Brenda Hager, a GFA missionary, is ministering at Bethany Bible Believers’ Church (BBBC) in Tagaytay, a small city in the southern part of Cavite, a province in the Philippines. Tagaytay has 6,615 hectares of land and has a population of 61,623. The entire country has about 92 million people. More than 90% are Christians, 80% are Roman Catholic, 10% belong to other Christian religions, and between 5% and 10% are Muslims. Many tribal groups still practice Philippine traditional religions. In Tagaytay, 95.36% of the people are Roman Catholics, and only 1.07% are Protestant. The government there is a constitutional republic with a presidential system. The President is elected by majority vote for a six-year term.
In 1999, Brenda Hager helped Rey Marasigan plant a church, Bethany Bible Believers’ Church, in Tagaytay. They started a youth ministry with only 12-15 young people but it soon grew. She also had women’s Bible studies and led many women to the Lord. Brenda even took her time to learn the Philippines’s main language, Tagalog, to be able to communicate better with other Filipinos.
Right now, in the 21st century, many Filipinos are technology minded and are drawn away from spiritual things but several young people from BBBC are still willing to serve the Lord. Many are even considering on going to Bob Jones Memorial Bible College in Manila to study the Word of God. This year, they are going on a mission team to Odiongan province and will be conducting a DVBS there and in Tagaytay.
One ministry difficulty that Brenda faces right now is that the Pastor of BBBC is unable to accept full time leadership due to his past strokes and some of her works are put on hold.
Another difficulty is that her hearing is not the best so she has a hard time understanding what people tell her. She has no problems with GFA, her mission board, and is blessed that she is a part of it.
Brenda has also started a Junior Achievers’ program for ages 10-14 and is making devotional booklets for the kids to take home.
Some experiences that God has delivered her through are having a gun pulled on her, being in a flood up to her neck, and having her house flooded. She has also been a taxi driver, an ambulance service, and her vehicle became a hearst at a funeral.
Through all these, the Lord has protected, blessed, and has helped her lead many souls to Him. Up to now, she is still faithful in service to the Lord.
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