She and her husband, Armando, had moved to the village in 1990 to start a church, which over the years had grown to 20 families. Their village of about 800 households was evenly split between Muslims and Christians, but the Muslim rebels hoped to establish Muslim domination in Mindanao and drive out all Christians.

That night in 2008, Ruth was terrified by the sound of the nearby fighting. She, Armando and their three children ran behind their house, searching their property for a place to hide. Seeing nothing better than the small footbridge that crossed a murky canal behind their house, they quickly crawled under it. They knew there were snakes in the water, but they chose the danger of the snakes over that of the Muslim rebels they could hear advancing on the village.

Request your free magazine

Subscribe

The couple tried to keep the girls quiet, but they were scared and crying. “We were praying to the Lord to cover us with His precious blood, asking for Him to protect us because we are in the ministry,” Ruth said. They passed the next eight hours until daylight by praying, quietly singing and talking.

As dawn broke the next morning, the family crawled out from under the bridge, muddy and stiff but unharmed by either snakes or the Muslim rebels. They knew that the fighting would resume in the evening, so they gathered a few things from their home before joining their neighbors in a trek up to the main road. They camped in tents for several weeks before their village captain told them government forces had repelled the rebels and their Northern Cotabato village was safe again.

During the next five years, Ruth and her family were forced to evacuate their village because of fighting every year. VOM reported on how we helped believers after two major attacks in the region in 2009, including one attack in which four Christians were killed and six seriously injured by gunfire and mortars. More than 200 Christians were left temporarily homeless from each attack, and VOM helped by providing relief materials. While the rebels are sometimes driven out by government forces, other times they come in and occupy the Christians’ houses and land.

Major attacks occurred again in 2013, in June, July and September, including one on Ruth and Armando’s village. During this most recent attack, rebels abducted several villagers to use as human shields while fleeing from the military.

Ruth and Armando spent a month, from September to October, camping with other village evacuees, living in tents made of tarps and old rice-drying sacks. During the day, they could safely return to their homes and tend to their livestock and gardens, but every night they slept in the tents.

Ruth and Armando choose to stay in the village despite the constant threat of attack and repeated evacuations, even though their children are now all away studying and nothing keeps the couple in the village except their church. “There is a big work in this place,” Ruth said. “Let us continue to serve the Lord even though experiencing this kind of persecution. All these things are happening to us, but God is still great.”

In response to the three village attacks, VOM field workers provided emergency assistance and encouragement to the temporarily displaced believers. A team of workers distributed food, medicine, sleeping mats, mosquito nets and blankets to help meet their immediate needs. “Before we distributed the items, I shared with them about the love of God, telling them that in dark times of life God is looking for His people, letting them know that the supplies are God’s provision from His great love to them and they should be strong in the Lord,” said a VOM field worker. “We joined in praying for all of them for His protection and providence, and then we gave them the supplies.”

Ruth and Armando were among the recipients of these gifts, and they also used their time in the evacuation camp to minister to others. Some of the unbelievers were sad or frustrated, blaming God for their problems. Ruth shared the gospel with them and encouraged them to trust God.

Ruth is firmly committed to serving God, even in difficult circumstances. Suffering isn’t a new idea to her. “Since I accepted Christ I knew [about] it,” she said. “That’s how we can stay here; God will not forsake us.” Her family received a motorbike from VOM in June 2013 to help further their ministry work, and in October 2013 they attended a VOM-sponsored conference for pastors in the region.

Ruth and Armando expect to stay in the village “until the Lord comes back. We are not planning to leave this place,” she said. “God has called us here. If we die, we die.”

Alejandro was the only son in a strict Muslim family. He’d brought honor to his father by joining the Islamist rebels and was considered a worthy heir. But after several years of indiscriminate killing, Alejandro’s conscience began to bother him. He left the militant group and went into secular work, but he remained committed to his Muslim faith and to his family.

Alejandro’s work required that he travel around the island of Mindanao, and in 2009 he met a Christian who invited him to church. At first Alejandro turned down the invitation; he wasn’t interested in Christianity. But the Christian persisted, and after five invitations Alejandro finally agreed to visit the man’s church.

Request your free magazine

Subscribe

During the church service, Alejandro suddenly found himself crying and walking to the front of the church. “I was a tough military guy, an Islamic killer,” he said. “I never cried, never. That day, I decided to leave Islam and follow Jesus.”

Alejandro knew he could never set bombs in the name of Islam again. He told his father everything that had happened, all the while praying that he would understand. But when Alejandro’s father learned that he had become a Christian, he exploded and began beating him.

As the stronger, younger man, Alejandro was able to repel the attack. His father then grabbed a machete, pronounced a curse over his apostate son and told him he would kill him. Alejandro left the house and has not seen his parents since. He still talks by phone with his siblings, who tell him his devout Muslim parents remain deeply angry with him.

The same year Alejandro became a Christian, he decided he wanted to enter full-time ministry. He soon quit his job and enrolled in a Bible school. The facilities are simple, and students do their own cooking, building maintenance and cleaning. When VOM distributes literature or Bibles at both Bible schools and secular schools in the region, the students are highly grateful for the materials. At one distribution, a VOM worker saw students embracing and kissing the Bibles they received.

When Alejandro completed his four-year degree, his church denomination assigned him to a ministry location. Graduates are assigned to ministry positions wherever the need exists, and some of the ministers that VOM encourages are assigned to remote areas. Alejandro’s assignment was a church that was once attended by 130 families. After years of pressure and Muslim attacks, however, the building was abandoned; it hadn’t been used for several years when Alejandro arrived.

Conflicts between government military forces and Islamic soldiers were common in the area where Alejandro was assigned. On some nights, he used earplugs to block the sound of gunfire and exploding grenades so he could sleep.

At first, he was able to recruit only five families to help him revive the church. But in 2014, after months of hard work in the community, the church began to grow. Alejandro also takes evangelism trips to neighboring villages each week, either walking or riding on a water buffalo. His life is at risk every day. Anyone who enters the area knows there is a possibility that he or she might be killed. But Alejandro says he is willing to be used by God, even if it means he has to die.

In late 2013, Alejandro attended a VOM-sponsored pastor’s conference, which brought together pastors from all over the Mindanao region for a time of refreshment and encouragement. Alejandro brought with him a former Muslim man whom he had led to Christ.

After the last night of the conference, a VOM worker saw Alejandro sitting at a table in deep conversation with another conference attendee — the relative of a pastor who had been killed, along with his wife and children by Muslim militants just a few months earlier. “I was struck by the evidence that God’s Spirit is able to reconcile a former Muslim murderer of Christians with one who has recently experienced the grief of family members’ deaths at the hands of Muslims,” said the VOM worker.

Alejandro once planted bombs to kill Christians for the glory of Allah. Today, he follows Christ’s invitation to be a fisher of men. Having sacrificed relationships with his family, he is willing to risk his life for the Lord. Alejandro asks God for greater wisdom and knowledge to help him penetrate the places where Islam is strongest in Mindanao.