Beyond Boundaries: God’s Vision for Tomorrow
We’re used to living day by day, but there are those who dare to dream of the future.
However, through God’s power and grace, we can dream of a brighter and bigger tomorrow beyond every boundary—just like Mon and Jo have and continue to do!
The three-decade (and counting!) spiritual journey of the current leaders of ICOC Dagupan, Mon and Jo Calibuso, can be summed up in two words: a wandering lifestyle. This embodies their commitment—a life devoted to serving wherever and whenever God needed them. This started out in 1996 when they were leading ICOC Baguio, a city church in the area of North Luzon (the northern part of one of the Philippines’ three major island groups) while working in the corporate world—Mon worked as a bank employee while Jo worked in sales and marketing.
In 1997, their leadership shifted into a full-time calling in the ministry. Mon and Jo felt compelled to
dedicate themselves fully to ministry, leaving the security of their corporate jobs to serve God. This new path, however, was not without its challenges. Their ministry work demanded relocations, leading them to live in three different areas in the Philippines within the span of four years.
During the year 2000, after serving as full-time church interns, Mon and Jo were assigned to a new city church in North Luzon, ICOC Laoag. Moving to Laoag allowed them to settle down for quite a while, with Mon even taking a break from full-time ministry work. Mon became a teacher while still serving in leadership. Jo, on the other hand, remained working for the church.
Their stay in Laoag proved to be especially fruitful. Not only were they able to establish strong roots in the community, but it also brought them the joy of starting a family with the birth of their son, Kobi. In 2010, Mon was called back into full-time ministry, a position he willingly accepted.
Mon and Jo led ICOC Laoag for 16 years,
over a decade and a half of building relationships, fostering friendships, and serving God made the community a place they dearly loved.
In 2016, however,
they received another call to serve, this time in Dagupan, another church within the ICOC Philippine family of churches. This decision was met with greater hesitation than their previous move to Laoag. Laoag had become a cherished home for them. Although
Mon and Jo remained committed to accepting God’s call to lead in Dagupan, their decision now had a greater impact — it also involved their son, Kobi. Born and raised in Laoag, this would be his first move, leaving behind a lifetime of memories and close friends. The decision weighed heavily on the family, but with great faith, in a month,
the family decided to move to Dagupan and answer God’s call once again.
Mon and Jo’s leadership in Dagupan proved to be meaningful, albeit with some difficulties. Adjusting to a new environment, all while learning an unfamiliar dialect, proved to be challenging, especially for Mon’s preaching. Yet, their unwavering faith and commitment to God allowed God’s grace to shine through! Building relationships with disciples from Dagupan, despite the language barrier, came easier than expected, even Kobi formed friendships with ease.
God blessed Mon and Jo's dedication in 2018 with new roles appointment:
Mon as an evangelist and Jo as a women's ministry leader. Jo even managed to complete her
Asia Pacific Leadership Academy (APLA) Diploma. Now, their leadership extends beyond ICOC Dagupan, overseeing the entire North Luzon region
in the Philippines.
ICOC Dagupan is a church family imitating the warmth of Jesus’s love, but no church is perfect. Mon and Jo, through God’s wisdom, saw that despite the church’s good relationship with one another, it lacked strong leadership and spiritual maturity. To address this,
they sought to empower each individual to move in the ministry, blueprinting Paul’s reminder to the Romans that a body, though with many parts, still functions as one.
They focused on training not only the leaders but every disciple in terms of shepherding, teaching, and discipling. Dagupan’s weekly devotionals became a platform for honing these spiritual skills. Eventually, this training also extended towards North Luzon.
This became a catalyst, enabling each to help the other through hurdles and struggles.
When distance became a barrier for some members, the church rallied together with a carpool system to ensure everyone could attend. Through great perseverance and commitment, disciples in Dagupan were able to learn the essence of strengthening relationships.
Mon and Jo have witnessed a significant increase in the spiritual maturity of disciples from Dagupan, especially in teaching and understanding the scriptures. These bore fruits of growth; from a mere seventy disciples, they were able to grow to more than a hundred!
These amazing changes and growths have inspired Mon and Jo to dream even bigger for the future of God’s church. They aim to
evangelize the whole province, extending beyond the city limits. They envision ICOC Dagupan growing bigger to cover the entire province— “ICOC Pangasinan!” Mon and Jo said. They dream of establishing six different zones with strong leadership among the next generation. Truly, through Mon and Jo,
God continues to work for the flourishing of ICOC Dagupan!
With your support, you can help Mon, Jo and ICOC Dagupan evangelize their province!
You may be miles away but with your donation, you can be part of God’s mission.
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