As early as 1984, one of the long-term goals agreed upon by the church's leadership was that DCBC would be "rooted in the campus residential community, with two congregations, English and Tagalog…" And so it came to pass that in 2004 (twenty years later), the Tagalog service became a reality. And what a blessed two years it has been, marked by events and programs that have allowed both congregations to bond and become true brethren in the Lord.

We use the term 'Tagalog,' as do many other churches, mainly to say that the sermon will be preached in Tagalog. Similarly, preaching at the 'English' service is done mainly in English. The 'Sunset' in Sunset service, on the other hand, is so called for the late afternoon Sunday worship schedule the students prefer and 'need' to accommodate (naturally wholesome) Saturday evening 'gimmicks'.

A good number of the Tagalog worship service attendees are household helpers of the English service members. But the bulk of attendees are our brothers and sisters from the communities in and around UP, Diliman. These are Krus na Ligas, Employees Village, Pansol, San Vicente, and Kaingin One and Two.

Early Roots
This newest of the DCBC congregations sprang from the creation of the Social Concerns ministry during the church's 2003 congregational planning meeting. DCBC then went into partnership with the Center for Community Transformation to provide micro financing for residents of these communities. Residents who met the basic requirements could avail themselves of small business loans on easy-payment terms. The relationships this forged with the resident housewives paved the way for eventually sharing the Gospel.

This gave rise to the first of our Tagalog house-to-house bible studies in August 2003 around the Krus na Ligas area. Brother Vic Mandalupe remembers looking for homes that would be willing to host a neighborhood bible study. At first, it was very difficult for him, especially since he was working alone. Fortunately, the good relations that DCBC had by this time established with the resident housewives through the said micro finance project, made things a little easier for him. His load was further lightened when he was joined in 2004 by Pastor Chris Canuto, then in 2005 by Nanay Edy Yuson (more on her in a while).

July 2004 was the date of the first Tagalog worship service that saw Pastor Chris in the pulpit. There were twenty-eight attendees, composed of the nanays, or the resident housewives within the UP Community that DCBC had befriended. Through these ladies, their husbands and children and neighbors joined the DCBC Tagalog congregation, and now the initial group of twenty-eight has grown to some 60-strong adult members.

How Nanay Edy came to DCBC is a story in itself. She is an "import" of sorts since she joined the congregation through her sister, the late Nanay Jing who was one of the first residents of Krus na Ligas to open her home to DCBC neighborhood bible studies. Although a volunteer church worker for a Marikina church, Nanay Edy attended the bible study in her sister's home. Unfortunately, Nanay Jing was found to be in the last stages of cancer, which prompted Nanay Edy to move in with and help care for her dying sister. Nanay Edy practically took over the raising of Nanay Jing's fourteen-year-old twin daughters and the running of the household, eventually also the hosting of the bible study. After Nanay Jing passed away in May 2005, Nanay Edy was further moved to take Nanay Jing's place in the DCBC Tagalog congregation, and so requested permanent leave of the pastora she had been assisting for the past twenty years.

Nanay Edy continues to be a tremendous blessing to DCBC and to Brother Vic as she focuses her gentle but considerable energies on serving the Tagalog congregation, and on helping with the new house-to-house bible studies to be established in the near future. Some five new bible studies are planned for Kaingin, Krus na Ligas and Pansol. To help encourage a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of spiritual truths, and to forge a stronger sense of unity and belonging to the body of the church, these house-to-house bible study groups come together once a quarter in the Tagalog Bible Study Fellowship.

Mutual Instruction
The interaction between the English and Tagalog congregations has been a mutual learning experience. As they impart God's word to members of the Tagalog congregation, volunteer bible teachers and cell group leaders from the English congregation gain a personal understanding of problems completely outside of their personal experience. Some Tagalog service brethren have suffered the tearing down of their houses. Others have anguished over a son or a father in jail or wrestling with drug addiction, or have worried over a daughter pregnant out of wedlock. While DCBC tries to find practical ways to help people with such serious personal problems, we remember that our basic duty to all our brothers and sisters is to help them with their spiritual problems. We must see to it that our brethren grow in Christ just as we ourselves must grow in Christ, because only then will we see truly changed lives.

Here are some highlights of the year that was in this joint walk in the Lord. We see this as proof positive not only that God answer prayers, but that He does so graciously and generously.

Many Things Borrowed, Nothing 'Blue'
DCBC throughout its almost thirty years has helped to officiate and celebrate many weddings, baptisms, child dedications, and lately even funerals. But it found itself in a position peculiar for an entire church to be in—that of "ninang" last May 2005 when members of all three congregations helped to wed a young couple from the Tagalog service who had been together for seven years and have five children. Soon after they began to attend our Tagalog worship service, Jun and Jane became convinced that they should get married. DCBC was only too happy to help in every way it could to remove all obstacles to the happy and blessed event.

Food, usually one of the major expenses in any wedding, was provided through a 'potluck reception' that featured the home-cooked specialties of various church members, on top of the regular Love Feast spread that the church has catered every first Sunday of the month. The bride, the groom, and some members of their entourage were elegantly outfitted in heirloom pieces from the bauls of church members who willingly loaned a treasured veil, shoes, barongs, gowns, the wedding cord, and even the cake figurine, given a new lease on life, if at least for the day. Even the couple's five children, ages seven years to six months at the time, were picture-pretty and handsome in the vintage outfits lent for the formal child dedication ceremony that took place right after their parents said their wedding vows.

The wedding and reception were held at the UP Bonsai Garden for a token donation. This five-thousand-square-meter Eden features over 200 bonsai trees (many of them award-winning and consistent Top 10 placers in various horticultural competitions), lovingly tended and donated to UP by Mang Modi Manglicmot, a DCBC member and former president of the Philippine Bonsai Society and the Philippine Horticultural Society. Retail establishments also pitched in, donating the bridal flowers, candles, and wedding cake. Brethren helped with photography and videography, as well as with the event planning and venue decorating. Members from all three church congregations pitched in where needed to ensure a memorable and enjoyable occasion.

Twenty-Third DCBC Church Camp
Last year's church camp at the Rizal Recreation Center in Laguna, DCBC's twenty-third, with the theme of "Aliens and Strangers in the World" (1 Peter 2:11-12), was held in November 2005 and saw attendance breach the 100-mark for the first time. Previous convoys to and from church camps used to be ragtag caravans of cars and vans, but last year's record attendance required the hiring of a bus to ferry the happy mix of inter-generational and inter-congregational camp participants (mostly Tagalog service). Lodging arrangements were equally mixed as DCBC had to crowd into a few tents and cabins due to the presence of two other churches at the retreat center. Masaya talaga.

But preparations for the camp started way before the November camp dates. With the rapid increase in Tagalog service congregation numbers, additional efforts were needed to afford a lot more subsidies on top of those traditionally given to student campers. Several rummage and bake sales, in which members of all three congregations heartily participated, were held in the run up to the church camp. An "easy-terms lay-away savings plan" was also established to help church members save up for the camp fee.

As the Tagalog service congregation turns two this July, we look forward to further living with and learning from each other. As 1 Corinthians 12:12 says, "The body is a unit, though it is made up of many parts and though all its parts are many, they form one body. So it is with Christ. For we were all baptized by one Spirit into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, slave or free—and we were all given the one Spirit to drink." We know that we are all different parts of one body and one day all these differences—including those of language, scheduling, financial standing—will simply disappear in Him. All believers will be just one in service to and worship of Him for a happy eternity no longer marked by anniversaries.