Larry Almeda

In our family, our father was considered the ultimate authority. What he says goes and one cannot answer back or reason out. If you want to make an appeal, you go to the 2nd in command, the mother, and hope for the best. It was not a problem when we were young, but when I started to attend high school, I felt choked because of my father’s authority. I noticed that my friends’ families were different; they were more liberal and they were having fun.

Whenever I was at home I would feel like I’m missing out on the joy of life that my friends were experiencing, so I would always use props like notebooks, group projects, assignments and sports to be able to go out with my friends. Eventually, I became a father myself and followed the ways of my father, being overly controlling at home as I thought, that was how I could command respect and obedience. I also thought my responsibility was to provide for them and send them to a good school and everything will be okay. I did not realize that they were going through the same experience I had which made them become fearful of me.

Through a series of events, I came to attend CCF Bible Studies and there I accepted Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior. I realized how sinful was and thanked God for dying on the cross for all of my sins. As I was growing in the Lord, I felt strongly that my family should also learn what I have learned about Jesus. Because of my strong desire for them to learn I taught them, but my teaching style was also strong.

I would force them to attend Sunday School, Worship and Bible Studies. But they were really never attentive and nothing was happening in their lives. Eventually, I brought it up with my Dgroup for prayers and they gave me biblical insights and prayed for my situation. Everyday, I would go down on my knees and pray for all of my kids. But I realized that God really wanted to change me first.

Upon my Pastor’s advice, I gathered my kids around and asked them how I can be a better father. I said I will not speak and I will not defend myself and I just want to listen to learn. There were a few minutes of silence but they began to speak slowly, almost whispering, about how they feel. They said I was always suspecting that they were doing something wrong and I never trusted them. I would be angry unreasonably at times, and I do not always do what I say.

It was a difficult situation because in my mind I thought they were wrong, I was tempted to defend myself but I just kept quiet and listened. I said sorry and asked for forgiveness for those things they’ve mentioned about me and promised to be a better father. After that time, we all learned to say sorry to each other and ask for forgiveness. And things began to get better.

Poms Chang

Hi good morning. My name is Poms and I am the 3rd of 6 siblings in the Almeda family. I grew up in a traditional Filipino family setup wherein my dad was always out making a living while my mom stayed at home to attend to our needs. My earliest memories of my father would involve him normally going home smelling like alcohol, and if he ever was at home, he was asleep most of the time. Over the years, as I was growing up, I developed a fear towards my dad. He used to shout at us out of anger and there were times when I would lie just so he won’t get mad at me. I have also witnessed numerous fights he had with my mom.

When I was 13, we learned about my dad’s newfound faith. But during that time, it became more like a burden to us. One day, my mom found out that my dad brought me and one of my older brothers to a three-day summer camp without even telling her. This led to a big fight which ended with their separation.

My mom asked him to leave the house, so he did, but he brought all of us with him. I thought it was going to be a temporary arrangement, but when I saw a truck bringing all our furniture to the place we were then staying, I was hurt and became mad at my dad. I felt that he was forcing his belief on us and that if my mom didn’t abide by what he wants, she will be left on her own. It’s like whatever we feel didn’t matter at all to him.

He didn’t allow us to visit our mom for two months, but he eventually allowed us to have a weekly schedule. We spent the weekends with my mom while we stayed with my dad during weekdays. He would try to teach us about the Bible but the way he did it sounded like he was scolding us, so we never really got excited about Bible Studies.

When I was 16, I left my dad’s house to move in with my mom without his permission. When he found out, he threatened me saying my life will be ruined if I lived with my mom. I became nervous and uncomfortable whenever he was around. I felt like he was always there to guard my every move and I became rebellious and selfish because I thought I deserved to be happy. I came to realize that if you have anger and bitterness in your heart towards a person, everything he says and do will always be negative even though he means it for good. I was just so blinded due to the bitterness I had in my heart that I did not recognize his efforts to help me. But in spite of how disrespectful and disobedient I was with my dad, he didn’t give up on me. He was always there whenever I needed him.

Whenever I had my asthma attacks, he would bring me to the emergency room since I cannot sleep because I had a hard time breathing. One time, on our way home from the hospital, he saw that I fell asleep in the car, so he drove me all over Makati in the middle of the night to make sure I could get enough sleep.

I remember waking with the sun up with the engine still running but already parked in our garage. But the greatest thing I am thankful to the Lord for is how my dad brought me to Christ so I could understand how I needed Him in my life and how he died for all my sins. My dad showed me through his life how he loves the Lord and I also longed to have the same love relationship with God as well. There was a time when, because of my rebellious ways, my life became a mess and I had a very serious problem.

To my surprise my dad came and the first thing he did was to embrace me. I will never forget what he told me. With tears in his eyes he said, “Anak, there is nothing you can do to make me not love you. I will always be there for you. Don’t worry; everything will be alright because God is good.”

Slowly all these memories came flashing back with a different impact in my life. I started sharing them to my friends, and from there, I became curious of what had happened in my dad’s life. I used to attend Sunday worship to please my dad, but as time passed, I would feel so at peace and even had a longing to learn more. There were times when some of my friends would share with me their problems and I would find myself giving advice with my dad as an example.

Another amazing thing that happened is, before whenever I would talk to my mom about my dad, I would feel the grudge she had with him, but now, she would tell me stories like when she called my dad to say thank you for bringing us up right and that she would call him for advice as well. She even mentioned recently that she is considering going back to my dad. By God’s grace, it is never too late to fix a relationship.

Even now that I have a family of my own, my dad never ceases to make me feel loved. I find myself calling him for advice when I have a problem. He would text me that he is praying for me. I am now so much closer and open to my dad and we enjoy each other’s company. I want to share the same love my dad gave me to my kids. I know that the changes in his life was only through God’s grace and I also know that my relationship with my dad is still a work in progress but I thank the Lord for what he had already done.

When one rules over men in righteousness, when he rules in the fear of God, he is like the light of morning at sunrise on a cloudless morning like the brightness after rain that brings grass from the earth. Is not my house right with God? Has he not made with me an everlasting covenant? Arrange and secured in every part? Will he not bring to fruition my salvation? And grant me my every desire?

2 Samuel 23:3-5

I praise God that in spite of my life, God gave me His grace to experience His faithfulness. He turned my life around to become a better father to my children after I surrendered to be changed and molded by Him. To Christ be all the glory, honor and praise.

Marty

I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior when I was 13, and it was then that I started serving in the youth ministry and choir of the church where I grew up. But as I enjoyed ministry, I forgot my family. Preparing for band practices and ministry events ate up so much of my time that I spent less and less time with my family. Aside from not spending quality time with them, I had a girlfriend without my parents’ blessing. In His sovereignty, God intervened. He taught me that it’s really important to Him that I honor my parents and spend quality time with them.

As a result of my disobedience, God humbled me by removing me from ministry for almost 2 years. I felt useless to God. However, He assured me that He still had a plan for me. I just needed to let go of everything I held on to, and have Him rearrange my priorities. By God’s grace, I let go of the things God wanted me to: my ex-girlfriend and the ministry.

God compelled me to move to CCF so that I could spend more time with my family. By then, they were already going to CCF regularly. Since I was new in CCF, I had to go to all the basic Bible classes once again. It was such a humbling experience, but God was faithful. This humbling restoration process went on for almost two years. By His grace, I experienced improvement in my relationship with my family and learned to enjoy quality time with them. I also learned to prioritize my walk with God more than my service to Him; my family more than church activities.

Atid

My parents came to know Christ through CCF in 1986, and so I practically grew up in this church family. I made a personal decision to make Jesus my Lord and Savior when I was 13 years old. Early on, my parents taught me to honor and obey them. So this is what we tried our best to practice every day. It was easy at first but it became more and more challenging as my siblings and I grew up.

After college, I had the desire to serve the Lord full-time in ministry. However, my dad said “no,” because he wanted me to experience what the secular world was like. This broke my heart but God told me to trust Him, so I obeyed my father’s advice to work in an international bank. Honestly, it was a great work experience, but after 5 months, God clearly revealed to me that I can start serving Him as a CCF campus missionary in JZONE, CCF’s youth ministry.

This time, my parents gave me their blessing. It’s been more than 6 years now, and I can honestly say that I have never regretted my decision to answer God’s call. I have also not regretted obeying my dad’s advice to work in the secular world because I was able to share Christ to my bosses and officemates. It has also taught me valuable things that I have carried on to my ministry work. Truly God gives wisdom to our parents, especially as we make major life decisions.

Being a campus missionary has been exciting, but it was not without trials and struggles. My barkada in CCF started getting married one by one, until I was the only one left. I started to panic, because I felt like my life just revolved around JZONE and my family. I didn’t really make time for socializing since I was too tired to go out after work. I wasn’t even able to go to the CCF Singles’ Retreats because there would also be JZONE retreats on the same dates. I wasn’t complaining, really. I was actually very happy with my life. But I also longed for a romantic story to tell.

It was then that God reminded me of 2 stories from the Bible — Rebecca’s and Ruth’s love stories. I found a few things in common with them: they were both faithful to God, they were both hardworking, obedient to their parents, and God granted them the desires of their hearts at just the right time. They didn’t worry or fret or take things into their own hands. They were just faithful where they were, and they let God work in their lives.

So I chose to give up worrying. Instead, I did my best to be faithful where God put me. And just when I would worry again, God would lovingly reassure me with these words: “Just be faithful where you are, Atid. Don’t worry about him. I will bring him to you.” And one day, God did — literally!

I first saw Marty while I was training JZONE leaders for a summer retreat. I thought to myself, Oooh, Marty the song leader. What is he doing here? I soon found out that he was going to be more involved in JZONE. It didn’t really occur to me to start considering him. I just felt like he was one of the “celebrities” in CCF who was just too hard to reach.

But God had other plans. He provided opportunities for Marty and me to get to know one another, in what I fondly call, “A love story made in CCF.”

Marty

After God disciplined me, He picked me up and started using me in CCF as a worship leader and discipleship group leader in JZONE. God also graciously expanded my borders by allowing me to be part of the JZONE full-time team as one of their youth directors. Surprisingly, even though the ministry opportunity that God gave me expanded, I now have much better bonding with my family.

Then an AMAZING GIFT came after a year of serving God in CCF. He allowed me to meet Astrid, an extremely beautiful young woman whom I fell in love with. God faithfully provided opportunities for us to get to know one another. Astrid and I were classmates in GLC, CCF’s training program, so I made it a point to sit beside her every week to get to know her. And since we both work full-time in JZONE, we also got to know one another in a ministry setting.

After 4 months of getting to know her, I asked permission from her father if I can court her. He gave me his blessing and advised us to get to know one another more. He also told me about his golden rule for those who will court his daughters: IF after the courtship process he gives his blessing for marriage, we should get engaged right away and get married after 6 months. I courted Astrid for 2 and half years.

This time, I involved my parents in the courtship process and by God’s grace they gave me their blessing. We waited on the Lord. We waited when our parents told us to wait. Finally, on December 13, 2010, with our parents’ blessings, Astrid and I got engaged. And by God’s grace, we got married last Friday, June 17, 2011.

Ephesians 6:2 says, “Honor your father and mother – which is the first commandment with a promise.” We are humbled to say that God has made this very true in our lives. I am learning that the more we honor and obey our parents, the more God will bless us. The more we spend quality time with them, the more we will learn to love them. We are so grateful to God for the tremendous blessings we received from Him — before, during, and even after our wedding.

One big lesson came from my wilderness experience: God wanted me to practice loving, honoring, and spending time with my family while I was still single — to prepare me for my future family. Please pray for me and Astrid that we will have a Christ-Centered Family and impact more families for Jesus. My name is Marty Ocaya and this is my lovely wife, Astrid Ocaya. To God be all the glory!

Since I was a young girl, I believed that time is the best way to show love. However in my family, I did not feel that. My parents gave me everything I needed materially, but what I needed from them was their time and attention.

At the age of 9 my world suddenly turned around the way I never expected. My mom’s business had financial problems and I learned that my dad had another family aside from us and they hid this all from me. Being the youngest in the family and daddy’s little girl it was hard for me to accept all of it. I became bitter towards my dad and my mom and blamed them for everything that has been happening in our family. As a result, I rebelled and became very disobedient.

To fill the love and attention I was looking for, I tried to find it from other people and through other means. I became a bully at our school, picking on the younger ones just to please others. I tried to fill in the emptiness and forget about the bitterness that I felt towards my parents. When I stepped into high school I was the typical high school girl who dreamed to be popular, a varsity member and a person others would be afraid to mess with.

I was part of the popular barkada who bullied the lower batches whenever they didn’t step aside when we’re passing by. However, I was still incomplete. I still didn’t feel the love I was looking for. My barkada only loved the person they wanted me to be, not who I really am.

In 2007, I attended my first JZONE camp entitled 24/7. Here, I came to realize the perfect love Jesus showed to us. I then accepted Christ and got baptized. However, my main reason for getting baptized was because I wanted to fit in and be accepted. After the retreat, I still didn’t take my relationship with Jesus seriously. I thought to myself, if my earthly parents can’t love me, how much more our Heavenly Father?

Since I was still searching for love and acceptance, I tried to fill the emptiness by being involved in a romantic relationship with a guy who doesn’t love the Lord. At first I felt loved and accepted. I kept it from my parents knowing that they would disapprove of it. I stumbled and lost track in my relationship with God and focused on the romantic relationship that I was in.

After almost a year, I attended another Jzone retreat entitled EUREKA. Here, God opened my heart again and I renewed my commitment to Him. This time, I did it because I learned that His love is all that I need. Part of my commitment was to let go of my relationship with the guy. It was not easy because he gave me the love I never felt from my family.

Another part of my commitment, which I believe was the most difficult, was to forgive my parents and also to ask forgiveness from them. It was hard for me because I was proud and I believed that my rebellion is their fault, anyway. But God reminded me in Ephesians 6: 1-2, “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right. “Honor your father and mother,” which is the first commandment with promise. Also, God reminded me that if I disobey or disrespect my parents it is the same as disobeying and disrespecting Him.

I asked God to help me humble myself and asked for forgiveness. And I did. Because of that my dad who didn’t go to CCF is now regularly attending CCF and he is active in his ministry. God worked miraculously in my dad’s life that eventually it affected our entire family. Now my family and I regularly attend CCF worship together. Before we would only bond as a family during birthdays now we have our family bonding every day.

God’s Word is true that obeying and honoring our parents come with a promise. I am now open with my parents and share things about school and my personal life. My dad and I still have misunderstandings but I am learning to just apologize and submit to whatever my dad tells me to do. With my mom, I no longer blame her for the things that has happened in our family.

I realized that it was part of God’s plan to shake our family and use it to bring us closer to Him. My parents will never be perfect but I no longer dwell on their imperfections. I also no longer listen to the devil’s lies that my parents do not love me. I now know that they discipline me and protect me because they love me. It is true that when you love God everything else will follow and will fall in the right place.

My name is Alitha Penales, an imperfect daughter rescued by a compassionate and gracious Heavenly Father. To the one and only lover of my soul be the honor and glory forever.

Em

Good day, everyone! My name is Herminia “Em” Siasoyco. When I was only one year old, my father passed away due to enlargement of the heart. Faced with a bleak future, my mother decided to go abroad in order to support my four brothers, my sister and me. Unfortunately, we ended up being distributed to various relatives to be taken care of.

Since then, I felt so alone, betrayed and empty. I worked hard to finish my studies, hoping to bring back my mom and be together again with my siblings. However, as the years passed, my hopes faded away; and after graduating from college, I decided to just pursue my career.

Albert

My name is Albert Siasoyco. My father was able to provide for our family with everything that we needed and wanted. I would religiously go to church and prayed as much as I could. This gave me a notion that I was holier than the people around me. After graduating from college, I worked for my father in our family business. And a year later my girlfriend – now my wife standing beside me – and I decided to get married.

Em

Growing up alone led me to develop an attitude that I could do everything on my own strength. But years of loneliness took their toll on me. I often felt my life had no direction or purpose. I would worry a lot and always think of ways to earn money. I began to idolize money, thinking that money can make me happy and complete.

I did not realize, however, that my materialism affected my husband’s ego. He started to feel that he was of no use to the family. He became bitter, lost his confidence and soon decided to depend on me and his parents. He started to delegate to me all his responsibilities in the family.

Albert

Working for our family business required me to go around the country. Back home, our marriage was not doing well at all. My wife had a very strong personality, so I would usually give in to what she says or wants, just to avoid quarrels. This cycle took its toll on my self-esteem, to the point that I could never make decisions without my wife’s approval. And every time I would give in to her, my bitterness would grow within me.

That is why, whenever I was back in Manila from a business trip, I would rather go out with my friends to drink, smoke and womanize. Eventually, the quality of my work began to suffer, my sense of responsibility disappeared, and I depended more and more on my parents for the needs of my family.

Em

This was about the time I wanted to give up on our marriage and leave the family. Until one night, my sister in law invited me to attend a bible study with her small group. I was hesitant because I did not like going to these prayer meetings. But as my relationship with Albert got worse, I eventually decided to go with my sister in law.

After few weeks of attending bible studies, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. Every week, I would consistently attend that small group, until the day that my husband saw the changes God was making in me. When Albert started to ask where I was going, I invited him to come with me to the small group bible study.

Albert

I attended the small group to see what was it that helped changed my wife. I thought maybe I could also benefit from that group. God used this small group to help us through our marriage problems, and last June of 2003 I also accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Saviour. By God’s love and mercy, He settled all our differences with each other and made slow but meaningful changes in both our lives.

In October of 2006, I resigned in my father’s company to pursue business opportunities on my own. After a few adventures in this area, the Lord has led Em and me to be wellness coaches, helping people become healthier by improving their lifestyle. Truly, as God says in Jeremiah 29:11, His plans are not to harm us but to prosper us, to give us hope and a future!

Em

My husband is now the provider of our family. I am a housewife, and am now planning to home school our children starting this school year. Truly, with God nothing is impossible!

Albert

Please pray for us, that we may follow what God has planned for us, and be able to share the love we have received from Him. To God be all the glory!

My name is Leovin. I am sharing my testimony today to let you all know how deep and wide and great God’s love is for a sinner such as me.

I was very young and naïve when I married my husband. Then I found out he was a drug addict, and deep disappointment set in. I had given up everything for him, my youth, my education, my friends, and especially my dreams.

Eventually, my husband went into rehab for almost a year. At that time I was seven months pregnant with our first son. I gave birth with nobody around me except my father-in-law. I started working at night while a neighbor babysat my son. But God is good; my father-in-law found out about my situation, and he provided for the needs of my son.

When my husband was released, we started a business with the help of my mother-in-law. Things began to improve, but a year passed and my husband went back to his addiction. I was so fearful that he might be brought back to the rehabilitation center that I kept everything to myself.

My husband kept taking drugs and to cope I fell into an illicit relationship with another man. My husband and his family found out about it, and threw me out on the street, with no money to even make a phone call to my family to pick me up. That was how I got painfully separated from my husband and two sons.

The guy whom I had an affair with suddenly disappeared from my life. I felt so helpless, so I decided to go and work abroad. I worked in Japan as an entertainer. I was confused and afraid and I had no money and food to eat. Fortunately, a Filipina helped me with everything, and after 3 months, I got used to the kind of work I did. Until I got involved with a married man and got pregnant.

After I gave birth, the Japanese father of my son divorced his wife and married me even if I was still married to my first husband in the Philippines. We were happy at first until I discovered my Japanese husband was deep in debt and had a problem with alcohol and mental depression. I left him, and brought our 2 year old baby with me only to find that I was 4 weeks pregnant, with twins. I tried to get an abortion, but he objected and took me back again.

Because of the stress, fatigue and post-natal syndrome I was hospitalized for two weeks. My Japanese husband allowed me to have a short vacation in the Philippines. Back home, I contacted my first husband just to see him and our two sons. Upon seeing them all the guilt and pain of the past crushed me.

When I returned to Japan, my relationship with my Japanese husband was never the same again. We started fighting almost about everything. In time, I finally convinced him to allow me to have a longer vacation in the Philippines together with our children not telling him of my real intentions of staying for good in the Philippines so I could be nearer to my first two sons.

Years passed, and I found out my Japanese husband was involved with another Filipina; because of this, his financial support dwindled. I realized I needed to work again to sustain my 3 babies. I went back to Japan to work and left my three babies in the Philippines.

At that time my first husband had become a believer in Christ. Can you imagine he was the one who took in my three babies while I went back to work in Japan. He persistently shared his new found faith with me, but I was furiously resisting, thinking it was a ploy to win me back.

I worked day and night to support my 3 children, and I was eventually able to bring over to Japan one of my sons with the hope of bringing the other two over as well. One day I was invited to go to an orchard field to pick apples. There I saw my friends’ families with them, happy together. While alone I cried out to God asking Him how come my life turned out like this? I finally broke down and begged God for help.

That was on the 15th of Nov. 2008. Upon returning home from the orchard field, I started having chest pains and difficulty in breathing. I endured the pain and continued begging God to help me. On the fifth night, I could not bear it anymore. My Filipino employer brought me to the hospital in critical condition.

The Japanese doctor said I would not survive and would eventually die. My Filipino employer transferred me to another hospital to get a second opinion. There, I was quickly scheduled for an operation. I prayed to God and asked for His forgiveness and surrendered my children to Him. I also called up my first husband and asked forgiveness from him and with his leading we prayed together for my life.

The following morning I learned I had total renal failure. Both my kidneys malfunctioned and would need regular dialysis treatment for the rest of my life.

My first husband advised me to return to the Philippines with my son and be reunited with my other children, telling me God will make a way for me, that by God’s grace I could be transplanted with another kidney. For months I refused knowing dialysis treatment was expensive in the Philippines while I was getting it free in Japan as a medical benefit.

Eventually, I told God na bahala na kayo sa akin. On the last week of April 2009 I returned to the Philippines. My first husband arranged for my daily dialysis treatment and by the end of May a matching donor for my kidney transplant was found and in June 06, 2009 I was transplanted with my new kidney.

I know now, that by the grace of God, all these things were orchestrated by Him so that I may know His surpassing love and forgiveness. Jesus Christ loved me, enough to die for me. He saved me and gave me eternal life despite all my sins. Because He loved me first I learned to love God and slowly I realized all the things that had happened in my storied life was God’s plan for me to be reconciled with Him, to be saved and to be a part of God’s family.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” says the Lord. “They are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope. In those days when you pray, I will listen. If you look for me wholeheartedly, you will find me. I will be found by you,” says the Lord. “I will end your captivity and restore your fortunes. I will gather you out of the nations where I sent you and will bring you home again to your own land.”

Jeremiah 29:11-14

Months after my operation, I went back to Japan to work on my divorce paper with my Japanese husband for the sake of my children with him. I called him up asking for forgiveness for ruining his marriage and family and told him that in obedience to God, I would go back to my first husband, and that he should think of going back to his first wife.

Not only did God give me a new kidney, but He gave me a new heart and a new life. I have been reconciled with my original and first husband, who is a DGroup leader and a volunteer in the CCF Glorious Hope program. More than any of that, a man totally changed by God who was able to inexplicably love me again, help me and take me back in spite of my many betrayals.

Only Jesus in His heart and in His life can do that! God has allowed us to be restored and to be one family, a family under our wonderful, loving, magnificent, merciful and gracious God. To my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ be all the honor and all the praise and all the Glory. Amen.