Because God wants to transform you, He allowed your life to follow the path it did before you became a believer in order that you would recognize His work at some point along the way. Now, seeing it, you are responsible to tell others what He has done. That is your Christian testimony! You are an eyewitness to the works of Jesus Christ in your life.

Has Christ done something in your life? Then tell someone! It may be just exactly what they need to hear, to give them faith that God can work in their life, too! He doesn't need our help reaching people. However, He does desire it—and that is the greatest Christian testimony of all. God wants you and me to partner with Him in the work He is doing! Won't you tell someone today? Let your life be your Christian testimony.

I came to hear the Gospel because I followed the grumbling of my stomach one afternoon in July 1975. The flyers that were distributed in the College of Arts and Sciences by SVCF (State Varsity Christian Fellowship), inviting students to come to the Freshman Treat, specifically stated FREE MERIENDA at the bottom. That was more than enough to get me and my friends to check it out.

Food at that tender age, cannot be anything but delicious, especially when it's free. But in spite of this fact and my initial motivation for attending, I can't remember what they served us—what I do remember was the fun we had: playing group games; the unfamiliar, yet thought-provoking, songs we heard from the singing group called His Sounds; and the story, that was shared with us, of a God who wanted to save me from sin and death. These lingered in my mind that night, before I dropped off to sleep. Little did I know what lay ahead—I came for food for my stomach but instead was given food for a lifetime.

"Makulit sila!"
After the Freshman Treat, Ban Garcia and Rey Alconces, the Discussion Group leaders we met that fateful afternoon, bombarded us with follow-ups. My four classmates and I attended the weekly meetings that followed, but one by one, they dropped like flies, till I was literally the only one left standing. Ban persevered and painstakingly taught and discipled me, teaching me the "whole counsel of God." In hindsight, I thank God that Ban and Rey persisted in following me up, investing time and effort in teaching me. I fondly look to Ban as my spiritual father.

"How NOT to win friends and influence people"
The following semester, I joined a Cell Group which I attended regularly. It was such a joy to discover what it really meant to let Jesus be the Lord of my life. I treasured the numerous learnings gleaned from those meetings—about Quiet Time, Bible study, sin and temptation, worldliness, being a witness, sharing the Gospel, and other lessons found in the book, Start Right, the IVCF-Phils. bible study guide for new Christians.

But this growing knowledge led me to question certain teachings of the Catholic faith that I was born and raised in. In one of our meetings, we talked about Jesus being the only Way to heaven and not the Blessed Virgin Mary nor the saints. I took it to heart, as it is—the "Gospel truth." This led to a heated discussion with my family at our dinner table. When the conversation turned to religion and beliefs, I tactlessly reprimanded my parents for praying to and venerating the Blessed Virgin. I proudly claimed to have discovered the real truth and castigated them for bringing me up with such lies. Not surprisingly, my father reprimanded me saying, "You have turned bad because of this Christian fellowship." My mother, who was visibly hurt, shed tears.

"You reap what you sow"
This incident caused them to frown upon my involvement with SVCF and to say "No!" to all my requests to attend their church camps, for the duration of my college days. In my senior year, I wrote a 7-page letter to my father in an attempt to get him to allow me to attend the last camp available to me before graduation. I poured my heart out in that long letter, asking for his forgiveness for all the hurt I'd caused him, sharing the Gospel with him. I ended the letter with a request for his permission to attend the upcoming Leadership-Discipleship Camp.

My impassioned pleas and apology fell on deaf ears as my father remained constant in his disapproval of my attempts to grow in my newfound faith. He denied my request once more. But what hurt more than this denial was his lack of reaction to the long emotional letter I had written. But I drew comfort from a Christian friend's consoling words—"that such a letter had surely made an indelible mark on my father's heart.. And that a seed had been planted, which would certainly bear fruit in God's time." (A word to the wise—those of you who may be in parallel circumstances of discovering the real truth within the embrace of a predominantly Catholic family, you would do well to spare your family such heartaches by not doing what I did. Pray instead for the guidance of the Holy Spirit on how to make your stand in a gracious and loving way).

"The seed bore fruit!"
Seven years later, my father came down with liver cancer, causing him rapid weight loss and a severely bloated stomach. We were fortunate to have a Christian doctor attend to him, not only with his medical expertise but more so with the prayers he would begin each check-up with. This difficult time was also a blessing in that I had the opportunity to read Scripture passages to my father almost every night.

About a month before he died, for the first time, my father confessed to have Jesus in his heart and life! He shared his newfound faith with friends and relatives who visited him in the hospital and with my church mates when they came to sing hymns and to pray for him. He had the assurance of salvation when he went to be with the Lord in August 1986.

"Go, SAGUSI!"
During my college days, I hung out at the side of the Main Library, which later became known as the IVCF (Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship) Tambayan. I don't know what got into the head of founder of this fellowship (you know who you are) and what he was trying to prove, but we called ourselves SAGUSI or Samahan ng mga Guwapo sa Side. To all the bona fide members (you also know who you are), I hope you are still living up to our "ideals."

One of our major resolutions (if not the main resolution) was to save the young ladies in our fellowship from the claws of non-Christian suitors. We had beautiful godly lasses in our midst, very attractive to the eyes of other men so lest we be accused of being torpe and uncaring, we decided to make our move and "save" them: "Lusob, kapwa SAGUSI!" We were not able to save them all as there were not enough guys to partner the available gals, but some of us succeeded. I did. One lifetime blessing I received from IVCF is the love of my life, Grace (nicknamed Jay at that time because of her maiden name Ilagan).

"Look to serve!"
In those days, Daily Prayer Meetings (when we weren't saving godly lasses), were huge. A large group of about 20 to 30 would gather every day at "The Side" for prayer from 12:30-1pm. Friday lectures attracted even more, with 60 to 70 students packing Alcantara Hall or Vinzon Rooftop. Apart from singing many Christian hymns, we enjoyed listening to British OMF missionaries do biblical expositions. While their accents were a novelty at that time ("love-leigh isn't it?"), current day foreign missionaries may attract even bigger groups by offering to teach British/American accents so highly valued and pursued by the numerous call centers that dot the employment landscape today.

But what really stayed in my heart and mind was the charge of a friend/cum-tutor, "Remain faithful and steadfast. Wherever you are, look to serve." That charge reverberates in my heart even now. The call to serve came when I was elected an elder of DCBC in the 80s. To this day, I still serve the Lord in that capacity. I heard the charge from the Lord again when I said "Yes!" to the invitation to become the second Filipino Managing Director of OMF Literature nine years ago.

I am grateful to trace God's hand working sovereignly in my life. It is wonderful to have IVCF's delightful inheritance and DCBC's nurturing care and solid biblical grounding intertwined in my life. I got saved in IVCF; I was discipled, taught, and shown leadership both in IVCF and DCBC. I pray that my children—Ida, Monique, Moncito, and Jeremy—would experience the same discipleship and leadership training in IVCF and DCBC as I had the privilege of enjoying.

May the Lord find us faithful in our task of Kingdom-building. To God be the glory!

Editor's Note: Mon Rocha finished business economics at UP in 1979, worked as a sales representative for two years with Gillette Philippines, then took up his masters in business management at AIM from 1981 to 1983. In 1984, he started a family business, making sports bags and caps winning contracts for companies like Adidas, Nike, Puma and Reebok. At the height of his own business, he was invited to head OMF Literature Inc. in January 1997, which he continues to do to the present day. He also serves as President of Book Exporters Association of the Philippines, Vice-Chairman of Media Associates International (MAI), as well as Chairman of MAI-Asia.

Kuya Mon is married to his beautiful wife Grace for 22 years now and is blessed to have 4 children : Ida, 21, Sophia, 18, Ramon IV, 16 and Jeremy, 11.