Northern Davao Mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church (NDM believers and leaders gather today for the NDM Convention and Wellness Center Groundbreaking Ceremony with participants and spectators from the provinces of Davao del Norte, Davao Oriental and Davao de Oro, guests from its regional headquarters, the Southeastern Philippine Union Mission (SePUM) at Davao City and also from the supportive Local Government Unit of Tagum City in the midst of changing weather of April 30.
The dreamed wellness center will cater to sports enthusiasts in basketball, tennis, and other ball games. It will serve as a venue for conventions, music fests, camp assemblies, and congresses with an estimated capacity of 15,000 people. It will answer the need for a venue with enough space for believers from the three provinces of NDM to convene and unify for a specific cause.
During his keynote message, pr. Danielo Palomares, SePUM President, used the story of Zerubbabel and NDM metaphorically. “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this house; his hands shall also finish it, and thou shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you.” Zechariah 4:9. Zerubbabel, of Davidic origin, was the governor of Judaea under whom the Jewish Temple at Jerusalem was rebuilt, as influenced by the prophets Haggai and Zechariah.
NDM, under the leadership of its visionary yet humble president, Pr. Seth Suan answered similar challenges given to Zerubbabel and the band of Jewish exiles who returned to Jerusalem. In fulfillment of prophecy, the Lord inspired Cyrus, the king of Persia, to allow the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the temple, and the trans-Jordan government helped them fund the project. In like manner, LGU Tagum City gladly permitted this recent project through its present leadership.
Judge Jimmy Bustillo Boco, Presiding Judge of the Regional Trial Court of Tagum City, Head Elder of Tagum City Central Adventist Church, and NDM PARL/ LAMPS President, introduced the Guest of Honor as “Aksyon Agad” a public servant he has known since high school, a generous leader who gave all-out support to the judiciary down to the simplest citizens of the city. His family contributed to the city’s growth and generously provided musical instruments for one Adventist elementary school within the mission and many other civic and religious organizations within their areas of jurisdiction.
The person with vast influence present in the ceremony was Honorable Rey T. Uy, City Mayor of Tagum and former Vice Governor of Davao del Norte, who cited the “separation of church and state.” Still, he is not a respecter of people, no matter how the law delineates it. He said: “Everyone in the city, whether an ambulant vendor, a churchgoer, private hospital stakeholders, or all constituents of our society, are owners of the government and, therefore, entitled to government services and privileges.”
The local chief executive admired the offer of NDM for the LGU for the unrestricted use of the soon-rise wellness and convention facility as long as the “no activity on Sabbath policy, no smoking, no liquor and gambling” guidelines will be observed. With a big smile, the fatherly mayor mentioned site entrance development and free usage of heavy equipment, which made the congregation give their loudest applause. Zerubbabel and King Cyrus’s partnership in history will probably repeat itself.
The NDM staff provided very harmonious music. Max Mirafuentes Academy Brass Band, a layman’s school operated by the supportive Sibala family, blasted their brass and woodwind instruments like trumpets, trombones, clarinets, saxophones, tubas, and drums to present their extraordinary prelude and ceremony music. Not an ordinary band but a disciplined brass band caught the mayor’s attention, who also offers free training for musicians since he believes in the formative power of music.
The brass band braved the rain and marched with their undisturbed music to the groundbreaking venue to align their tunes with the victorious mood during the symbolic turning of the soil and the unveiling of the convention center perspective. At the same time, district and church pastors led brethren from all walks of life from the three faith-rich provinces.
With a merged feeling of coldness from the sudden rainfall and the jubilation reverberating from the territories cuddled by NDM, generous donors and prayer warriors gathered with guests at Highway Purok 2, New Balamban, Tagum City, Davao del Norte, with awe and thanksgiving for what God has done.
In 1902 Ellen G. White said, “New methods must be introduced. God’s people must awaken to the necessities of the time in which they are living… In our large cities the message is to go forth as a lamp that burneth. God will raise up laborers for this work, and His angels will go before them… Let no one hinder these men of God’s appointment. Forbid them not. God has given them their work. Let the message be given with so much power that the hearers shall be convinced.” The Review and Herald, September 30, 1902.
(SePUM Communication)
