Bible Baptist Church in Cebu is a church that BBFI missionary Bob Hughes started in 1957. Bob Hughes died of cancer at an early age in 1976. He had trained a man who was a doctor to become the eventual pastor. Dr. Armie Jesalva has been the pastor of Bible Baptist Church since 1969.

In January 2007, the church was preparing for their 50^th church anniversary the end of March 2007. The leaders were discussing what they could give to God on their anniversary. One person said, “Let’s give 50,000 Peso.” Another said, “How about 50 million Peso?” Then, another said, “Does God really want money? Let’s give Him 50,000 souls between now (January) and our 50^th anniversary (end of March).” They all agreed to do that.

They began to cover their city and island with a massive evangelistic outreach. In those three months they saw over 55,000 souls saved. What a day of rejoicing on their 50^th anniversary.

Then, they prayed about doing the same to reach people for Christ on all 77,000 islands of the Philippines. The Philippine government announced they would like to see someone teach and help people with drug addiction and family values all across their islands. This church told they government they would be the ones to do it. Bible Baptist Church was given authority by the government to go to every island village, town and city to teach these two items. They could use any public place to teach.

So, they presented this idea to their church and came up with this plan. They would have multiple teams of four people. They would purchase a vehicle for each team and outfit it for their equipment and even to sleep in when needed. Each team would have one who drives, one who teaches on drug addiction, one who teaches on family values, and one who teaches the Gospel. The church would give them $100 a month for each team which would cover their fuel, food, accommodations, and any repairs or other needs. The people were excited, and they signed up to be on the teams and others to give financially for the teams.

Their goal is to go to every one of the 77,000 islands and witness to every person — leading them to Christ. They have a follow-up program for churches in each area and also for their Bible college students to help with follow-up. In the Philippines we have a little over 5,000 churches.

They have 11 teams who are reaching across every island. Dr. Jesalva showed the map of the islands covered in red where they have been. He showed where each team was on that specific day and where they were going next. They still need to reach the top of the Luzon island and then the islands predominantly made up of Muslims.

My heart is filled with joy with how this church has witnessed to so many through their Saturation Evangelism plan and how God has been glorified with so many saved through their efforts. From January 2007 through March 2019 they have seen a little over 8 million people come to faith in Jesus. To God be the GLORY!

Jon Konnerup