My name is Daniel Obrero.

I have a Bachelor’s degree in Education, a Master’s in Holistic Child Development, and have a year to go on my Master’s in Theology.

I have traveled to minister to men, women and children in Europe and Asia.

I am the senior pastor of Sarrat Bible Baptist Church, a church in one of the poorest communities in the Philippines.

It’s the church I grew up in.

I am a Compassion-sponsored child. 

Poverty needs an eternal solution.

It’s a problem that seems overwhelming—too big to really make a difference.

But a difference is possible.

Meet Daniel, a 29-year-old man who grew up in abject poverty:

“I remember waiting for my father by the door to ask if he had caught some fish for dinner. There were days that we had nothing to eat at all,” says Daniel, the youngest child in his family. Despite his father’s efforts as a fisherman, the family never had a consistent income. Only his family’s faith in Jesus Christ sustained them, believing that God would provide whatever they needed.

At nine-years-old, Daniel was registered at the San Lorenzo Student Centre, a Compassion project running in partnership with Sarrat Bible Baptist Church. Soon after, he was sponsored by Edward & Mary Endicott, a couple from the United Kingdom. “[It is amazing] to think that these people, who are not my blood relatives, actually cared about me. Through their letters, I was convinced that I was loved,” says Daniel.

In 1996, Daniel was asked to join Compassion’s Leadership Development program, a program supporting extraordinarily gifted students as they gain a university education. A degree in Education was followed by an invitation to earn a master’s degree in Holistic Child Development from the Baptist Theological Seminary in Penang, Malaysia.

With his impressive scholastic achievements, he would certainly have found great success as a teacher. Indeed, this was his family’s expectation. But Daniel felt a different calling:

Full-time ministry to children.

A Passion for Ministry

In 2002, Daniel started the Worker’s Holistic Child Development Centre. Through the centre, he fed, clothed and taught the children, many of whom are teenagers today and continue to follow Daniel’s example.

“[At first,] I questioned why he did not teach in a regular school to earn an income,” Felicia, his 72-year-old mother, confesses. “My other children worried how their baby brother could support himself. But now I understand that, for Daniel, doing the Lord’s work is more important than anything in the world.”

In 2006, Daniel went to serve the people of Cambodia in an orphanage run by Solid Rock Baptist Church. “Cambodia is like the Philippines 10 years ago. Poverty there is so pronounced and they need the gospel terribly,” he explains. “In the Tapok-khnong village, the people thought ‘Jesus’ was a type of food.” At the orphanage, he taught children the Bible, assisted in medical missions and feeding programs, tucked them into bed, and taught them English.

“It was a multi-tasking ministry,” he says. “A number of young people heard about my English language class and decided to attend. These youth would otherwise not come anywhere near the church. During the class, I purposefully taught them the words ‘blood,’ ‘love,’ and ‘forgiveness,’ so that, later, I could tell them about Jesus.”

“I want to care for the little ones in poverty…”

Daniel was prepared to spend the rest of his life caring for the Cambodian people; but in April, 2009, he received a phone call that completely changed his life. Sarrat Bible Baptist Church’s pastor had died, and its 150 members asked him to become their new senior pastor. He accepted the role in July, 2009.

Wiping tears from her eyes, Felicia says, “[Daniel] used to wait for me by the window and ask, ‘Nanay, did you bring home food today? I’m very hungry.’ I answered, ‘Just sugar, son; it will do.’ Now he has traveled to many countries, even to Europe—and [he] is my pastor. Who would have thought?”

As the pastor of his childhood church, Daniel is working to reopen the Worker’s Holistic Child Development Centre, start new missions work, and expand his church’s outreach to Nuevo Era, a community located in the Ilocos Mountains. Every Sunday, the church runs their “Faith Feeding Program” to give the people a good meal. They’ve also distributed school supplies to the community’s children, a pen and notebook for each one.

His reason for caring for the poor? It’s simple. “I remember how people cared for me when I was little. [I have] a passion for ministry and a love for children… Jesus loves the little children. I want to care for the little ones in poverty as Compassion cared for me.

“I want to introduce them to Jesus.”

By Edwin Estioko, Compassion Philippines, with Aaron Armstrong, Compassion Canada