Our Missionaries
Meet the Cabuhat family
As Of First Importance Ministries (AOFIM) is the result of the passion God has given Narciso "Bong" Cabuhat to proclaim Jesus Christ as the rightful first place in His church, in His messengers, in His gospel, and in His Word (Col 1:18, Rev 2:4, 1 Cor 15:1-5, John 5:39).
As Bong has been living out his calling as pastor-teacher in USA and Canada for over 20 years, God is now sending him and his family to uproot their lives in the America and move back to the Philippines as full-time missionaries of AOFIM.
Please uphold the Cabuhat Family in prayer—Pastor Bong, his wife Bea, and their two children, Isabella (2018) and Theophilus (2022)—as they live in obedience to the Great Commissioner, our Lord Jesus Christ.
"For if I preach the gospel, I have nothing to boast of, for I am under compulsion; for woe is me if I do not preach the gospel. For if I do this voluntarily, I have a reward; but if against my will, I have a stewardship entrusted to me."
1 Corinthians 9:16-17
Our Story
The Beginning
In January 2017, just a month after Bea and I got married, we visited the Philippines because of two ministry opportunities:
The first was at the Lide-Walker Bible Conference at the Philippine Bible Theological Seminary where I was invited to be a guest preacher along with other pastors from the Filipino Southern Baptist Association of California.
There were over 700 pastors and church leaders in attendance that year and I preached about my greatest passion: the gospel of Jesus Christ according to 1 Corinthians 15:1-5. We also distributed 400 free copies of our gospel workbook which at the time was called The Essential Christian Doctrines. The way God worked in the lives of His people that weekend was overwhelming! There were so many pastors who expressed to me their thanksgiving to God for the reminder of the riches of the gospel which had lost its importance to them in the busyness of ministry. Many asked if I can train them and minister to their churches in the gospel. To that I could only say, "we will pray about it, as the Lord wills."
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Our second stop was a week-long mission trip with members of our home church in San Diego to minister alongside 7 local churches in Tarlac. As we joined their pastors and church leaders in evangelizing the people in their communities, the Lord allowed me to minister to the pastors in the gospel of Jesus Christ. And the Lord moved these men to respond in the same way: in awe of the gospel of God that is centered on the glory of Jesus Christ.
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The Burden
When Bea and I returned home to San Diego, we carried on with our lives of pastoring a local church and starting our family. But everyday there was this burden in my heart for the pastors in the Philippines. I prayed for the Lord to provide them with someone who would minister to them and that God would satisfy their desire to grow in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I shared with Bea this burden and we began to ask the Lord what He wanted us to do. Maybe God wants us to help pastors enroll in Bible school? Is God sending me to train them?
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Months of praying turned into years, until finally, in April 2019 the Lord confirmed His calling to the both of us: God wants us to move to Philippines to give free Christ-centered Bible training to local pastors and church leaders. That day, with our firstborn only 5 months old, we cried out to God: here I am Lord, send me! With great fear and thanksgiving, we praised the Lord for setting us apart for His gospel and prayed for His desire to be accomplished in our family.
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Even though both Bea and I were born in Philippines, we grew up in North America. We would have never imagined that God would bring us back to the country of our birth. But in the love of Christ, we are under compulsion to go where God calls; to go back to our own nation and preach the gospel to its many tribes in our native tongue. With our eyes fixed on Jesus, we look forward to that great day when the multitudes will be gathered around the throne of God to give glory unto the Lamb who has purchased for Himself a people from every nation, tribe, and tongue.
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As Of First Importance Ministries
In God's timing, it took us 6 years of preparation before we transitioned to full-time missionary work. From establishing a nonprofit organization while pastoring a church in the midst of a global pandemic, to prayerfully seeking and waiting for God to provide another shepherd for His sheep in San Diego—God has been our Ebenezer through every season. Yet His calling to the Philippines only grew stronger with each passing year.
By God's grace, on December 31, 2024, I officially stepped out of my role as senior pastor and was commissioned by our church as a full-time missionary of As Of First Importance Ministries. After months of traveling around USA and Canada to admonish the churches in the gospel and share our calling to missions, we will finally be settling in Philippines by October 2025!
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Together as bond-servants of the Lord, we are fulfilling God's call of sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ according to the Scriptures. Please remember us in prayer!
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In devotion to Christ,
Bong Cabuhat
multiple missionaries
Our Long-Term Goal
God-willing, as our ministry grows so will our number of missionaries. As the Lord allows Pastor Bong to equip men for the work of ministry, we pray that God will call some to join us in our mission to bring Christ-centered Bible training to local churches all over the Philippines.
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Our prayer is that there will be an AOFIM missionary family on every main island in the Philippines: one in Luzon, one in Visayas, and one in Mindanao. All in accordance with God's will, timing, and provision.