What started through Bible studies in the office of a small business in 1980 has evolved into a vibrant church of charismatic Pentecostal Christians not only in the Philippine archipelago but also in places such as China, Hong Kong, North America, Europe and the Middle East.
"It's been the Holy Spirit working through our ministries," Bishop Moses Chungalao, life insurance businessman-turned-founding pastor and now head of a charismatic fellowship, told Ecumenical News International. "Without the Holy Spirit, there's no growth."
Chungalao in 1981 founded the Free Believers in Christ Fellowship, one of the fastest-growing members of the Philippine Convention of Evangelical Christians, which groups 63 Pentecostal and Evangelical churches and fellowships in this predominantly Roman Catholic Southeast Asian nation of 92 million people.
Before he began holding Bible studies at his office in 1980, Chungalao had participated in seminars and crusades by overseas missionaries in the mid- and late-1970s. One of those who exhorted him to "work for the Lord" was the Rev. Charles Widdowson, a visiting charismatic Anglican priest from Australia.
Chungalao had also trained under the first World MAP (Missionary Assistance Programme) Convention held in this northern Philippine city in 1980.
Besides the "Holy Spirit working", as Chungalao notes, his assistant senior minister, the Rev. William Guzman revealed other "ministry approaches", which, he thinks, might be among the factors behind the fellowship's growth. "We make it a point to respond to people's invitations for us to share the Gospel with them," Guzman told ENI. "But we don't go knocking on doors to proselytise people. We simply respond to people's invitations and we show them by example how passionate we are in serving the Lord."
Guzman says another secret is encouraging each member to participate in whatever capacity in the various ministries of the fellowship. "Our members are not mere spectators of what's going on in church; they're participants," Guzman said.
The miracles of "healing by the Holy Spirit", and the transformation into "born-again" Christians of criminals, drug addicts or alcoholics has also "inspired and encouraged other people to be enlightened, eventually joining our fellowship", said Guzman.
He cited a middle-aged man, who has been almost paralysed since birth, but who he said was able to walk again after joining a "Life in the Spirit" seminar and a "miracle crusade", which the fellowship helped facilitate. Guzman also mentioned a prisoner, to whom he had ministered and who, after his eventual release from jail, became a "full-time worker for the Lord".
Supervising 219 full-time workers, pastors and other leaders, Guzman now oversees 263 established churches in more than 25 provinces and 11 cities in the Philippines. He says that organized churches and outreach groups number more than 500 nationwide.
Guzman said that the fellowship has about 10 000 registered members in the Philippines, but he noted that that not all members have officially registered, and that the fellowship is still updating its census data.
Chungalao, now based in London, oversees the fellowship's overseas mission work, which has its main headquarters in Hong Kong. The fellowship's 57 established churches and several outreaches in various parts of Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East cater mostly to Filipino migrant workers, who are said to number almost 10 million worldwide.
"Our mission work overseas is most important because we need to minister to our fellows who left their families and who have to endure the loneliness of having to work in a foreign land
"It's been the Holy Spirit working through our ministries," Bishop Moses Chungalao, life insurance businessman-turned-founding pastor and now head of a charismatic fellowship, told Ecumenical News International. "Without the Holy Spirit, there's no growth."
Chungalao in 1981 founded the Free Believers in Christ Fellowship, one of the fastest-growing members of the Philippine Convention of Evangelical Christians, which groups 63 Pentecostal and Evangelical churches and fellowships in this predominantly Roman Catholic Southeast Asian nation of 92 million people.
Before he began holding Bible studies at his office in 1980, Chungalao had participated in seminars and crusades by overseas missionaries in the mid- and late-1970s. One of those who exhorted him to "work for the Lord" was the Rev. Charles Widdowson, a visiting charismatic Anglican priest from Australia.
Chungalao had also trained under the first World MAP (Missionary Assistance Programme) Convention held in this northern Philippine city in 1980.
Besides the "Holy Spirit working", as Chungalao notes, his assistant senior minister, the Rev. William Guzman revealed other "ministry approaches", which, he thinks, might be among the factors behind the fellowship's growth. "We make it a point to respond to people's invitations for us to share the Gospel with them," Guzman told ENI. "But we don't go knocking on doors to proselytise people. We simply respond to people's invitations and we show them by example how passionate we are in serving the Lord."
Guzman says another secret is encouraging each member to participate in whatever capacity in the various ministries of the fellowship. "Our members are not mere spectators of what's going on in church; they're participants," Guzman said.
The miracles of "healing by the Holy Spirit", and the transformation into "born-again" Christians of criminals, drug addicts or alcoholics has also "inspired and encouraged other people to be enlightened, eventually joining our fellowship", said Guzman.
He cited a middle-aged man, who has been almost paralysed since birth, but who he said was able to walk again after joining a "Life in the Spirit" seminar and a "miracle crusade", which the fellowship helped facilitate. Guzman also mentioned a prisoner, to whom he had ministered and who, after his eventual release from jail, became a "full-time worker for the Lord".
Supervising 219 full-time workers, pastors and other leaders, Guzman now oversees 263 established churches in more than 25 provinces and 11 cities in the Philippines. He says that organized churches and outreach groups number more than 500 nationwide.
Guzman said that the fellowship has about 10 000 registered members in the Philippines, but he noted that that not all members have officially registered, and that the fellowship is still updating its census data.
Chungalao, now based in London, oversees the fellowship's overseas mission work, which has its main headquarters in Hong Kong. The fellowship's 57 established churches and several outreaches in various parts of Asia, Europe, North America and the Middle East cater mostly to Filipino migrant workers, who are said to number almost 10 million worldwide.
"Our mission work overseas is most important because we need to minister to our fellows who left their families and who have to endure the loneliness of having to work in a foreign land
Glory to God.
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