Ferrel Duffel
Senior Pastor
On April 3rd 1968 Jesus stepped out of heaven and into my heart, and on October 19, 1976 He called me into His ministry. It is still hard to believe that somebody like me could be on staff with the King of kings and the Lord of lords, but here I am, the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Manila. My heart beat is to exalt in praise the Lord Jesus, to encourage and equip the "First Family," and to sow the seeds of the Gospel in the fields of Manila and beyond. I praise the Lord for the privilege of serving Him, and I thank God for the opportunity of serving Him by serving His church in fulfilling the "Great Commission."
Jared Russell
Associate Pastor,
Missions Pastor
In the spring of 1996, the Lord revealed to me who He was (Glorious, Righteous, Holy) and exactly who I was (a dirty, rotten, sinner). That Wednesday night, I found myself lost on a path which was leading me further away from God. The next day, I woke up a child of the King, a sinner saved by grace following the only Way to God. I once had little to live for, I now serve my Savior who’s worthy to die for. God called me to be a minister of the Gospel in 2002 and has blessed me by allowing me to work with the youth here at First Baptist from the fall of 2005 until the Spring of 2010. I am excited to now have the opportunity to lead FBC along the path of being an Acts 1:8 church. Participating and leading others in spreading the gospel of Jesus Christ is my heart. My personal goal is to remain in a loving, maturing relationship with the Lord, while leading others to do the same.
Josh House
Youth Minister
It is one thing to be in church and another to be in Christ. Faithful to attend church and active in the youth group, I was, however, hiding behind a mask, living two separate lives. I guess you could say that I knew how to talk about Christ and how to act around other believers, but when I was with others I did whatever I could to impress the popular crowd and find acceptance. I mean, I knew the stories in the Bible and how Jesus gave his life to die for me on the cross so I could spend eternity with him, but that was the key thing …I only knew about him and never believed in my heart that Christ died for me and that I could trust in him. I was more worried about what others thought than actually living my life for him. It wasn’t until God sent me my beautiful wife, Brittany that God, through her, slapped me around, got my attention and said it is time to put your faith in Me. On August 12, 2007 I did just that. From that moment I have been running the race for Jesus Christ. Honestly, the journey has been hard, but the rewards far outweigh the difficulties. Trusting in Christ has been awesome and the best decision of my life. God called me into the ministry January, 2009. HE has made it clear to me that I am supposed to love and encourage this generation of teenagers and lead them to a closer walk with Him. For the past year and 7 months I have been working at Colonial Hills Church in Southaven, MS doing Student Ministry. On April 11, 2010 God called me to be the student pastor of FBC Manila. Our goal here at FBC Manila is to change teenagers lives with the Gospel message of Christ.