Trusting the supremacy of God’s Word.
We were delighted to chat with Aeron, a Bible sharer and pastor in the Philippines, about his experience of using The Word One to One to equip his congregation for personal evangelism.
Q. Thanks for joining us, Aeron! Could you tell us a little bit about yourself?
My name is Aeron Caldeo, and I’m married to Maria Josela Caldeo with one daughter. The name of my church is Lifespring Christian Fellowship, and we will be celebrating its 40th anniversary this coming May – so it’s actually older than me!
I started to lead the church as the senior pastor in 2014, but I was a member for three years before that. After this time of being a member and helping to preach, the Lord worked in the leadership’s and my heart to accept the call to lead the church.
I am 34 years old, and I started early in the ministry. I was 18 when I started pastoral ministry, which I know is a bit different to normal! After high school, I attended Bible college and was soon called into ministry, as the pastor of another church was stepping down and they needed a new leader. I’ve led a couple of other churches too before I came to Lifespring.
The Lord was very faithful to me, as I encountered a lot of challenges and discouragement in my early years of ministry. But by God’s grace, I’m still here!
Lifespring is located in the city of Bacolod, the capital of Negros Oriental. There’s around 100,000 people who live here.
Q. How did you find out about The Word One to One?
The story starts when I attended the Evangelical Ministerial Assembly (EMA) in the UK, led by the Proclamation Trust. The Word One to One was promoted there, and so I did some research and tried to attend the Zoom training meeting, but unfortunately I couldn’t. So instead, I connected to your Facebook account and the website, and I discovered that the material is readily available!
It’s so amazing because I’m also listening to William Taylor! I was surprised to find out that it was him and his friend who worked on the books.
Q. Who have you been reading God’s Word with recently, and how did you start sharing with them?
The Lord is so gracious for giving me three people in our church to read God’s Word with.
The first person is J. He is a church attendee at Lifespring, but he’s not very active. So I prayed for him, and came round his house – he was really hesitant, because in our context it’s a big deal if the pastor visits your house. So when I went to his house, he was uncomfortable. But I poured out my concerns to him, and said that I wanted to help him in his walk with God – so I introduced him to The Word One to One, and invited him to read it with me in three sessions.
So by God’s grace, we finished Book 1. It was wonderful – but the challenge is this: I did not see transformation. I believe that God is doing His work in his heart, but unfortunately, because I, the pastor, was visiting his house on Mondays, he stopped coming to church on Sundays. Because of that, I had to stop reading The Word One to One with him for the meantime, but I’m praying that after time he will see the value of the church, repent and be truly converted, and that we can carry on reading the Word together.
The second and third persons are JC and N. We read The Word One to One with the three of us, but there are difficult circumstances. One of them has a blood clot in his heart – the condition is not good, and the doctor said that any time he could die because of it. So we’ve stopped reading for the moment, but we’re praying that we can start up again this coming Sunday.
The good thing as a pastor is that I was the one who introduced them to The Word One to One, and so eventually it will roll out to the wider congregation who will try it themselves and experience the joy of it.
Q. What are some of the encouragements you’ve seen from equipping your congregation to share God’s Word?
The Word One to One has been so encouraging to me, because it refreshed and deepened my conviction to trust the supremacy and sufficiency of God’s Word in evangelism and discipleship. So on a personal and pastoral level, it deepened my conviction to trust God’s Word. When you read John’s gospel, you immediately discover who Jesus is – He is the Word, the Creator, and the prologue is just so amazing. And I got really excited to tell this to the church and to help them share it with others.
“The Word One to One has been so encouraging to me, because it refreshed and deepened my conviction to trust the supremacy and sufficiency of God’s Word in evangelism and discipleship.”
For many years, I was thinking what to do to help them, what material I needed to use – but then I realised that the most essential material I needed to use was the Word of God! Encountering God’s Word using The Word One to One, reading the Bible with someone, really deepened my conviction. It is such a simple yet powerful way of making disciples.
The other encouragement is that when I introduced The Word One to One to my church, many joined the movement, so that’s really encouraging. I modelled it to them, and challenged them to do it with someone, and encouraged them to discover the joy, the simplicity and transformation that comes with it. So many of them started doing it for themselves and read with their friends, colleagues and family!
Q. Did you experience any challenges along the way?
There have been many who have joined The Word One to One movement in our church – but there are many who are neutral and spectating. I understand, because in the past there are lots of new things we introduce and it hasn’t lasted, so they probably expect this to be the same.
That’s why I didn’t promote it at a big explosive level to start with. I started it with a few people, and then in my core group, and after that, looked at rolling it out more widely. Recently we’ve done a series on discipleship, and after the service we’ve interviewed a few people who have promoted it.
The challenge is moving these people who are neutral to becoming active sharers. But we aren’t discouraged – we just need to continue, and they will see that this isn’t a fad, but something that is anchored in the gospel, in the Word of God.
When you are reading The Word One to One, the good thing is that it is always leading you to the text, helping people to understand the Bible in its context, and it is faithful in the Word. So that’s why I really recommend The Word One to One.
We also have a Facebook group where we can encourage people to share their experiences of using The Word One to One.
“When you are reading The Word One to One, the good thing is that it is always leading you to the text, helping people to understand the Bible in its context, and it is faithful in the Word. So that’s why I really recommend The Word One to One.”
Q. Are there any particular standout stories of your congregation discovering the joy of sharing God’s Word.
The Word One to One helped my congregation a lot. It gave them confidence, and provided a tool which they could easily use. When they meet someone, by God’s grace they are confident because of the material. It’s also been fantastic for our church – we have a lot of new people, so we’ve used The Word One to One as follow-up material to connect with them and to help them find out more about Jesus.
Because of The Word One to One, we have a relationship with people which is anchored in God’s Word. So it’s not just socialising every time, but they have a real purpose when people meet together to read God’s Word together. So new people are now excited to go to church because of their connection inside of church.
“The Word One to One helped my congregation a lot. It gave them confidence, and provided a tool which they could easily use. When they meet someone, by God’s grace they are confident because of the material. ”
We’ve seen that those who have come to faith and into church because of the Word, continuing in the Word and wanting to keep seeking the Word.
Q. Do you have any advice for someone looking at starting to share God’s Word with others?
My number one advice to church leaders is that if you want to equip your congregation to share the gospel, it’s so important to go back to this basic but powerful conviction: to trust the supremacy and sufficiency of God’s Word in evangelism and discipleship. The Word of God is so powerful, it’s the transforming power of God! That’s why I encourage church leaders to deepen your conviction – because if that conviction is there, it will lead you to rely on the Word, to disciple your church in the Word.
“My number one advice to church leaders is that if you want to equip your congregation to share the gospel, it’s so important to go back to this basic but powerful conviction: to trust the supremacy and sufficiency of God’s Word in evangelism and discipleship.”
The Word One to One is such a blessing – it’s simple, faithful and the members of my church and those they’re sharing with are connected with the Word of God because of it. I’m just blessed to be part of this movement of people sharing God’s Word!
Find out how The Word One to One can help you equip your church family for personal evangelism.
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