Burden Bearer (Life Story of Pastor Edwin Alicaya)
Burden
Bearer
Life
and Story of Pastor Edwin Alicaya
Dedication
To the man of God who
bears the burden to declare the gospel
Pastor Edwin Alicaya
To my friends who understand me
Kezia Keren Dela Cruz,
Kristel Jean Monillas, and Regene Velasquez
To my disciples who are
growing each day
Jessie Ann Tahanlangit, Jimary Baylosis, Shane Therese Camingao
To my parents, who gave me unending love and support
Jose Edlin Cunag and Leilany Cunag
To my future husband
I still don’t know what the future holds, but I want you to be part of
this wonderful work.
Acknowledgments
To the man of God who shared with me his stories of
how he bears the burden God puts in his heart, Pastor Edwin Alicaya. Thank you
for allowing me to write a short biography of your life.
Your stories grace the pages of this book. I am so
grateful and blessed to know the life that greatly impacted Buhisan Nazareth.
A special thanks to those who presented this project:
Kezia Keren Dela Cruz for helping me with this wonderful work.
I also want to acknowledge the members of Buhisan. Also, to blue, as I go through my day, it's you I want to talk about the best moments and the worst. Sharing everything with you makes it all better. You bring me comfort in the hard things and increase my joy when everything is great. Thank you for being there whenever I need someone. Your encouragement and smile made my day.
Foreword
Dear
Reader,
The
writer and I have had quite a relationship. I am the wife of her late pastor,
Pastor Lorenz Jun Dela Cruz, in the church in Antipolo City. I have watched her
grow from a snobby little girl to a wonderful lady. I am amazed by how God
changed her life and molded her to be who she is now. I remember her as an
avoidant teenager who didn’t like going to church, but now, God has called her to
Bible college and is using her in ways we could not imagine before. This book
is not only the reflection of Pastor Alicaya’s life but also bits of God’s
amazing grace in his and the author’s lives. Indeed, God is a great God. May
this book show you His grace and mercy as well as the legacy of Pastor Edwin
and the learnings of the author.
Lilette Dela
Cruz
Commendation
Uncle, Pastor Edwin, is a very funny person. He
likes to poke fun at young people and joke around when he can. However, he is
also the best person I can point you to when you ask about Biblical stuff. He
answers questions based on the Bible in the simplest way possible. He has a
wide knowledge of various things and a very refined experience from his
childhood till adulthood. He and my Aunt became my second parents here in Cebu,
and I’m very grateful to have them.
-Kezia
Keren Dela Cruz
Pastor Edwin is a wonderful friend, father, and
companion. A nice and humble individual who is also a blessing to young people
and all of us in our church. He is also one of those whom the Lord uses to
correct us according to the word of God. He is also a blessing in my life because
of the additional knowledge I have gained about the Lord's word!
-Niña Marie Broñola
For me, Pastor Alicaya
is one of the best pastors that I know, not only the way he preaches but also
the way he teaches people to become faithful and fruitful to the Lord. He was
the kind of Pastor that simple the way he was. The Pastor who can help you
without hesitation in any situation. The Pastor who taught me about the Doctrine of
Salvation and many doctrinal lessons that are very helpful for my growth in the
Christian battle.
-Jefferson
Aragon
Pastor Edwin is my
spiritual father. He is also my mentor and the standing second father at my
wedding. He is also the minister of the family of my wife since he was still in
Bible College until he became a Pastor with his wife, Ma'am Libeth. Pastor
Edwin is very diligent in the work of the Lord. He even gives his last money to
a member in need. When you need counselling, he will be there. He is a good
encourager, a soulwinner, and a good preacher. He stands firm as a Bible
Believer and stands firmly for the KJV. He has so many friends - young and old
- because he is a friendly man of God.
-Pastor Winsky Cañon
Pastor Edwin is, for
me, a good preacher and mentor, but more than that, he is also a good father.
Through leading and guiding us in our spiritual lives, you can see his
compassion towards doing the will of our God and his eagerness for us to also
learn and grow in our Lord. And I'm thanking God for that. He gave us the kind
of man who's willing to sacrifice and give everything for the work of God. His
life is a big testament to how good and amazing our God is. And I will be
forever thankful to God for giving us Edwin Alicaya as our pastor and as our
second father.
-Joycel
Hoybea
For me, Pastor Edwin is
a humble person; you can go to him every time you need someone or help. He has
a helping hand and heart. He always encouraged us to have devotions to grow in
our Christian life, and to do soulwinning so that we to be fruitful.
-
Jouella Cantila
The biggest blessing in
my life is Pastor Edwin Alicaya, who stands in the truth here in Buhisan Nazareth.
He is an encouragement to all the members of the church.
-Kent
John Caraca
Table of Contents
Introduction
Memory
Lane
Revival
Days
Golden
Years
Love
Note
Fruits
of Obedience
God’s Faithful Vessel
Introduction
This book is written out of a labor of respect and honor
towards the man of God. I want to express my appreciation to this loving man
who became a great blessing to many people. He helped and encouraged a lot of
people through Bible Baptist College, Buhisan Bible Baptist Church, and Bible
Baptist Katipunan. I thank the Lord for calling and using Pastor Edwin Alicaya
for the furtherance of the gospel and for training more laborers for the Lord’s
harvest.
I first saw him in the Bible Baptist Church, Katipunan. I knew
him because of Kezia Keren Dela Cruz, my former Pastor’s kid, who lives in
their house right now. I heard a lot of good things about him when he was still
a Bible Student and also a staff member in Bible Baptist Church, Katipunan. He indeed
left a good testimony in Katipunan; no wonder he has been blessed by the Lord.
Chapter 1: Memory
Lane
Pastor Eduardo “Edwin” C. Alicaya was born in Southern
Island Hospital, Cebu City, in the year 1962, on March, day 25th. He
grew up in a not-ideal community, which is a squatter’s area in Taboan, Cebu
City. The place became the center of trade in the Visayas, where produce from
the mountains and seas was sold. It is also one of the city's busiest and most
crowded markets. Taboan not only sells dried seafood; you can also purchase a
variety of Cebuano delicacies, fruits and vegetables, meat, poultry, and many
more. Later on, they moved to Duljo, Fatima. Duljo Fatima in Cebu City,
Philippines, is another neighborhood that several people have said was one of
the most dangerous places in Cebu City.
He accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and personal Saviour when he was 13 years old, in the year 1975. In that year, a crusade happened in Cebu City, particularly in Bible Baptist Katipunan's newly built building. Jack Van Impe came to Cebu in 1975 to preach in a city-wide crusade. Jack Van Impe was known as the "Walking Bible", having memorized most of the King James Version of the Bible. Dr. Jack Van Impe has been declaring the truth of Bible prophecy since 1948 and continues to be a leading voice in declaring the soon return of the Savior until his death in January 2020. Every night, the church’s new auditorium was packed. Again, teams of people were organized to bring in busloads of people to the services. During the crusade, there were several brown-outs, and then in the last part of the meeting, a typhoon passed through the city. Despite all these difficulties, hundreds received Jesus Christ.
That was the first time many people in Cebu heard the gospel. Later, when the church members visited the homes, they often heard people say, “I attended the Jack Van Impe Crusade.” Years later, Bible Baptist Church members still discovered people who attended the crusade and brought them to church. Pastor Alicaya was one of the many people who were convicted in that crusade. A night after he attended the crusade, he accepted Jesus Christ as his Lord and personal savior when he got home. He was also baptized that year in the Bible Baptist Church, Katipunan. From then on, he joined the Junior Choir and became faithful in serving the Lord in BBC Katipunan.
As others also experienced
in their Christian Life, he, too, has backslidden. He backslid in the year 1977 and started
to use drugs. In 1978, he started to sell drugs.
In 1979, he enrolled in the CIT-U College of Architecture,
and that same year, he entered the Masonic family – Demolay. The Order of
DeMolay is an international youth fraternal organization for young men aged 12
to 21. Their headquarters were in Borromeo St, Cebu City. He found solace in
this brotherhood during those times.
In 1982, he was initiated and joined the Ananda Marga Yoga Group and attained 4 lessons in psychokinesis. Psychokinesis is the supposed ability to move objects by mental effort alone. That same year, he started to be involved in activism and joined the League of Filipino Students (an activist group and left-leaning group) demanding that the CIT ADMIN roll back tuition fees, stop campus militarization, establish and honor the student government, stop commercializing education, and increase teachers’ salaries. Those demands were granted by the CIT-ADMIN, yet after a month, still no implementation. So, they decided to have a full blast rally-resulted a chaos between students and 70 security guards that were deployed for that specific rally. The school, in turn, did not allow them to enter the premises. However, they insisted on going in, which resulted in the demolition of the gate. With the outbreak of chaos, other students then joined them. They broke glasses and lights and broke the glass in the president’s office. They knocked down patrol cars and lit the guardhouse on fire.
Chapter 2: Revival
Days
Pastor Edwin really had a rough journey, but the Lord is
still faithful in his life. In 1985, Pastor Jun Lumagbas visited Pastor Alicaya
in Davao and invited him to attend the youth camp hosted by Faith Baptist
Church, Pastored by Pastor Wen Secillano. Pastor Jun Lumagbas was the main
speaker on the last day of the camp.
During the Faith Baptist Church Youth Camp in 1985, he
decided to give his life to the Lord and renounce his old ways. That same year,
he enrolled in Bible Baptist College and did the rebaptism to be sure. He still
received notice of a hearing from CIT during those times. However, when Cory
became the President of the Philippines, his comrades were acquitted of the
case. He was even allowed to go back to school and finish his course, but he
turned it down because he was already a Bible student at that time. Truly,
Satan will tempt us with very tempting things just to turn our backs on the
Lord.
He met Lilibeth Siaboc, who became the most special and
important person in his life.
In March 1989 he and the Jubilee Quartet was commissioned by Dr. Armie F. Jesalva to tour Negros for 30 Days. Along with others, they visited 31 churches led by Pastor Joy Dela Cruz to challenge young people to enroll in Bible College.
Chapter 3: Golden
Years
Despite his “shameful” past, the Lord
blessed him sufficiently, not with material things but with intangible ones. He
was awarded the Student of the Year when he was in his 2nd year and
became the Leader of the Year in his 3rd year. He
became an Assistant Dean in the year 1990 in substitution for Pastor Joy Dela
Cruz for 3 months only because he didn’t want the job to hinder him from
preaching to the people and doing his ministry.
Additionally, he was awarded the Staff of the Month, Discipler,
and Soulwinner of the Month for 3 consecutive months.
He was involved in different ministries in Bible Baptist
Church Katipunan, such as Area Ministry as visiting staff, and he was also a
member of an evangelistic group that went to different schools to sing and act.
One of Life’s greatest treasures is the gift of
friendship.
Pastor Edwin and Pastor Kent’s friendship is something that needs to be shared. Their friendship started in the KAYA Ministry, in which Pastor Kent was the main leader. Their tandem is one of a kind. BCS and KAYA had a great partnership at that time, which is why their group was always the champion in every event. Indeed, togetherness or unity has a great impact on every aspect of life. It was proven in their life the word “stronger together”. Pastor Edwin is Pastor Kent’s assistant in their youth activities.
Their group, which was group
6, both are helping each other. KAYA will help BCS with their working
assignments and vice versa. Helping each other is one of the main reasons why
they support each other all out. They have been friends for 35 years now and are
still at each other’s beck. Pastor Kent was the 1st speaker in
Buhisan, even though he was not yet a Pastor at that time.
In the year 1986 month of June, Pastor Edwin noticed a young lady bible student named Lilibeth, in the kitchen area. He noticed her for her charm, beauty, and diligence, but did not pursue her because she was still young at that time.
He
was always borrowing notes from her, and little did he know that the owner of
the notebook he was using to study and pass all his quizzes and exams would
become his helpmeet. Lilibeth Siaboc was made to be the other half of Pastor
Edwin Alicaya.
He prayed for a couple of
women in Bible School, asking God for confirmation of his feelings. He asked
the Lord in his prayer that he did not want to just have a girlfriend, but
instead he wanted someone who would be his one and only wife. And so, God took
away the feelings he had for the woman he prayed for. Until such time that he
decided to pray for Lilibeth Siaboc.
Young Edwin and Young
Lilibeth both vowed not to find or look for anyone anymore, because they are
already knitted together. Their relationship was not perfect; they had an
on-and-off relationship, but because of the vow they made, they continued
choosing each other until they got married, which soon brought forth children,
and currently, grandchildren.
They graduated from Bible College together in
March 1989. They planned for marriage thereafter. They then raised 2 pigs for
their wedding, but one died. He prayed for 20 thousand pesos for their big day.
Pastor Jesalva scheduled their wedding after their tour to sing in different
churches. He was worrying throughout the tour about his wedding. Just like any
man, he had wedding jitters, but he prayed for it. The love gift he received
that time was used in the wedding, as he received the biggest part of it to help
with his wedding day. They got married on May 25, 1989.
Indeed, God is a God of
Provision. Everything was supplied on that special day. The hotel room, food
and etc. have been provided.
Chapter 5: Fruits of
Obedience
In 1976, at the age of 44,
Bob Hughes went to be with the Lord, but his dream never died. God has
continued to bless Bible Baptist Church through Dr. Armie Jesalva’s leadership.
Dr. Armie Jesalva made a big impact on the life of Pastor Edwin Alicaya.
Pastor Edwin Alicaya learned a lot for 20 years under the
leadership of Dr. Armie Jesalva, 11 years as visiting staff, and 9 years as
extension pastor. The very main thing that Pastor Edwin learned from Dr. Armie
is submission, hard work, and loyalty to the authority.
One of Pastor Edwin’s most memorable experiences under
Dr. Jesalva’s training was, there were times he got scolded by Dr. Jesalva, but
it was not his fault, and he learned to maintain his respect for the authority
that no bitterness on his side was felt.
He also learned to work hard. Dr. Armie taught him that
if there’s work, it needs to be done even if he goes home late.
paste it on his motorcycle so he won’t forget his goals.
In the aspect of marriage,
he learned that there are things that you don't like to do, but you know that
you have to do them to keep the marriage.
All the lessons he learned were applied in his life. He
has been blessed by the Lord because he continued in obedience. Indeed,
obedience is the pathway to the life you want to live. Certainly, obedience is
the main reason why he is living the life of his dreams, and everything is
fulfilled.
John 15:4
Abide in
me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit of itself, except it abide in
the vine; no more can ye, except ye abide in me.
Pastor Edwin Alicaya applied this verse in his life, which
is why God gave him fruit. He sent out laborers to different places for the
furtherance of the gospel.
Pastor Winsky Canon, a Pastor in Bible Believer Baptist
Mission, which started in 2009.
Pastor Emeterio Balmadres, a Pastor in Bible Baptist
Church, Camotes Island, started 2016.
Pastor Arniel Abenido, a
pastor in Bible Believers Baptist Bukidnon, started 2020.
Chapter 6: God’s
Faithful Vessel
Pastor
Edwin Alicaya is the Pastor of Buhisan Bible Baptist Church. He started the work
in Buhisan in the year 2000, which traced its starting point at Almendras St.,
Mabolo, a bible study with 6-tapa workers in attendance way back in 1999, which
then became 10 in attendance. After those 10 got baptized, they decided to
transfer the venue to Buhisan in where the majority of the said workers are
residents. Their first attendance after transferring was 32 adults. After a
month, Dr. Jesalva decided to saturate the area to start another extension
church, and Pastor Alicaya prayed and volunteered to oversee the newly opened
extension church that traced its first service on February 13, 2000.
There, the work was severely persecuted as the place is
catholic-infested. Then came a day in the year 2005 when some of the neighbors
attacked them and broke things because they didn’t like the fact that Pastor
Edwin was proclaiming the gospel in their area. Pastor Edwin didn’t stop in
declaring the gospel even though there was a lot of persecution.
Lord is indeed so very
faithful. Ma’am Liberty Jesalva was used by God to help him in terms of his
kids’ education. He became the official photographer of Bob Hughes Christian
Academy, where all his kids were studying.
God's work, done God's way, will never lack God's supply.
A quote by Hudson Taylor. Proven in Pastor Edwin’s life.
He showed the Buhisan People the love of Christ through
his never-giving-up care and love for people. Through the years of ministering
to the people in Buhisan, the people there learned to accept and respect him
and his family. Buhisan Bible Baptist Church has become a blessing to a lot of
people. They started the Bless ministry to give free education to pre-school children.
Pastor Edwin continued in his calling; that’s why God provided them a building
that cost 4 million pesos.
He always put in his mind and heart that he shouldn’t
compromise what’s written in the Bible. He said that it is ok to express
yourself, like listening to country music or worldly preferences, but not to
the extent of breaking Biblical rules.
Message from the Author
As I write the story of Pastor Edwin Alicaya,
it makes me realize a lot of things. Indeed, God can use everyone as long as
they are available and willing to be used by God. He was a living proof of the
illustration of potter and clay when he allowed God to mold him into a very
beautiful vessel that God could use.
His life story is a very good testimony, from
a broken vessel to a very beautiful vessel. God is the only way to make the
broken things more beautiful. Indeed, you need to be broken first for God to
mold you. I am in awe while writing his story; he showed perseverance and
faithfulness as a laborer of Christ. He persevered, that’s why he continued in
Buhisan, an infested catholic place. He continued faithfully even amid chaos.
One of his advice is to pray without ceasing;
no one should ever start a pioneering work if they’re not sure that they're called. When you are truly called, you will continue even if it’s hard.
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