Throughout their marriage, Rodel and Carmen were able to experience the unfathomable depth of God’s love and faithfulness, especially with the birth of their eldest, Yahzee, just after a year of marriage. Despite these blessings, however, Rodel became focused on his career, so much so that he again felt weak in the faith. His struggles were only amplified by other conflicts and issues within the spiritual family.

Despite Rodel's faith challenges, the people around him, particularly his family, remained steadfast and faithful. Carmen relentlessly prayed for Rodel every 4 AM, laying her hand on his head while he slept.

Rodel’s father invited him to join ICOC Rizal’s sending-off service. Even though struggling, Rodel obliged and attended the Inauguration Service of ICOC Rizal. While to many this seems like a turning point for Rodel’s faith, the passing of his father immediately a day after ICOC Rizal’s Inauguration Service tested his faith even more.

The challenges Rodel faced in his relationship with God continued while he tried to venture into various businesses. They even went as far as planning to migrate to another country. Yet, God’s call to Rodel was too loud to ignore. After witnessing a division within the leadership of ICOC Rizal in 2008, Rodel had an epiphany in his spiritual walk. His current lifestyle of seeking the world’s standard of stability and wealth only brought him struggle after struggle—he knew that he had to go back and rekindle the fire of his faith. This compelled him to finally serve in leadership for God’s kingdom once again.

Much like Rodel and Carmen’s story, ICOC Rizal’s journey as a spiritual family was not smooth sailing. Many disciples experienced hurt from the previous leaderships, and the conflicts within the church further escalated—to the point that the leaders of ICOC Philippines had a meeting and almost opted to dissolve the Church. Rodel, however, willingly volunteered to be the point person for those that chose to stay in ICOC Rizal.

Surprisingly, during their first Sunday Service after the meeting, many disciples decided to stay at ICOC Rizal. This motivated Rodel and Carmen, who then became official leaders of the ICOC Rizal. Nonetheless, as much of a big encouragement for them, this posed additional challenges, particularly regarding finances. Their initial budget was barely enough to cover the facility's rent and other expenses necessary to sustain the church. Even though the challenges were great, their faith in God remained greater. Rodel and Carmen gathered the newly established Bible Talk leaders and enlisted their help.

They prayed fervently for the church, and everyone decided to give more out of their own pockets. Amazingly, God blessed their prayers, and they were able to grow their initial budget by twenty times more in just a year.

Although, just as things were looking up for ICOC Rizal, Rodel and Carmen encountered another personal struggle, this time with their own personal finances. They barely had enough money to pay their son’s tuition fees, much less a monthly living budget. Still, Rodel and Carmen treated this moment as another way to deepen their faith–and so they trusted God. Within six months, not only did they become financially stable, but the strength of their relationship with God flourished as well.

With the problems of church finances made more manageable, Rodel and Carmen were able to focus on the bigger and deeper problem of ICOC Rizal—relationships in the church. With the previous hurts and relational challenges, the Zafras knew that it was important to bring it all back to the center, to God. In every meeting of the body, Rodel made it a point to emphasize the love of Jesus in the lives of every disciple.

He had hoped that this would spur and nudge each disciple towards unity through the undeserving love of Jesus—-and God did not disappoint. Through this, God inspired a heart to serve a lot of the members of ICOC Rizal (whether it was in worship, ushering, or what have you!). This allowed each one to bond and grow closer, deepening their relationships with one another. Truly an answered prayer for both Rodel and Carmen!

From there, ICOC Rizal grew from a family of sixty to more than a hundred forty disciples in just a few years. This growth has inspired Rodel and Carmen to dream bigger in faith; they aim to establish three mission ministries in the neighboring cities in the next three years and bring ICOC Rizal to a whopping 500 members in five years!

The Zafras’ spiritual journey, much like ICOC Rizal’s, has been filled with one twist and turn after another, detours upon detours, and plot twist after plot twist—but it was through these circumstances that their faith grew stronger and deeper. It was through that faith that God shaped ICOC Rizal into what it is today, a testament of God’s power turning weaknesses into victories!