The Little Man with an Exceptional Heart
Posted under: Joker, fun to be with, Coffee Addict, Father, Brother, Best Friend, Anointed, small guy, humble, kind, down-to-earth, profound teacher, patient, funny, not boring, easy to get along with, good mentor, cute, an inspiration, small but terrible, creative thinker, good person, committed, passionate, zealous, enthusiastic, transformed many families, persevering, a man of God.
Who is he?
Ptr. Jonathan Apilado, a computer engineering graduate, was raised in a Christian home and attended a Methodist Church at Cainta, Rizal. When he and his brother came to Angeles City to start a business, he came to know CEMI, began to attend and eventually joined the International Bible Seminary. While being a student at IBS he began to long for God’s presence where he found it at the prayer tower.
Everyone knows that CEMI Head Pastor, Bishop Jesse L. Candelaria does not hire any Pastor from the outside. But, Pastor Jon was hired by Bishop 10 years ago as the youth pastor and in 2010 was transferred to special ministries to handle trainings, retreats and conferences in CEMI, in schools and in workplaces.
Mac Anderson says that laughter is an instant vacation. Ptr. Jon, or Kuya Jon to many, is an individual who gives his time and energy gleefully and you’ll surely distinguish him with his incomparable laughter. (hehe) His heart is exceptional and we can attest to the truth of his life testimony.
There are a lot of things that we surely love about him. His full support to many young and old has given them opportunities to enjoy the Christian life. We have not seen anybody so dedicated to what he believes in, especially to those with great potential.
Being the father to a fatherless generation has given hope to many young men and women. We will never forget his impromptu trainings (I’m smiling while I’m writing this) because these trainings moulded us into the people that we are today. He also made an impact in our prayer life. He always tells us that no matter where we are, no matter what we do, we should always make it a point that we make time for prayer. He always tells us that “kapag puno ka ng panalangin, lagi kang ready.” He had other lines which we all know and love: Whoever controls the air, controls the ground; If you plan to fail, you’ll fail to plan; You cannot give what you don’t have; You cannot fabricate the presence of God and Open rebuke is better than secret love to name some.
Then came last Sunday, when Pastor Jon, or Kuya Jon to a lot of us, finally made his farewell speech. We cannot prevent this day to happen because God has clearly directed him to go forward. It was an emotional day for all us and we will surely miss him. He left us with a legacy to continue God’s plan for the rest of us to train others to be leaders.
No matter how distant he will be from us, he will always be the little man with an exceptional heart for God.
Editor’s note: The people of Enrod and CEMI Special Ministries Department (SMD) collaborated to come up with this special tribute to Ptr. Jon.