The Iglesia Ni Cristo will be commemorating another milestone in its storied history today, July 27, Friday as it marks 50 years since first establishing an overseas ministry in Hawaii in the late ’60s while celebrating its 104th Anniversary in the Philippines.
INC began its evangelization campaign on foreign soil when it conducted its first worship service on July 27, 1968 at Ewa Beach, now part of the City of Honolulu.
That local congregation has since grown and become a leading symbol and beacon of INC’s continued push as a global church with a decidedly Filipino character.
A bigger, newly constructed chapel at the pioneering Ewa Beach site shall kick off the 50th year celebrations on the anniversary date itself on July 27, 2018.
“We will celebrate the 50th anniversary of our first church abroad solemnly and joyfully. Our Executive Minister Brother Eduardo V. Manalo has expressed a desire for us to be introspective, to be thankful and to fully contemplate the weight of this momentous occasion while at the same time being mindful of the challenge for continued growth and evangelization,” INC general auditor Glicerio B. Santos Jr. explained.
Since the establishment of its Hawaii congregation five decades ago, the INC has phenomenally grown and actively expanded in mainland America and Canada, as well as in many parts of Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Australia and New Zealand.
The INC official noted that, “Since September 2009, we inaugurated and dedicated 83 churches in various parts of the world. We never stop reaching out to members who are based abroad, Filipinos and non-Filipinos alike, because the work of God never stops. It reaches beyond national borders.”
After the grand launching and kick-off event in Hawaii, the INC will hold a special worship service at the 17,000-capacity Golden One Arena in downtown Sacramento in California on August 5.
The homegrown Filipino church announced that 22 new chapels would be dedicated in the continental US and Canada for July, August, and September this year.
Santos listed the following areas as locations for new houses of worship: Anchorage (Alaska), Antioch (North West California), Bristol (Connecticut), Cocoa Beach (Florida), Copperas Cove (Texas), Detroit (Michigan), Everett, Spokane (Washington), High Point (North Carolina), Oxnard, Salinas, Stockton, El Cajon, Ridge Crest (California), Tucson (Arizona), Henderson (Nevada) as well as Toronto, Halifax, Saskatchewan (Canada).
There would also be new churches in Waipahu, Hawaii and in Apra Heights, Guam as part of the Pacific islands outreach.
INC added it would hold a big Lingap (Aid to Humanity) assistance activity in Canada to benefit the Winnipeg Native American Community in August, to be followed by another humanitarian mission at Toronto in September.
Lingap activates in the Philippines and abroad involve providing free medical and dental consultations. Medicine, clothes and other life provisions are likewise given for free.
“The Iglesia has become more conscious and more aware of the central role that the Church plays in our members’ lives as we grow older and bigger. We try to touch the lives of people, we help in whatever small ways we can. We’re humbled and grateful for the gains of the first fifty years overseas. We’re excited by the challenges of the next fifty. To God be the glory! ” Santos said.