Saying Hello to Greater Responsibilities

The pastor who just said goodbye to a church is actually saying hello to the churches.

Pastor Mar's goodbye to Dagupan was his hello to greater responsibilities entrusted to him by FECPI to be the National Coordinator of FECPI Church Multiplication Teams...

ON the first day of April...

Pastor Mar first met with the Regional Coordinators of the church planting teams. They have meeting for three months already for planning and brainstorming but this was his first meeting with them as the National Coordinator.

The First Visitation

Together with other Regonal Coordinator, Pastor Mar and wife Belle visited the church multiplication teams... Their first destination was Cavite province where the church planters of Region 4A gathered.

The second destination was in Pangasinan where they met with pastor Emil and then to Quirino province where they met with the church planting teams of Region 2.

The visit was highlighted by prayer time with the workers. That was actually the first and most important agenda of the new National Coordinator--to gather everyone and pray believing that more would be accomplished starting with the most essential yet neglected part of the ministry--PRAYER!

The visiting team stayed with the church planters to encourage them and listen to what they have to say. That was the time also to show them where the church planting teams are going and should be going with the right vehicle to ride on and proper instructions to follow...

Pastor Mar even shared a testimony that on the first two days that he was going to the office in Aurora Blvd. from Montalban where they are now living, he got lost. That happened not just once but twice. He knew how it felt to be lost. With the new and clearer direction the Lord is leading the church planting teams, he was encouraged and that's exactly what he shared with the rest of the church planters which encouraged everyone as well.

"It is not hard to follow a leader who knows where he is going..."

Pastor Mar & Belle got a lot of testimonies to share when it comes to how the Lord has prepared them for this ministry... Watch out for those stories!

Part of the visit was to mingle and have fellowship with the rest of the teams and their spouses. The visit wasn't only encouraging but it was also fun exploring the caves in Aglipay, Quirino!

when a pastor says goodbye...

Pastor Mar & Belle Ocampo said goodbye to Faith Fellowship Dagupan in March. They served in Dagupan for 5 years after Pastor Mar graduated from Faith Bible College in 2004. Those years have been very productive. Their commitment and faithfulness in the ministry gave birth to two other churches--Faith Fellowship San Carlos and Faith Fellowship Malued.

Now it's time to say goodbye...

Faith Fellowship Malued prepared a farewell party for the couple on the same day Pastor Mar & Belle were celebrating their 14 years of marriage. Through the messages of the members you would know how the couple has served the church and how they have impacted the lives of the people. Mr. Martinez, the uncle of everybody, was critical of God and the Bible. He kept challenging Pastor Mar about the Bible but he was surprised by Pastor Mar's honesty & humility which led him to get to know God.

The church also gave a plaque of appreciation to Pastor Mar & Belle. It was hard for them to lose a dear pastor who served the Lord faithfully but were very grateful and with the blessing, they released their pastor to serve on a higher level of leadership.

Pastor Mar is now serving as the National Coordinator of FECPI Church Planting Teams.

Lucena City for Christ!

Fun, Fellowship & Family Day

It's only eight in the morning and the kids & youths were already in the resort, jumped in the pool and played while waiting for others. They brought their food to share with others for lunch. That's how excited they were for the event.
The program started with a praise and worship, followed by water baptism when Kuya Jun adn Julie Ann decided to obey the Lord through water baptism. The testimonies were really moving stating how the Lord has changed their lives.

a recognition given to Nanay Emma for preparing the food during the youth activity in December

There were also a lot of games for the fathers, the youths and the kids. Prices made the games even more exciting and fun!

check this slide for more pictures

The Right Worship to the Right God

Dagupan Faith Fellowship had their youth camp on December 29-30 at Barangay Sta. Cruz, San Jacinto, Pangasinan. The youths were accomodated by some Christians there during the night while their sessions were held in a church building nearby.

34 youths from pre-teens to young professionals attended the camp. The youths came from Dagupan Faith Fellowship and its daughter churches in San Carlos, Malued and Pogo Grande. Sherilyn de Sola, one of the youth leaders, reported that these youths are already involved in praise and worship because the camp's theme is about "the Right Worship to the Right God" which discussed also the manners of worship and the use of music to worship our One True God.

Sherilyn reported a list of what they have learned during the camp. Here they are:

• that we should offer our time, talent, treasures, and our temple to the Lord
• that the worship leader should know the songs and not just imitate other known song leaders but be creative with his or her own style.
• that song leaders should also be a worshipper and not seek to be worshipped... remember that God looks at the heart
• that the instrumentalist should also be worhsipping and singing while playing their instruments
• the back-up singers should know how to modulate the voice so as not to overpower the song leader
• and for everyone to be true to self and offer a genuine worship to the Lord

they also learned to do household chores and were able to meet new friends as they stayed in the houses of the Christians in San Jacinto.

The camp resulted to transformation and realization among the youths and they are definitely looking forward to the next camp meeting.

FECPI Workers Christmas Party

presenting... the singles of FECPI

A Christmas Party in November

Can you feel the cool breeze at night? It only tells us that Christmas is fast approaching and for FECPI workers, Christmas starts in November.

It started in 2007 when FECPI workers--local senior pastors, pastoral staff, ECC church planters and FBC faculty and staff gather for a time of celebration and fellowship in November. It used to be First Monday of December now it was moved to last Friday of November. The reason? December is a very busy month so why not gather and celebrate before everybody gets busy arranging different parties, retreats and other events.

The program started with a movie about Christmas followed by the opening number of ECC church planters singing It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year. See pictures below.

What is a party without games? With the pictures you can tell how the pastors enjoy the games...

the Big Foot Race

guessing game--the Americans guess the word on their forehead being described in English by a Filipino... the Winner? Pastor Brent and Pastor Richard!

another game is the game of survival! Singles are paired and went through challenges... the winner? Grace and Bong!

after the games, the workers enjoyed the food and the fellowship. But the program did not end there...

The committee surprised the pastors with special awards... the pastor of the year award voted by the workers themselves goes to Pastor Mar Ocampo--for the outstanding servant leadership he has shown in the ministry!

pastor of the year: Mar Ocampo and wife

The night ended with a surprise tribute to FECPI President Brent Burdick and his closing speech and prayer encouraging everyone to keep on serving the Lord no matter what the cost!

I-FOCUS Life & Ministry Training in Baguio City

As every event would end, there is always a group picture taking. This comprises the whole training done in five days... of learning together, fun and activities, inspiration and challenges to obey God in life and in ministry.It's everybody's prayer to be protected fromt he schemes of the enemy and to remain faithful in obeying God's command in everyday life and in every ministry He has called each one to be involved with, especially in church planting. Until the next training, we hope and pray for every delegates to be able to apply everything they have learned but most of all to be strong in the Lord always despite persecutions and challenges that they may encounter along the way.

God bless everyone! To God alone be the glory!

The Final Session of the Training

Revival Nights

FBC Challenges a Thousand

On the last night of the training, FBC President, Miss Ermalee Hidalgo together with FBC Chaplain, Pastor Aven Rivera and an adjunct Faculty Professor Tom Sparrow went up to Baguio to connect with the graduates of FBC and lay leaders and give the challenge to become a part of "A Thousand for FBC" - a thousand who will pray for FBC, a thousand who will support financially and a thousand who will respond to God's call to study full time in the Bible College.