Bound by Precious Blood, Sustained by His Grace
"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household." - Ephesians 2:19
We are all born into this world through a physical family. We carry their names and their stories. But we do have another family, one that we’re not born into but
we choose to belong to—a
family bound not by our own blood, but by the precious blood of Jesus Christ. This is the kind of family God was building in ICOC East Pasig, led by Jojo and Pechay Belgar.
Jojo was a working student who spent long hours balancing work and studies. One day, a disciple reached out to invite him to a Bible Talk. Though raised with a different religious background, he didn’t hesitate to come because even then, he felt unsettled by where he stood spiritually. He owned a Bible, but its pages were still stuck together, unopened.
And so,
as Jojo studied the Bible, God began to reshape not only his beliefs, but his life. Learning about Jesus’ sacrifice on the Cross pierced him deeply. This also became the very strength he drew from when obedience required letting go of a relationship he once held tightly. In that moment, Jojo stepped out of one life and into a new family.
Meanwhile, Pechay was a fourth-year Engineering student when her sister encouraged her to attend a Bible Talk. The invitation was initially meant for her sister, but since the disciple inviting them was a friend to both, Pechay went in her place. She began studying the Bible, where she was confronted with a humbling truth during the Sin and Cross Studies. She thought she was already “good enough,” yet grace revealed something greater:
How could someone like Jesus die for my sins when I have nothing to give in return?
Moved by this truth, Pechay accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior.
As Pechay continued in her spiritual walk, balancing the demands of being an engineering student became more difficult. Often causing her to struggle with attending meetings of the body. Her name would frequently come up in meetings because of her absences, gradually becoming familiar to Jojo.
It was at a devotional where Pechay and Jojo first met. Jojo approached her to fellowship with and encourage her, and
something stirred in him. Sensing a desire to build a friendship, he asked her on an encouragement date. Pechay agreed, and through that simple step, their relationship grew.
They became close, then best friends, and both ended up serving in the Campus Ministry. Eventually, they began dating, and their relationship would later lead to marriage.
Even after they were married, Jojo and Pechay continued to serve as leaders in the Kingdom. However, challenges within the church led them to step back from their leadership roles for a time. This season tested their hearts and, over time, led to growing complacency.
In 2003, Jojo and Pechay shifted their focus toward starting a business and providing for their newborn son at the time. They even went to another country to pursue it. However, the venture did not succeed. Barely a year later, they returned to the Philippines—unaware that God was preparing something greater, even if His plans were still unclear to them at the time.
When they came back, the church had gone through many leadership transitions. They also struggled to form deep relationships with other disciples.
For a long season, they attended church with heavy and struggling hearts. Even so, they continued to give what they could—serving where they were asked, attending provincial churches—but stepping away from leadership. Little did they know that even this chapter of their lives would be used by God to prepare them for what was to come.
God’s preparation in their lives became clearer in 2016, when church leaders challenged them to hold services in the city of East Pasig once a month. At the time, there was no point-person overseeing the work. Jojo and Pechay were asked to step in temporarily as Bible Talk Leaders (BTLs). Along with other BTLs, they helped lead the spiritual family in East Pasig. Yet as the needs of the family continued to grow, it became clear that a leader had to step forward. The group reached a consensus, choosing Jojo and Pechay to step into leadership. Though hesitant, especially since they lived elsewhere, they accepted the role, trusting in their hearts that this was God’s will.
In 2017, barely a year in, the church faced a season of deep trials. Several families experienced loss, many members were hospitalized, and week after week, the family in East Pasig gathered not only for worship, but also in times of loss. It was truly a difficult time for the body.
In the midst of these trials, Jojo and Pechay responded with what they knew to do—to pray continually and trust God to sustain them.
They showed love where they could and built relationships with the people around them. Over time, they began to notice changes within the church, especially as relationships grew deeper. The family in East Pasig became more closely knit, marked by care and presence.
In the year that followed, God’s work became increasingly evident, unfolding one after another in ways only He could orchestrate. Jojo and Pechay, along with the rest of the East Pasig family, had no grand strategy—only obedience rooted in God’s love. As they often reflected, “We were just doing what God asked us to do.” Over the years, God also planted in them a deep conviction to build a family-centered culture—one shaped by their experiences of visiting and serving provincial churches.
This conviction became part of their weekly life together. After worship services, they would gather to share meals as a family. Through their faithfulness, God allowed the church to grow to thirty-nine disciples. At their recently held anniversary service, hearts were filled as they witnessed the next generation of youth stepping forward to serve. Indeed, East Pasig continues to live out what it means to be a spiritual family.
And with the same faith that has carried them thus far, they continue to dream for ICOC East Pasig. They aspire to plant more churches in the coming year, to involve the youth more deeply in serving, and to one day have a church building of their own, drawing inspiration from the wider spiritual family in provincial churches.
What began as individual journeys of searching and surrender became a shared life marked by prayer, perseverance, and love. Through seasons of uncertainty, loss, and rebuilding, God formed not just a church, but a family bound by Christ, sustained by grace, and shaped through ordinary acts of faithfulness. As Jojo and Pechay continue to walk forward with the family in East Pasig, their story reminds us that
the family God builds is not perfect, but it is purposeful—chosen, rooted in love, and always moving toward what He has prepared next.
With your support we can help Jojo, Pechay, and the rest of East Pasig Church evangelize their city!
You may be miles away but with your donation, you can be part of God’s mission.
Watch our newest Walking in the Footsteps video below!
