As CCF continued to grow, we had our first batch of elders – only three. Then in the second batch, there were six, then seven.
We called each other by our first names. No one was called a pastor. The early CCF elders were either corporate executives or businessmen. Everyone who was helping out was a volunteer – except for the regular CCF staff who manned our office.
The elders and wives and our children all knew each other well. We were one, big, extended family.
We’d meet in each other’s homes, have lunch or dinners together. Our children would play somewhere in the house, while we adults had Bible study. Then we discussed church matters.
But before that, we always asked each other how things were at home. At work. Were there answered prayers? Was there anything we’d like to share and ask advice about? Right there, we prayed for each other. This went on for decades.
We shared intimately about our lives. Our highs and lows. What God was teaching us. We had peer counseling which came from deep friendships.
It’s now called “life-on-life discipleship.” That time, we didn’t even call it “discipleship. “ The term might’ve freaked us out, frightened us away. We were just close friends who wanted to share about Jesus to as many people as we could.
We had family retreats out of town – just the elders and wives, and our children. These intimate retreats strengthened our trust in each other, created mutual love and respect. So much laughter, fun, and easy camaraderie.
What we did in our small group of elders and wives, we also did – on a larger scale – in the lives of those who became part of CCF. We encouraged them to have small Bible study groups that we called cell groups, then care groups, which met weekly in homes, offices, schools, restaurants, etc. These small groups were eventually called Discipleship Groups.
We had bigger and bigger retreats in Baguio, Tagaytay, Caliraya, etc – for families, couples, singles, and even our Golden Girls (senior ladies).
But one thing we hugely invested in was our children. We, parents, planned and organized our children’s church activities. Our older children helped us run our youth camps. We made our own materials, and personally taught our children in Sunday School and our youth camps.
From these early CCF Youth Camps came some of our strong CCF leaders today. They proceeded to teach Bible studies in the schools they went to for college.
So from AIM, we moved to PICC, then to other venues, as CCF planted more and more churches – beyond what we ever imagined!
Hindsight is just as important as foresight.
What made CCF what it is today? Actually, it’s not a “what.” It’s a “Who.”
It is, first and foremost, God, Who made CCF what it is today. That’s the only logical, irrefutable conclusion one can make.
For how could an ordinary businessman and his wife, and a motley group of men and their wives – all volunteers, all self-supporting, none of whom went to seminary (except for Pastor Peter who went to Bible school many years later) – how could they have taught these small, itinerant Bible studies that eventually became a church?
Whenever I remember the small Bible study in that garage, I absolutely marvel at what God has done – and continues to do – with such small, humble beginnings. In these last 40 years.
Now, in 2024, the Lord has grown CCF into a church that has 17,000 discipleship groups in 83 CCF satellite churches all over the Philippines; plus 48 satellite churches and 78 house churches in four continents – including North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Oceania.
God has also used CCF to help start over 40,000 house churches and small Bible study groups (through partnerships with local laymen and women) in countries where Jesus Christ is not openly shared about.
Also, in partnership with a Christian organization, CCF has trained 12,000 pastors from marginalized areas in Visayas and Mindanao. Around 8,000 new house churches were formed, with over 130,000 people attending. This is a continuing effort of CCF.
Jesus was born in a manger. CCF started in a garage. There are many great men and women of faith who also had small, humble beginnings.
2 Corinthians 9:8 tells us, “And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work.”
It’s as if God wants to remind us, each day, that He alone deserves the credit for all that we have been allowed to accomplish.
Only God.
Indeed – to Him alone be all the glory, honor, and praise!
