Going Forward: Discipleship in Tacloban

Going Forward: Discipleship in Tacloban

Even in storm-ravaged Tacloban, discipleship does not stop.

A few months after typhoon Yolanda (international name: Haiyan) hit the Visayas region, leaders and members from our church in Ortigas visited Tacloban to give running shoes away to students from Eastern Visayas State University. They also conducted running and basketball clinics for these university students.

Ehgie attended the basketball clinic, where he met Kix, the lone campus minister serving full-time in Victory Tacloban. Ehgie was EVSU’s soccer team captain. He, like many others, was one of those affected by the typhoon that ravaged their city.

Kix engaged Ehgie over a game of Monopoly Deal and invited him to a Victory group. Ehgie brought two of his teammates along, and the three of them are now being discipled in a small group setting.

Ehgie is now going through the ONE 2 ONE booklet with Kix. “He’s decided to follow Jesus for the rest of his life,” Kix shares. “I also encouraged Ehgie that he can do ONE 2 ONE with his teammates, too.” True enough, Ehgie is now doing ONE 2 ONE with the two friends he’s invited to Victory group!

Ehgie (right) is excited about his ONE 2 ONE session! Photo by Kix Javier
Ehgie (right) is excited about his ONE 2 ONE session! Photo by Kix Javier

Ehgie’s decision to follow Jesus for the rest of his life is not only impacting his life, and that of his family’s. It is a decision that will affect his campus and his city, and eventually the nation and the world.

Truly, discipleship is not just about us, or the circumstances surrounding us. It’s about advancing God’s kingdom, one person at a time.

Sharing the Message of Hope

Sharing the Message of Hope

Kix and his wife Bless
Kix and his wife Bless

In the wake of typhoon Yolanda bringing destruction to the Leyte city of Tacloban, Kix Javier felt a strong urge to take part in helping the fallen city.

“Even before I went there,” he says, “something was tugging at my heart.”

Five days after the storm hit, he flew to Tacloban from Manila. He was a few weeks shy of graduating from the Every Nation School of Campus Ministry, where he was training to be a campus missionary under Victory Tacloban.

Kix collaborated with Victory churches spearheading relief and rehabilitation efforts in the area, even sleeping at the airport to properly receive the goods being sent to church members affected by the typhoon. He also assisted Tacloban’s city government, offering aid to government employees who lost homes, possessions, and even loved ones.

“During the first few days,” he says, “they were also victims.”

The whole time Kix was in Tacloban post-Yolanda, mobility and transportation posed a challenge in accounting for church members and distributing relief goods. “Some of the roads weren’t clear (because of debris),” he explains. While some of Victory Tacloban’s church members sought refuge in Pastor Eugene Ramirez’s home, Kix chose to travel by motorcycle to visit and account for members who couldn’t leave their homes. All in all, the Victory Tacloban team was able to account for sixty-six church members, including Nessa Gardiola, another incoming campus missionary.

Kix flew back to Manila to attend his graduation from the School of Campus Ministry on November 28. He was chosen to deliver a speech during the commencement exercises.

“Loving God and loving others became more real in my life,” he shared of his Tacloban experience in his speech. “Christianity is not confined in the four corners of the church, but in the places where the gospel is needed.”

What’s next for Kix, and Tacloban? Kix has a stronger resolve to share the gospel in the campuses in Tacloban. “There is an even greater storm coming,” he says, “and that is the storm of the gospel.” To date, forty colleges and universities have been destroyed by Yolanda’s wrath, but there is no stopping Kix from being used by God to preach a message of faith, hope, and restoration in brokenness.