Enemies… Then Servants for the Lord

Testimony Jing and Jerone Sto. Domingo:

JING: I’m Jing Sto. Domingo, the District Builder of Feast Mindanao and I’ve been serving the Light of Jesus Family for the past 17 years, and this is my beloved son of whom I am well pleased.

JERONE: Hello po, I’m Jerone Sto. Domingo. Unfortunately, he is my dad. Nothing I can do about that. Just kidding. I’m also serving in the Light of Jesus Family (LOJ) for the past 10 years. I serve in the Youth Ministry. And I am also involved in the Production Ministry here in Davao in Mindanao.

Three Hates

JING: You may be thinking that our relationship has been harmonious ever since
we started serving the Lord. But that’s not true. When I started serving the Lord, he wasn’t like that. We were like mortal enemies. How did we become like mortal enemies? He did three things that I really, really hated.

First, I was regularly paying his school tuition fees, and regularly giving him his allowance, but he was not going to school anymore.

Second, he got a tattoo. I really hated tattoos. He got a tattoo on his back. He tattooed his name on his back– in Roman font.

I said, “What’s that? Your back is an ID?”

Third, he got into drugs. If we can get back all the drugs that he took in his system before, they should be enough to supply an entire drugstore. It would seem that he was an investment partner of Mercury Drug, and all the other drugstores here in Davao.

But why did our relationship end up like this?

He says that it’s because I was very strict. I was so strict– it was already illogical.

It would be better if you would hear the explanation from my son himself.

Wanted: Love

JERONE: At that time, I really did all of those things on purpose. Number one, I was not going to school. I really did that on purpose, and repeated a grade level. I was in 4th year high school then. I was in 4th year high school twice. Why did I do this? I did it to get his attention. I really wanted him to notice me. Because during those days, he was always busy. And whenever he was home, he would always be angry.

That’s why when he would serve at the Light of Jesus Family then, I would tell everyone whom I get to talk to, “Don’t believe anything he says to you.”

He kept saying, “Praise the Lord, praise the Lord.” But when he was at home, he isn’t like that at all!” I was really bent on destroying his image to everyone I would talk to.

And then, about me getting a tattoo, I purposely made the tattoo big. JERONE was tattooed on my back. I have other tattoos on my chest and legs. I purposely had a lot of tattoos done all over my body because I knew he hated it.

The third one, the drug addiction, of course the influence of my friends was there. I was curious. So there, I did that because I really wanted to get his attention. My ultimate goal with all of these things I did then was really just to gain his attention.

Breakthrough

Until the summer of 2011 came, he invited me, “Do you want to go to Manila?”

He wanted me to attend a Youth Camp.

I answered him, “What will I do there? You do know that I hate those kind of gatherings, and those kind of groups, those who say, ‘Praise the Lord’.”

I felt these activities were boring.

But the Lord is really amazing. He moves in mysterious ways.

During that summer in 2011, not one of my friends was in Davao. Because some of them were out of the country, the rest were out of town. I was left all alone here in Davao and I had no one to go around with.

So, I asked my dad, “Dad, is your offer to go to Manila still open?”

He said yes. In short, I went to Manila, but what he didn’t know was I had made other plans. When I would arrive in Manila, my cousin would pick me up and I won’t be going to the Youth Camp. But what I didn’t know was my dad had already plans ahead of me. What happened was, immediately after my plane landed, the one whom I arranged to pick me up wasn’t there yet.

I really had no choice. I was picked up by the one sent by my dad. I was housed together with people from the LOJ. I really couldn’t escape anymore.

Ministry Time

So, Day 1 of Youth Camp arrived. I was saying everyone was crappy, scoffing at their “Praise the Lord, Praise the Lord!”

I didn’t feel comfortable with the people there because it was a fact that at that time, my world was so different from theirs. There were some lectures about
life, about stuff like that. I wasn’t really paying attention to them.

There were sharing of experiences. But I wasn’t participating. My facilitator during the Camp at that time was probably having a hard time with me.

Until Ministry time came. There was a talk by Bro. Obet Cabrillas. That was the first time I felt moved by a talk.

When the time came to minister to the participants… Now this is the truth… it was my first time to pray. Honestly, I didn’t know how to pray. I just said, “Lord, You know it already. You know what I want to say.”

Because at that time, all I knew about prayers were the formal prayers like the Our Father.

I was so moved that time to the point that when I saw my group of friends in front of me, I was telling them, “When I get back to Davao, I might not be joining you anymore in your activities.”

I felt God’s Presence… As we were on our way back home from Camp, once my cellphone got connected, the first one I called was my dad.

I told him, “Dad, I want to serve the Lord.”

But when I got back home to Davao, it was not easy at all. Everything didn’t change in an instant. I was so fired up to serve for two to three months. But after that period of excitement passed, I began to backslide.

A Blaze

Until 2012 came, there was ALAB. (Alab, Tagalog for blaze, ardor, or passion, was a Light of Jesus Family Leadership Camp to set afire the youth’s passion for loving God and serving Him).

And for a few months I was fired up to serve again, only to backslide once more after a few months.

Then the year 2013 came, the turning point in my life.

Something unfortunate happened to my friend…

At that time, if I wasn’t in the ongoing Youth Camp, I would’ve surely be involved in the unfortunate incident that happened to my friend.

And at that time, I had no idea my dad had known all about what was already happening with me, that I was living a double life. I don’t know how he was able to endure it all. But when our relationship was repaired, he told me about it.

Dream-Come-True

JING: It was a deep struggle for both of us. It was constant prayers, prayers, and prayers. It wasn’t an easy journey for Jerone. I shared this story with Bro. Bo Sanchez in one of the Grand Easter Feasts which I joined in Manila. At that time, he was alone in his cubicle backstage. His brother-in-law brought me there. And I shared about my son.

I told him, “Bro. Bo, my son was lost. But he is now serving.”

And he is my number one dream in the Novena to God’s Love (a novena prayer booklet where you write seven dreams you ask the Lord to fulfill).

It is written here, “Lord, make my son a servant of The Feast.”

Bro. Bo shared our story during that Grand Easter Feast.

I knew, however, my son was still living a double life…

But because of prayers, he is now back. Finally, he is back, back to the Lord. He never went back to his old ways…He doesn’t do drugs at all. This is the biggest blessing. The only drug he takes now is for whenever he feels sick or in pain.

Seriously, if it worked for me through prayers, it will work for you too. It says in Jeremiah 29:11, “For I know the plans I have for you, says the Lord. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you. Plans to give you hope and a future.”

That is the kind of God that we have. Jerone’s been lost. He’s been dead. But now, he is back.”

Pandemic days? Our father-son relationship has become even stronger. We’re all together at home– with his mom, sister, and our younger child. Our family bond is stronger now. We enjoy our meals and we often have meals together now. Now, Jerone has a business of his own. Sometimes, he even treats me to a meal. Just kidding.

But seriously, it’s all about prayers… He is back, and Easter is here.