See pictures of the influence Iloilo BaptistChurch and College is having around the world.

It has been more than a quarter of a century since the gospel of Jesus Christ began blazing a new trail throughout the villages of the Philippines. Missionaries Rick and Rebecca Martin arrived in Iloilo City in 1977 and started the Iloilo Baptist Church and College. The inroad of this ministry into the fabric of the Philippine society is evidenced by the tens of thousands of believers that began their new life in Christ as a direct result of the church or college.

God’s blessing and the power of the gospel were evident from the very beginning. Shortly after moving to Iloilo City, Rick and Becky met a young lady named Cheryl. Cheryl became the first convert of the embryonic church. Becky spent countless hours mentoring Cheryl in her new life. She grew in her devotion to Jesus Christ and later married one of the college’s finest graduates, Billy Caalem. Billy and Cheryl planted a church in the mountainous regions of the island of Panay. Putting into practice what they learned at Iloilo Baptist College, they started the Independent Baptist School of Theology in Leon in 1991. To date the graduates have started 36 new churches throughout the region. The testimony of Cheryl and Billy Caalem is not an aberration but only a taste of what God has done through the years.

Today, the results of God’s blessing are most evident. Over four thousand attend the services of the Iloilo Baptist Church every week, and more than five thousand converts were baptized in 2003. One of these believers had been a Roman Catholic Nun for 15 years in Rome. She became very ill and was sent back to the Philippines to rest. Ronald, a Bible college student was teaching a Bible study in a home near where she stayed. As he would teach the Bible, she would stand outside the home and listen. Finally she received Christ as her Saviour and obeyed the Lord in believer’s baptism. She eagerly reads her Bible and keeps a notebook of what she is learning. The worker who has been discipling her says that she writes a lot of her notes in Latin. She is very faithful but needs the prayers of God’s people.

The graduates of Iloilo Baptist College have started at least 497 churches. Graduates have established fourteen full-time colleges to train men for the ministry. Graduates have also started 207 Bible Institutes for married men in their churches. Almost 800 men are currently being discipled and trained in these schools. Is it any wonder that in 2003, the graduates of Iloilo Baptist College started 58 churches?

Consider the work of God in the life of Moimar Lacsao. He was born into a family on the island of Negros. He had never really heard anything about God and the marvelous gospel of his Son. One day he stumbled upon the ministry of a graduate of IBC and gave his life to Jesus Christ! At the age of seventeen, he enrolled at IBC and prepared to take the gospel back to his beloved Negros. He did indeed return to Negros, where he started not one church but four! In 2002, he started the Candoni Baptist College to train yet more laborers for the Lord’s harvest fields. God also used Moimar to influence his brother Moises to attend IBC. Moises also returned to Negros and has planted yet another Baptist church.

On November 11, 2002, a young man named Bryan got off a boat in Iloilo City at 8:30 in the morning. He was born into a poverty-stricken family in Leyte. He endured a painful childhood of beatings by his stepfather. Out of desperation, he ran away from home in search of his real father. As he sat in the plaza of the Catholic Church, contemplating how to begin his search, he was approached by a stranger, who handed him a religious tract. Bryan asked him if he could direct him to the priest for assistance. The young man turned out to be Jomar Punzalan, a student at Iloilo Baptist College. Jomar led Bryan to his heavenly father that day! Bryan is now a student at IBC, waiting for the day he can introduce the Savior to his earthly father and to his people in Leyte.

In 2002, a new ministry was launched at Iloilo Baptist Church and College. The “Every Home­­­-Every Village Campaign” is a vision to get the gospel into every home in every village of Panay Island. Over 1300 of the 3200 villages have already been covered! Pastor Melchor Herida, an IBC graduate, decided to visit every home in his village of Ajuy. The village is infamous for being home to several criminals. Most infamous among the criminals was the “barangay captain,” the head of the village. He was an unusually cruel man, guilty of even murder. The courageous Pastor visited the captain and with much rejoicing, led him to Christ. The gospel made such an impact upon his repentant heart that the captain cleaned up the village, surrendered to police, and was sent to prison for his crimes. While in prison he died of a stroke. The new village captain also got saved, and his son is planning to attend IBC.

The common denominator behind all of these life-changing testimonies has been discipleship. In February of 2003, a one-on-one discipleship program was added to the other discipleship ministries at Iloilo Baptist Church and College. For many years discipleship has taken place through the Sunday school, home Bible studies, and a series of basic take home lessons called the “One Step at a Time Lessons.” This strategic focus on evangelism and discipleship is no doubt a contributing factor to the growth and influence of the ministries of IBC.

It is most noteworthy that the ministries of Iloilo Baptist Church and College extend beyond the Philippines. Not only does the church support foreign missionaries, they send them! Iloilo Baptist Church presently supports 49 Filipino foreign missionaries! Two graduates have started more than 30 churches in Haiti through the men they are training in their Bible schools. In Zambia, another graduate has started 12 churches and is training 40 men to preach the gospel. The victories are the same in Uganda. Herein lies the power of this gospel trail: imparting the vision into the hearts of the converts. Those that have been reached are still reaching yet others with the gospel of Jesus Christ.

By the way, do you remember Cheryl, the Martin’s first convert? She prayed for her father’s salvation for 23 years. God used the testimony of one of the college students at Cheryl and Billy’s school to bring him to salvation. Marvelita was only twenty-three years old when she died from complications of pregnancy. She was a devoted Christian and a pastor’s wife. As Cheryl and Billy shared the story of her life and untimely death with Cheryl’s father,God opened his heart. He trusted Christ as his Savior, and immediately suggested that they send a graduate from the college to start a church in his village. The gospel trail that started blazing in the Philippines many years ago is still touching lives today!