Help build a simple Church

FACEBOOK PAGE: King of Glory Christian Family Church - Tondo

There is a small, but active Christian group that would like to build a simple church on a small lot in Tondo, Manila that was donated by a generous family. Please read the following article for details of this very dedicated group that donates food and other items to the many needy residents of the neighborhood.

KING OF GLORY CHRISTIAN FAMILY CHURCH

Vargas Compound, Solis Street, Tondo Manila

AND THE CHURCH SHALL RISE…

To get to the King of Glory Christian family church off Solis street in Tondo you must first walk down a very narrow alley, bordered by old, worn down apartment units packed tightly together. There is an open sewer line running underneath that you can see and smell through cracks in the crumbled concrete sewer covers which residents have to pull up on occasion to dislodge garbage that gets stuck in the murky slow moving sludge below.

About half-way through the “eskinita” you can hear the singing. It draws you into a bare ground path that leads to an open lot. In one corner of the lot is the “Church.” It’s hardly a church in the traditional sense. It’s a small, open air structure defined by an uneven, roughly paved concrete floor with an exterior wall on one side, and a covered chain-link fence on another. The roof is made of corrugated tin sheets held up by worn two-by-four wooden frames. Thick curtains hang on the wall and the fence to provide some privacy for the room, which is about 500 square feet or 46 square meters in size. An overhead rotating fan and two standing fans provide relief from the muggy heat of the Philippine mornings.

Alfredo “Winning” De Guzman is the pastor. He and his wife Dulce run the satellite church, which is associated with the main King of Glory Christian Family Church in neighboring Santa Mesa. It started as a small bible study group of five people, but as more joined in, they decided to formalize as a church group and rent an actual space to worship in, “Dumaan ang maraming taon ay nadagdagan ang bilang ng mga dumadalaw kaya nagdecide ang bawat isa na mag rent din ng isang lugar na pwedeng maglaman ng thirty na tao. Ito ay naganap noong 2012,” Pastor Winning explained.

The church had always struggled to pay rent, so when a friend of one of the church goers offered a free space in their family-owned lot they received an answer to their prayers, “Kaya ginamit ng Diyos ang mga taong ito na dito muna ilagay ang pansamantalang lugar ng aming church,” said Pastor Winning.

They moved to the compound in 2019 with only enough resources to build the current makeshift structure. It is Pastor Winning’s dream to erect a permanent church, with walls and a gate, to provide comfort for church goers, and storage and security for their television monitor, and musical equipment. But the biggest inspiration for building a church is to spread the word of God to the people of the neighborhood, “We want to reach out especially sa mga kabataan na makaiwas sa mga masamang bisyo. These young people are hungry to know more about Jesus, to serve Him as Lord and savior. They also need to build a relationship to love others not only themselves,” the Pastor said.

Church goers have also been praying for a permanent place to worship. Carol Alejandro lives just a short walk from the lot, “It should be a safe place for the churchgoers to come, because as you can see the place itself is not very safe. I think if the church is built the way it should, more will come. It encourages people to come here and worship if it’s more comfortable. Let’s face it, other people will come to a church which looks like a church. But for us who are used to this kind of a place, it is easier for us to be comfortable here, but for others I don’t think so,” Carol said.

Biboy Obsuna is another church goer. He is originally from Tondo and his parents still live in the neighborhood. He drives all the way from Cavite every weekend with his wife and children to attend the services. “Church is very important to me and my family. As Christians we need the church, the physical church. The bible says we need to fellowship with one another not only with our family but with our brethren, so it helps us feed our spiritual growth. To be honest, some people, not really all, but some people look at the physical aspect of the church. Although the bible says church is not really physical, but it is in us. However like sister Carol said, we need to improve the physical appearance of the church just to become more of a blessing to the others, not to impress the others, but to become a blessing. I think God will be happy that the church here at Vargas compound is not only growing spiritually but physically,” Biboy said.

The church goers of this satellite church in Tondo have started a fund drive to build a modest, functional church building. They are a dedicated group, but a small one, and so it will take quite some time to raise the needed money. So they are appealing to others for help, “The church is a holy ground for people to stand on and feel the presence of God. Worship means giving praise or giving reverence to God, and many people believe that they cannot pray very well or feel the presence of God unless the church looks like a church. So I would encourage anyone to help us build a church for the God of all people,” Carol said.

Biboy added, “If you help us, God sees your heart and he will bless you more. We’re talking about the physical church here, some other churches, they big build big churches, they build really beautiful churches, however they’re not really building a spiritual church. So if you help us, you help the true church. We believe in the true and all powerful God. If you help us you really bless yourself because God will see your heart. We will be very thankful for your help. God bless you all. Any help, monetary or prayers, will really matter for us.”

Pastor Winning said his mission is clear: to spread the word of God “sa lahat ng mga taong wala pang tamang relasyon sa Diyos.” He cites Matthew 28:19-20: “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you.”

Amen.