JESUS CHRIST Cares For Cancer (JCCFC) holds a monthly General Assembly, inviting mostly preachers to comfort and inspire the beneficiaries and their families, assuring them of the love and mercy of our Lord Jesus.

Like Bro. Anthony ‘Tony’ Valenzuela, who graced JCCFC’s General Assembly last April as the main speaker.

If he looks familiar, yes, you see him in the film Gomburza as a criollo (a full-bloodied Spaniard born in Asian Spanish colony). You also see Bro. Tony on television every day as a commercial model endorsing Vicks, Smart Dishwashing Paste, Shoppee, and Start Corned Beef.

Yes, God has blessed JCCFC with a celebrity whose missionary journey is a Divine Design starting as early as Tony was born on November 10, 1984, when God blessed him to be born into a Catholic family.

And so, he studied in Catholic schools: Elementary, Sacred Heart School,

Isa Town, Bahrain, graduating in 1996; High School, also at Sacred Heart, 2001; for College, Our Lady of the Angels Franciscan Seminary Bachelor of Ats in Philosophy, 2006; and Adamson University, Bachelor of Arts in Mass Communication, 2009.

And, take a deep breath, he is now earning a Master of Arts degree in Pastoral Theology at Don Bosco School of Theology.

Before entering the seminary, Bro. Tony was already active in his parish church’s Youth for Christ (YFC) and also the YFC branch in Adamson.

Mercy Mission Amid Conflicts

Active in Catholic ministries, Bro. Tony would naturally find out about lay preacher Bo Sanchez and our Light of Jesus Family and The Feast.

He relates: “I found out about the LOJ Family first when I read Bro. Bo’s book, How To Find Your One True Love. Then I learned he moved his Feast session from Valle Verde to the Philippine International Convention Center (PICC) around 2009/2010. That’s when I also started attending Feast PICC since it was closer to my home (in Tondo, Manila).”

At right, Bro. Tony, gracing the JCCFC General Assembly last April, shares his miraculous exit from Israel at the start of the Hamas siege in October 2023.

Yes, Bro. Tony happened to be on a pilgrimage pastoral mission in Israel at the outbreak of the Hamas-Israel conflict.

Brief background: The enmity goes way back to the time of Abraham.

In the Biblical account of Genesis 22,

God tested Abraham’s faithfulness by mandating that Abraham offer his son Isaac as a human sacrifice to God.

Abraham promptly obeyed but when he was about to kill Isaac, an angel of the Lord stopped him. God commended Abraham’s obedience, making him patriarch of the Israel people, and gave him the Promised Land, Canaan.

At the time, Canaan was a territory of the Palestinians who since then have been opposing the Israeli occupation. Particularly the Palestinian militant group, the Hamas, has relentlessly fought Israel. The Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, with a rocket barrage, breaching the barrier between Israel and Gaza, a Palestinian territory.

Amid territorial conflicts, JCCFC steadfastly ministers to the sick and their families. The Foundation provides the beneficiaries cash assistance most needed for their medical consultations, especially their chemotherapy, the drug treatment to kill fast-growing cancer cells.

Blessings

Bro. Tony as speaker in the General Assembly, attests, “I was already blessed to meet the beneficiaries and servant volunteers, see them face to face and journey with them– if even for just a few hours.

I felt so blessed to meet JCCFC Chairman Bro. Alo Gelano (left).

I discovered he is a member of the Secular Franciscan Order as well and we both are connected with several Franciscan friars that I also journeyed with and learned from during my seminary years.

Bro. Tony found out about JCCFC through its board secretary, Sis. Maritess Cordero (right) a member of the Toastmasters Club where

Bro. Tony is also active.

He relates, “I first heard about JCCFC through her whenever she would share about it during her speech assignment in our Toastmasters Club meetings. She also distributed flyers about JCCFC which I still have.”

Privilege and Opportunity

Although busy with his multiple activities, Bro.

Tony serves as Builder overseer for all Pastoral Ministries under the Discipleship Pillar in The Feast Bay Area (FBA) District. This includes for now the Couples, the Singles, the Youth, The Feast Light Movement, the Light Groups, and all Pastoral and Discipleship Events and Activities for the FBA District led by Feast Bay Area District Builder Bro. Alvin Barcelona.

Happy servant leaders, from left: Bro. Alvin Barcelona, Bro. JC Libiran, Bro. Didoy Lubaton, Bro. Audee Villaraza, Bro. John Ben Rodriguez, and Bro. Tony

Bro. Tony expressed to The Feast Family his big gratitude for The Feast blessings.

He exclaims, “I’ve received so many blessings since I joined The Feast! But one major blessing is the privilege and opportunity to be of service.

Being a Feast Builder is simply another bigger level of it but an equal one to all others nevertheless. New friendships, deep relationships with the servants, fellow Light Group mates, and continuous growth and spiritual nourishment with the leaders and brothers Bo Sanchez and Alvin Barcelona, especially.”

Being a Feast servant leader is not easy as there are challenges almost every step of the way.

But Bro. Tony remains steadfast in his mission, particularly in serving in our Mercy Ministries. His pillar? The Bible verse he learned at The Feast, Exodus 14:14:

The Lord will fight on your behalf, and all you have to do is stand firm.

This story was first published in the Feast Family Online News Magazine.

Published by THE FEAST MERCY MINSTRY (August 4, 2024)