MANILA, Philippines—It was a record breaker of sorts last Saturday when Bulakeños flocked to the Iglesia ni Cristo’s “Kabayan Ko, Kapatid Ko” evangelical and medical outreach mission held in an open area in San Jose del Monte.
“This is two-thirds of the population of Bulacan,” said Gov. Wilhelmino Alvarado during the program, repeating police estimates of the crowd. Bulacan has a population of around three million.
“It’s a historic event for us. It broke all existing records for the province,” Alvarado said in Filipino.
He made the announcement at around 10 a.m. just before the message of INC Executive Minister Eduardo V. Manalo was read to the crowd.
In the message read by INC Minister Rodel Cabrera, Manalo thanked all those who came to the event. He said the Iglesia ni Cristo was doing this to fulfill God’s commandment to love one’s fellowman, as one loves himself.
Message of salvation
That is why the INC has intensified its evangelical missions all over the world, Manalo said, so more people could be reached by the message of salvation.
San Jose del Monte Mayor Rey San Pedro said he got on a helicopter for the first time to see for himself how many people came to the outreach.
People were coming from all over Bulacan, he reported, with many walking for kilometers to get to the New Town open grounds where the INC mission was held. He said traffic was barely moving as far as back as Sta. Maria and Marilao towns.
The sky was overcast and there was a slight intermittent drizzle, but the people were accommodated at the 26-hectare site under huge tents. Around 1,000 policemen were deployed to the area and the roads leading to the grounds.
The medical-dental mission started at 6:30 a.m. and lasted until noon. At 10 a.m., Alvarado announced that around 20,000 people had been given medical and dental help by the mission.
Great help to province
Free medicines were given out, along with vitamins for the young and the elderly. There were hospital beds for minor operations. At one end of the medical tent, makeshift cubicles were deluged by people wishing to see a dentist.
Bulacan Vice Gov. Daniel Fernando said the medical-dental mission was a great help to the province. After the program, bags of rice were distributed.
The “Kabayan Ko, Kapatid Ko” evangelical-medical mission in Bulacan was the 15th such event conducted by the Iglesia ni Cristo and its partner, the Felix Y. Manalo Foundation.
The weekly evangelical-medical outreach missions are being conducted in preparation for the INC Centennial on July 27, 2014, which will also be held in Bulacan, at the Philippine Arena which is being constructed in the town of Bocaue, organizers said.—Donna Cueto-Ybanez