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In Fear and in Fury
Believer Magazine | February | 2005
by Luz Cruz |
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 he propagation of the Gospel is a very important
mission that Brother Eli had undertaken for many
years. And in the course of this endeavor, we were
lucky that we had been with him in many
unforgettable moments. In the 1980s, coinciding with
the start of his preaching over DWWA, he conducted
the nightly Gospel preaching in Magalang, Pampanga.
We were there every night with some of the brothers
and sisters who could join us. Brother Eli was
preaching even in those places with no electricity.
When available, he used car battery as a source of
light; but if not, he used candles. That’s how
determined Bro. Eli is to preach the real Gospel of
our Lord Jesus Christ even in those remote places.
He was never tired of going to those areas every
night, except during storms and heavy rains. It was
in those days that we have frequently experienced
the salvation of the Lord.
There was an instance when we were caught up in the
middle of the crossfire while on our way to Magalang,
Pampanga. While we were passing through San Fernando
intersection, when we suddenly heard gunshots. Two
groups were exchanging fires as we traversed the
road. Brother Eli told us to crouch down. Thank God,
no one among us was hurt.
Death threats for Brother Eli skyrocketed that time
because of his exposition of false doctrines of
other religions on radio. Yet despite all these,
like a fearless warrior who is ready to face the
worst enemy until death for the sake of truth, he
never stopped performing his obligation: to
undauntedly preach the word of God.
In those times, Brother Eli’s service vehicle was
just a short passenger jeepneys, which, in order to
carry more people in going to the Bible study that
we call “Pulong,” a trailer was attached to it. We
also brought food for dinner and sometimes even
stove and cooking utensils. We were trained to eat
and drink in a moving vehicle. Oftentimes we dined
in front of Magalang Rural Bank near the Municipal
Building. On our way home, we usually asked Brother
Eli to ride on the trailer but we covered him foam
so that he would be hidden from the enemies who were
taking advantage of the checkpoints to catch him.
Then again, thank God, nobody suspected that he was
in the trailer.
It was in December 1980 that we had an unforgettable
experience in Magalang. Brother Eli conducted a
bible study or “Pulong” in Balastisyo, one of the
remote barrios in Magalang, Pampanga, located at the
foot of Mount Arayat. The barrio had no electricity
and the only way out was a narrow rough road. In
that cold night, Brother Eli was preaching
fearlessly as he always did. He was discussing the
deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, that he was not a
man like what the Iglesia ni Cristo of Mr. Manalo
believes in. He was also disproving the claim of the
INCM that Mr. Manalo was an angel of God based on
the Bible.
The atmosphere of the place that night was so much
different from the previous nights. Unlike before,
there were many people listening nearby. Others were
hiding in the dark, while some were in front of
Brother Eli. Before Brother Eli would be through in
his preaching, there was a man, identified as a
minister of the Iglesia ni Cristo of Mr. Manalo,
accompanied by his cohorts, who arrogantly
approached Brother Eli. He was raving mad at Brother
Eli. When we saw this, we anticipated that violence
would soon follow if we allowed Brother Eli to stay,
even for a little while. The Chief of Police of
Magalang, our brother in Christ, was there that
time. He immediately rushed to Brother Eli for
protection. One of the ministers of INCM shouted
that he’s going to cut Brother Eli’s tongue. Others
were shouting to fury. All our male companions
escorted Brother Eli to a vehicle and went away.
Only the female brethren and children were left. The
only male left with us was our driver. We hurriedly
boarded on the passenger jeepneys. Those men
followed us. The person who shouted that he’s going
to cut Brother Eli’s tongue was rushing towards us.
Some of them were carrying bolos and rakes.
Probably because of the fear and the coldness of the
night, we were shivering violently. Our terror
escalated as our driver could not start the vehicle.
Since we were all female trembling in fear, we had a
hard time pushing the vehicle to start. Because we
were at the foot of Mount Arayat, our plight was
further aggravated by the inclined plane of the area
wherein our jeepney was situated. As we hardly
pushed the vehicle up, we felt that the enemies were
nearing us with their bolos and rakes. Imagine a
movie scene wherein the crooks rush to capture the
protagonist. That was the very scene that we were in
that unforgettable December night.
With God’s help and maybe because of the increased
adrenalin in our system, we succeeded in pushing the
vehicle up and, at last, the engine started. We were
able to drive away from them. When we reached the
way to Pampanga Agricultural College (PAC) we saw
the vehicle that carried Bro. Eli. It was hiding in
the dark. Some of us transferred to that vehicle and
drove away without turning the vehicle’s headlight
on so that we would not be noticed by our
adversaries who could be lurking nearby. We were all
silent in the vehicle until we reached the town
proper. On our way home, we also noticed that a red
car was following us. Our driver drove faster to a
point that we lost them in San Fernando.
I still remember how fast our driver has driven the
vehicle that night. Normally, It would take more
than an hour to drive from that place to Apalit. But
because of what happened it took us only less than
thirty minutes to reach home. Thank God we were
never in an accident.
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Doctrines of
Christ
