“ABOUT MYSELF AND PRINCIPLE IN LIFE”
Alex B. Coloma
Centrepoint Church of Christ,
P.O.Box 295, Baguio City 2600, Philippines
Email Address: abcoloma@yahoo.com
Cellular No: +639285065259, Landline: (+6374) 300-2119
“Man is like a tree. If he be adorned with fruit, he has been and will ever be worthy of praise and praise. Otherwise a fruitless tree is just fit for fire. The fruits of the human tree are exquisite, highly desired and dearly cherished. Among them are upright character, virtuous deeds and a goodly utterance.” (Michael McFadden)
I was born in a lowly but a christian family. My late father Artemio Coloma served as a full time minister from different congregations of the Churches of Christ in Mindanao Island and has unselflessly dedicated his whole life in working in the Lord’s ministry until he gave up his spirit to his great creator last 1984.
Apparently, I learned lots of things from my parents about the merit of life, the glee of being a Christian and the exquisiteness of serving God. Yes, my parents have set us a good example of life and attitude and eventually these traits moved me to follow their steps and be a part of God’s family through watery grave of Baptism in 1983. I humbly say that I really modeled my godly father in doing his full time ministry, preaching before the congregation, reaching out lost souls, attending felloswhips and providing the needs of his family despite the hardship of life and problems he encountered. I grew up with a promising dream that someday I will be like him – to be God’s faithful servant and minister of His word because I do believe that it is really of momentous importance that a man enters the ministry and serves his Master for life. Thanks God! My dream came true!
After I graduated in High school (1983) I was so grateful when my father sent me to a Bible College in Baguio City and finished my Associate in Theology in 1985. From that day onwards, I started working as a youth minister from 1986 to 1990, a Church minister in 1990 to 1993, And in August 1993, I was fortunate enough to go and study at Four Seas College in Singapore to further my Biblical study in missions. Upon my return, I started working as a church planter since 1995 up to now. My recent church planting missions that I got involved with were the Kingscross Church of Christ, Sydney, Australia (2000), Cabatuan Church of Christ, Iloilo in the visayas region (2001), the Centrepoint Church of Christ(2003), the Tagaytay City Church of Christ(2004), the San Carlos City Church of Christ(2005) and the Pacdal Church of Christ, Baguio City (2006).
At present, I am directing the One-Year Missionary Training Program (MTP) and we are now on its 4th batch with four (4) missionary interns. I am also working as the Philippine Coordinator of World Bible School at the same time serving as one of the ministers at Centrepoint Church (COC) as an Evangelism coordinator, a team organizer, and a worship leader. The Baguio mission Team (BMT) that I led for almost 4 years and was responsible in establishing the Centrepoint Church is no longer the front liner in making plans and programs for COC because we have already installed its leadership that would handle everything. I am no longer serving as the team leader though but we were able to form a new team – the Campus life mission team to cater university students for campus worships sooner or later.
I am convinced that a church minister can be very effective and cost-efficient only when one has a Bible knowledge, organizational skills, teaching abilities, work ethics and commitment in the Lord’s ministry. For more than 21 years that I have been working in the ministry I should say that I did work competently and successfully because I work with teams who really make the dream work! I also experienced working with rural/urban/suburb churches of Christ and it was an exciting moment in my life to work with members that are lowly in heart but dedicated to the cause of Christ.
Ministry is really enjoyable, worthwhile and meaningful! And I hold with profound conviction, basically, it is my principle in life that before anyone selects the Christian ministry as his vocation he must have the assurance that the selection has been imperatively constrained by the eternal God. The call of the Eternal must ring through the rooms of his soul and his choice is not a preference among alternatives. Yes, getting into the ministry should not be a result of merely personal calculation or from the constraint of the purely secular counsel of friends. Ministry is not a profession, as a means of earning a living, as a desirable social distinction, as a business that offers pleasantly favorable chances of cultured leisure, of coveted readerships, and of attractive publicity and it should not be ranged among many other secular alternatives, but….it is chosen because you love it and you wanted to please God rather than yourself and men.
Yes, a man who enters through the door of divine vocation into the ministry will surely apprehend “the glory” of his calling. He will be constantly wondering, and his wonder will be a moral antiseptic, that he has been appointed a servant in the treasuries of grace, to make known “the unreachable riches of Christ.” This sense of great personal surprise in the glory of our vocation, while it will keep us humble, will also make us great. It will save us from becoming small officials in transient enterprises. It will make us truly big, and will, therefore, save us from spending our days in trifling.
I do love what I have been doing in the ministry despite the tremendous concerns of ministers today of which majority are easily disappointed seeing members that are not very appreciative, supportive and always complaining to their minister. But for me, I take it as a challenge instead – a challenge to do something good, productive and remarkable that will better my ministry for the Lord. Thank you and more power.
Note: Alex B. Coloma, 41 years old, is married to Engr. Brenda Coloma, an OIC Laboratory at Chemical Engineering Deparment of Saint Louis University, Baguio City. They have been married for almost 7 years and were blessed by God with cute and sweet kids; Allen Nikko (7 years olf) and Lunie Adrian (3 years old).
The Rotary Club of Metro Butuan in cooperation with Sunrise Christian College, the National Service Training Program (NSTP) batch 2007-2008 students and the Philippine National Red Cross have conducted an Operation Blood letting Program last August 4, 2007 at Sunrise Christian College Multi-purpose building . The theme of the program is to “Share A Blood, Save A Nation”. At exactly 9:00 AM, the program started with the orientation regarding the said activity. Mr. Gerome Gacula, a registered Medical Technologist CSR-BS oriented the students, teachers and staff of the school on how to donate blood and what are the benefits of it. He also shared some facts about donating a blood and answered every questions that was raised. He stressed that donating a blood would be a great contribution for the health of our fellowmen who are suffering from diseases such as bleeding due to endemic dengue, anemia, leukemia, hemophilia, and blood loss in patients who undergo surgery and operative procedures.