My Calling:Testimony -- City Baptist Church of Lagro first anniversary

Just a brief introduction: I am Janina, a child of God since 2003. I've always been a church kid being raised in a Christian family. I accepted Jesus as my Savior and Lord at the age of 13. It was around December 2014 when God had spoken into my heart and said, "You've got to find the church I have purposed for you." Being a member of another baptist church I grew old into (not grew up 'cause I didn't grow up ), transferring to another church was a struggle for me. So I prayed about it so hard. Though I was still attending that church, I would try attending other few churches once in a while-- searching, seeking God's answer. On March 28, 2015, my best friend and sister-in-Christ, Irish Bonifacio, invited me into a Bible-study group called "The Bridge." From there, I met Pastor Calvin Houser. I have found out that he has been called to plant a church in Lagro. Something tugged in my heart, "This is it!" It was about six months of praying, God has finally answered me. He has called me to be of help in City Baptist Church of Lagro. It was a leap of faith for me. God has comforted me in the midst of few judgement and intrigues because of this calling. It has been a "no-turning -back" decision for me.

June 21, 2015-- the first connect meeting of City Baptist Church. We were only around 15 including the kids . It was a small group back then. Each week , God would add new faces in the church. Little by little, God has grown City Baptist Church. But more than the quantity, God has taught us to focus on the quality--the quality of faith in action of the members is what really matters! God has rewarded our hearts for Him as He opens opportunities for us to exercise our faith by praying for one another, sharing our lives to one another, and spreading the Gospel in the community. As He is increasing our faith, He is increasing us also in number. So from around 15, we're more or less a hundred now.

From Day 1 to Day 365 and to the days to follow, reaching people from infancy to the most advanced age, from Centennial Park to Barangay Hall, now into this building , God has been so faithful! And as City Baptist Church reaches out to Lagro, Hilltop, Amparo, Fairmont, and wherever God leads us, He will still be faithful.

When Pastor Calvin asked me to have this testimony, he just told me to say what City Baptist Church means to me. And I believe there is no better way to say it, "City Baptist Church has been God's answer to my prayer." Now, my prayer for City Baptist Church is the adaptation of prayer of Jabez:

"Oh, that Thou wouldest bless us indeed, and enlarge our territory, and that Thine hand be with us, and that Thou wouldest keep us from evil, that it may not grieve us."

And with so much faith, hope and love in God reflected in City Baptist Church, I believe God will respond the same way He did with Jabez:

"And God granted us which we requested."

God is amazing! God is good! Happy Anniversary City Baptist Church!