Asiel dela Fuente

Asiel dela Fuente

Nationality: Filipino. Residence: Cogeo, Antipolo, Rizal Philippines. Personal: Age 28. Married to Carmen Stephanie Samera-dela Fuente with first child expected December 2018. Occupation: Pastor. Church: Evangelical Free Church of the Philippines (denomination).

How long have you climbed? Six years. Types of climbing you do: Mountain climbing/hiking. Highlight of climbing career: “Back to School Climb” (Sitio Pagturian-Sitio Sipit Saburan-Sition Ambang, Mindoro, Philippines), June 2018.

How long have you been a Christian? I grew up in a Christian family, but prayed to receive the Lord Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior on Dec. 2008. Type of ministry you are blessed to serve in: C4C Philippines coordinator, outreach/missions volunteer, initiated the “Yellow cabin sessions” – discipleship sessions and pre-climb meetings.

Favorite Scripture verse (and why): Philippians 3:13-14. “Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.” It was the verse when God made me realize to turn away from what I had been in the past and to accept the challenge to be trained in a seminary. By God’s grace, I graduated and cultivated a heart that seeks after God.

Special “God moment” you’d like to share: There was a time when I thought that being in a faith-based organization is not necessary. What I thought mattered most is for everyone to treat others with kindness and respect. It was a preaching one Sunday that the pastor emphasized Haggai 2:13-14 – a person, regardless how kind or how good he is, if he does not have the right relationship with the Lord, then all his good deeds are just in vain. God reached out to me to show His great love for me, and He even graced me with His heart to reach out to others. It is then my heart to GO into mountains to share His love because He first loved me. I pray for God’s sustenance and protection wherever He calls me to go, even to the places where other missionaries cannot or will not go.

What does Climbing For Christ mean to you? What makes Climbing for Christ interesting for me is its calling. Christians were mandated to go out and reach out to people, but not everyone will climb mountains to preach the gospel and reach the people. I am challenged by the motto of the organization to GO where other missionaries cannot and will not go. Climbing for Christ beats to the heartbeat of the Lord when it followed the Great Commission. It serves as the hands of the Lord by reaching out to the least and even to unreached people groups all over the world.