Over 16,000 people gathered at the Araneta Coliseum for Victory@25

Hours after Victory@25, people were still on a high. Professionals, families, and barkadas extended the celebration as they filled coffeeshops surrounding the Araneta Coliseum. Our back-to-back celebrations that day assembled more than 16,000 delegates from all over the country. It was like one big family reunion, gathering everyone from the youngest members to those who were there since day one.

We saw and learned a lot of new things—from in-house jokes to amazing talents to encouraging stories about changed lives. As we revisited the past, celebrated the present, and envisioned the future, only one thing was repeatedly emphasized and instilled in the hearts of those who were there—God is faithful. Throughout the years, many lives have been transformed by God’s love. And His love has spread even to the generations that followed. Today, we are even more excited about what God will do in the next twenty-five years!

The party isn’t over yet. Whether or not you were with us during the event, you’re all a part of this celebration. Keep visiting this website for more photos and video snippets from the afternoon and evening programs.

]]> http://victoryat25.com/happy-anniversary-victory.html/feed http://victoryat25.com/a-look-back.html http://victoryat25.com/a-look-back.html#comments Thu, 23 Jul 2009 03:25:36 +0000 Jem http://victoryat25.com/?p=263 Editor’s Note: Here’s an interview with Pastors Jun Escosar and Ferdie Cabiling back in July 1993 when Victory was just nine years old.

(Victory Fire, Vol.2 No. 2, July 1993)

Two men, Pastors Jun Escosar and Ferdie Cabiling, who have been with Victory since the original outreach in 1984, reminisce about what it was like in “the old days.”

What was it like during the early years of Victory?
Jun Escosar (JE): There was such a tremendous awareness of and desire for God. It was a great time for developing friendships. You felt like you had found new brothers and sisters. None of us had cars, there were not many homes to visit, so we would just go to Luneta park and have a great time. We’d eat, have fun, and celebrate everyone’s birthday. It reminds me of the early church in the book of Acts. There was the literal sharing of what we had. It was tremendous.

Ferdie Cabiling (FC): Everything was fast paced those days. As soon as you got saved, you were taught the foundations of Christianity, at the same time trained to evangelize, worship God, and counsel others. The foundations of Lordship, holiness, a passion for the lost, vision, destiny, purpose, the importance of the Word and prayer, all these were instilled in our lives. We were trained immediately to do the works of ministry. It was exciting.

(From left) Pastor Jun Escosar, now the director for Every Nation Ministries in the Philippines and Pastor Ferdie Cabiling, senior pastor of Victory Ortigas together with Pastor Winston Reyes

What are some of your most memorable moments?
JE: The most memorable moments I have are our discipleship meetings. I was part of Al Manamtam’s small group, while Steve Murrell and Tom Bouvier had their own groups. I remember that in Tom’s group, you would do push-ups if you were late. We also memorized countless verses. It was a great time. We learned to relate in a deeper way and share responsibilities in the church. I also remember the time we were launched into open-air preaching and into things we never thought we could possibly do like drama, evangelism, music, and many things. Those were really some of the most wonderful days I’ve had.

FC: My most memorable moment is the time when Tom Bouvier asked the new believers “Who wants to preach?” I was one of the first to raise my hand because I was excited to preach in the pulpit. After they prayed for the four or five of us who volunteered, I discovered that what Tom meant was open-air preaching, not over the pulpit! I almost fainted, I couldn’t talk. As we marched outside to the streets of Recto with hundreds of passers-by, my heart was racing and I was so nervous I couldn’t open my mouth. But that was the beginning of my preaching ministry. My first ever sermon—right there on the street corner. That’s my most memorable moment.

Looking back, what do you see were the keys in our growth as a church movement?
FC: The foundations that were laid for us were key to who we are today—absolute purity and holiness, commitment to Christ and the local church evangelism, and especially Lordship. Looking back over the years, we’ve really grown a lot.

JE: One of the major keys was the fact that the church was founded on the Lordship of Jesus Christ. There is no question about that. To this day, that is where we derive our power from. But another key, I strongly believe, was prayer. You see, it was the time when we established a regular weekly prayer meeting for the church that we experienced tremendous growth, maturity, and the glory of God in our meetings. God really answered our prayers.

Where is Victory headed in the next nine years?
FC: I believe that we are about to experience unprecedented growth. I see everyone being equipped to do the works of the ministry. As we do that, I believe that by the grace of God, we will really explode and multiply. I also believe that in the next nine years, we will be able to reach every major campus and city in this nation and simultaneously plant churches in the nations of Asia.

JE: With the new things that God has been speaking to us—small groups, mobilization of the laity—we are on the verge of something we have never seen before as a ministry. We will saturate Metro Manila with churches in Quezon City, Caloocan, and Alabang. We will have major churches in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Aside from the ones we already have, future ministries will be established in the former Soviet Union, Hong Kong, Dubai, Burma, India, Malaysia, Singapore, and the other neighboring nations in Asia. I see people from our church getting more involved in the government and making a greater impact and influence in society. It’s going to be exciting!

What’s a tag?
A tag is a keyword assigned to photos, videos, or blog entries that you post online. Words used as tags usually identify, describe, and categorize the items that you share on the web.

Why do we need to tag?
Using tags will not only help you find what you are looking for in your own account, but it will also help other internet users find your posts.

Here’s how to do it
Let’s all tag our posts with “victoryat25” so we could see a collage of online memorabilia on our different websites.

Almost all the sites now use tags: Facebook, Wordpress, Blogger, Multiply, Flickr, Youtube, and Twitter. You can usually find the tag box under the content box. Just add “victoryat25” in your post’s tags. For Twitter, add “#victoryat25” anywhere in your tweet.

Here’s how the tag box looks like on the following sites:

Wordpress:

Blogger:

Multiply:

Flickr:

Youtube:

Editor’s Note: In this article written during the eighth year of Victory, Pastor Steve Murrell recalls some vivid memories, including first time encounters and changed lives.

I remember the phone ringing that day in May of 1984. It was the phone call that would change my life (and address). My friend, Rice Broocks, was organizing a team of college students for a summer missionary trip to the Philippines and Korea. He asked Deborah and I to come along to help with the follow-up. Our plan was to spend one month in Manila and one month in Seoul. God had other plans! Eight years later, sixteen churches later, three sons later, we are still in Manila! We are still reaching students, still planting churches, and still training leaders.

It is hard to believe that we’ve been here for eight years. A lot has happened since that first outreach in 1984. We’ve lived through seven coups, a revolution, a volcano, an earthquake, and sixteen million brownouts. We’ve made lots of friends and recorded countless memories. Following are a few of my most vivid memories totally at random. Here it goes.

Pastors Manny Muleta, Ferdie Cabiling, and Jun Escosar together with other men youth leaders in the 80's

I remember a rainy night in June that first year. The last time it rained that hard was recorded in the sixth chapter of Genesis. We had been in the Philippines for about a week. The streets were flooded, so were the altars. Finally, a young angry (at least he looked angry) university student came forward at our youth crusade in the Girl Scouts Auditorium. He looked like he was ready for a rumble not revival. That night, Ferdie Cabiling met Jesus Christ. Jesus stayed the same, Ferdie was changed forever! Today Ferdie is a man of God. A husband. A father. A preacher. A youth pastor. And a friend of mine.

I remember another night about one week later. We were preaching on the streets of U-Belt, inviting anybody and everybody to our outreach meetings in our first student center, the Tandem Cinema basement. This guy had a pony tail and a distant look in his eyes. He walked into the meeting that night a drug addict and walked out a new creation in Christ! Six years later, Manny Muleta and his new wife, Joy moved to Iloilo City to plant a new Victory church. Today they are part of the pastoral team at the Victory church in U-Belt.

I remember the first communion service we had in Manila. It was the most significant communion service of my life. I was kneeling by my chair. Rice Broocks was leading the service. The Holy Spirit was putting a burden in my heart for these people, and I knew that I would return. Six weeks later, Deborah had packed up our belongings and moved across the globe.

Bomboy and Vicky Fabregas with Pastor Steve, who officiated their renewal of vows during their 50th wedding anniversary

I remember the intimidating glares from the man who always stood at the back door after the Makati service. He never sat down. He always stood by the doors ready for a quick get-away. Though never spoken, his look said, “Don’t even think about preaching to me.” He only came to the service to pick up his children for lunch. He stood in the back to avoid his ex-wife, and the preacher. I remember that this guy gradually came earlier and earlier to pick up his kids, either I was preaching longer or he was coming earlier. I’ll never forget the Saturday night his son called and told me that his dad had just surrendered to Christ. I would have nominated the guy for the “least likely to get saved” award. God disagreed. Today Bomboy Fabregas is happily remarried (to his ex-wife) and heads the Evangelism Explosion department of the Makati fellowship.

The most vivid memory I have is the memory of what God did for me on the cross some two thousand years ago. He didn’t just do it for me. He did for sixty million Filipinos, most of whom have never heard a clear biblical explanation of the gospel. He did for the millions of Bengalis, Thais, Chinese, Vietnamese, and Cambodians. Let’s never forget what Jesus did for us and for those around us. The more we remember what Jesus did on that cross for us, the more irresistible the Great Commission will be.

Q: Can we watch the afternoon celebration even though we have tickets for the evening celebration? Vice versa?
A: No. Your ticket is valid only for the time slot indicated on it.

Q: Are we going to have a different program for the 3 PM celebration?
A: The programs for the 3 PM and 8 PM celebrations are exactly the same.

Q: How do we get tickets this time?
A: Tickets for the Victory@25 afternoon celebration will be available starting June 15 at 10 AM, still at just PHP 150. Both over the counter purchases and call center reservations will open at 10 AM, so there’s equal opportunity for both options.

Because of the high demand of tickets and to better facilitate the guaranteed reservation of seats, TicketNet’s online reservation process will be disabled.

Q: How many tickets will be up for sale in the 3 PM celebration?
A: The same number of tickets as the 8 PM celebration are up for sale.

Q: Are there still tickets for Victory@25 8 PM Celebration?
A: General Admission tickets for the 8 PM celebration are still available.

Q: What time will the gates open for the 3 PM and 8 PM celebrations?
A: For the 3 PM celebration, gates open at 1 PM.
For the 8 PM celebration, gates open at 6:30 PM.

Q: Will people vacate the coliseum after the 3 PM Celebration?
A: Yes. Araneta cleaning staff will prepare the coliseum for the 8 PM celebration. That means everyone who attended the 3 PM celebration will vacate the area.

Q: Are there still tickets for Victory@25 8 PM Celebration?
A: General Admission tickets for the 8 PM celebration are still available.

Q: Can I exchange my 8 PM tickets for better seats in the 3 PM Celebration?
A: No. You’ll have to register again for the 3 PM celebration. If you opt to do so, a good idea would be to give your 8 PM tickets to others who don’t have the means to buy one or to those who still prefer to attend the 8 PM celebration.

Q: Can we watch the afternoon celebration even though we have tickets for the evening celebration? Vice versa?
A: No. Your ticket is valid only for the time slot indicated on it.

Q: Are we going to have a different program for the 3 PM celebration?
A: The programs for the 3 PM and 8 PM celebrations are exactly the same.

Q: Can those who watched the 3 PM celebration stay to watch the evening celebration as well?
A: No. Araneta cleaning staff will prepare the coliseum for the 8 PM celebration. That means everyone who attended the 3 PM celebration will vacate the area.

Q:  Is there a discount for kids or senior citizens?
A: Kids will have to pay the regular ticket price. However, senior citizens will be given their discount privileges as they present their senior citizen IDs. Discount is applied on one ticket per ID presented.

Q:  Who may attend Victory@25?
A: Church members and anyone who wants to join the celebration

Q:  I live outside the Philippines, how do I buy tickets?
A: The best option is to ask your family members or friends who live in the Philippines.

Q: I live in the province, how do I buy my tickets?
A: Your provincial church will help make arrangements for you if you do not have a TicketNet outlet nearest you. Please contact your church administrator today for more information or check TicketNet’s website for the complete list of their outlets nationwide.