Meet Pastor Jun and his wife Gina— two of the most faithful, big-hearted people we’ve ever known. For over 25 years they’ve pastored a tiny church in a rural corner of Cebu Island, Philippines, pouring their lives into the children of surrounding villages while often struggling to feed their own family.
In those early years they barely made ends meet. At one point they pawned what few valuables they owned to pay bills while living in a humble cinder block house. Yet they never stopped praying and believing that God would provide for their ministry.
Then in 2001, something extraordinary happened…
Our board member Melanie Leslie packed an Operation Christmas Child shoebox.
Her six-year-old daughter Britain begged her to include a note with their address— she missed her big brother serving overseas and prayed the box would go to a little boy who could become her pen pal.
That shoebox traveled over 8,000 miles and landed in the hands of Pastor Jun and Gina’s young son.
Deeply moved, Jun wrote Melanie a thank-you letter. Life got busy, the letter was tucked away, and a couple of years later it literally fell off the top of her fridge. Melanie laughed, called it her “God-wink,” finally wrote back, and a beautiful friendship began.
In 2008, after years of doing what she could to support Jun and Gina’s ministry, Melanie introduced herself to Peace Gospel’s founder after church one day, “Kirby, I have to tell you the story of this pastor in the Philippines.”
At Melanie’s urging, Kirby started writing Jun in 2009, visited in 2011, and knew immediately Melanie was right: Jun and Gina are exactly the kind of frontline heroes Peace Gospel was created to stand behind.
That first year we helped repair their storm-damaged home. That same house soon became the next She Has Hope girls home— rescuing young girls from child labor and the constant threat of trafficking on the island.
We believe that the connection with Melanie, and ultimately with Peace Gospel, was the long-awaited answer to years of their faith-filled prayers converging with a little girl’s prayers for a pen pal.
Since 2009, because of you, their ministry has grown in ways we never dared dream:
- Family-style girls home: just renovated— allowing us to increase capacity
- Children’s Hope Center: keeping 100+ at-risk village children in school every year
- Thriving farmland: hen house, fishery ponds, piggery, goats, bananas, coconuts— producing over a half-million eggs, 30 tons of coconuts, and much more so far— multiplying every donation
- Women’s Trade School: giving mothers and teens dignified skills and income, shielding them from traffickers
It’s your generosity that fuels Pastor Jun and Gina’s work on Cebu and our other frontline programs worldwide.
And this year-end, everything you give will be DOUBLED.
A generous group of donors has put up a $100,000 matching pledge!
Every dollar you give by December 31 is instantly doubled.
Among other goals, two long-time dreams we’re praying this match will finally complete on Cebu:
- A strong perimeter fence to protect the farmland and livestock
- A proper access road to the campus (no more wading through mud in rainy season!)
We’re asking 110 of you to stand with Pastor Jun and Gina before the New Year arrives.
Will you be one of them?
Our year-end goal of $230,000 will:
🅰️ Replenish our global emergency fund, and…
🅱️ Fulfill these capital goals at our Cebu campus and other Peace Gospel locations
One shoebox in 2001 + one little girl’s prayer + your gift (doubled by the match and multiplied again by our farms and small businesses) = girls safe forever and entire villages lifted out of poverty. Let’s make this Christmas the most miraculous one yet!
Thank you for being part of Pastor Jun and Gina’s story— and the story of every child they serve.
We simply could not do this without you.
GIVE TODAY: Don’t miss the opportunity to see your generosity triple-multiplied: 2x by the matching challenge, and then further by our small businesses and farmlands! Give to our year-end fund here.