Philippines STM

This October, our team is partnering with David Chow and The Expositor’s Academy (TEA) in the Philippines. TEA is the Bible and equipping school that David helps teach and oversee and is one of the primary means of training for many indigenous pastors to plant and pastor Bible-centered and Christ-exalting churches.

Our team will be serving TEA by hosting a children’s retreat for their faculty and pastoral staff in conjunction with their leadership retreat. The staff includes David, his family, and other missionary families who have been serving at TEA for many years.

During this time, we will have the opportunity to teach Bible lessons, build relationships, and encourage the children by helping them navigate through life as a missionary child and their own questions of faith. We will also be spending time with the missionary families and faculty and encouraging them as they minister to the Filipino people in their churches.

Our Team

Left to right: Ethan Cope, Richard Ellks, Juna Yi, Millie Chang, Bernice Dimas, Florence Mathews, Georgie Mathews, Kyle DeGuzman

Three years ago, I moved up to San Jose, CA to join a church plant called City Light Bible Church and be their music director. It has been a continual blessing and privilege to serve the church by leading the congregation in musical worship of our great God each week and serve alongside so many other faithful brothers and sisters in Christ. This year, our church was presented with an incredible opportunity to serve in another way: go on our first short-term ministry trip! I and seven others will be going to the Philippines to serve and encourage our church’s missionaries. 

Kyle DeGuzman

As some of you may know, A few years ago I was blessed with the crazy, amazing experience of spending a summer as a "medium term" missionary in Nagoya, Japan. Since that time, I've moved to Silicon Valley and gotten plugged into a church. Through City Light Bible Church, God showed me a great opportunity to use what he's taught me from my time in Japan to serve his global church! I'm really excited to announce that in less than two months, I'll be going to the Philippines to help serve missionaries at a leadership retreat!

Ethan Cope

Hello! I am so happy to share that this October, I will be going on a short-term ministry trip to the Philippines with my church, City Light Bible Church! In my small group at City Light, we each read a missionary biography and shared what we learned, which gave me a deeper appreciation for the work God is doing around the world. In June, some of us had the opportunity to attend a global missions conference, which grew the desire in my heart to serve, not only in the local church but also overseas. As a small group, we have been praying for David and Channing Chow, missionaries serving in the Philippines, and the opportunity came up to visit and serve them along with other missionary families! I am very thankful for this chance to build relationships with the missionary families (including their cute children!) and support them however we can. I pray that God would use this trip to encourage the missionaries as they continue their gospel work in the Philippines.

Juna Yi

Georgie and Florence Mathews

Thank you for all of your care, prayers and support of us in our marriage. We are so  grateful for our community and God’s grace for us as we pass our first year anniversary! 

We wanted to share an amazing opportunity that God has provided right at the beginning of our second year of marriage. This October, we will be going on a short-term ministry trip to the Philippines to serve our church’s missionaries, the Chow family. As some of you know, Florence met Channing when they studied abroad together ten years ago and have remained close friends since! We’re looking forward to be able to see the Chows’ ministry up close, meet the other missionaries they serve alongside, and spend time with their families.

I’m so excited to be heading to the Philippines for my first short-term ministry trip in October! Christians are called to bring the good news of salvation through Jesus Christ to all nations. This means that those of us not in the missionary field are to support those who are. When my church received the request for help back in July, I was so grateful to be in a position to go and that God was able to provide an amazing team on such short notice. I am excited to serve the Chows by loving and encouraging the kids of the missionary + pastoral families! God is good, and my hope is to glorify Christ by showing and sharing His gospel.

Richard Ellks

This October, I will be going on City Light Bible Church’s first ever short term ministry trip to the Philippines! It’s hard to believe that it’s been four years since I moved to the Bay Area and nearly three years since our church was first planted. At City Light, I’ve been serving as a young adult women’s small group leader, nursery helper, and missionary care coordinator. It’s been such a joy to see the growing enthusiasm for supporting global missions at City Light, despite still being a very young church plant. Over this last year of small group, the ladies in my group prayed for our missionaries every week and now I’m grateful and excited to be able to encourage, serve, and tangibly help the Chow family this fall.

Millie Chang

This October, I will be going on a short-term ministry trip to the Philippines! Recently, I have been searching for possibilities to serve overseas and attended a missionary conference in June. Only three days later, God presented me with this trip, and the flexibility of my job has made it possible for me to go. I am so thankful for this opportunity and I look forward to being able to use the gifts that the Lord has graciously blessed me with.

Bernice Dimas

Contribute

We are humbled and joyful to our great God to partner with fellow believers who seek to fulfill the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18–20) and bring the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the Philippines. Praise God for His provision!

The success of this trip is dependent upon the Lord, through the means of your prayers and support. If you would like to financially support us, you can give:

  1. By check: Please send a check payable to City Light Bible Church with “For the team of ***INSERT TEAM MEMBER NAME***” in the memo line.

  2. Online: You can also give on our website, via Zelle to finance@citylightbible.org, or via Venmo to @citylightbible-finance. Please add “For the team of ***INSERT TEAM MEMBER NAME***” in the description.

Your tax-deductible contribution will go toward covering the costs of the trip, which is about $2000 per team member.