Meet Pastor Phil
discipled in a tire shop
“I learned how to follow Jesus in a tire shop. Watching my dad share his faith with truck drivers and small-town politicians in Anoka, Minnesota showed me how a Christian ought to live during the week. When my dad died, these men shared story after story of how my dad’s love transformed their lives. In reality, they experienced the love of God through my dad’s life and testimony. I knew this was the kind of life I had to live.”
cross-cultural family
“The culture gap between a Minnesotan and a Filipino family is wide. Having to build bridges across our own cultural differences, Ligaya and I have gained a profound joy in creating a new cross-cultural family together. United by our faith, we learned how genuine solidarity needs a heart-driven, Christ-centered love. Our family has truly prepared us to build meaningful cross-cultural relationships in our city.”
ministry experience
“We are called to serve the church. With over 16 years in church and Christian nonprofit ministry, I have experience leading youth, college, adult, and international ministries. After graduating from Multnomah Biblical Seminary in 2017, I served as the Pastor of Intercultural Ministry for Crossroads Bible Church in Bellevue, WA. I developed and empowered an ethnically diverse leadership, who served their Chinese, Filipino, Indian, and Korean communities so that we built a visible unity in our diverse church of 2,500 people.”
growth in adversity
“Our world stopped when Ligaya was diagnosed with cancer in 2017. God used that hardship to strip our faith down to its foundation. We relearned a new level of trusting God when life felt too difficult to endure. Today our life is rebuilt upon an unshakeable confidence that God is not only leading us, but providing all that we need to live the good life in Jesus.”
starting a church
“Starting a church in a pandemic has not been without questions or concerns whether this was the right time. As we prayed, we followed God’s lead, and began inviting people on September 1, 2020 to partner with us by praying, giving, and/or going. A year later, God assembled a launch team of 25 households, consisting of 38 adults and 14 children, to start Anthem Church. Not only that, but eight were baptized that summer and another couple felt led to start another church. We praise God that our church plant not only launched with new life, but even started our own daughter church.”
