Metro Cebu became the center of spiritual transformation when “Big Build Australia,” an evangelistic team from Australia, conducted 10-day simultaneous evangelistic events across eight locations in Metro Cebu from Jan. 8-18, 2025.
Themed “Cebu for Christ,” this simultaneous evangelism program is a collaborative effort between the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Central Visayas.
Organizers reported that most of these evangelistic sites experienced a swelling and consistent number of attendees each night. Local church members also fully supported the events by attending and overseeing their evangelistic needs.
Additionally, local pastors and some CVC directors assisted by serving as Cebuano translators alongside the speakers during the meetings, ensuring the message was accessible to non-English speakers.
In a live interview with Hope Channel Cebu, John Kitevski from Gateway in Melbourne, Australia, shared his reasons for joining the team. “I believe in the Great Commission. It states that this gospel shall be preached to all the world.”
He also shared that he imagined himself preaching and felt the Lord saying it was time for the gospel to be shared with the world. “I want to be a part of that,” he added.
In that interview, Bro. Fine Paiaaua, one of the keynote speakers from Australia, also elaborated on the powerful biblical passage from John 8:32: “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.”
He also encouraged everyone to abide by Jesus and grow in Him. “And so my prayer for you is that you continue to grow in grace so that when He comes, we will see each other again.”
This simultaneous evangelistic effort resulted in the baptism of 104 precious individuals, marking one of the first successes of the Harvest 2025 initiative, as Pastor Charles Nogra, CVC president, declared.
“It was 110 years ago when the first missionaries from Australia arrived in Cebu, Philippines. After a year, in 1915, they baptized five people. Today, there are now 63,000 believers in Cebu,” Pastor Nogra told Hope Channel Cebu during a live interview.
This inspiring outcome highlighted the shared mission of Big Build Australia, a dedicated group of missionaries led by Pastor David Gilmore, who committed to strengthening spiritual bonds and spreading the gospel worldwide.
In an interview, he reaffirmed this divine calling by pointing to Christ’s prophetic words in Matthew 24:14, “And this gospel of the kingdom shall be preached in all the world for a witness unto all nations; and then shall the end come.”
Pastor Nogra expressed his appreciation and gratitude to Big Build Australia and Pastor Gilmore for selecting Central Visayas as the site for their evangelistic initiative. Their efforts enabled them to reap a rich first harvest of 2025.
By Maricel Mahinay Bojos, CVC Writers’ Guild President
The original version of this article is published on the official Facebook page of the Central Visayan Conference.