Standing beneath the cool shade of a sprawling tree, Engr. Vir Cabakang paused to survey his property. Before him lay hectares of fertile land in Victoria, Northern Samar—a vast expanse now brimming with a colorful, abundant harvest of various fruits. Yet, as his eyes drifted from the heavy branches to the men and women working the fields, Vir felt a deeper stirring in his soul.
These workers weren’t just his hired hands; they were his mission. As Vir watched them work, his heart ached at the heavy, invisible chains binding their lives—chains created by a generational cycle that seemed impossible to break. Day in and day out, these families poured their sweat into the soil, enduring grueling, backbreaking labor on the farm.
Yet, when payday arrived, the hard-earned money that should have made their lives convenient was quickly swallowed up by the local drinking culture. The men sought reward and balm from their exhaustion at the neck of a bottle, watching their meager earnings vanish in a single weekend of drinking, leaving their households trapped in the same crushing poverty come Monday morning.
Tragically, this cycle of hopelessness was passed directly to their children. Growing up without a stable direction in family life and lacking the financial means to ever dream of a proper wedding, the youth simply repeated their parents’ patterns. Generation after generation, young people fell into the same unstructured, lived-in relationships without the legal or spiritual commitment of marriage.
Looking at them, a deep desire consumed Vir’s heart. He didn’t just want to offer them a daily wage; he wanted to offer them a way out. He wanted them to know God, because he knew that only a deep spiritual transformation could finally break these seemingly endless, vicious cycles and give these families the dignity, stability, and future they deserved.
Light and Hope on Scarred Land
Years earlier, when Vir bought the farmland, the area was known for military-civilian unrest. It had been a hideout for local insurgents, and there had been many clashes between rebels and the military. Things changed after an unexpected event led the insurgents to surrender and return to the government. Families who had only known fighting and hiding now faced an uncertain future. Vir offered them honest work on his land.
As an agricultural engineer, he often engaged in a quiet, fervent dialogue with God in his heart, praying that, when he retires, God would empower him and grant him the strength and courage to preach the Word to these people. In his mind’s eye, Vir didn’t just see a productive farm; he envisioned a completely transformed community—a people unified, worshipping and praying together.
A Prayer Heard
When the day of his retirement as an agricultural engineer finally arrived, God answered his prayers, replacing Vir’s feelings of insufficiency with divine courage to lead an evangelistic crusade. Despite his initial hesitation, God blessed his raw willingness and moved the hearts of nine individuals to accept Him through baptism. Fuelled by this beautiful spark, a subsequent crusade brought another 11 souls to Christ, proving that the spiritual harvest was just beginning.
The Mass Wedding
This past May, Vir planned another targeted evangelistic effort upon seeing a specific need on his estate, now known as Vera Farm. Seeing that the majority of his residents were unmarried couples with meager incomes, trapped by the financial impossibility of a formal ceremony, he collaborated with the women of his church district.
The women approached the couples, organized the logistics, and offered a path to a formal wedding. In addition, understanding their financial struggles, the women purchased their gowns, shoes, and all the essential items for their big day. Of the twenty targeted couples, fourteen met the strict requirements and celebrated a beautiful, completely free mass wedding held by the local government.
Anchoring the Family
Following the mass wedding, Vir immediately launched a daytime “Family Life Seminar” in collaboration with Samar Adventist-laymen’s Services and Industries (ASI) and Adventist Professionals (Ad Pro). Knowing that grueling farm labor left the workers too exhausted to attend evening meetings as couples, he intentionally scheduled the sessions during the day. Furthermore, to ensure their families didn’t suffer financially from pausing work to attend, Vir generously continued paying their daily wages so that food would remain on their tables.
The seminar aimed to teach practical lessons of healthy family relationships with the core truth that keeping Jesus at the center is the ultimate secret to a happy life. Twenty-two couples attended the sessions, including several single parents who sought to rebuild their households on a stronger foundation.
The spiritual climax of the week arrived on a Friday, when these newlywed couples marched down the aisle once more for the blessing ceremony conducted by Pastor Antonio Gobi, president of the Samar Mission, alongside Pastors Randy Igloso and Jonathan Intanto. Simultaneous with this ongoing daytime crusade was a parallel children’s crusade conducted by Grace Intanto, who serves as the children and family ministries director for the Samar Mission.
A Church Building for a Renewed People
The coordinated efforts of these simultaneous evangelistic crusades resulted in a total of 75 baptisms. Because of this explosive spiritual growth and the rapidly expanding community of believers, the Samar ASI Ad Pro, in joyful collaboration with the East Central Philippine Union Conference, will soon sponsor and erect a permanent church building on their land.
What was once a hesitant servant of God, fearful of speaking before crowds, has been refined into a passionate, unstoppable evangelist who desires to reach even more in his community. Where weapons once ruled, God’s word now reigns—proving that when you cultivate the land with faith, the greatest harvest is always the human heart.
Lyn Lucero ⎸ ECPUC Communication Department