During the Philippines celebration of National Heroes Day, a local Work & Witness team served the people of Batangas City Church of the Nazarene on 30 August 2021.

The 24-member team included a motorcycle enthusiast group, Nazarene Riders Philippines, that volunteered to help repair and renovate the church and parsonage with their construction skills. They also assisted during a feeding program that provided meals for 130 children. 

Jackson Natividad of the Gintong Aral Community Development Center volunteered to work with the local pastor, Kislev Nidoy, to organize the feeding program. He hopes to minister to the community and extend relationships relationship with the families there. 

Leody Echavez, Philippines-Micronesia Field Nazarene Compassionate Ministries coordinator, also expressed a desire to participate. He invited Kevin and Janet Wilkins, field Work & Witness coordinators, to join as well.

Because of the pandemic, international Work & Witness teams are unable to complete similar projects. What seemed to be a challenge became a blessing because of this local Work & Witness team. 

“When the international Work & Witness teams are limited, the church can look [for] available resource within and empower locals to form Work & Witness teams where they can use and share their talents and skills,” Janet said.

Macas echoed Wilkins’ sentiment, adding that he believes it takes faith to step out and take advantage of the resources they already have.

“We often view the work in the church as resource-starved, and this perspective can paralyze us,” Macas said. “However, we have abounding resources. We just need to harness them. The ministry of Work & Witness is a great example that much can be accomplished even with limited resources. Yes, the miracle of multiplication still happens in our midst. We just need to be ready to step out in faith.”

--Church of the Nazarene Asia-Pacific