CONTAGIOUS FAITH –The power of reaching out to our families to the conversion of our communities
Our home is our mission field.
Arado's and Tacal's
Raya Arado is the daughter of Shirley and Romy Arado, who were both reached out in the Campus Ministry in 1994. She grew up in the church, aka a kingdom kid, and was baptized last May 17, 2020, during her last year in Senior High School. While studying the bible, Raya had difficulty giving up some bad habits and influences in her life as well as issues she didn’t think much of that surfaced or were revealed through talks. She also struggled with peer pressure, mental health, and building relationships.
Tapon's & Diaz's
The story of the Tapon family started way back on October 12, 1985 when Myla Libed decided to make Jesus her Lord. Since then, she’s been working hard to reach out to her family but it wasn’t a smooth path to having a family of disciples.
It was not until 2016 that Myla was able to reach out to her niece, Manel Tapon who reached out to her father, Leonel, and her sister, Marielle, in the same year. The 4 of them continued to pray and share God’s word to their family and reached out to Manel and Marielle’s cousin, Jhade Diaz, who was in Manila that time. Jhade was baptized last August 2018 and soon after, both of his parents, Arnulfo and May Diaz professed Jesus as their Lord in the same year.
Manel’s mother, Mary Ann Tapon, who was working in Singapore, saw the impact of Jesus in her family and studied the Bible, then became a disciple in December 2018. Being overseas didn’t stop her to pray and reach out to her family. Together with her family here in the Philippines, they shared the good news to Baby Jane Cabanatan and her husband Randolf Brian Canabatan, along with Leonel's older sister, Mary Ann, who all became disciples in early 2019. And there were triplets!
One of the biggest challenges that their family had to face was the impact of COVID-19. Because they lived closely to one another, when one person was infected with the virus, the whole family had to undergo quarantine. There were even moments when their only means of transportation was also infected, hindering them from going outside to get their necessities. However, in the midst of the pandemic, their family of disciples continued to grow as Marilou Tapon got baptized in December 2020.
Still, their struggles continued when an outbreak of the African Swine Fever hit their area, since their family had the biggest piggery. Some piggeries already tested positive, causing the officials in their area to announce the electrocution of all pigs to prevent the spread of the virus. But through faith, prayers, and medical opinions from veterinarians and technicians, they were able to keep their piggery. More than that, their faith and hard work inspired others. In May 2021, Lourdes Tapon, their grandmother, was baptized. The conversions in their family did not stop as later that year, Juliet and Rolando Pingkian, as well as Vanessa Gamatero also got baptized.
Just this 2022, the Tapon-Diaz family continues to influence their families by sharing God’s word and love, so in result Maria Corazon Cabanatan made Jesus her Lord.
They are not just extending God’s love to their immediate relatives, but even to their extended families. Christine Ivy Tapon, Manel and Jhade’s second cousin also became a disciple in April 2022.
In this current time where reaching out and sharing the word of God is a struggle for many, God proves through the hearts of these families that not even a pandemic can stop the movement of His kingdom.
It is during this time of pandemic that we are reminded that our first ministry is our family. This is shown in how Shirley and Romy were able to reach out to their daughter, Raya, which resulted in the conversion of Kyra and her family, and in the Tapon-Diaz family which now consists of 18 disciples.
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