Testimony of Sis. Cora Guinto

I would like to thank the Church for the goodness and the kindness that I have been experiencing in my life.

The Church from before and up to now has been manifesting the love of God – understanding the needs of each member. The Church doesn’t only just help through medical missions, but extends help to each member.

In 1986, a person invited me to watch “Philipines: Our Heritage”. This same person invited me again to a Friday Service in Christian Life Fellowship. He knew that I had a 9th child, a seven year-old, who was in a vegetable state that needs healing. My son was prayed for, and soon he displayed signs of healing.

I was born August, 1944 during the Japanese era, and my father was taken by the Japanese, and when there were no more news about my father, my mother did not marry again. I am an only child, but when I became a part of Christian Life Fellowship, my brothers and my sisters were the members of this Church.

I was already 42 years old when I came to this Church. When my mother became sick, it was the Church people who were visiting and helping me during my time of need.

I studied in Arellano University, which at the time was not yet well-known. Only people from the provinces studied there because it offered an affordable tuition fee. As a thought, I would like to encourage the young people that it is not about the school where you study, but it is how you develop your character of patience, perseverance and diligence.

When I graduated in March, 1964, I immediately took the test in the Division of City Schools of Manila, and I was able to pass it. I was given a provisional item, and then later on, I passed the Civil Service Examination, and received a permanent item. I met my husband in May, and got got married September of the same year. I was already employed as a teacher when I got married at an early age remembering the advice of my mother that I could only get married after I have graduated from college.

It is great blessing to be a part of the Church. Life is a test; life is a journey. I experienced calamities in my life. I have had nine pregnancies, and seven of my children are alive. On March 23, 1979, the upper part of our house got burned. On March 31, 1979, my 9th child, Jun, was born a blue baby. He fell from the second floor of the stair when he was a baby. We experienced mortgaging our house and lot and letting go of our business. During that time, my six children were in college. I was a proud person that is why my daughters studied in St. Paul’s College and my boys in Don Bosco. This is all because of God’s grace and mercy.

It was also God’s faithfulness that they were able to finish their degrees. Melchor, my 6th child, is now in Netherlands. I praise God that even if he started school at Don Bosco, he is a product of Christian Life Academy. He graduated with honors in college, and he looks back to CLA that gave him the chance to grow and to improve himself because God was being taught, and God was made known to him. My other son, Joseph, is now with Don Bosco Mandaluyong. My four girls are married. I have 19 grandchildren, and soon, I will have two great-grandchildren.

These are the fruits of my husband and my union. It is by God’s grace that my children are now able to send their own children to good schools.

I am an only child, but my brothers and sisters are really from the Church. Whenever anything happens, it is the Church that always helps me. I can make a litany of the people from the Church who have helped me through my thirty years in the Church. Up to this time, it is still the Church that is helping me not only financially, but also through prayers and encouragement. Receiving special mention or encouragement makes me special as a member of the Church.

As a Civil Service licensed teacher, receiving financial blessing from the Church showed to me the importance of serving God through the Church. I have to be faithful to the Church who has been very faithful to me because God has instructed the Church to be of help to me. Even if my children are living in condominiums or I have son who is abroad, God is showing me that my family is the Church.

It is really the Church that God uses to be a blessing to us. God uses the Church to be a blessing, not only to her members, but also to reach out to other people. With this, I would like to express my gratitude to the Church and to all its members, the Body of Christ, the Cathedral of the King.