Accompanied by Apostle Samuel Tansahtikno and Apostle Leonilo Desoloc, he made a first visit to the Philippines in the year 2025, i. e. to Misamis Occidental and Zamboanga del Sur and its vicinity, Apostle Leonilo Desoloc’s working area, from Saturday, January 18th, to Sunday, January 26th. Throughout the week he visited 8 congregations: Ozamis, Riverside-Oroquita City, Calube, Baroy, Simata, Buburay, and Pagadian City.

On Saturday, January 25^th morning at Alindahaw Resort-Tukuran the District Apostle served Ministers and Partners from six districts. In the evening the Apostles attended a Youth Fellowship event. The youth and the children presented singing, music and dancing, followed by questions and answers. Everybody was happy.

On Sunday, January 26^th the District Apostle conducted a divine service with a Bible Text out of Psalm 132:13 :

“For the Lord has chosen Zion; He has desired it for His dwelling place.”

 Youth Fellowship made us happy. In the divine service, we want to have fellowship with God. The extent to which we can experience fellowship with God does not depend on God, but on us. God wants to see how important our fellowship with him is to us. If our prayer is characterized by fear and we say: “Dear God, I am afraid, stay with me, otherwise I will feel bad”, then that is not ideal. God says: “Don’t worry, I’m here, I have everything under control.” It is of course more beautiful, if our prayer is not out of fear, but because we long for fellowship with God. We want to be with him and want very close to him out of love. Anyone who comes to God like this will pray: God, stay with me, I need your presence because I love you, then we will be able to experience His omnipotence again and again.

Godly election is a mystery of God: it cannot be explained or understood by humankind. It is always connected to a special mission and responsibility.

 In the Old Testament God chose Abraham. He asked him to leave his country and obey Him. Because he believed in God and did His will, Abraham became a great source of blessing.

God also chose the people of Israel, despite they were the “least of all peoples” (Deut 7:7). In return, His people were to trust Him and show their gratitude through obedience and sacrifice. But Israel turned away from the Lord, depriving itself of His protection and blessing.

God chose Zion to establish His temple, God’s dwelling among people (1 Kings 8:13). Anyone wishing to bring a sacrifice to the Lord had to go to Jerusalem, even if they lived far away.

In the New Testament. Jesus Christ is God’s chosen one (Lk 9:35), sent by God to bring salvation to humankind. Having perfectly fulfilled God’s will, He became the source of salvation for all humankind.

God chose people from every nation to be His people, a holy nation called to serve Him (1 Pet 2:9). Reborn out of water and the Spirit, we are part of this people.

God also chose us to dwell within us. Through Holy Sealing, God’s Spirit took up permanent residence within us. But this presence can only be fully effective if we do God’s will out of love, not calculation. And if we love our neighbour.

God chose to dwell among His people. Jesus Christ promised to be among those who gather in His name (Mt 18:20). To perceive Christ’s presence among His people, we must gather in His name.

When Christ returns, He will once again make a choice. He will take to Himself those who have remained faithful to Him in all things and bring them into His glory (Rev 14:1-5). Their mission will be to contribute to the salvation of humankind as royal priests.

Jesus Christ instituted His Church on earth. It is here that humankind can have access to salvation. It was He who decided that to be saved, one had to be reborn out of the water and the Spirit and participate worthily in Holy Communion. And it was He who entrusted the mission of proclaiming the gospel and dispensing the sacraments to the Apostles.

It is in the Church and with the living Apostles that we can be prepared for Christ’s return. Let us trust our election and show our gratitude by serving Him and contributing to the salvation of others.

In this divine service, he carried out a well-deserved retirement of: Shepherd Rodelio Armada (66), who had served as minister for 38 years, and District Evangelist Roger Lucaylucay (62), who had a stroke and could no longer speak clearly. He has served for 31 years. Both men of God had the gift of teaching, were faithful, and served Christ out of love. He thanked them sincerely and trusted that they would continue to support the Apostles and become examples in following Christ in their behaviour. He ordained a Priest: Lorito Ceniza, Jr. for Lunday congregation, Zamboanga City.