PHILIPPINES - Joy after Sorrow
04/07/05 - Joy Dimerin testifies nine years after the death of her fiancé
On that fateful Sunday morning in January 1996, Joy Dimerin’s beloved fiancé, Severino Bagtasos, was killed when a lone gunman stormed into the church that he was pastoring and shot him twice. He died instantly.
The pain of losing him has gone, but the legacy of his life and the impact of his death is still fresh for Joy.
Severino was killed on the first day of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, in the predominantly Muslim town of Alat on Jolo island, in south Philippines. Some Muslim sects believe that if you kill an enemy of Allah on the first day of Ramadan, the act will ensure your passage into Paradise. This belief plus Severino’s zeal in reaching Muslims for Christ fuelled his killer’s desire to murder him.
Joy and Severino had planned to get married in May 1997. They looked forward to serving God together.
Life after death
“By the grace of God, I am doing well and still enjoying the ministry,” testifies Joy. She admits that loneliness and a feeling of emptiness were the most difficult things she faced after her beloved Severino died: “I was afraid that I wouldn’t find a godly man like him again,” she confides.
Joy found it very difficult to return for her last year of studies at Ebenezer Bible College in Zamboanga City that year. Severino used to visit her in the dormitory and it was all she could do to muster strength to walk the halls that reminded her of her beloved. After Severino’s death, Joy focused on her studies and sought the company of people to forget, even for short moments, her lost love. More important, she coped by trusting God more and more each day. She immersed herself in God’s Word, especially when loneliness hit her: “It was a rewarding year, though full of pain. A day before graduation, I was told that I was finishing cum laude. That, to me, was a truly undeserved blessing,” recalls Joy.
“I learned to see God’s purpose in my life,” says Joy. “I learned to accept whatever circumstances come my way and look at them as God’s instruments in moulding me and making me a better person. Through [Severino’s] life I learned commitment to the ministry and to prayer. Through his death, I learned to always be prepared to face the Author and Finisher of my faith. Through this tragedy, I learned to live each day as though it were my last.”
Killed for God’s glory
Joy’s younger brother, Mark, was amongst those who were moved to follow in Severino’s footsteps. Severino mentored Mark and served as his role model. Mark became a pastor and faithfully served the Lord with his wife and children in Zamboanga City. Not long ago, Mark received death threats from Tausug Muslims in the area where he was pastoring.
“Everything that happened when Junie [as Joy fondly called Severino] was killed came back to me when Mark received death threats. I cried for two days,” recalled Joy, her voice shaky and her eyes glistening with tears.
“My sister-in-law came to me but I could not counsel with her. We just cried and prayed together. I was deeply affected because I can’t help but think of my brother’s wife and children whom he will leave behind.
"I urged Mark and his family to leave Zamboanga immediately. But he, like Junie, was resolute in staying where God has called him.
“I realised I had no control over what may happen; so I gave everything to God and trusted in His sovereignty,” relates Joy.
She was overseas when she heard that Mark and his family left Zamboanga to seek shelter in Manila temporarily.
Joy shares, “I was happy when they left but I was also worried for the ministry. I asked God 'who will care for the church in Mark’s absence?' I had to trust God all the more.”
This crisis ended when Joy’s parents, also Tausugs who became believers in Christ, went to the Ustadz (Islamic teachers) in the area and talked with them. Mark and his family returned to their ministry unharmed.
“The thought of another of my loved ones getting killed made me treasure my family even more. I learned to value the time I spend with them,” Joy says.
Severino’s killer was a Tausug. “God had intended it to be so,” she says. As a Tausug she feels compassion for her people because they are blinded by their beliefs. She now serves the Lord by reaching out to them and the Sama Muslims of south Philippines.
“I have forgiven the one who killed Junie. It’s hard to live with the hurt, the pain and an unforgiving spirit, especially as I work with Muslims. I have learnt to look at them the way God does. It’s only through the Gospel that they will change,” said Joy with no trace of bitterness in her voice.
The people who wanted Severino dead had an opportunity to hear the Gospel during Severino’s necrological service, perhaps the only time they would hear the love of Christ preached openly.
Joy ministers to others
Joy received thousands of letters from all over the world through Open Doors, giving her words of comfort and assuring her of prayers being said for her. In a letter to her encouragers, she wrote, “Two years of being broken-hearted led me to spiritual wholeness.”
This was one of the paradoxes in her life.
“I learned to be independent but dependent upon God, especially with regards to my daily walk with Him. I learned to be courageous and tough, but soft-hearted to the needy and suffering Christians.”
Perhaps, only those who have suffered can truly understand those who are suffering. And those who have experienced healing can truly empathise with those who are hurting.
Four years later, God brought Joy onto the staff of Open Doors: “I never thought God would call me to minister to the suffering church through Open Doors. God had allowed great pain in my life for me to understand those who are in pain. He allowed me to suffer that I may better minister to the suffering.”
Today, Joy serves as Open Doors’ programme coordinator in Zamboanga City. She works closely with Muslim communities, oversees literacy classes, coordinates the Lay Leadership Institute for Muslim background believers, and facilitates livelihood programmes.
“Please pray for my daily walk with God. Pray for strength and joy as I serve the suffering Christians in Zamboanga,” asks Joy. She adds, “Pray for God’s anointing and empowerment as I share His Word and love to Muslims.
“I never questioned God over Junie’s death, nor over the threats to Mark’s life. Those are the marks of following Christ. Jesus told us to deny ourselves and to take up our cross. He also said we will be persecuted. It is to be expected. We are not to ask God why. Instead, we are to prepare for times such as these.”
To find out more about Christians who suffer for their faith, or the work of Open Doors, call Open Doors on 01993-885400, email info@opendoorsuk.org or go to the UK website at www.opendoorsuk.org.
Ends – 1,191
Open Doors strengthens persecuted Christians in over 45 countries across the world by
1. Training Church leaders and Christian workers
2. Supplying Bibles, hymnals, Sunday School materials and other Christian literature
3. Providing livelihood training and self-help opportunities
4. Visiting, comforting and encouraging those who are suffering
5. Raising awareness of the difficulties persecuted Christians face and mobilising prayer for them throughout the western world.
For other articles/press releases on the Persecuted Church, go to:
http://www.opendoorsuk.org.uk/press/articles/
http://www.opendoorsuk.org.uk/press/releases/
http://www.opendoorsuk.org/media_photos/world_watch_list_pics/html/index.htm