Jonel and Eunice Arcedera serve in the Philippines and are devoted to seeing people choose to follow Jesus, for more information on their ministry, check out this post! God has done great work in their lives and they seek to share the gift they have been given with the people they reach. Below is Jonel’s God story of how God transformed his life! 

I grew up in a rural area, living with my grandparents. My grandfather had two part-time jobs. He was a plumber (tu-be-ro) and a musician (mu-si-ko). My grandmother made a living by handwashing laundry for people. We lived hand-to-mouth each day. As a young boy, I learned to juggle several odd jobs to make a living. At eight years old, I started selling things on the street just to get by. I sold unhatched duck eggs (ba-lut) every night until midnight. As a teenager, I was introduced to a different avenue of making a living through the influence of ungodly friends. These men introduced me to cock fighting (sa-bong). They taught me to be a hustler, making easy money to support my schooling. Even into my college days, my hustling earned enough to pay my tuition and fees.  

When I was 22 years old, a turning point took place in my life. My grandmother died of a severe illness. One evening, during the weeklong wake for my grandmother, a group of Christian believers held a service. I heard a clear gospel presentation that night. The preacher shared Romans 5:8, “But God demonstrates His own love towards us, in that while we were still sinners Christ died for us.” He emphasized that because of God’s love for me, He died for me. To be honest, I had never felt wanted. I was always ignored and neglected. As the man preached, the Word of God captured my heart. He made this statement with a soft voice, “God’s love was expressed through the death of His Son Jesus Christ and He did it unconditionally for you.” He closed with the statement, “Jesus Christ died for you and your sins because God loves you.” That same evening, I made the crucial decision to accept Jesus Christ as my Savior. How did a street-hawking, balut selling, cock-fighting worldly-wise kid from the slums become a preacher and missionary? It was through the grace of Christ! My life was full of intense difficulty and trouble. When Jesus came into my life, He transformed my life from a crisis to His Christlikeness. 

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation: old things have passed away, behold, all things have become new.” * – II Corinthians 5:17