The unprecedented outspread of the Covid-19 virus that resulted in lockdowns and restrictions did not deter the spirit of the 549 people from accepting Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord after the concerted, intentional but unconventional effort of 36 Voice of Youth (VOY) teams of Northern Luzon Mission (NLM) ended recently.
NLM young people undauntedly heralded the good news of salvation in every way possible. They did limited face-to-face VOY Ignite evangelistic meetings, house-to-house visits, radio broadcasts, and online Bible studies. Evangelistic campaigns were conducted depending on the minimum health protocol set by the local government units in their respective areas.
"To avoid a large number of gatherings, we divided our group into four; and we resorted to house visitation," Marjurytt Salvador of San Manuel Seventh-day Adventist Church said.
"Due to restrictions, our VOY Ignite meetings were done online via Google Meet. I am amazed that it brought us, thirty precious people, for baptism," said Alpha Bulatao of Lokeb Seventh-day Adventist Church.
Hence, the synchronized VOY efforts climaxed in an online media evangelism via Facebook Live themed "I AM JESUS: The Way, The Truth, and the Life." The online series was championed on June 16-25, 2021, by the Youth Ministries director of the Southern-Asia Pacific Division, Pastor Ron Genebago. In his message, Genebago emphasized that Christ is the Only Way to salvation, forgiveness, and righteousness; the Truth whereby all teachings of the Bible must be centered on; and the source of abundant and eternal life.
"To encourage viewers, we sent them mobile loads so they can watch our nightly programs using internet data. I find it remarkable that our church members are also thrilled to watch our programs with their friends using a big screen in satellite meetings," said Pastor Roseller Zamora, the NLM Adventist Youth Ministries, and Communication Department director.
The two consecutive Sabbaths of the reaping campaign resulted in the baptism of hundreds. Three ministers from other Christian denominations are among those who accepted Jesus through baptism. One of them is Alex Calidayan, a church leader of the United Methodist Church in Bulaoen, Sison, Pangasinan. He narrated that on a sunny afternoon, while he was lazing on his hammock, he just thought of searching for a Christian-oriented program on the radio to at least make his power nap worthwhile.
"I tried my worn-out transistor radio to find if it's still working. To my surprise, it still does! I was hoping to find a Christian program until I heard a song with these lyrics, "Umay manen, Umay manen, ni Hesus umay manen [coming again, coming again, Jesus is coming again]," said Calidayan.
It was on 107.7 Adventist World Radio NLM that Calidayan was tuned in. For one year, he listened to the program until the radio simulcast of the online series of Pastor Ron Genebago reached him. On June 26, 2021, Calidayan decided to enter the fold through baptism.
The other two were ministers of the Pentecostal Church in Manalpac, Solsona, Ilocos Norte. They are Ronald Ramos and Glemark Agustin. They were visited regularly by the VOY team of Glady Pascual.
"The two ministers had no qualms whenever we present biblical truths," said Pascual.
For that reason, the continuous pursuit of biblical answers led the two ministers to accept Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Life through baptism on July 3, 2021.
"From now on, we will worship in the true day of rest but still, we will attend the church service during Sunday because we want the brethren from our former church to know the truth we found in Christ," said Agustin.
"I have seen the desire and determination of these two pastors; that's why we will evaluate their transcript of records. We will work it out to put them in the theology program so that someday they can be considered as full-fledged ministers," said Pr. Marvin Diaz, President of Northern Luzon Mission.
Accounts like these will remain unheard of if the army of youth will not assume the responsibility of advancing the Lord's work. The Voice of Youth program is one of the many ways the church is responding to the I Will Go strategic focus of the world church. As for the Northern Luzon Mission, the concerted efforts of the youth will always be instrumental in realizing the vision of one congregation in every seven-kilometer distance leading to a town or district.
"I am happy to see how the Lord is using His people in this Mission; fulfilling the vision to reach every place by establishing a congregation in every seven kilometers, preparing people for the Lord's soon coming," commended Pastor Samuel Saw, President of the Southern-Asia Pacific Division.
Mike Daniel Subala, Northern Luzon Mission, Philippines