Three Manila Miracles

As part of our Daring Faith campaign, we want to grow our church family by filling God’s house with 40,000 worshipers at our weekend services by the year 2020. Several key components of our “F” vision are to launch new campuses, strengthen all our existing campuses, strategically relocate some of our campuses, and find permanent buildings as church homes.

To help reach the Filipino community in Orange County, and to strengthen our existing campus in South Manila, Pastor Rick hosted the Saddleback Filipino Fellowship gathering on December 1st. Held at 7:00 PM in Tent 2 at our Lake Forest campus, the event invited those of Filipino descent to join the new Filipino Fellowship, connect with other Filipinos in our church, and personally hear Pastor Rick’s vision for the “Three Manila Miracles.”

A total of 161 people turned up for the meeting that began with worship songs, and a word from Campus Experience Pastor, Rommel Manio. After welcoming guests, and inviting people to attend the Filipino Christmas gathering on Dec 3, Rommel introduced Pastor Rick who shared personal stories of his time in the Philippines.

Pastor Rick then cast a vision for the “Three Manila Miracles” and challenged attendees to pray for three things in South Manila: A new campus pastor, a new building/location, and financial support.

According to Kyle Cleveland, Pastor of International Campuses, “These are three mountains we have to move by faith.”

Pastor Rick encouraged members to commit to pray for the Manila campus during the “34 Days of Seeking God” campaign leading up to Christmas. To encourage the South Manila campus, a group photo and video were taken of those who attended the Filipino Fellowship. The images were later shared with Saddleback members in the Philippines, to demonstrate that our Lake Forest family is eager to help.

As Kyle explains, the meeting was an open opportunity to discuss the new Filipino Fellowship, to get connected with each other, to pray for Saddleback Manila, and to pray for our leaders.

“Both of our countries—the US and the Philippines—have new presidents,” says Kyle, “and the Bible asks us to pray for our leaders.” During the meeting, not only did they pray for the countries’ leaders, but they prayed for a campus leader, a new location, and for financial support.

With plans to retire, South Manila’s current campus pastor, Narry Santos, is moving to Canada in the coming weeks. Due to residency requirements, his transition will be quick, which means that our leadership team is already in the process of interviewing candidates. “We have a couple possibilities,” says Kyle, “We really want to make sure God gives us the right person!”

As it pertains to the current South Manila campus location, while it was a great place to launch the church, members are in need of a venue with more space to expand ministries like Saddleback Kids.

“The rent is enormously expensive,” explains Kyle, “so we’re looking for something more affordable. We want a place with great parking and room for growth.”

Currently Saddleback South Manila has 400 members, making it larger than 95% of churches in America. Despite this healthy attendance, costly rent means the campus needs additional financial support to be self-sufficient.

“Sometimes a baby church needs help to get on its feet financially,” says Kyle. “Pastor Rick is asking that people consider giving monthly for the next year to get the campus going strong. That's why we are starting a Filipino Fellowship so that people are able to connect and help each other. Sometimes we don't realize how many people are right in front of us that can help.”

With the right campus pastor, location, and financial support, Saddleback South Manila has great potential to continue to grow and even one day reproduce venues in various locations. This is another step to reach one more for Christ and help fill God’s House.

To learn more about the Filipino Fellowship, or to give to the Three Manila Miracles, visit saddleback.com/filipinofellowship.