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Groundbreaking Ceremony for the Villa Church
Wednesday, 09 December 2009 11:15 Last Updated on Friday, 26 March 2010 11:19
Desired and longed for quite sometime, an Adventist church site gets final location and now the church building will soon rise thereby. Praise God for using the Faith Works Ministry, as He always does with other means, to accomplish His purpose and will for His church.
Late afternoon yesterday, December 8, the brethren, together with the conference directors, gathered in Sto. Nino Sur, Villa, Arrevalo, for a groundbreaking service conducted by Merlin Parsons, the Faith Works Ministry's project director. The acquiring of this church lot did not come easy. Many previous transactions failed for some reasons. But through much earnest petitions to God by the brethren, now, finally, a site will have the Adventist church where the brethren can gather for worship and do the "works of service."
Going to Villa from Iloilo city takes only 15 minutes or so. Early this year, Milton and Marleen Wirtz-Hathaway (the daughter of Fritz Wirtz, Faith Works Ministry's founder and president) and Merlin Parsons conducted an evangelistic campaign in the town of Villa. More than 60 decided to join the church through baptism, which encouraged the Faith Works to move everything towards the building of the church in the place. Their commitment goes for the brethren who after their baptism need a place to gather for fellowship. And this longing becomes real--now.
The Villa church project comes as one of the 14-church projects that the Faith Works Ministry have committed to undertake this year and until early next year. And this also comes as the fulfillment of their commitment that in every site where they will conduct an evangelistic campaign they willl build a church. And they have committed to conduct 5 evangelistic campaigns next year which also means 5 new churches more in addition to the 14 churches being constructed or to be constructed this year and until early next year.
"God has blessed Fritz Wertz so much, and he's just returning to God what he's been given with," Merlin Parsons said during his speech at the groundbreaking ceremony yesterday. "Fritz was doing a different job before God called him to follow Him, and now he's just being faithful to God," he further added.
Villa church comes under the Lapaz Adventist church as its parent-church. Henry Tampani, the church elder of Lapaz church said that this villa church project happens because of the graciousness of Fritz Wirtz. Originally this project, according to him, does not belong to the list of projects that the Faith Works will undertake this year. But, out of sheer goodwill by Fritz Wirtz, the villa church project gets being included in the list. So, he further said that the brethren in Villa must be thankful to God to realize that Fritz have a special place in his heart for them.
Pastor Joesel Grijaldo, WVC's ministerial secretary, initiated the preparation of and facilitated the groundbreaking ceremony program. Pastor James Rubrico, the central iloilo district pastor, led the litany during the ceremony. Pastor Calev Maquirang, WVC's health and communication director, Marlo Diomampo, secretary and layman supervisor of the Faith Works, Sherry Tampani, and the brethren came to witness and participate in the program.