Twenty-two year old JEPHRIL DOCTOLERO had been no stranger to the Ramon PFWBC Church in the Province of Isabela. He had started attending the church as a youth in the year 2000 with his brother. As they became part of the church, they began praying for their family as they did not know the Lord. Through much prayer, the Lord touched the hearts of Jephril’s parents and they accepted Christ. Now the entire family is part of the fellowship at RAMON PFWBC!

That’s an amazing story of the love of God and how He can touch our lives in such an extraordinary way but Jephril’s story doesn’t end there. Jephril continued to be active in the church and joined the praise and worship team as the bass guitar player. He also became the youth leader.

His compassion for young people was strong and with that, upon graduation of high school at age 16, he decided to go to Patria Sable Corpuz College and took up a Bachelor’s program in Early Childhood Education to become a teacher.

After spending four years at the school, he graduated in March, 2006 and began his teaching career at a local school. His salary was 3000 Pesos ($60 US dollars) per month. This meager amount was enough for him to get by as he grew in his profession.

While Jephril was busy earning a living doing what he loved, God was doing something in the church in the Philippines and with the hearts of people at a church in the USA. God was working out a plan! Isn’t it amazing how God can bring people and resources together for His good?!

In recent trips to the Philippines, I had the opportunity to visit the Southern Philippines missions works through Rev. Nick Sicat. They had developed a Christian education program for children that really touched my heart. Their program uses the Accelerated Christian Education program as the education base while the churches became the school centers. This was an effective evangelistic tool to reach the lost in a community but even more important was the opportunity to reach a child and give them a good foundation for life in the Lord.

I shared this concept with the PFWBC-Philippines church leadership in the North and with a church in the USA—Myrtle Grove PFWB. We prayed about it and began putting a plan in motion to start Christian Schools in the Northern Philippines as a ministry outreach of the church. Myrtle Grove donated over $2600 to start the schools. This was much needed to pay the government fees for accreditation, to buy materials, to have school tables made, to purchase teaching materials such as blackboards, handouts, etc. and to get other needed supplies such as chairs, crafts, books and so forth.

Mr. Jephril Doctolero sitting at his desk in his class room.

The PFWBC-Philippines worked very hard to follow all the rules of the Philippines government so that the Department of Education would approve the school as an accredited school. This was really important because transfer of credits earned can only be done if accreditation is completed. This did cause extra work and a higher standard but in the end, the leadership felt it was worth it.

As the PFWBC executive board prayed and sought direction from the Lord, it was decided to do a pilot school in Ramon, Isabela.

The church there was big enough to accommodate the school during the day AND there was someone who had the needed education to teach. That someone was Jephril!

By this time, Jephril had already begun teaching. He didn’t know about the school project yet but when he found out, the call of God wouldn’t let him go any other direction! He was excited and felt the Lord leading him to be the instructor—EVEN IF IT MEANT a cut in pay.

Jephril was the one and Ramon was the place. So, after all the paperwork was completed with the government, and as the new school year started, Jephril began the first Kindergarten class in June, 2007 (more grades will be added as the requirements are met for the government).

The children come from church members and the community. The school is offered as a ministry of the church and an alternative to the public schools. There really is no budget other than what is brought in through the tuition fees that the children’s parents pay—50 Pesos PER MONTH ($1 per month—not a typo). The people are poor here and can’t afford much so that’s what is charged. The families are also responsible to buy the school books (5 workbooks and quiz books) for the year at 1000 Pesos (or $20).

The tuition money is used to pay Jephril so he has some income. There are 13 students, so Jephril’s monthly income is 650 Pesos ($13). He sews in the family business to raise additional funds.

To talk with Jephril, you would not know that he makes that meager amount. He is excited and energetic. He feels that this is the Lord’s calling on his life and gladly sacrifices with the attitude that the Lord will provide his needs and the needs of the children. While that is noble, the truth is that it does take money to live. We all know that and maybe we all have experienced what its like to have little.

God does provide our needs and while he can drop manna from above miraculously, many times He chooses to meet the needs of others through Christians who have been blessed. It is my hope that after reading about Jephril and the school, that it will touch someone’s heart to sponsor him and to help with some of the needs at the school. The world is full of sin and children sometimes are pulled into that—this is a way that we can help give a child a chance to hear the word of God and be influenced positively through a Christian education! Won’t you consider helping.?

Here’s what is needed:

Monthly sponsorship of Mr. Jephril Doctolero’s salary of $60 per month

The school needs a play set for the children to be erected on the church property. This is a requirement for final accreditation through the government—cost $500

They must also develop a library of appropriate story books, reference books, etc. This could be done by either sending over funds or buy gathering books as a church project and mailing over (it is expensive, however to mail). If these were bought over in the Philippines, they would need approximately $300 per school

School supplies— crayons, paper, pencils, note pads, school books for the children (many children’s parents have a hard time even buying $20 worth of workbooks annually). This would be easier & cheaper to just send over funds to the schools. $100 would buy a lot of school supplies in the Philippines.

This particular school wants to build a small children's area on the church lot which will cost approx $1000 and will be used as the classroom when its completed.

This is just the beginning! As this school is being developed as the PILOT PROJECT, there are 4 other schools in the plans. Two more will open in June 2008 and two more in June 2009. We will need the same type of help for those schools as they come on board. Help with the teachers salaries, play equipment, school supplies and a library are all needed.

Should you want to help out, please contact me at pastorraydavis@yahoo.com or the World Witness Department to make arrangements. You can also donate online.

We can ensure that your donations make it to the appropriate project. This truly is an opportunity to be a blessing to people who are much less fortunate. Not only that, our help can make a LASTING IMPACT on children as they grow and mature in the body of Christ! Please keep RAMON PFWB Church, Jephril and the children in your prayers as God grows a ministry there!