting. The afternoons and evenings were for my studies, meditations and reflections.
I have learned the importance of visitations. It’s during the sharing with them, that I learned the problems and their joys. Knowing their problems, I would be able to bring it to God.
I saw the need for a wider visitation ministry. I shared this need with the deacons. The Board of Deacons saw the need. We organized the deacons for home visitations. Two deacons visiting each home a week. After three months, we have developed the deacons into a dynamic group for visitation ministry.
Pastor Dolores Escoton was the minister of Maao Central Evangelical Church before I came. She resigned about 4 months ago. She’s a talented, committed, industrious and dynamic lady minister. But she has some other plans and priorities. I assumed my pastoral work at Maao Central Evangelical with guidance, insights and advises from Pastor Dolores Escoton. For that, I will always grateful to her and Jun Escoton, her husband.
I also learned one effective help in our church. Mrs. Samson, the Kinder teacher of MCEC. Mrs. Samson, has taught Kinder for years, until she retired. She was a graduate of the Bible School. She dedicated herself to teaching and many of her graduate, get higher grades in the first grades in school. The community has a high regards for our kinder school graduates.
One day, I called the Church Officers and the Board of Deacons for a meeting. I discussed with them the situation. Every Sunday, only 50% of the members can attend worship. Because 50% were working. Our worship time of 9:00 AM was working time. If we changed our time of worship, we can get more than 50% attending the church on Sundays. Then, we will be able to help their growth. After long discussions, the officers saw the wisdom of the plan. We decided to change the time of the our worship service.
Our New worship service will start at 5:30 AM. The shifting time was 6:00 AM. Those who return from work at 6:00 AM can attended at least part of the worship service, perhaps before the message. And those, works during the day, can have time for worship. We program our worship service at 45 minutes. It was a hard decision, which calls for change in the life of sleeping and working habits of our members. But we made a decision. And we made announcements on our worship service. It was 5:30 AM. After the worship service, follow our Sunday School. At Sunday School, we use more time for study and discussions to help in the growth of the members. At 7:30 we finished our Sunday services.
To help us in our new schedule of worship, we bought a powerful amplifier with 3 strong trumpets to bring soft gospel songs to the members and the community.
Our Sound System was powerful. We can reached the community 3 kilometers around. Every 4:30 AM, we have soft recorded gospel music played for the church and the community. It prepared the members for the morning service, waking them softly an hour, with our soft music spewed by the sound system.
Then, we started a Radio ministry. We called it “Hour of Discovery” aired first over DYVS, at 5:00 AM every Wednesday. We were with DYVS for some 6 months. We made a good breakthrough.
How did we start our Radio ministry? Under our circumstance, it was nearly impossible to start a radio ministry. But faith taught us how. Nothing, we’re told, is impossible with God.
At MCEC, I started thinking of a radio ministry, Maao Central Evangelical Church as base. I negotiated with DYVS. They accepted our request. We will pay P50.00, per broadcast. This means, P 200 –P250 monthly. They gave us 5:00 -5:30 AM time slot every Wednesday. That was a good privilege given us by DYVS. But tiresome. I woke- up at 3:30 AM every Wednesday. Take a bath. Then wait for a jeepney for Bacolod City. I must be at the station, at least quarter to 5:00 AM.
After, I got the contract with DYVS, I showed it to Mr. Alvarez. I told him, I decided to start a radio program. I asked him for his support. I will announce our decision to the church that Sunday. We made a flyer announcing “Hour of Discovery” broadcast w/ Maao Central Evengelical at 5:00 -5:30 AM every Wednesday. We announced the start of our radio ministry to the church during worship service. We prayed for its start and success. We gave copies of the Flyers to our church members to give to the community. We made our maiden broadcast that Wednesday morning, praying for God’s guidance and help.
That morning many homes, opened their radio to DYVS with Hour of Discovery. At Central Maao, it was a great moment, with church and community members listening to our broadcast time.
The following Sunday, some members of Baptist Men decided to sponsored a one day broadcast. And almost all Baptist Men sponsored our broadcast time. Five months later, we transferred to DYHB, one of the strongest radio station in Bacolod, with its power reaching whole of Negros, Panay, Masbate and part of Romblon.
A new ministry was born with Maao Central Evangelical Church. Every Wednesday morning, at 5:00 AM almost all Baptist households in Maao Central and Baptist churches in Bago City were tuned- in to DYVS’s “Hour of Discovery”.
Then we transfered to DYHB, the strongest radio station in Bacolod. We reached out most Negros Kasapulanan Baptist Churches every Sunday at 2:00 PM. Later, Baptist churches in Panay also listened to “Hour of Discovery”, based at Maao Central Evangelical Church.
This journey we made together with Maao Central Evangelical Church was started. You knew who helped us make this possible?
Mr. Doronila & his daughter Daday. Leonila (Deding) Mongcay and her parents. Simon and Endring Alvarez. Atty. Wally & Linda Hidalgo. Lolita Bulaclac and her sisters Lota & Linda. Mr. & Mrs. Vic Llanado. Cecilio Villasenor & his brother. Mr. & Mrs. Tito Figueroa, Mr. Ephraem and Mrs. Villasenor, Mr. & Mrs. Childe &. Leonor Alvarez, Mr. & Mrs. Marcelino Libre, Miss Modesta Belmonte, Mr. & Mrs. Linaja, Mr. & Mrs. Bien & Amparo De Asis, Mr. & Mrs. Dimapindan, Mrs. Tingson, Miss Erlinda Almaiz, Mr. & Mrs. Dalmacio Samson, Miss Daraug, Mr. Montor and Dapia Advincula, Mr. Teodorico and Ella Villaflor.
Mr. and Mrs. Laurico, Mr. & Mrs. Julio & Angelica Gonzaga, Mr. and Mrs. Hermosura, Mr. & Mrs. Abelarde, Mrs. Inocencio & son, Tongue. There were some others, who supported our ministry. But we have forgotten their names. I have records of our ministry with Hesther, but these were destroyed by Bagyo Frank some years ago, when our house submerged in a 10 feet flood in Buntatala, Leganes, Iloilo.
I have learned as Jesus taught, the greatest gift and resources we have are our members and our people. We must worked hard so that no one will go out of our fellowship. For they are God’s gift to us.
Part of the series The Ministry Years (chapter 29 of 48)
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