Bread of Life church goes to Samoyao, Itogon

     According to the Bible. Moses was eighty years old when he led three million Israelites out of Egypt. My mother must have read that scripture because at 76 years old, she never thought twice about the invitation for her to join a community outreach program of a local church.

     For little less than a year now my mother has been attending the worship services of the Bread of Life ministry. The small church in Session Road is led by an anointed lady pastor Anne Lao. Everybody calls her "Coach."



These are the dynamic duo that propel the leadership of

Bread of Life church in Baguio City. "Sir Em" plays the

piano during worship--always a stirring and anointed

experience. Beside him is lady Pastor Anne--who is

fondly called "Coach" by everybody.



     Most local churches I know aspire to send missionaries to the "ends of the earth" that happen to be beyond the Philippine borders. It’s usually not difficult to get people to volunteer for overseas missions, with the promise of adventure and living in a strange new society to advance the work of the Lord.

     But for missionary work that promises only to bring you to some isolated depressed inner community within the Philippines, excitement is usually not as high.

     That’s why to me, a church that directs its energy toward evangelizing in "unattractive destinations" is admirable. My mother made the perfect choice in joining Bread of Life. This church does not have tourism in its ministry agenda. Its heart is to walk (quite literally, I might add) to the ends of the earth and preach in places that don’t even have a microphone.

     So when my mother said over dinner, "I’m going to Samoyao early in the morning!" I could hardly wait to pop the next question after, "where on earth is Samoyao?"

"Coach" Anne Lao leads a fairly small congregation but

whose heart is totally in the right place. Few other big

churches are as excited about inner community out-

reaches, most others find overseas missions more

exciting. But Pastor Lao's members are not tourists--

they are the front line of God's victorious army. 

     It turns out it’s a small mining community in Itogon, the municipality east of Baguio City accessible partly by jeep and--eventually--by foot. There the ragtag team of evangelists spoke inspiring messages from the bible and gave their ragtag audience a chance to accept Jesus as their Lord and Saviour.

     My mother never went to bible school. But she strengthened the team in ways you wouldn’t imagine. When the younger ones looked ahead to see my mother already standing at the top of a hill, they couldn’t help but muster the strength to haul themselves up as well. After all, my mother had arthritis, they didn’t.

     She came home that night with aching muscles she never even knew she had. But she slept soundly, proud to know that although she may not have led God’s chosen people out of the desert, she pulled up just enough of them up a mountain to make a world of difference.



That's my mother--only four years younger than Moses 

of the bible when he led three million Israelites out ot

Egypt--here she leads the pack up a steep hilly climb

to Samoyao village in Itogon. 



     In the Christian church today, the focus is reaching the farthest corners of the world and impacting the lives of people with the saving message of the gospel.  Many are called, few actually respond to the call---but those who do find their own lives enriched by the honor of being part of hastening the return of the Lord Jesus to earth. In the Scriptures, Jesus conditioned His coming back to the fulfillment of the Great Commission first.

     When all people of the earth have had the chance to make their decision whether or not to make the Lamb of God their personal saviour, then will the final judgment come.



Sheena and Rowee are just two of the young people of

Bread of Life church who know how valuable it is to join

the labor of love in spreading the life-saving message of

the gospel of Jesus Christ



     That is why it is  refreshing to know that there are ministries like the Bread of Life that have not forgotten the primary mission of the church.  It is not to increase their own number, but to increase the population of souls in heaven. There will be time enough to perfect the singing and dancing in joy--it will be an eternity of doing nothing else but that  in heaven,  In the meantime, spreading the Word of God is the more urgent mission.

     If you are interested to be part of this incredible work, check out the services of Bread of Life church--which they hold on at the BPI Session Road building every Sunday at 10:00 A.M.

My mother with Gisel Gamueda, one of the cell leaders

of Bread of Life church which pioneers the work of inner

community outreaches in Baguio and Benguet

This young woman is Rowee Dizon.
I'm pretty sure she's a long-lost relative!