The Iglesia ni Cristo on Monday said that 2015 was a good year for the church, citing its record-breaking activities and the continuation of various public livelihood programs, despite the challenges it has faced in recent months.
“The INC has continued its mission to make itself socially and spiritually relevant to our membership and to the Filipino people as well as to the communities outside the Philippines where our congregations are found. We have faced a number of challenges, but guided by our faith in God and our confidence in our legal institutions, we have hurdled these issues,” said Edwil Zabala, spokesman for the homegrown Filipino church.
Zabala was referring to the filing of illegal detention and harassment charges last August against INC officials. The complaints were eventually dismissed by the Department of Justice for lack of evidence.
“We are humbled at the success offered by our legal system. That being said, the INC would rather focus, as it has always in the past, on our activities and assistance efforts,” Zabala stated.
Last October, “Felix Manalo,” a movie depicting the life of church founder Felix Manalo, entered the Guinness World Records by being awarded citations for “Largest Attendance For A Film Screening” and “Largest Attendance For A Film Premiere.” The biopic, produced by Viva Films and helmed by award-winning director Joel Lamangan, performed well at the box office.
These were not the first world records set by the INC, explained Zabala. In February 2014, its Worldwide Walk for Yolanda victims set two Guinness World Records for the largest charity walk in a single venue, as well as for the largest charity walk in 24 hours.
The church also inaugurated a new, self-sustaining, 100-hectare eco-farming site in Paracale, Camarines Norte in November to assist members of the province’s indigenous Kabihug community.
It was INC’s 10th eco-farming area, coming after the launch of a 3,000-hectare “EVM Self-Sustainable Eco-farming Community” in Alangalang, Leyte earlier in 2015. The project was implemented to assist local residents in the aftermath of Typhoon “Yolanda”, which struck the province in November 2013.
INC’s livelihood sites are scattered in Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. The first one, in Palayan, Nueva Ecija, was established for laborers in Hacienda Luisita.
Zabala pointed out that the church is always ready to extend assistance to victims of typhoons and other calamities, all year-round.
“Our disaster relief efforts have even reached the United States, as we extended assistance to those victimized by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and 2012’s Hurricane Sandy. This has been made possible through the church’s Felix Y. Manalo Foundation, and we are proud of these mobilization and relief efforts,” said the spokesman.
According to Zabala, the INC “has become an international church with a very strong biblical core and character.”
“Our members worldwide draw strength from our faith in God, and our collective strength has allowed us to lend a helping hand to everyone—whether part of the church or not—during those times when the INC has been called upon to serve.”