Service Shaped by His Love

October 23, 2026

"For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died."

— 1 Corinthians 5:14 ESV

God’s love is not merely something we come to know, but something we come to experience. It meets us, changes us, and compels us to live for his kingdom. For Edwin and Marilyn “Madz” Vertudez, this truth has unfolded over the years as they have followed Christ. From their early days as young disciples to eventually leading ICOC Mandaluyong West-Pasig, their journey has been marked by seasons that continually challenged them to trust and respond to God’s love.

Edwin was reached out to by his college classmate, who was already a disciple. He had no particular perspective on life when he started studying the Bible, but the studies quickly became a deeply personal one. The studies on sin and the cross confronted the heavy parts of his life that he had long carried. God’s Word struck him so deeply that he completed the entire study in just three days. But he was challenged and hesitated to continue when he realized he had to face the difficult relationship he had with his dad.

The disciples surrounding him, however, continued to follow up and encouraged him to reconcile with his father. Edwin eventually had that difficult conversation with his dad. On the fourth day, he accepted Jesus as his Lord and Savior and was baptized.

While his father appreciated their reconciliation, Edwin’s decision to follow Christ created tension at home. Coming from a family of devout members in their longstanding church, he faced opposition to his decision. His family became estranged from him, and he eventually had to support himself while balancing school and work. There were nights when he was locked out of the house and had to sleep in the garage. Ultimately, he moved out and found a home with fellow disciples.

With little support from his own family, the disciples around him became the people he depended on most. Though the distance from his family left him feeling alone, the season also taught him discipline. As he balanced college, work, and ministry, Edwin learned to manage his time and limited resources, even walking to church when he needed to. Through it all, Edwin gradually came to know God’s love not only as something to believe in, but something he could experience for himself.

While Edwin was learning to experience God’s love through his own struggles, God was writing a different story of the same love in Madz’s life.

Madz was a freshman from Batangas when she came to Manila. There, a classmate reached out to her and invited her to study the Bible. Madz and her classmates would meet as early as five in the morning to study the Bible together. But even before she became a disciple, her decision was already met with opposition. Her older sister, who was supporting her education at the time, was concerned for her safety and did not approve of her studying the Bible.

Still, Madz continued. After she was baptized, the tension at home only grew. A month after Photo of Young Edwin and Madz baptism, her sister stopped providing Madz with financial support and asked her to leave, leaving Madz to support herself as a working student. Having come from the province, she barely knew Manila, yet she chose to stay because of her commitment to the church and her relationship with God.

The transition was not easy. Madz found herself adjusting to life as both a full-time employee and a student while continuing to prioritize her faith. Although she eventually returned to live with her sister, the tension between them remained. She was still locked out of the house, and even her parents struggled to accept her decision. Even after graduation, her commitment to being a disciple and prioritizing the church continued to create distance between her and her family. There were many tears along the way, but she fought hard for the relationship with God she had found.

Before becoming a disciple, Madz described herself as sheltered and self-righteous. But through the cross, she came to understand God’s love in a way that transformed her. She realized that she could not run away from His love, eventually coming to the conviction, “No one can love me the way Jesus did.” The love she encountered became something she could return to, holding her through the difficult seasons that followed.

As God continued to shape Edwin and Madz through their own experiences of His love, their separate journeys eventually became one.

Over four years of friendship, Edwin and Madz grew close as they spent time in the same circle and eventually served together as co-leaders. Edwin showed his care through small and consistent gestures. He was protective of Madz, regularly accompanying her to and from places and making sure she got home safely. Over time, it was these simple acts of care that Madz came to appreciate, and their friendship gradually grew into something more.

But pursuing a relationship was not as simple as realizing they had feelings for each other. Her previous relationship had helped give Madz a clearer idea of what she hoped for in a future partner. She wanted and prayed for someone who loved God and His Kingdom, someone who shared the same dream for the church. While Edwin shared her faith, their dreams for the future did not completely align. As he approached graduation, Edwin wanted to become successful and financially established and had no desire to enter the full-time ministry. Madz, on the other hand, had already served in the full-time ministry. For her, sharing the same dream for the church mattered deeply.

Still, the deep connection they had built over the years became one of the strengths that helped push their relationship into marriage. Having first learned to walk alongside each other as friends and co-leaders, they had built a bond where they could talk openly about almost anything and continue growing together in their love for God and His Kingdom.

In 2007, Edwin and Madz were married, and their wedding felt like a victory for both of them. Years earlier, following Christ had brought tension into both of their homes. However, during the wedding, their families came together to witness and celebrate the life they were beginning as husband and wife. After years of opposition, the joy and celebration became especially meaningful for them both.

As Edwin and Madz began their life together, serving the church remained a constant. They continued helping in the core group they had been part of even before they were married. Yet, early in their marriage, when the ministry encountered challenges with its leaders, they stepped up as point persons, taking on greater responsibility alongside the core group.

This responsibility grew alongside the many changes happening in their own lives. They were building a family while also running a business that was doing well financially. For Edwin, who had always wanted to become successful, much of his thinking at the time was very practical. He wanted to do well for his family and believed in focusing on one thing and doing it well before moving on to another.

Yet, success did not bring the satisfaction Edwin expected. As work became increasingly stressful, he began to see the cost of what he had worked for. Though the business was doing well, Edwin realized that his thinking had become more practical and less spiritual.

Eventually, the possibility of Edwin going into the full-time ministry brought another decision for their family. Madz, who had already experienced full-time ministry herself, worried about what it would mean for their children. Still, she did not want her concerns to keep Edwin from being used by God.

Leadership was already stretching them in similar ways. Edwin and Madz were young parents carrying several responsibilities, with Madz also running her own business. They were among the youngest in the core group but found themselves helping lead disciples who were older and more experienced than they were. Rather than allowing this to hold them back, they learned to take what they considered the humble route.

For Edwin, this meant learning to ask questions before making decisions. At work, he was used to being the project manager or the boss, but serving people required him to learn how to meet them halfway. Madz, meanwhile, struggled with insecurity and sometimes compared herself with the leaders who had come before them. When she questioned whether she could lead others, she learned that she could first begin by being their friend.

Photos of Manadaluyong West Pasig Sector

Through these experiences, both Edwin and Madz came to experience God’s grace in the way they led and grew. As they navigated different relationships and conflicts, they found themselves in situations where their only choice was to grow. They learned that leadership was not always something people saw, but something they felt. It also meant accepting that they would make mistakes, learning to ask for forgiveness, and extending the same grace to themselves.

Years later, Edwin was considered for a responsibility he had once dreamed of but had long since let go: becoming an evangelist. Knowing the weight that came with the role, he declined three times. To Edwin, becoming an evangelist was never a promotion, and he respected the calling enough to take his time with the decision.

He eventually agreed to go through a series of conversations about the role, while also seeking advice from people who had known him through different seasons of his life, including those from his college years. Although Edwin remained aware of his weaknesses, he began to see that the role could give him a greater capacity to help others and do more for God’s Kingdom.

Over time, the responsibility Edwin had once hesitated to accept became something that grounded him. The role became a form of protection, reminding him that the calling was not simply about a position, but about the people he had been entrusted to serve.

Manadaluyong West Pasig Sunday Service

Through the years, Edwin and Madz also saw the ministry grow. Mission teams were raised up, including the San Juan Mission Ministry, which grew to close to 80 disciples. As the church became larger, they saw an increasing need to raise more leaders and give others greater ownership of the ministry.

For Edwin and Madz, this remains an important part of their vision for Mandaluyong West-Pasig. They hope to continue raising leaders, strengthening the unity of the core group, and building a sector with a heart for missions. More than simply seeing the church grow in number, they hope to see more disciples take part in caring for the church and carrying its mission forward.

From the young disciples who first experienced God’s love to the leaders they are today, Edwin and Madz’s journey has been one of continually being shaped by His love and grace. Through every season, they have learned that following God is not about having everything figured out, but about allowing His love to change them and, in turn, move them to love and serve others. Years later, it is this same love that continues to compel them as they lead Mandaluyong West-Pasig forward with Christ’s mission in mind.