Cherry and I have been with Every Nation Ministry since 1999 but on two different continents. I was in Bethel Brentwood in Tennessee, USA while she was in Victory Los Banos in Laguna, Philippines. A few years later, I moved to help with the church-planting team in Phoenix, Arizona. Cherry, on the other hand, worked as one of the administrative staff in Victory Lipa, Philippines. Our paths crossed at the School of World Missions in June 2005 in Manila, Philippines, where we both took the course and graduated in April 2006. We got married in the U.S. in August 2007 and later on had our wonderful boys, Destin and Kendrick.
For a decade, we have longed to be full-time cross-cultural missionaries. So while waiting for the opportune time, we opted to serve as volunteers to our international community in Nashville, Tennessee, by working with refugees. We owned a small and prosperous business but made the decision to lay it all down to fulfill our longing to serve Christ as missionaries.
We moved to Lviv, Ukraine in January 2018 and worked with an Every Nation church, Christ Fellowship. Our main goal was to make disciples among university students, young professionals, and young married couples. And because of our strategic location, we're able to minister not just to Ukrainians, but also to international university students. Lviv is a second home for students from 47 nations! Unfortunately, due to the escalation of the Russia-Ukraine war, we are no longer able to return to Ukraine as EN missionaries. It was an honor to serve in Ukraine even during wartime and we are thankful for the past 5 years.
Although it's difficult, we had to move on to what God is calling us to do next. After many consultations and prayers, we are led to serve in one of our provincial churches in the Philippines, Victory Lipa where Cherry was once a staff member. Amidst many transitions caused by changes in leadership and the aftermath of the Covid pandemic, we are looking forward to making new disciples and helping strengthen the church.
We feel privileged to be a part of building up the local church and reaching the lost for Jesus Christ in the nations. Our location assignment might change, but our mission is the same.
Thank you for taking part in the Great Commission through your prayer & generosity!
