The One With EVM Mask

VOICE OF A MINISTER:

Dear A.E.

I am finally breaking my silence and summed up the courage to write to you, not because I want to join the Defenders or because I am a traitor to the Ministry, but on the contrary, I am writing to you because my conscience has been bothering me for over a year now and no matter what I do, I can’t seem to shake it off. I can only pray and hope that someday, the time will come when I can have enough courage to do what other Ministers and even brethren have boldly done, and that is to simply stand up for the truth and nothing but the whole truth.

For reasons already known to many, I am sorry if I can not truly reveal my identity for now. I do believe I know you, Bro. Antonio, I mean the real you. Although a lot of speculations and accusations are going around about your true identity or identities, I can feel in my heart that I know the real you. I am also a Minister and have been sworn into duty for a very long time. I hold a high position in the Ministry as well. Sorry, I cannot specify and I know you already know what I mean. I would like to believe that I attained my position in the Ministry by virtue of faithfulness and hard work and divine intervention and not because of “palakasan” or sucking up to those in higher positions. I am not perfect, but I would like to believe that I am where I am because I did my duties well in the sight of God and man.

A lot of my Batchmates regularly communicated and talked about you and your blogs since the day you started. We have our differences in opinion but whatever we discussed remained in our small group and not to be opened or discussed with anyone else. We treated it as a pact  among brothers in the Ministry. We believe in your writings, your observations, your revelations, and your exposés, because it is in the Ministry where we were all exposed to this information that ordinary or lay members may not be privy to. But we do have a sworn duty never to expose these things in public for the greater good of the church, and that is where the stability of the whole organization comes forth with the hope that God will punish those who abuse their power in the Ministry and use it for self-gratification and personal gains. We all have faith that God will rectify the evil ways of the Sanggunian and hopefully Bro. Eduardo V. Manalo will also have a change of heart and become a good role model  in caring for the family and upholding the love for the brotherhood for the sake of peace and bringing the church back to its respectable stature. I think that is where we differ Bro. Antonio, I still believe that we can still usher the Church back to its pure state, or maybe I’m just being naively idealistic. Nonetheless, I also believe that everything that happens is according to God’s plan and that includes the day that you and others that followed in exposing the corruption in the church came into being.

I must admit, even though I have been a Minister for a long time, I am ashamed because I consider myself a coward when it comes to standing up for the truth on the sole basis that I know exactly what the Church Administration is capable of. I know what they can do to people like me once we come out in the open. I simply cannot bare the thought of seeing my family go thru hell, just like what the Church Administration did to Bro. Jun Samson, Bro. Lowell Menorca and others who continue the quest for answers and solutions to the current problems of the church. I mean, if Ka Eduardo can order the oppression of his own Family in their own backyard, the hit on Ka Jun, Ka Lowell and other Ministers, what more for Ministers like me? Maybe that’s why I needed to write to you, to let this out of my chest in the hope that God will show me a sign so that I can finally break free from the fear of being expelled and persecuted, not to mention prosecuted, or even killed for standing up for the truth. I admire the likes of Bro. Louie, Bro. Dizon and those in the US and especially in the Philippines exposed on the ground making a stand despite the risk to their lives and reputation. I hope to get there someday… I know I will. My wife and children are already conflicted because they also know the truth and I can feel their anguish whenever we hold our family devotional prayer.

I know many Ministers who are suspicious of each other for fear that they may be pointed out or reported by the young batch of STF Ministers which can only mean a few things: demotion by being sent back to the Philippines or expulsion and persecution. This is why we can only do one thing for now and that is to wear a mask, the One With EVM mask until such day when we can no longer tolerate the things we see and hear that contradict the very doctrines and instructions of the late Executive Minister, Bro. Eraño G. Manalo and Bro. Felix Y. Manalo. I believe that the emergence of AE, and those that followed in exposition and those that released other blogs to inspire and make the brethren laugh or cry is a necessary event in the history of the church. It’s like  exposing the cancer that is spreading within the body of Christ in the hope that it can still be saved. I strongly believe that it is the will of God for his chosen defenders to successfully be educated and be made aware of the issues concerning the Church.

My fellow Ministers secretly have a code name for you and other writers so as not to be too obvious whenever we talk about you. I cannot say what they are but we believe that exposes and writings from you and other defender bloggers that followed became that piercing light thru the darkness that has been covering up the truth. Like the writings of our National Hero, the abuses, and wrongdoings of a corrupt church of the olden times were exposed. Because of his revelations, he was considered as an enemy of the church and he was hunted down, persecuted, imprisoned, exiled and later on executed. Though, I pray that you and the others will not suffer the same fate.  But fate also dictates that no matter how much we are now instructed by the Church Administration to quash what is released in social media and to discredit you and the Defenders, the march towards restoration cannot and will not be stopped or hindered anymore. It is just a matter of time now. Since we can only but obey the instruction of Ka Eduardo as a sign of complete submission to him, I earnestly pray for guidance and courage so that I and many others may finally remove this mask that suffocates our souls to perish in slow and agonizing death. I can still remember that time last year when you posted the stats of your blog showing that in just a few months, barely 3, your articles have reached almost 3 Million followers worldwide. Barely a couple years later,  more AEs emerged, a serious matter of concern for the Church Administration because the  persecution, expulsion, prosecution and harassment that they shamelessly displayed did not stop the growth and conviction of the defenders worldwide. If that is not the will of God, I don’t know what is. 

I firmly believe that expulsions today are no longer doctrinal in nature, but merely superficial and an act of intimidation. God will not be coerced to save or condemn anybody just because of a piece of paper or proof of attendance. Our salvation is based on our deeds, this is how God truly evaluates who will be saved and who will be forsaken. If a church no longer respects or follows the doctrines in the Bible, then it can expel as many as it wants, but it will no longer be accepted by God. It is now the opposite, those who are for the truth are being expelled and those who are being used as instruments of hate, indifference and wrong doings safely remain inside the church. I believe that just like the times of the Israelites and the Church of Christ during the time of the Apostles, God’s people started out fine. They held the title as being God’s nation, but when they refused to  follow the teachings of God, they were eventually forsaken and didn’t have a good ending. I am afraid that if the Church of Christ today will not change its ways, it will have the same fate as the first nations of God.

I am sorry for my lengthy letter Bro. AE. Lastly, I only have one request just in case you decide to publish my letter because I know that the Church Administration will once again conduct a loyalty check among Ministers just like what we regularly do whenever reports of exposés or massive decrease in offerings or increasing numbers of defenders in our district reach the Church Administration. As a safety precaution, since I am not really that tech-savvy, I would like to request for you to hide every distinguishing mark on my letter that may compromise my identity or location. Please feel free to edit my letter in order to protect my identity. Thank you very much Bro. Antonio for giving me enough strength to finally write to you, I pray for you and your fellow defenders to succeed where all of us have failed. May God bless you and I look forward to the day I will finally meet you and personally thank you for bravely doing your part in God’s work in these last days.

Your brother in the Ministry,

**** **********

This photo has been cropped to hide his true identity.

Dear Bro. ****,

I would like to thank you for your letter and commend you for the courage you summed up to finally break your silence. I do believe that everything we do for God is a “calling”. We were “called” when we joined the Church of Christ, we were “called” when we joined the Ministry, and we’re also “called” when we choose to stand up for the truth. We all know that being “called” is never easy and it is never the same for everybody. Each one of us is called at a certain place and time or by a certain event in our lives. Each of us is different, but one thing is common, anyone who is called by our Lord God to follow His divine instructions, cannot “escape” this calling no matter what. It is very much the same way that we can not be “called” by our own will or design, it is God who does the “calling”, our job is to obey and follow his “calling”. And I strongly believe, Brother, that you too will be fully “called” in God’s perfect timing. Your first step is a bold and admirable one, and hopefully, more and more of our fellow Ministers will also have the same conscience that you have to be able to surmount the challenges of fulfilling God’s commandments to follow Him above any man or institution in this world.

I/we do not take any credit for any of these. Truth be told, if not for the many brave brothers and sisters all over the world who risk their lives to send pertinent information to us, we wouldn’t be able to provide the pieces of evidence necessary to make our articles credible. Truly, it is with the guidance of the Holy Spirit that we are able to expose the truth in order for the brethren to be enlightened so that they may choose God above all, especially since the current Church Administration is no longer advocating the pristine words of God.

We all believe that in God’s appointed time, others too, will step forward and voice out the truth. Let us all stand in the sun and let the light shine in, for the truth will truly set us free, no matter how few of His children will remain standing for His truth. The Bible foretold that those who will be deceived will be as numerous as the grains of the sand on the seashore.

⁷ When 1,000 years are over, Satan will be freed from his prison. ⁸ He will go out to deceive Gog and Magog, the nations in the four corners of the earth, and gather them for war. They will be as numerous as the grains of sand on the seashore. ⁹ I saw that they spread over the broad expanse of the earth and surrounded the camp of God’s holy people and the beloved city. Fire came from heaven and burned them up. ¹⁰ The devil, who deceived them, was thrown into the fiery lake of sulfur, where the beast and the false prophet were also thrown. They will be tortured day and night forever and ever. ~ Revelation 20:7-10 (GW)

Shall we start counting them…?