Greenhills Christian Fellowship - Cebu turns a new leaf

Christians are called to become light and salt to the world, a light to shine before men, that everyone may see the good works and glorify the Almighty. Christians are to be "salt in themselves". Salt is good, but if it loses its saltiness, its purpose is defeated.

A flock of faithful congregated as the Greenhills Christian Fellowship lives up to this mission of serving as light and salt to the world.

As its church in Cebu celebrates its fourth anniversary on December 4, the evangelization ministry becomes a strengthened mission to touch and change lives through songs, preaching and worship in Sunday services, community outreach programs, counseling and education.

Greenhills Christian Fellowship-Cebu, established last December 2, 2001, is the sixth satellite church of 11 satellites that GCF has established over the years.

Its mother church is in Ortigas, Pasig City with other satellite churches in South Metro Alabang, Manila; Batangas, Naga and Legazpi in Bicol; East-Cainta, Marikina, North Commonwealth avenue, Diliman, Quezon City; Bulacan, and in San Fernando, Pampanga.

GCF-Cebu offers services every Sunday at the Caspian room of the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel in Lahug at 9:00 a.m. with a growing number of over a hundred members since it began its ministry here.

Planted by Dr. Lloyd Estrada, GCF-Cebu has been nurtured by God's work through the leadership of its pastor, Reverend Reuben Gershom Foncardas for over three years now and has grown in membership since then. However, next year, the church leadership will be turned over to pastor Alvin Garcia Rival who will officially start his term on January 1.

A church said to be born out of the New Testament heritage, Greenhills Christian Fellowship assists in the spreading of the gospel through evangelism, discipleship and in the multiplication of churches. The Lord has used the potential of the founders - Reverend David Yount and his wife Patty Jo to fulfill his mission to know Him and make Him known among as many people.

Yount had a teaching degree from Western Washington University in Bellingham. However, faithful to the Lord's calling, he further studied for four more years at Moody Bible Institute in Chicago. In 1967, with seven years pastoral ministry works in Colorado behind him, Yount and his wife moved to Manila to establish Calvary Baptist Church in Marikina. The next ministry was to start a church in Greenhills that became Greenhills Christian Fellowship.

It all started with a big dream that seemed impossible. But because of their strong faith that God would use them for His great commission, Yount and his wife prayed and started a church among the affluent people in the country. The vision was to start a church with a target group in the heart of a first class community.

After six months of trial and error, the Younts finally were able to touch their target groups. On February 14, 1978 they planned a Valentine banquet at the prestigious Club Filipino Garden in Greenhills. Then God used the testimonies, the music and the message to develop the beginning of a warm bond among those who attended its first service.

For three months since it was brought to the Philippines, GCF held services at the Club, then at Greenhills Sound Studio. But after several months, it leased office and worship space in Medecor Building in Greenhills. Later in June 1990, GCF moved to its own building at the corner of Garnet and Ruby roads in Ortigas Center in Pasig City. At present, the building has been expanded to extend more services to its growing number of members. The seven story-new ministry center will be fully operational for the church's expanded ministry.

At present, GCF has more than 7,000 members in the country with a hundred members in Cebu and is still growing.

Pastor Foncardas, who leads GCF-Cebu said that their dream is to make Cebu a hub where other GCF satellites may grow.

"We hope to have a thousand members in Cebu by 2010 in line with the same vision of having 20 satellites in the country with 20,000 members," Foncardas said.

Having celebrated also its 27th anniversary recently, Greenhills Christian Fellowship - the mother church - is bursting in bloom. Under the leadership of Dr. Luis Pantoja, GCF is being steered towards reaching those with leadership and economic influence to support mission-oriented efforts here and abroad. Foncardas said that they are also planning to put up more satellite-churches next year in Makati, Sta. Rosa Laguna and in Toronto, Canada.

The dream of bringing GCF to Cebu where its branches are mostly in Manila was inspired by the idea of the daughter of the newly elected chairman of the Governing Board Manny Osmeña, one of those whose lives were changed when they became members of GCF.

"One time I was having lunch with my daughter Maegan when, out of the blue, she said that it would be nice to bring GCF to Cebu. And I find the idea nice so I approached the board and asked them if I could bring it here," Osmeña said.

He accounted that the members of the Governing Board that time were hesitant to bring the church to Cebu for lack of funds. But then, he was determined to help the church raise funds through a play "The Journey" which he said was the handiwork of the Lord as financial resources "miraculously poured in". Osmeña, described himself before as a hardcore atheist, but what changed him was the struggle that his wife faced when stricken with the Big C.

"God and this church have changed my heart. In the past, I was very self-righteous and a very conceited man. I was worst than an atheist, but I got married to a faithful servant of God, Grayn," he recounted.

"Before, I think I am my own God and that everything is under my control. I used to be a prosecutor of the church but when my wife Grayn had cancer and died later, it was then that I realized that it was God's way of telling me I don't have a way with things. God has to use Grayn to change my heart," Osmeña burst in tears.

"When my wife had cancer he told me, that was the happiest moment in her life because it changed me. My wife was a faithful servant while I am not, but she never bugged me to change. Instead she waited for it. The situation of Grayn was like God saying that I have no control over things," he added. As GCF members are to celebrate the church's 4th anniversary this December 4, they are set on renewing their personal relationship with the Lord and their commitment to make Him known through their lives, so they may continue touching and changing other people's lives too. There would be no stopping in spreading Scriptural truth.

GCF will have a motorcade this afternoon as a pre-celebration of its 4th year while tomorrow, its Founding Pastor David Yount will lead service at 9:00 am at the Caspian room of Waterfront Hotel-Lahug. They will cap the anniversary with a grand party at night still at the Waterfront. - Jasmin R. Uy