Leonardo R Asoy is elected president of the Adventist church in the southern Asia-pacific region (SSD) after a vote from the nominating committee during the 60th General Conference Session of the Adventist church in San Antonio, Texas.
On July 6, at 5:15pm, a loud applause heard from the SSD delegation, which followed one of the most important decisions, made for the regional territory after Asoy’s name was announced.
Asoy was born and raised in Mindanao (southern Philippines) and graduated from Mountain View College in 1983 with a degree in Theology.
His dedication and commitment for the Lord and the mission work led him to serve as district pastor in the church’s Western Mindanao Conference in Ozamis City in 1983 and then youth director from 1988-1990. In 1990, he finished a Master in Pastoral Studies at the Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies in Cavite, Philippines. He was called to serve in South Philippine Union Conference (SPUC) in 1991 as Youth Director and as Sabbath School and Personal Ministries director in 1996. In 2003, he was called to an administrative role as president of Davao Mission and was called back after a year to be Ministerial Secretary in SPUC.
Asoy accepted a call for him to serve as SSD Sabbath School/Personal Ministries director in 2007. In 2011 till his recent election, he was president of SPUC.
He is married to Elma Vasques and both have grown children, Elnardz and Shawnette who are both registered nurses.
Asoy takes the place of Alberto C Gulfan Jr. who served as SSD president for two terms. Gulfan recently announced his retirement this year. [Gay Deles/Adventist News Dispatch]