Friday, 20 June 2025

BEYOND THE HEADLINES: MY SPIRITUAL JOURNEY THROUGH CFC AND GK

 

I was casually scrolling through the day’s headlines when a jarring one from Rappler stopped me cold:

“Sex, charity, and GK founder Tony Meloto: ‘I can open heaven for you’”

Shocking? Yes. But, in all honesty, it’s not entirely surprising. That headline unearthed a feeling I thought I had long buried – one that first stirred many years ago when I crossed paths with Gawad Kalinga (GK) on my spiritual journey. That journey, as strange as it sounds, began not with a sermon or a retreat, but with a routine medical check-up.

Nothing seemed amiss – until a call from our company clinic changed everything. A shadow on my x-ray. A second exam. A quiet conversation with our company doctor.

“No big deal,” he said with a half-smile. “Just a spot – it should clear in a couple of months.”

"What If?" Asks Fear

But fear, once awakened, doesn’t sleep easily. What if it doesn’t clear up? What if it’s cancer? I knew I had given fear a foothold with years of smoking. Now that reckoning had come.

Over the following months, I lived under the looming presence of that unspoken what if – a Damocles’ sword suspended by a fragile thread. My mind spiraled through the stages of crisis: shock, denial, isolation, resignation… and finally, something resembling acceptance. But it wasn’t serenity – it was surrender born of exhaustion.

What unsettled me most wasn’t the illness, but the illusion it shattered: that I was in control. That my proud resumé, cherished family, stable job, and a rosy future could shield me from life’s brutal curveballs. Even my relationship with God, I had to admit, had been more of a safety parachute – kept neatly folded away for emergencies.

But grace has a curious way of stepping in just when you’re slipping off the edge.

Louie and Me

Enter Louie - a Born-Again Christian friend whose easy joy and quiet faith became a lifeline. Through him, I found a spiritual community that welcomed me without question. Prayer. Fellowship. Worship. Bible reading that wasn’t just academic, but alive. What started as curiosity became a transformation. Over the course of seven years, it became my path to renewal.

"Even If" Says Faith

Somewhere along that road, I stopped thinking about the spot. Even if it’s still there, it no longer matters. My focus shifted from survival to surrender – to the work of faith and purpose that now included Couples for Christ (CFC).

God was orchestrating something. That time with Louie had laid the spiritual foundation for what would come next – my and Cherrie’s calling to serve as leaders in the CFC community.

And then came Tony. And GK.

Tony Meloto

Let me rewind a little – to one unforgettable weekend in our GK mission, a day that still glows in my memory like a quiet ember.

The Best Of Times

That morning, I told Cherrie to stay home. We were heading into rebel territory. Local officials warned us: don’t stay past sundown. Still, our team – mostly men, a few devoted doctors – loaded up a dump truck with tools we had paid for ourselves. We made our way to a remote village.

When we arrived, the place looked deserted. Quiet. Tense. An elderly man emerged and told our team that the local Muslim families had stayed inside. Cautious. Maybe afraid. And who could blame them? When had Christians ever shown up en masse to serve, not take?

But soon, our doctors began making their rounds. Then came the hammers, the paint, the sweeping. And then, something beautiful: doors opened. Faces emerged. Smiles formed.

We worked like we were chasing the sun. By day’s end, after the last heartbeat had been listened to, the last nail hammered in, and the final roof sealed tight, we quietly packed away our tools. Without closing ceremonies. No celebratory photos (no selfies yet then). Just a silent acknowledgment of work done, and a collective prayer that it mattered.

We drove off as dusk settled in and left the village quietly transformed – perhaps not just by what we did, but by why we came.

GK Bayanihan in action

People often ask: “Why do you do this?”

For a long time, I searched for an answer that made sense. Now I say: “It’s a God-inspired thing.”

From bottom left clockwise: CFC wives fellowship, YFC daughter Jan's birthday, Garv V on stage at YFC International Youth Camp below

But not all God-inspired things stay pure.

The Worst Of Times

The grand finale national leaders’ conference we attended in Manila felt more like a political showdown than a spiritual gathering. Tensions had escalated between the two factions: CFC founder Frank Padilla and GK figurehead Tony Meloto.

Amid the crisis, I could not believe my senses then when a supposed brother in an argument tried to have a physical fight with me. An eleventh-hour attempt for a reconciliation between Frank and Tony failed. The atmosphere was thick with discord. No more joy. No more peace. Just noise.

It was disorienting, even heartbreaking. We had given so much. We had risked much – traveling to remote, sometimes dangerous places; investing not just our money, but our family’s safety and time; and encountering people like Kuratong Baleleng’s Aldong Parojinog not for politics, but to serve the poorest of the poor.

And yet, the fruit of the Spirit – love, joy, peace – had vanished from the community.

Let Go

It wasn’t long before Cherrie and I walked away.

You might ask, where does Tony Meloto’s alleged abuse figure into all this?

In truth, it doesn’t stand alone. For me, the warning signs were already there – the compromises, the dissonance, the quiet slipping away from the mission’s spiritual core. Frank Padilla once wrote in his book Friend or Foe: Fighting the Enemy Within about Peter, the rock upon whom the church was built – how even Peter could be deceived and used by the enemy, if only for a time.

His point was chilling in its clarity:

“If it could happen to Peter, it could happen to any of us. And if Jesus himself had called the disciple who was primus inter pares Satan, please do not be offended when I say that Satan can deceive you and use you for his purposes.”

Weeds Among The Wheat

I take no pleasure in that thought. I offer no judgment. As Scripture says in Matthew 13:24-28, the enemy often sows weeds among the wheat, quietly, while no one is watching. And sometimes, even a field that once bore rich harvest can grow tangled.

 But I believe the story isn’t over. Not for Tony. Not for CFC. Not for GK.

God is still working.

And in tension between heartbreak and hope, between what was and what can still be, I continue to hold fast to the truth that first called Cherrie and me: when we labor in love, unseen and uncelebrated, we are never alone.

Content & editing put together in collaboration with Grammarly & Bing Microsoft AI-powered Co-Pilot

Head collage photos courtesy of Rappler & Canva

Still photos courtesy of Vecteezy, Couples for Christ album, Tony Meloto file, Gawad Kalinga album, Family album, Freepik, & iStock


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