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BRO. ELI: Antithesis of the Conventional
Believer Magazine | March | 2005 |
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 debate took place soon after some of the Iglesia ni Manalo intruded in one of our Bible
Expositions in Pampanga. That was in 1969. The theme
was, The True Church of God: the ‘Church of Christ’
of Felix Manalo or the ‘Church of God’ which Brother
Perez was advocating. The venue, a plaza in Guagua,
Pampanga which we fondly call as ‘Glorietta’, was
profuse with people from all walks of life, majority
of which were INK members.
It came to a point during the debate that the theme
evolved into, “Who was the real founder of the
Church of Christ in the Philippines? is it of God or
not?” When it was Brother Eli’s turn to respond, he
read the SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission
document stating that, “The founder of this society
(INK) are the following: Felix Manalo … etc.” The
crowd instantly bellowed the name ‘Manalo’ when
Brother Eli asked them who was the founder of the
INK. By then, a displaced person grabbed Brother
Eli’s clothing, snapping out its buttons and even
manifesting the former’s brusqueness by flicking a
lighted cigarette in their midst. That incident was
a lucid reflection of how ‘possessed’ Brother Eli’s
enemies are. But he was determined and nothing could
apparently stop him.
I admire Brother Eli as a worker. He is
extraordinaire in his field. I yearned then to get
close to him when news came to me that he is
preaching in San Matias Kilo, Pampanga. Barely 2 or
3 months after I became a member of the Church, a
flood of thoughts and wishes occupied my mind: what
could I possibly do for the Church? I want to learn
how to read the Bible … I want to hear the Word of
God more often. These thoughts all stemmed from my
initial response as a newly baptized member to
partake in the divine workmanship of God in the
Church. Subsequently, due to my fervent desire to
acquire Biblical truths and wisdom, my journey with
Brother Eli reached shores. Kanino ka pa didikit,
siyempre dun sa may alam; sa may makukuha ka (You
should definitely keep company with someone who m
you can learn something from). And it was through
music that Brother Eli and I drafted a long and
inspiring story of a man’s dream of saving ‘souls’.
Brother Eli and I are ‘colleagues’; he is just 3
years older than I am. And music-wise, we are
‘band-mates’, so to speak. I would discover later
that we both like the songs during our time. But
then, I get a hint of what I could do to position
myself an inch closer to him. I tried to play the
songs, which he usually sings with my guitar just in
case the master guitarist doesn’t show up. It
occurred one time that the exposition was about to
start but the latter was out of my sight. I grabbed
that opportunity to carry out my scheme and to my
utter joy. I didn’t go unnoticed. Brother Eli
acknowledged my presence. From that time on, we
would always sing the songs we both knew and liked.
Actually, his guitarist was my uncle. But he was
unable to stick to the schedules because he was
already aged and married (This situation worked on
my advantage considering I was a bachelor then.) The
principal of innumerable songs that we adapted was
“Like Strangers; by the Everly Brothers (‘Hesus
Ligaya ng Puso’). Inherently gifted, Brother Eli
left the poets dropped-jaw owing to his being
expeditious in adapting songs.
Prudence is one thing but determination is another.
Brother Eli wanted to propagate the Word of God
through broadcast media, particularly radio (Radio
broadcasting was already developed at that time).
But Brother Perez was hesitant with that. I
overheard him questioning Brother Eli regarding who
would be spokesman; he would abhor embarrassment. So
we resorted to preaching in barrios and peopled
places. Those places were the key areas wherein we
helped to reap sympathizers and prospective members.
Apparently, we believed that the poverty-stricken
people were more open-minded and seekers of the
Truth. That was when the number of locales grew.
The most important goal in Bible expositions is to
acquire sympathizers. I learned from Brother Eli
that one does not need to preach everything he
desires in one sitting. An evangelist has to arouse
in the audience a kind of craving for the Word of
God. And with that, Brother Eli is faultless.
Brother Perez asserted that manifestation as I’ve
heard once when he recognized Eli Boy’s (the old
man’s nick for Brother Eli) good qualities. “Huwag
itatangos ng ilong ni Eli Boy. Walang uubra sa inyo
kay Eli Boy pagdating sa Biblia. Para ‘ikang tape
recorder yan; ‘pag itinuro ko ay salo niyang lahat
agad mabilis!” (This should not be owed to Eli Boy’s
arrogance yet no one will ever match up to him. He
can easily and swiftly remember and assert what I’ve
taught him.) But I know Brother Eli won’t surely
take that compliment because he was down-to-earth,
as well as apologetic, loving and philanthropic ever
since I met him.
We would commence the exposition at around 7:00 or
7:30 pm, the usual time when people had already
eaten their meals. When we arrived at our
destination, we would light up the Coleman (a sort
of burning lamp). That would serve as our
houselights whenever we had an exposition. We were
also lacking for a sound system so Brother Eli had
to burst his lungs out to make his voice audible. In
the prelude, we would sing until there were
relatively sufficient people to proceed to Brother
Eli’s preaching. It would last for 1½ or 2 hours at
most. But he would not end there. IT was his own
technique, so to speak, in exciting the audience
with statements like: “We have learned tonight that
it is God who created all things. Let’s study
further from queries like ‘What is His name?’ … On
that note, we will temporarily end our discussion
and continue …” Ah! The crowd’s seemingly assured
faces would distort in dismay! Unknown to them, they
were in for a more overwhelming panorama: an
unlimited question-and-answer forum until their
exhaustion got around. A commendable method that
Brother Eli used to infer if the crowd was
interested on what he was saying and makes himself
accessible for harmonious relationship. From there
came Brother Daniel’s idea of a ‘Bible Exposition’
which we are conducting until now.
Out problem which occurred during that time was
‘transportation’. The Bible Exposition would end at
approximately 1:00 or 2:00 am and we had no choice
but to walk home by feet because we had no vehicle.
In urban places then, we could still afford to
travel to our destination by auto since it was still
early (Commuting is accessible until 7:00 pm). We
would sing along while walking and before we knew
it, we’re home. Brother Eli had frequent asthma
attacks from smoke and dust but he had continual
medication. Rheumatic heart disease plagued him in
1968. Eventually, his doctor diagnosed him having
only 6 months to live if he would not refrain from
abusing his body. But look at Brother Eli now! That
27-year-long prediction went down to the drain. Form
and all!
The Word of God is deeply ingrained in Brother Eli’s
heart. No typhoon or sickness could stop him from
preaching what he knew is right. From 1969 to 1981,
the barrio folk witnessed a preacher who never
sleeps; unreserved and devoted in his God-given
duty. We would march 500 meters away from where we
embarked first and on with the battle. A proof that
he is sincere in propagating the Word of God: Even
if we lack money, we try to spread to the whole
world Christ’s teachings to which we have faith in
under the staunch leadership of Brother Eli Soriano.
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Doctrines of
Christ
