Women at Work

Sometime ago, I came across this question on the internet: "How does the SDA Church address the issue of equality across genders? Can women be pastors and ministers in the SDA Church?"

That question comes to mind now as I consider the work women of the Royal Valley SDA Church have been doing this past year.

Majority of our members are women and girls. That means we have very few who can be ordained elders and deacons. But never did it mean that we lack busybees doing the work of the Lord.

Our Women's ministry started as a loose group of mothers and housewives who simply wanted to improve the lifestyles of their respective families. So they took an interest in basic nutrition and shared vegetarian recipes with one another. Later on, they began to study natural ways of healing, focusing on herbs. Lecturers were invited to the church to speak about different kinds of herbs and their uses. This knowledge was readily shared with relatives, friends, and even complete strangers.

Some Saturday evenings would find these women and their husbands still in church, repacking capsules of powdered garlic, turmeric, and charcoal for distribution to whoever needs them.

Later on, the women acquired knowledge on basic massage techniques, which became very useful for our little medical missions.

This past year, the church opened a new branch of ministry: Bible studies in the Women's Correctional. And guess who's spearheading this work!

Every Sunday morning, the women of our church would meet at the Ray of Hope Village to study the Bible with the women inmates. Bibles and other basic needs were given away and knowledge was shared regarding God's Word and how to take care of our health.

The inmates were taught about the healing wonders of herbs, charcoal, and water. Soon, even the jail wardens began to benefit from the knowledge.

After some time, the inmates began to ask the church women to visit sick relatives and to study the Bible with them too. On Sunday afternoons, they might opt to visit one such family or go to the local hospital to offer prayers, songs, and messages of encouragement to the sick.

After which, they'll all head to the church to practice with the church choir. The evening will be spent offering songs at the church's local radio program.

With all this work, one might think that the women will soon grow weary, but no. They actually enjoy getting together at least once a week and working together. It's also bonding time for them. Our Sabbath afternoons at church would be littered with testimonies and experiences by these women who share God whenever and wherever possible.

The women are always the first ones to sign up for a tract distribution activity, or for a visit to other churches, or for one training program or another. One could say that they do more work than our church men (although the men do all of their appointed work to the best of their ability).

And that's not all of it yet. All our Sabbath School Superintendents, secretaries, and choristers are women. Ninety per cent of our AY officers are women and girls. We have women lecturers, musicians, teachers, and speakers for prayer meetings and Sabbath programs.

The best thing about all this work is that our women are now more inspired and more driven to study God's Word for themselves so they could increase in knowledge and in wisdom.

Here we see what a great place there is for women in the ministry. Gone are the days when women had to sit home and wait for men to do the job. The women of today are women empowered to accomplish great things - learning, healing, inspiring, and winning souls within the home, the church, and beyond.

So going back to the question we started with, I think one pastor had it right. In God's church, regardless of gender, age, nationality, or social status, the question is always "what can I do to be of service to Christ?"

And for women, there's a lot.

Believe me, I know. Because as I am writing this, women of our church are gathered in the home of a newly-widowed woman and her teenage children, studying the Bible with them.

Big Little Church: Visiting Pangian

It was an unassuming building beside a rough road that runs and rolls over a rugged terrain. The walls were made of kalakat, the pews of uneven wood slabs. There were no fancy windows, nor was there an utra-modern sound system.

Yet, within Pangian Church one finds a sense of peace and reverence that is too often absent in big-city churches.

Perhaps it was in the way one hears only the speaker on the pulpit and not much else, or in the way one is supposed to leave his shoes outside the door, or even in the modesty of the old electric guitar and the slightly different way the vernacular hymns were sung.

Then again, perhaps it was all of these blended into the way the local brethren showed their hunger and eagerness for eternal truths we have come to share with them.

We first witnessed their eagerness and diligence two months ago in the neighboring locality of Bito. We have since committed ourselves to visiting them in their own church, meeting their needs wherever possible, and sharing precious truths we ourselves continue to study.

The brethren have started a Bible Markings Program where the young and the old study the Bible together. During our visit, ten Bibles were turned over to the church officers for distribution to needing members.



The Sabbath services were filled with messages of present truth and encouragement shared by Elder Gil Tagolgol, Elder Paquito Esperanza, Bro. Anthony Larita, and Sis. Wylie Ann Mariano. They requested for a lecture on health, and we were more than happy to oblige with Sis. Gladys talking about the need for keeping the body clean and Sis. Risha Catubigan sharing about our body's need for rest in order to rid it of toxins. Sis. Jowena Saliling also shared experiences from her youth that have led her to her present devotion to the Lord.

Music made the worship services even more meaningful as the brethren of Royal Valley and of Pangian took turns sharing the gift of song in praise of God and in encouragement of one another.

Although new to the message of reformation, the brethren of Pangian have begun to change old ways of observing the Sabbath and maintaining health.

What the church needs now are more resources, access to more information, books and other learning materials - tools that will help them improve on the truths we have shared with them.

We stayed one more night in Pangian, comfortable in the warm hospitality of Bro. and Sis. Tanyo and their grandchildren. These grandchildren were youngsters who, time and again, have made themselves available for service in their little church, and who have expressed their eagerness in learning more and more about present truth.

In the little church of Pangian, we are once again reminded that the size of a church is not as much the breadth or length of a building as it is the genuine eagerness for righteousness possessed by its members.

a happy union

July 12, 2009 witnessed the happy union of our sister Arlene Joy Mariano and Billy Roman.

The Royal Valley SDA Church joins Billy and Joy in their happiness as they begin a new life as a couple united in marriage - one of God's very first gifts to man.

May the good Lord pour out His blessings upon you. Congratulations!