by Rosmelia Raymundo

[Press Release]  On July 19, the first Saddleback South Manila worship services was held at 3pm and 5pm at the  at the Nuvali Monochrome in Sta. Rosa, Laguna.

Saddleback South Manila, the newest campus of the original Saddleback Church based in Lake Forest, California, was founded in 1979 by Pastor Rick Warren of the international best-selling book The Purpose Driven Life, the church considers itself to be a place where the community can come to “find love, acceptance, help, hope, forgiveness, guidance and encouragement”.

The Sta. Rosa-based church is one of the 12 churches that will be planted in gateway cities around the world to enable the group’s mandate of sharing the love and power of God. Saddleback churches are already up and running in Hong Kong and Buenos Aires, while the remaining target cities will be Amman, Johannesburg, Berlin, Mexico City, Bangalore, Accra, London, Moscow, and Tokyo.

One of church’s main initiatives is the PEACE plan which is their hopeful response to what they believe are the five global giants that oppress people worldwide.  PEACE plan stands for: Plant churches to address the giant of spiritual emptiness, Equip servant leaders to address the giant of self-serving leadership, Assist the poor to address to giant of poverty, Care for the sick to address the giant of disease and Educate the next generation to address the giant of illiteracy. Through the leadership of Rick Warren, Saddleback has initiated this Global Peace 12-City initiative believing in the importance of the church in addressing these issues.

Dr. Narry Santos and his wife, Hazel, will lead the Philippine Saddleback Church. Pastor Narry served as the Southeast Asia National Coordinator for the Purpose Driven Church network, established from the principles found in Rick Warren’s book, Purpose Driven Church. He has been in full-time ministry for two decades, both here and in Toronto, Canada.

Currently, Pastor Narry and his team have already reached out to the Mayor of Sta. Rosa, Hon. Arlene Arcillas and key point persons of the city such as the leaders of Homeowners Associations. This is to express their heart and willingness to serve and assist social development programs for the city. Their goal is to reach out to the area south of Manila and its neighboring communities, one of which is Los Baños.

To learn more about http://www.saddleback.com.ph or follow them on facebook.com/saddlebackmanila.