God is Our Provider

Exclusive interview with Pastor Chester of Holy Love Church Taipei Filipino Church

Photo courtesy/Hong Shixin

On a Sunday morning in early spring, I walked from the Taipei MRT Minquan West Road Station toward Section 3 of Zhongshan North Road. On weekdays, there are only a few small stalls on the sidewalk, but on weekends, it is like a Philippine carnival, with temporary vendors all over the street, selling... Buy Philippine groceries, food, newspapers, etc. Passionate music accompanies the pace of the migrant workers as they shuttle between stalls, chatting with friends, or stopping to admire any objects related to the Philippines, looking for a slight connection to their hometown.

Serving people at home abroad

Perhaps due to the epidemic or the weather being a bit cold, the enthusiasm of the Southeast Asian island country was not felt on the streets today. Walking into a building located in Section 3 of Zhongshan North Road, you can hear sweet and familiar hymns floating in your ears. Going up to the second floor, you will find the Agape International Christian Assembly – Taipei Filipino Congregation. , hereafter referred to as the Taipei Filipino Department of Holy Love Church). The gathering space of about 20 square meters is decorated colorfully and warmly. The chandeliers behind the podium brought out the festive atmosphere. The worship team lined up and led the congregation to worship God in songs with a sincere "voice" from their hearts. (Editor’s note: Agape ICA is an English-speaking Assemblies of God church in Asia. It has branches in various cities in Asia, including Taipei, Tokyo, Bangkok, etc. This report focuses on Agape ICA’s Filipino synagogue in Taiwan.)

Chester Allen Tesoro, a young Filipino pastor of the Filipino ministry of Holy Love Church in Taipei and a Taiwanese son-in-law, pastored a church in Davao City, Philippines before coming to Taiwan. He originally hoped to preach the gospel in remote areas of the Philippines, and his wife, Mrs. Hong Shixin, who grew up in Taiwan, also thought she would serve in the Philippines for a long time. Unexpectedly, in early 2020, before the border was closed due to the epidemic, God would bring them back to Taiwan to serve the Filipino migrant workers who came here across the ocean.

The Philippines is one of the countries that supplies the largest number of human labor in the world. As of the end of 2022, statistics show that there are more than 150,000 Filipino migrant workers in Taiwan, including about 120,000 Filipino industrial migrant workers (mostly in the electronics industry), and social welfare migrant workers ( such as caregivers) more than 28,000 people.[1]

When Pastor Chester first came to the Taipei Filipino Department of Holy Love Church, there were only a few members. After three years of hard work and companionship, there are currently about 70 to 80 members. Most of them are female social welfare migrant workers, and some are migrant workers. Women who married in Taiwan, or overseas Chinese in the Philippines.

Domestic economy developing overseas

The Philippines was the first Asian country to accept Western religious beliefs, with more than 80% of the population believing in Catholicism and Christianity.[2]Since most Filipinos know Jesus Christ and His teachings and go to church, for Pastor Chester, what is the difference between pastoring a church in the Philippines and pastoring Filipino believers in Taiwan?

After thinking about it, he replied: "Although many Filipinos say they are Christians and have listened to the gospel or gone to church, it is only when they leave their hometown and come to Taiwan that they truly understand the true meaning of Christianity. Most of the people I see in the church Time is used to reconcile disputes among members. The process of reconciliation is to teach the implementation of the words of the Lord Jesus: "Love your neighbor as yourself."

Pastor Chester said that the Philippines was the first Southeast Asian country to be influenced by Christianity. Why is it still a poor country after so many years? It can be seen that the governing units or leaders have not acted out the faith of Christ. He pointed out that the bosses of many large companies in the Philippines are overseas Chinese who immigrated early and worked hard to allow the next generation to receive higher education. Foreign companies come to the Philippines to see business opportunities, but Filipinos look far away. They always think that there is gold everywhere abroad. As long as someone goes abroad to make money, the whole family or the whole village will look forward to that person working abroad to send money back, and long for him or her. Able to support family and relatives.

According to statistics, from April to September 2021, the number of overseas migrant workers in the Philippines was 1.83 million.[3]Accounting for nearly 2% of the national population; the amount of money remitted by overseas migrant workers back to the Philippines has exceeded 3.1 billion US dollars, exceeding 10% GDP.[4]This is a question of culture and economy, as well as a question of people's hearts and values. Facing the increasing number of migrant workers, how does Pastor Chester pastor these brothers and sisters from his hometown?

Realize the true meaning of God as provider

"I want to start by educating them. This is also one of the challenges. Over the years, the families of migrant workers who have stayed in the Philippines have become accustomed to waiting for remittances from abroad. They don't quite understand that these are the price of sweat, tears, and self-sacrifice. Some family members even use it to spend time and money without making good use of it. Since we are Christians, we must believe that God is our provider instead of relying on the family members of overseas migrant workers who are working hard and even being abused. The family members who stay in the Philippines also have to pay. I hope that migrant workers will not promise their families that they will send money to support the livelihood of the whole family or the whole village; they work hard but cannot survive. Money. The purpose of going abroad to make money is to save a sum of money and use the money earned to do business or invest profitably in your hometown to be self-sufficient, not to become a money printing machine for your family. They need to get away from this endless and unbiblical teaching. Promise of."

In order to break the promise of provision and strive to implement the teachings of the Bible, Pastor Chester often encourages members to donate in his sermons. This is an exercise of faith and one of the ways to practice "relying on God as our provider" in action. Migrant workers usually remit all their accumulated wages to their families in the Philippines every few months. They don’t have much saved, and it’s not easy for them to donate more.

Pastor Chester encouraged the members on the podium and said: "I think many people signed a three-year contract, thinking that after saving the money, they would go home. But after three years, they found that they had not saved much money, so they signed another three-year contract. Then for another three years, I found out in the end that the money had not been deposited, but I was holding a stack of remittance receipts. What we wanted to accumulate was the treasure in heaven, not the money that was sent back to our hometown and we didn’t know where it was spent. Money." Pastor Chester emphasized,God is our provider. Seek first His kingdom and His righteousness, and He will provide us with all other needs.

The growing field

In the past, there have been many cases of migrant workers being abused, overworked, beaten, and even sexually assaulted in Taiwan. Although some migrant workers are heartbroken and scared, they can only endure it. Because they do not know any other way out for the sake of making money and the provisions of the contract. In recent years, Taiwan's Ministry of Labor has established the "1955 24-hour consultation and protection hotline for foreign migrant workers". If migrant workers are bullied by their employers or need help, they can directly dial "1955" to seek rescue or receive protection. Evil employers will be included in the "blacklist" because of this. Once included in the "blacklist", it will be difficult to apply for jobs legally in the future.

Although regulations stipulate that there is at least one day off per week, many migrant workers care for and work with elderly people living alone or patients who require long-term care. The nature of their work makes it difficult for their employers to stay at home, so the number of breaks they can take is limited. Pastor Chester said that the church holds weekly activities, but the number of participants is limited. Fortunately, thanks to technology, Bible studies, prayer meetings and theology courses have been moved online, allowing some migrant workers to complete theology courses online and return to the Philippines. Lead your family to believe in the Lord, or establish a church to have a deeper follow-up in your faith. ICA also co-organizes a series of online theology courses with Global University in the United States. Church co-workers and believers who are interested in serving can become preachers by completing advanced courses after work.

Pastor Chester said that online gatherings and courses have also allowed ICA’s Filipino congregation to expand day by day, with eight branch campuses in Tamsui, Xinzhuang, Zhongli, Hsinchu, Hukou, Zhunan, and Taichung. The biggest challenge at present is the shortage of manpower to lead services. Pastors and evangelists have to travel to several campuses a day to support each other. Pray that God will lead more co-workers to share in the increasingly important ministry.

I heard about you in the past, but now I see you with my own eyes

After the worship and praise is over, it’s time for sharing. A tall, long-haired sister came to the stage to testify: "My son's birthday is coming soon, but I am so far away in Taiwan. How can I help him celebrate his birthday? I prayed to God and asked God to give me a way to celebrate his birthday. I celebrated my son's birthday and expressed my love for him. I happened to mention this to a friend in the Philippines, and she said, "Your business is my business. Tell me what you want to do, and I will find a friend to help your son." Birthday party.’” After the birthday party, her son described all the surprises of the birthday party to her mother, whom she had not seen for a long time. From her son’s excited tone, she understood that her son had received her love. She declared on the stage: “God has I'm so good!"

Many Filipino female migrant workers have to leave their families behind and go to unfamiliar places to take care of other people's families. They accompany their employers' children to grow up, but are sad that they cannot accompany their own children to grow up. When their contracts ended and they returned home, they had to be separated from their employers' families, whom they finally got to know. The lifestyle of this group of women is often in a cycle of separation, longing, relationship building, separation again, and missing again. In such a wandering lifestyle, only the presence of Abba and Father gave them a sense of "home".

As Pastor Chester said, many people come to church, whether they are Christians or not, initially to warm each other and hope to meet companions. But when I really met God in the gathering and felt His presence, my sorrow turned into joy. Every week, church members come on stage and share one by one how God has given them strength in their difficulties. Seeing hope, there is no excuse for them having to come on stage to share His divinity.

In the past, they had heard about God, and then they came to Taiwan and entered the church to truly see God with their own eyes.

Note

1. https://www.ndc.gov.tw/Content_List.aspx?n=421CC0712EC314BD

2. https://itsmorefuninthephilippines.com.tw/introduction/Philippine_people

3. https://psa.gov.ph/statistics/survey/labor-and-employment/survey-overseas-filipinos

4. https://asia.nikkei.com/Economy/Philippines-modern-day-heroes-sent-record-remittances-last-year