Accountable To The Call

"If you will not go back to full time ministry," Arnel Piliin’s wife threatened, "then I will give up my teaching job and be the one to serve God in full time ministry!"  Arnel was shocked to hear his wife Inocencia "Bhing" Piliin speak so strongly about his work with insurance.  He had only meant to unwind and relax a few years from the pressure of ministry, but somehow the temptation of making money had pulled him more and more away from his call.  "We don’t need wealth and all these extra things as long as we can eat three times a day," explained his wife.  She knew that his decision would mean that she would be the one to continue working in a secular job to support the family.

Arnel prayed about his call until one day he finally told his family that he was willing to give up the luxury of the world. "I am willing to serve God without any reservation, no matter the cost."  With the encouragement of Missionary Timothy Kim, he enrolled at Asia-Pacific Nazarene Theological Seminary to bring his ministry skills up-to-date.
 
Soon a door opened for possible ministry.  Polly and Grace Plantilla had started a Bible study in their home, but felt they could not answer all the theological questions of those who attended and asked Arnel to help conduct the Bible study.  After a month of prayer and dedication to the ministry, God placed in their hearts a burden to organize a church.  Day after day they struggled to look for places to rent and for funds to purchase property.  People across the district began to pray, and God heard.

New Hope Church of the Nazarene became a reality.  Rev. Howard Grosoehme, an English teacher of Faith Academy where the children of missionaries attend, donated 50 thousand pesos from his savings for a down payment for a parsonage.  The Korean community desired also to help in this ministry and purchased a lot and helped to build a church with plans for a school building.  Rev. Peter Hwang conducted a crusade with over 600 people in attendance. 

New Hope is now a fast growing church.  The church continues to grow with quarterly crusades and revivals with an attendance of not less than 1, 200 people.  The Korean team members also attend the quarterly meeting and share through music and dance.  After the message, members and visitors receive two kilos of rice.   As a result of the crusades and visitation program, thirty-one Bible study cell groups are now held each week.  The daughter church has already purchased a lot and new building. 

The secret for this growth�”well there is no secret.  The church is growing because of prayer and fasting.  The church is growing because of dedicated Christians who are sensitive to the needs of the community and the world in which they live.  The church is growing because a man named Rev. Arnel L. Piliin answered again to the call God had placed on his life and in his heart to pastor.  But most of all the church is growing because Rev. Inocencia "Bhing" Piliin, a Christian wife, held her husband accountable to that calling.

this post was filed under Around The Region on Dec 12, 2008