By Pastor Glenn Sebios
I am Glenn Sebios, a Filipino citizen. I am now 43 years old. I was born in the hometown of my mother in Leyte province, municipality of Abuyog, facing the Pacific Ocean. I’m the eldest among five siblings (having 3 brothers and 1 sister). My father works as an electronic technician while my mother works as a dressmaker.
Our family was a devoted Catholic, especially under the influence of my grandmother (my mother’s side). In my father’s hometown is where I came to know our Lord Jesus Christ through the preaching of a missionary who came to share the Gospel and planted our church. That church is where I was baptized, discipled and nurtured in my faith and love for God.
Our family moved to Manila and then to Bulacan. In Bulacan, the Lord helped me grow continually in Him and that was the time that I felt that He was calling me for a full-time ministry. I said yes to God’s call. I started serving the youth as their pastor. I also became an outreach missionary under my home church in Bulacan for about five years.
I went back to my birthplace in Leyte where I pastored a church there for more than three years. Later on, it was 2009 when I felt the call of God for me to do a missionary work abroad. I went for missions training for six months. March 2010, I first came to Cambodia as a single missionary for cross-cultural mission. In 2014, I met my wife, Pia, also serving the Lord as a missionary. A year after, we got married in the Philippines.
We came back to Cambodia. Initially, we have had the opportunity to serve the Lord in several provinces of Cambodia. Since 2019, we are missionaries doing a pioneering church planting work in Kampong Chnnang province, an outreach of Cornerstone Church, Phnom Penh. We are ministering to the children, youth and adults.
Building relationship, teaching English, feed them and sharing the Gospel and disciple them. We praise God for the 30 individuals (mostly young people and some adults) who are believers in the Lord Jesus Christ.
During COVID-19 pandemic, we are shocked and wondering what will happen to our life here in Cambodia. It was the most challenging times of our lives and ministry because of full lock down. We were not able to gather as a church for many months. Our financial support went down. We were worried and wondering how we could move forward.
Many Filipinos were repatriated to the Philippines. Though we are also thinking to do the same we could not do it as we were locked down in Kampong Chhnang province. It is a one and a half hour travel to Phnom Penh. We didn’t have enough money to do it even if we are allowed to travel. During those times, we saw God’s miraculous ways in taking cared of us. God impressed on us to stay and continue to be His witnesses, His lights and salts to reach spiritually lost people and help fellow believers grow in the knowledge and grace of our Lord Jesus Christ.
As Christian missionaries here in Cambodia, humanly speaking it is not that easy. Despite of many challenges, by the leading and working of the Holy Spirit in and through our lives, we continue to share and show the love of Christ to the Cambodian people.
Our advice to potential missionaries is to give their lives fully surrendered to the working and leading of the Holy Spirit by allowing Him to help them grow deeper in their faith so that they can love God faithfully which in return they will truly love His Words, His Church and the Unreached/Least Reached People of the World who need to know His love and plan for their lives.