bahrain christian fellowship

Pastor Romy Salvante is an associate pastor looking after BCF-Area 6. His area includes Arad, Hidd, Galali, Muharraq, Busaiteen, Samaheej. How did God steer your circumstances, which led you to sense and accept God’s calling on your life as a pastor? It was when I and some other leaders of our church, after seeking the guidance the Holy Spirit, that we decided to leave and pioneer another church

in Sangandaan, Caloocan City, Philippines. At the beginning, the thought of becoming a Pastor was far beyond what I wanted to be. All I just wanted that time was to serve the Lord and fulfill the mandate of Matthew 28:19-20 particularly the “make disciple” part of it.  Then I started to be involved in the cell group, outreaches and Bible studies. During this time, the calling to the pastoral ministry started to fill my heart. Later on, I accepted it.

On hindsight, was there a Biblical verse that leapt out at you and spoke to you as you soul-search and seek affirmation from God of His calling?
I could not remember one. But I remember one evening that I cried before God, telling Him that if He is calling me into the ministry, all I wanted was His assurance of His promises.

How easy or difficult was it for you to arrive at a decision to become a pastor? If it was quite a struggle for you, how did God ease your doubts or fears and bring you to the point of submission?
It was very difficult. When you are in the ministry nothing is easy. Everything is a battle. And I think that is the beauty of it — because in the process you learn how to fully trust the Lord. There was one thing that I said to the Lord one night. I said to him, “Lord I will follow you, but please do not let me teach or preach wrong doctrine and always remind me of humility and give me a servant heart.” Then I could feel the assurance of the Lord that he will never leave me nor forsake me.

How did you prepare yourself for pastoral work?
Most of the training I got was from cell group ministry and outreaches.

Why do you think God called you to be a pastor? What areas in church ministry are you most uniquely gifted in?
The truth is I really do not know why. What I know is that I was once a sinner and lost but now I am saved and that day by day praying to be worthy of the Master’s use. I believed I am gifted in teaching, preaching, counseling and strengthening our brothers and sisters who are weak in faith.

How did you become part of BCF?
When I arrived in Bahrain, it took me sometime to visit BCF. At the time I was looking for a Christian church that will suit my Pentecostal orientation and deeper teaching and preaching of the Word of God. After several Fridays of attending BCF, I decided to look for another church and I did. After attending some of them, the Lord spoke to my heart to go back to BCF. I started again to attend BCF Friday services. I always ask the Lord about it but no answer. Instead, He filled my heart with burden and vision. I started seeing myself preaching again in the pulpit. It was then that I started allowing the Lord to minister to me. I started attending the Christian Life and Service Seminar classes and completed it. One day, with the help of Bro. John Geronimo and Sis. Dhona Dureza, I just found myself talking to BCF’s Senior Pastor Freddie Cudiamat and giving him my credentials as an ordained pastor in the Philippines.

What are your immediate plans for Area 6?
My plans for Area 6 are:

• To train every one of its members to become leaders, who know how to teach and apply the Word of God. To do this, we started teaching them how to handle a small Bible study group discussions. Then we changed the format of our Bible study and turned it into small groups (about three groups). We then assigned for each group one leader and one assistant leader that will facilitate the group discussions. We are now also studying basic doctrines of the Bible to train them intellectually.
• It is also my plan for them to grow spiritually by emphasizing on their spirituality. We created a praise and worship team, and this team is now attending workshop under the guidance of Bro. Mandy Antonis.
• Just recently, we started to pray and fast. All I wanted for my brethren in Area 10 is for them to experience the richness of God’s calling. It is my desire that every one of them would be able to serve the Lord fully.