Nazarene Discipleship Summit, a conference featuring workshops on starting and leading small groups, recently expanded to a new area of the Philippines. 

Ernalyn Fausto, a Visayan church leader, brought two other local church leaders — Evan Rey Macasa and Terence Lustaña — to host discipleship summits in the Bacolod District, the Panay District, and the Central Visayas District. This event was inspired by another summit hosted in Luzon earlier this year.

The idea for the summits came out of the Asia-Pacific mission strategy called Vision 441 and was meant to equip the attendees to disciple other disciple-makers. However, due to each Visayan district being on a different island, they could not all meet up at one central location like the Luzon summit. 

Some of the Luzon summit leaders who weren’t able to attend the Visayan summits recorded videos to be used as resources during the workshops. Pastor Mark Obodoza, District Superintendent Medanny Punsalan, and Field Nazarene Compassionate Ministries Coordinator Leody Echavez filled in to lead more of the workshops.

The South Luzon Summit was led by the Field Sunday School and Discipleship Ministries Director Dick Eugenio, Regional Nazarene Youth International Coordinator Janary de Godoy, and Fausto. Only a few months after the summit, those who attended have established and are still maintaining local small groups.

The districts are hoping to host follow-up summits within the next year due to the positive feedback from many participants. Several of them have even created accountability groups on social media to remind them of the summit’s vision, to encourage one another, and to share photos of their progress.

“I am praying that this will not be the first and the last summit, but it is just the beginning of [the] ministry here in Panay,” said one Panay District participant.

The final island group of the Philippines — Mindanao — is looking forward to having a summit of its own at the beginning of 2019. Although the dates have yet to be finalized, the Philippines-Micronesia Field and Mindanao districts are already praying for the Spirit to go ahead of them and work in the lives of those in the island groups who share the vision to go and make disciples.

--Church of the Nazarene Asia-Pacific