House Church Planter Ministry

House Church Planter Ministry

My name is Fatima P. Timbang and I am currently living and doing ministry in the Philippines. I am pioneering house churches full-time under Hope Church Singapore. In almost 2 years in this ministry, I have been involved in pioneering 7 house churches in 5 different cities/municipalities in the Philippines in my house church planter ministry.

I grew up in a Catholic family as this is the predominant religion in our country. I knew the name Jesus since I was young. Growing up in public schools, I developed a liberal way of thinking. I became a free-thinker and thought all religions were man-made. In September of 2010, I decided to go to Singapore and try my luck in finding a job. I got invited to our church in October of that year, and there I received Jesus as my personal Lord and Savior. I felt so much joy in my heart and never missed a service or a small group. I was on fire searching the scriptures for promises and enjoyed worshipping God. I also got a job in Singapore and started working there.

But as I continued in my walk with God, the temptations of sin led me to live a double life. While still being faithful in attending church and serving in ministry, I was secretly involved in a sinful relationship. In 2013, there was a film shown at a members’ gathering in our church that awakened my heart to want more of God. I got to see in that documentary film a life of one person completely surrendered and recklessly abandoned to Jesus. I saw in that person a life that I wanted to live – full of Jesus.

I became hungry for God. I felt God calling me to stop my sins and seek Him. Little by little, He showed Himself to me and made me feel so valued and loved. That’s when I decided to break off the relationship and go back completely to God. Getting out of sin was not easy. It was so painful and hard. But in those painful moments was where Jesus became more real to me. I felt His presence with me everywhere I went.

My spiritual eyes began to open. I saw visions of myself and Jesus, how God sees me and how He yearns for me. He wanted to take away EVERYTHING that took His place in my heart. He was jealous for me. He wanted me to be His alone. These revelations blew my mind and I finally said yes to God. I threw away everything that He wanted me to throw away. For the first time in my life, I was completely abandoned to Him. I felt so free. I found my identity in Jesus. I knew who I was. I knew who my God was, and these made me feel so free.

I dream of mentoring people to go deeper in their walk with God. I want to be an instrument of God to touch the lives of as many people as God will give me. I want to help people know their identity in Christ, be secure in the love of the Father, and be made whole. I want to plant house churches in every municipality in my area, the province of Pampanga, and help people rise up to lead their own groups in my house church planter ministry.

This class reminded me of the importance of having mentors and accountability partners to help me stay on track. I am grateful that Christian Leaders Institute supports the same principles as our church when it comes to our relationship with God, personal devotions, mentoring and reaching out to people.

I can identify most with a house church planter ministry because this is what I currently do. What prompted me to pursue my ministry was a call from God to go back to the Philippines in March 2016. I said yes to God. I left my work and life in Singapore and went back to the Philippines to do full-time house church planter ministry.

The unique challenges in my area are the floods during rainy days, people addicted to gambling, superstitions, and idolatrous practices, involved in witchcraft and occult, and the prevalence of sexual immorality in workplaces.

The local church took me and supported me financially as I went to plant house churches in my area. CLI plays an important role in my ministry dream because I want to go deeper into the Word and learn more about studying the Bible. I want to take courses to learn more about the Christian faith and maybe get a degree in Divinity. However, I cannot stop doing my house church planter ministry. CLI gives me a platform to do both my ministry and pursue my studies at the same time.

Learn about minister ordination at Christian Leaders Alliance.