Skip to content
  • The Alabama Baptist
  • The Baptist Paper
  • The Alabama Baptist
  • The Baptist Paper
  • Log In
  • Subscribe
  • Renew
  • Donate
  • The Alabama Baptist
  • The Baptist Paper
  • The Alabama Baptist
  • The Baptist Paper
  • Log In
  • Subscribe
  • Renew
  • Donate
The Baptist Paper
The Baptist Paper
  • Latest News
  • Trending
  • Your state news
  • Classifieds
  • Latest News
  • Trending
  • Your state news
  • Classifieds

Filipino Southern Baptist Fellowship casts vision, celebrates God’s faithfulness

  • June 14, 2022
  • Sheila Morgan
  • Latest News, SBC, SBC 2022
The Filipino Southern Baptist Fellowship gathers during the 2022 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Anaheim, California.
(The Baptist Paper)

Filipino Southern Baptist Fellowship casts vision, celebrates God’s faithfulness

The annual meeting of the Filipino Southern Baptist Fellowship of North America, which took place on Monday, June 13, in advance of the SBC annual meeting, was a time of fellowship and worship.

No business took place.

“Our pastors are happy,” the FSBF Executive Director Dan Santiago told The Baptist Paper after the gathering’s conclusion. He’s also pastor of Covenant Christian Church in Jacksonville, Florida. “They may have come to the Fellowship’s annual meeting weary from the cares and concerns in their lives and ministries, but [they] were revived.”

A ballroom transformed

Jonathan Maritz, a worship leader at Word of Praise Community Church in Irvine, led in song and scripture that transformed the ballroom at the Anaheim Marriott into a worship center. He was backed by the six-person vocal team Papuri – the name means “Praise” in Tagalog, the Philippines’ national language.

Reports were heard from the Far East Broadcast Company, a Christian nonprofit headquartered in the Philippines, and from Samaritan’s Purse. Both entities helped sponsor the FSBF annual meeting, as did David Jeremiah’s Turning Point Ministries and the International Mission Board.

Victor Delacruz, who was sent out by the FSBF in January 2021 as its first church planter, reported on the growth of Biblical Community Church East in Mesquite, Texas, east of Dallas.

He focused on multiplication, Delacruz said, developing followers of Jesus who develop still more followers of Jesus, and as a result the church has grown to already include a volunteer children’s minister and an associate pastor. 

Four purposes

Executive Director Santiago explained the four purposes of the FSBF: to unite Filipino churches, to provide training for pastors and leaders, to engage in church planting efforts and to help pastors caught in natural disasters.

He encouraged his listeners to give each month to support the ministries of the FSBF so more Filipino churches could be started across the nation. 

An offering was taken to help defray the cost of the annual meeting. Several churches had given earlier to provide dinner for registered guests.

Guest speaker Darius Nable, pastor of The Church of the Good Shepherd in Cherry Hills, New Jersey, preached from Psalm 89 on the FSBF’s theme, Celebrating God’s Faithfulness.

Some version of the word “faithfulness” is repeated 15 times in the 52 verses of the Psalm, Nable said, adding that he had only two points in his message: First, show off in celebrating God to encourage others because they will see He is faithful. Second, sit in the presence of the Lord, rather than continually striving to do more.

“Sit in the presence of the Lord and see what He does,” Nable preached. “Let our agenda die. Let God’s agenda happen. God is faithful to do what He sets out to do.”

Each officer last year was elected to a two-year term: President Felix Sermon, pastor of International Christian Church in Springfield, Va.; East Coast Vice President Jessie Arce, pastor of Good Shepherd Baptist in Bear, Del.; West Coast Vice President Henry Amarilla, pastor of Filipino Ministry at Shadow Mountain Community Church in El Cajon, Calif.; Secretary Melvin Guerrero, pastor of Christ Centered International Fellowship of Jacksonville, Fla., and Treasurer Robert Del Castillo, pastor of Harmony International Baptist Church in San Diego, Calif.

View photos from this event here.


 For more stories from the 2022 Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting, visit thebaptistpaper.org/sbc2022.

Share with others:

Facebook
X/Twitter
LinkedIn
Email
Facebook
Twitter
LinkedIn
Email

Latest News

  • Looking for the 2025 SBC Book of Reports? It’s available online.
    Looking for the 2025 SBC Book of Reports? It’s available online.
    May 16, 2025/
    0 Comments
  • Second VP role gets second nominee, making it first contested SBC race so far
    Second VP role gets second nominee, making it first contested SBC race so far
    May 16, 2025/
    0 Comments
  • First person: Refocusing on the main thing
    First person: Refocusing on the main thing
    May 16, 2025/
    0 Comments

Sign up for the Highlights

Get all latest content delivered to your email a few times a month.
Email is required Email is not valid
Thanks for your subscription.
Failed to subscribe, please contact admin.

Related Posts

Looking for the 2025 SBC Book of Reports? It’s available online.

If you’re looking to brush up on your business and financial reports knowledge ahead of this year’s Southern Baptist Convention Annual Meeting in Dallas (June 10–11), the SBC has released its 2025 Book of Reports online.

Second VP role gets second nominee, making it first contested SBC race so far

A second nominee has been announced for second vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention, making it the first contested race for an SBC post so far this year. Craig Carlisle, current Alabama convention president, will be nominated.

First person: Refocusing on the main thing

New Coke was a colossal failure. In 1985, after decades as a premier global brand producing the world’s most popular soft drink, the Coca-Cola Company’s

Faith, funerals and foxhounds: How one bivocational pastor ministers in times of grief

Those who know Rusty Walton best might say that this bivocational pastor, who also helps run a funeral home, is “dead serious” about ministry.

Want to receive news highlights throughout the week? Sign up here!

Email is required Email is not valid
Thanks for your subscription.
Failed to subscribe, please contact admin.

About

  • Our Story
  • Our Team
  • Our Partners
  • Advertise and Promote
  • Classifieds
  • Contact us
  • Our Story
  • Our Team
  • Our Partners
  • Advertise and Promote
  • Classifieds
  • Contact us

Explore

  • State-specific news
  • Archive
  • Opinion pieces
  • Sunday School lessons
  • Persecuted Church
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • State-specific news
  • Archive
  • Opinion pieces
  • Sunday School lessons
  • Persecuted Church
  • Podcasts
  • Videos

Submissions

  • Story suggestions
  • Your Voice/Letter to the Editor
  • Photos / Videos
  • Corrections/other
  • Submission Policy
  • Story suggestions
  • Your Voice/Letter to the Editor
  • Photos / Videos
  • Corrections/other
  • Submission Policy

Subscribe

  • Subscribe
  • Renew subscription
  • Gift a subscription
  • Start a new member subscription
  • Start a new group subscription
  • Start a new subscription at the group rate
  • Hosted Church
  • Manage your group
  • Manage your account
  • Request free trial
  • Subscribe
  • Renew subscription
  • Gift a subscription
  • Start a new member subscription
  • Start a new group subscription
  • Start a new subscription at the group rate
  • Hosted Church
  • Manage your group
  • Manage your account
  • Request free trial
The Baptist Paper
Address:
3310 Independence Dr.
Birmingham, AL 35209
Copyright © 2025 TAB Media Group
  • Privacy/Terms of Use
  • Help
  • FAQ
  • Privacy/Terms of Use
  • Help
  • FAQ

Email:
news@thebaptistpaper.org

About

  • Our Team
  • Advertise and Promote
  • Classifieds
  • Donate
  • Photo Galleries
  • Contact us
  • Hosted Church
  • Our Team
  • Advertise and Promote
  • Classifieds
  • Donate
  • Photo Galleries
  • Contact us
  • Hosted Church

Explore

  • Latest News
  • Trending
  • Your State News
  • Persecuted Church
  • Editorials
  • Opinions
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Archive
  • Submit your news
  • Latest News
  • Trending
  • Your State News
  • Persecuted Church
  • Editorials
  • Opinions
  • Podcasts
  • Videos
  • Archive
  • Submit your news

Subscribe

  • Manage your group
  • Manage your account
  • Subscribe
  • Start a new subscription at the group rate
  • Manage your group
  • Manage your account
  • Subscribe
  • Start a new subscription at the group rate

Log Out?

Lost your password?

Log In

Lost your password?

Log in

Become a part of our community!
Forgot your password? Get help
Privacy/Terms of Use

Reset password

Recover your password
A password reset link will be e-mailed to you.
Privacy/Terms of Use
Back to
Login
×
Close Panel