SAN ANTONIO, Northern Samar – With hundreds of delegates and many memorable moments at the All-Samar Federation of Churches on March 29 to April 4, one event stood out as a true sign of endurance, determination, and faith: the ordination of Pastor Adones Carillo.
While the ordination ceremony on April 3 marked a high point in his ministerial career, the path to the service was paved with eight years of manual labor, financial hardship, and a steadfast commitment to a calling he first felt as a young man in Leyte.
A Season of Sacrifice
Growing up in Barangay Cangag, Isabel, Leyte, Carillo’s dream of entering the ministry was nearly sidelined by financial reality. When he entered Central Philippine Adventist College (CPAC) in 2009, his parents’ income could only cover their daily necessities.
To continue his studies, Carillo worked while attending school. For almost ten years, he balanced his theology classes with jobs in the college cafeteria, worked as a student guard, and helped maintain the school’s 22-hectare farm. In the summers, he earned his tuition by working as a literature evangelist, also known as a “canvasser.”
“There were times when I had no food to eat,” Carillo recalled. “But by God’s grace, I endured and continued my studies.”
What is usually a four-year journey took Carillo eight years. He graduated in 2017, showing how persistence and determination can overcome poverty.
Mission and Answered Prayers
After graduating, Carillo applied as a Bible worker for the East Visayan Conference and was sent to Sto. Niño Island. When the Samar Mission was later established, he chose to stay in the field, eventually becoming the district pastor for Sto. Niño—a post he held for seven years.
As his ministry grew, so did his prayers for a life partner. He purposefully avoided relationships during college years to focus on his work and studies, but once in the field, he began to pray for a spouse who could share his mission.”
“In my prayer, I specifically asked that she would be from Samar, believing that it would help in my ministry,” he said.
He met his wife at a Sabbath School congress at Mountain View College. He calls it a “divine appointment” because she was a faithful member of the Pabanog SDA Church and a native of Samar, which was exactly what he had prayed for.
Today, the couple has two children and serves together in the ministry.
A New Chapter in Catbalogan
After spending a year serving on San Antonio Island, Carillo was recently assigned to lead the Catbalogan District, where he now serves.
His ordination at the All-Samar Federation is the Seventh-day Adventist Church’s formal recognition of his years of service and his readiness for greater pastoral leadership.
For those who watched the ceremony, Carillo’s story showed the federation’s theme of spiritual growth and character building in real life.
From working as a student guard on a farm to becoming an ordained minister in the Samar Mission, his journey is proof of his personal belief: when you put God first, He provides according to a perfect plan.
Carillo’s message to struggling students is simple: financial restraints do not define one’s future. “Success is not about what we accomplish,” he says, “but about what God can do through us.”