Herbert A. Nacion, or Ebet, as he is fondly called, began to fulfill his missionary calling three years ago when he set out to work with a Muslim community in southern Philippines. But the call to be a missionary had its roots in 1997, during his fourth year in high school. Ebet had regularly attended Sunday School as a young boy when his eldest sister Lou became a Christian. But it wasn't until high school that he actually committed his life to the Lord. He became involved with Grace Bible Church in Nagtahan, a missionary-sending church that actively encouraged members to become cross-cultural missionaries. He felt his calling then and was even commissioned to be a missionary. After high school, he wanted to go to mission school but upon the advice of family members, decided to take up a secular course and landed in Computer Science.

In his freshman year in college, Ebet took a part-time job in a fast-food chain and found himself busy with work and studies. With these demands on his time, he became less and less involved with the church and more and more attracted to worldly influences. He eventually developed vices and got involved with activism in school. But the Lord's calling was sure. He Himself made a way for Ebet to be brought back to the fold.

Ebet returned to the church when his sister Lou became involved with DCBC. There he was reunited with Pastor Carlos "Kuya Caloy" Novisteros who, for many years, had ministered in the church where Ebet had gone, and was now associate pastor at DCBC. Kuya Caloy later on invited him to join an ABCCOP (Association of Bible Christian Communities of the Philippines) camp. Life was never the same for Ebet after this camp when the Bible verse, 1 John 1:9, spoke to him, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."(NIV) It was there that God reminded him of the life purpose he had revealed to Ebet many years ago, way back in high school - missions.

From then on, he tagged along with Kuya Caloy wherever he went, getting his first exposure to mission work. He was led to an even greater conviction toward missions when he attended the Condensed World Mission Course. This course gave him a worldview of missions and led him to a deeper understanding of what missions were all about. He was also encouraged to focus on praying for unreached people groups in the country.

While Ebet was sure of his calling as a missionary, he was uncertain of where exactly the Lord wanted him to serve. It was only when he saw a poster soliciting prayers for this particular unreached people group in Mindanao that the leading became clearer. He wanted to pray more intelligently for this group so he asked the Lord for a way to get detailed information about them. After a couple of weeks, he found himself traveling to Cotabato to attend an evangelism meeting with Kuya Caloy. There he met missionaries who were ministering to native groups in Mindanao, including the very same unreached people group he had been praying for. After a year of exchanging information with these missionaries, he went on a two-month exposure trip to where this people group lived. Clearly, this series of events was an affirmation of his calling to missions, which he strove to fulfill by training for six months at the Asian Center for Missions (ACM), upon his return to Manila.

While a number of Christians advised him to take up seminary studies before going to the mission field, Ebet's conviction was to go into fulltime mission work because he wanted the Lord to "teach his heart before teaching his mind". Thus began a three-year missionary journey with a Muslim community in Mindanao. Ebet served as a community development worker involved in a holistic program that included literacy, livelihood, health, and values, with the goal of training people to be self-reliant. Ebet shared exciting experiences of how the Lord worked to bring people to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ. He shared that people were won to the gospel not through argument but through the life and testimony of the Christian workers.

Asked what his major lessons were in his three-year experience in the mission field, he cites three things: 1) love for co-workers in the mission field, 2) submission to leaders, and 3) humility. He said that it was easy to love the people he ministered to, but the struggle was in loving his co-workers. Living with fellow Christians posed a challenge to him as he had to face differences in personality and had to go against his opinionated and willful self by submitting to his leaders.

On his third year in the field, Ebet realized he had to do a deeper check of his spiritual condition to see further what the Lord's plan was for his life. Thus he decided to take a leave from the mission field. He also saw the need to further equip himself by deepening his spiritual foundations. Ebet is now on study leave and plans to take a diploma course in Biblical Studies this coming June. In the meantime, he continues to be involved with mission's mobilization by speaking about missions in different churches and Christian organizations, as well as teaching about missions with the Condensed World Mission Course. Ebet's major prayer concerns include financial provision as he pursues his studies and seeks future direction in ministry.

Talking with Ebet, you can't help but pick up on his burning love for missions. He jokingly says he is true to his surname "Nacion", having gone out into the nations to preach the Word of God. At the moment though, he believes that the Lord wants him to rest from the frontline of missions and renew his passion for Him, as distinct from mere passion for missionary work.

Only 26 years old, our young missionary has already laid out his life mission statement: To conform to the image of His Son by imparting and touching lives through evangelism, discipleship, and equipping of believers for missions, for the glory of God. Having such a distinct and well-defined mission statement has helped Ebet … to make the right decision, to discern whether certain choices will in fact help him to fulfill his mission statement.

Indeed we cannot help but be blessed and encouraged by the life of Ebet. May the Lord raise up more people who have the same deep love for God and fulfill the calling to go out into the harvest field where "the harvest is plentiful but the laborers are few."