THE VERNA LINZEY CHILD CARE MINISTRY INTERNATIONAL
“Empowering Children from Poverty in the Name of Jesus”
By Rev. Joel A. Tejedo

History of VLCCM

I was born in the outskirts street of Munoz, Roxas, Isabela two years prior to the declaration of Marshal Law in 1972. Most of my years growing up in were spent in the rural village of Isabela. In my earliest memory, my protestant parents were tenants to a portion of land owned by a rich family in our village. Everyday they had to work hard just to survive the increasing poverty in the country that day. But due to the anticipated implementation of the Agrarian Reform during the Marcos Administration, the land that was almost owned by my father was forcefully possessed by the owner. Due to lack of resources and the inability of my father to bring his case in court, my father just dismissed his rights and worked as local carpenter in the rural areas. My mother, on the other hand, needs to sell native foods in the market just to assist my father in our daily needs. I remember that there were times my father needs to leave us and go to Manila just to work as carpenter, cook, and room boy in the Hotel where our relatives were working. The absence of my father and his inability to send his salary on time, force us in our early days to work hard just to augment our daily needs. Soon later, my father died due to sickness caused by his hard working attitude.

To raise and support the education of a seven growing kids to my widowed mother, is crucial and almost impossible, especially that our deceased father did not leaved us anything except the courage and patience to endure hardship. This convinced my mother to apply my eldest sister in the scholarship assistance offered by the Municipal Mayor that time. My older brother and sister were also forced to work as kasamak (helpers) to our close relatives in exchange of the ten cavans of rice after harvest and at the expense of their studies. Soon later, three of us joined in the Compassion Company Philippines, a social ministry supervised by the local Assembly of God Church in our village to support fatherless children. It was this ministry that I came to know Christ and came to an understanding the deeper relationship with God.

My early years as Pentecostal member provided me a rich spiritual heritage that both shaped my values and worldview. Here, I was taught the importance of prayer and was immersed by the word of God. As I am increasingly involved in the church, I become aware the importance of spirit-filled life and its importance in Christian life and service. I constantly and eagerly seek the experience of Baptism in the Holy Spirit until I received the gift during my first year in Bible College. It was from this heritage that made me aware that Baptism in the Holy Spirit is crucial and a necessity in Christian ministry.

After my Bible School training, I entered the full-time ministry and was assigned to work as pioneer pastor in the rural areas in Pangasinan. As I lived and in-touch with the people, I came to an understanding that most of the knowledge that I acquired in the Bible School seems detached from the everyday struggle of the people. I thought ministry is purely spiritual in nature, but when I look at the ministry I was doing, I was faced the fact that there was a critical need to answer some of the social issues my members were facing. This experiences I shared with my context increasingly convince me that I am not socially informed, and that, to be truly immersed in the context of the people, I need to be in touch with the struggles and realities they faced. This conviction of ministry was intensified when I taught pastors and Christian workers in the rural areas. Majority of pastors in the rural areas are working while doing the work of ministry. While it is true that they have a genuine commitment to serve the people in the rural areas, they too lived under the poverty line. They in fact struggle on how they support themselves and their ministry. Some of them are just normal for their wives to go abroad and work for a living while their husbands do the ministry.

It was a sad fact also that most pastors in the rural areas have an impaired concept of ministry. My constant interaction with fellow ministers in the rural areas convinced me that the way they look at ministry is dualistic rather than holistic. Ministry is understood as purely spiritual, and oftentimes, they deviate the physical to what is spiritual. Addressing the physical need of God’s people is a necessity to attend with but it is not the most importance thing that ministers should do.

Perhaps you are wondering why I called the ministry after the name of Dr. Verna Linzey. Let me tell one experience that I will never forget: Two years ago or so, before Dr. Wonsuk Ma, introduced me to Dr. Linzey. I dreamed a dream. In that dream, I was in a foreign land, meeting an old woman I didn't know and never met in my life. The woman as I reminisced was very dignified, strong, and very compassionate. The old woman invited me in her house and told me that she is very much please of what I am doing in the ministry. The old woman treated me very kindly and before we parted our ways she blessed me and handed me a very precious gift. Then she instructed me, "now you may go and use the resources I am giving you to bring many children in His kingdom." I remember that while I was talking to that old woman in my dream, I was filled with the Holy Spirit in fullness. Meeting that lady in my dream is very encouraging and comforting to me (Acts 9:17). When I woke up, I was even speaking in tongues and filled with praise. It was an unusual time and beyond my theological understanding. My wife, as I was praying and being filled with the Holy Spirit in bed, asked me what's happening to me? I told her about my dream, about meeting an old woman that encouraged me in my dream. She too pondered that dream in that evening.

As I am trying to look back at what God was trying to say, it was last year, during our dinner at Dr. Cagle's house, that Dr. Wonsuk Ma handed me two books: one copy of Dr. Verna's Book, "The Baptism in the Holy Spirit" and his new published book "Asian Mission and Church Mission" with a dedication to me: "I pray that from your ministry, an army of Christian soldiers will arise and do exploits for the Kingdom of God." Dr. Ma asked me if I am still teaching at the extension centers of Luzon Bible College. I told him yes! Then he asked me if I could give the book of Dr. Verna Linzey to the students, and I told him, I will! It was then that I distributed her book to hundred of students in our region, made her books as our textbooks, and showed the students about her documentary work about the Asuza Street Revival. When I emailed her about all these things she was very pleased. Then we made a series of e-mails (4 times I think). During these moments, it was Dr. Verna who introduced me to Col.Oliver White and to Major Jim Linzey. She told me to write them and tell them about the ministry in the Philippines

Now that we are launching the VLCCM I am thinking if could it be that the Holy Spirit is calling us to extend her legacy and Spirit-filled ministry of Dr. Verna Linzey to the "uttermost part of the earth" or the far east, so that from this ministry, an army of Spirit-filled young men and women" will be released from poverty and become a potential witnesses of the love of Jesus Christ, our Lord of the harvest! As for me, this is I believe the central "nerves" or legacy of the VLCCM. I am very passionate about it and keep on believing that the Holy Spirit is leading us in this direction.

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CONTACT US

Phone: 0917-733-49-55
Email: Joel_doulos@yahoo.com
Website: www.vlccm.org

Mailing Address:
Verna Linzey Child Care Ministry
ATTN: Rev. Joel Tejedo
Phase 2, block 7, Lot 27,
Binalonanville, Binalonan
Pangasinan, Philippines