Day by Day Christian Ministries

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Day By Day Christian Ministries
Classification Protestant
Orientation Evangelical Christian
Governance Non-hierarchial
Leader Ptr. Eduardo (also known as "Ed") Lapiz (Head Pastor) and Ptr. Gamaliel (also known as "Gammy") Alba (Senior Pastor)
Associations Philippine Council of Evangelical Churches
Region Worldwide, concentrated mostly in the Middle East, North America and Southeast Asia
Headquarters Day By Day Center, Brgy. Pio del Pilar, Makati, Philippines
Founder Ptr. Eduardo (also known as "Ed") M. Lapiz
Origin June 6, 1985
Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
Congregations (no official count)
Members (no official count)
Ministers (no official count)
Missionaries (no official count)
Hospitals 0
Nursing homes 0
Aid organization Kuya Cares Ministry
Primary schools 1 (the Day By Day School in Pakistan)
Secondary schools 0
Tertiary institutions 0
Official website http://daybyday.com.ph/

The Day By Day Christian Ministries, also known as DBD, is an Evangelical Christian organization headquartered in Makati City, Philippines.

The church was founded on June 6, 1985 in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia as a small fellowship of OFWs. But the start of the growth of the organization was in 1990s, when they had the organization set foot in the Philippines. Currently the organization is still doing missions within the Philippines and in Arab countries.


History[edit]

The then minister of Iglesia Evangelica Metodista en las Islas Filipinas (IEMELIF) Eduardo Lapiz went to Saudi Arabia to work in a hospital in Riyadh. Since there were ongoing schisms within his home church, he left IEMELIF. In 1985, he organized a fellowship with OFWs which became the start of the organization.

Church in the Philippines[edit]

In 1991, Ptr. Lapiz returned to the country. He established the first congregation in a small room at McDouton Building in Quezon City. The church had more and more people being converted, and because of that, their small space in McDouton Building was not enough. The church acquired a building in Leon Guinto Road in Manila, where the Church Administration was established. Again the space was not enough, so a new building was acquired in Makati where the Church Administration currently is headquartered. Missions at the time was spreading within the country and within the Middle East. Later they had started worship services in cinema theaters in malls until 2005, when the church leased the Folk Arts Theater which they dedicated as the Bulwagan ng Panginoon (Hall of the Lord). The Church still has the Makati Center as the headquarters, but the church is more known for their Folk Arts Theater Church which became their flagship church.

Global Expansion[edit]

It must be noted that though the church is currently headquartered in the Philippines, it started in Saudi Arabia, so global expansion did not meant outside of the Philippines. The churches in North America were built in the 1990s as well as there were new churches there. Expansions in Japan is also fast-approaching by early 2000s. What is the more priority of the church is the expansion in the Middle East, where majority of the people are Muslim. Since propagating Christian doctrines to Arabs and Muslims is prohibited, the church uses different approaches to reach them such as the Day By Day School in Pakistan, the only primary institution owned by the church, which aims to educated Pakistanis while inserting Christian doctrines in an abstract way. However, the church also is expanding in non-Muslim countries such as in Singapore and New Zealand.

Beliefs[edit]

Their beliefs is just the same as other Evangelical churches do, however emphasizing "applying God's Word to daily life", hence the name "Day By Day. They also teach the indigenization of the Christian religion. The church opposes any forms of debates with other churches, as this is seen by the members as a "violent" approach to "knowing the real essence of the Bible".

Membership[edit]

Interestingly enough, the Church is always welcome to members of other churches. The Church does not release an official count of the members. Estimates tell that most members of the church are ex-IEMELIF members and former members of different Protestant Churches.

Membership is conferred through immmersion baptism of adults. They do not practice infant baptism, though they practice child dedication of the infants at birth.