A New Church Will Soon Be Born!
Below is an encouragement and support letter from Pastor Elbern Latorilla of Christ Almighty Baptist Church.
For sometime, Christ Almighty Baptist Church has been earnestly praying that God will lead us to plant another church.
The first daughter church, established over 30 years ago, has been flourishing and doing well on her own. The second one we tried to start at the west end of Toronto in 2009 did not thrive—for one reason or another. But our dream did not die. Finally, the challenge was presented to the congregation which, in a meeting in 2018, decided to proceed with the launching of a church plant.
The Lord spared us from the long and tedious process of searching for a church planter by raising up one from our own congregation. I must confess I had no inkling that Lendl and Mia Salangsang were seriously considering the idea of going into the ministry of church planter. In 2018, they decided to go through the assessment process conducted by FEB Central region Church Planting ministries. When the results were released, I was very much encouraged by the outcome. They passed with flying colors and were enthusiastically recommended to our congregation to welcome the couple to serve as our church planters. Since then, they have been in one kind of training/equipping or another for the task they have been called to do. In November, 2019, during the regular congregational meeting, the church voted to call them to serve as our church planters. On March 15, 2020, we were supposed to officially endorse them in the presence of a representative of FEB Central region church planting ministries. Due to circumstances that were beyond our control, the meeting did not take place. However, the Church council, representing the congregation, unanimously decided to proceed with the endorsement at a regular meeting held on March 21, 2020. Lendl and Mia are now officially engaged in this endeavor which we as a church has been praying for in a long while.
Pastor Elbern Latorilla is currently serving as the Senior Pastor of Christ Almighty Baptist Church.
As pastor of Christ Almighty Baptist Church, I am personally thankful to God for this answer to our prayers. Soon, Lord willing, another church will be born, perhaps in Pickering? It is with joy that I commend this ministry to you - for your prayer as well as for your financial support. And if the Lord would lay the burden upon your heart, to become a part of the core group, then by all means, go for it wholeheartedly. Pastor Lendl and the leadership of the church will surely welcome your contribution in whatever way. They also have been looking for a suitable spot on the east side of Toronto which they can use for the venue of their ministries and activities. Let's all pray that God will lead them to the right place soon, one that is affordable, convenient and commodious. I pray that the Lord will be honored and glorified in all that is being done to bring to fruition this dream of ours. We are praying for the official launching of LIFE CHURCH in September 2020. I encourage all of you to join me in beseeching the Lord to bring this to reality and then in rejoicing for what He will do through pastor Lendl and Mia and the core team in the days ahead.
Thank you and may God bless you in a special way for your interest in this special endeavor of Christ Almighty Baptist Church.