With its mission of “raising up competent and Spirit-led pastors, leaders, and workers effectively influencing the peoples of the world to passionately serve in the Kingdom of the Living God,” the Bro. Eddie School of Ministries International’s (BESMI) two-week Training Program launched its pilot classes last May 2 to 14, 2011 at the Galilee Resort and Mansion in Bustos, Bulacan.

BESMI’s pioneer batch, with JIL’s spiritual director Bro. Eddie Villanueva,
along with Dr. Dory Villanueva, Ptr. Joey Crisostomo, Ptr. Bobot Bernardo,
Ptr. Jojo delos Reyes, and Ptr. Raffy Ignacio

Ninety-one (91) students hold the distinction of being part of BESMI’s first batch, 75 are from the central churches, 14 from the national churches, and 2 from Taiwan, representing the international churches. Considered the crème de la crème of the JIL Church, the students were personally handpicked by their church pastors to live up to the legacy of Bro. Eddie C. Villanueva, Spiritual Director of the Jesus is Lord Church Worldwide (JILCW).

For future pastors and leaders

BESMI is the realization of the vision of a man possessed by the passion to spread the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. With a heart burning to see nations transformed, Bro. Eddie also knew this truth: capturing a nation, much less the world, can only be accomplished if the Gospel is shared to every part of the land.

And so, with his unquenchable love for God and country, and with the commitment of support by the JIL leadership, Bro. Eddie initiated the establishment of a school bearing and propagating the standards and principles of JILCW. During the JILCW Pastors’ Congress last year, held a week before JIL’s 32nd anniversary, Bro. Eddie formally announced the launching of BESMI. The appointment of Rev. Joey Crisostomo who was then the Director for JIL Central Operations to head BESMI signaled Bro. Eddie’s resolve to make sure that this school for JIL Church’s future pastors and leaders would fall into the hands of a man who has a heart for pastors. From then on, BESMI has never looked back.

The BESMI experience

A thorough screening process was conducted to ensure that only the finest would be enrolled in BESMI, consistent with its aim to produce no less than the next Bro. Eddies of JIL. Church pastors were tasked to carefully observe and scrutinize their churches’ leaders and workers. These observations became one of the bases to determine potential pastors who would undergo the BESMI Program. Those who passed the local church screening were afterwards subjected to the final screening held on April 19. It consisted of two parts: (1) a written exam designed to test their grasp of what JILCW is and (2) an interview with BESMI Director, Rev. Joey Crisostomo, and Education and Discipleship Department Director, Rev. Bobot Bernardo.

After going through the screening process, the list of students qualified to enroll for BESMI was announced, totaling to a class of 91 students.

The BESMI Program has three stages:

Bro. Eddie Villanueva while giving a Personalized Talk to the BESMI students

BESMI 1 (B1) or the Training Stage is a comprehensive program comprised of two parts: a two-week Training Program and a four-month On-the-Job Training. This is where students have to undergo courses of preparation, honing, equipping, and development.

Since the aim is to educate the students holistically, all the lessons on theological and spiritual doctrines, teachings and lectures were conducted and facilitated by no less than Bro. Eddie and Dr. Dory Villanueva and the JILCW Executive Management Board Directors, Ms. Joni Villanueva-Tugna, Rev. Joey Crisostomo, Rev. Bobot Bernardo, Rev. Domeng Rivera, Rev. Alex Garcia, Rev. Virgie Hernandez, Ms. Soc Garcia and Sis. Edith Mendoza. JIL Senior Pastor Dino Tobias and JIL pioneering Bible teacher, Dr. Amor Adela also conducted lectures, among others.

All the lectures were tailor-made to not only enrich the students’ head knowledge but to mold their character and to develop their spiritual lives as well. With the Holy Spirit taking over each class session, the students also experienced the divine touch and presence of God. Sequentially, the Training Program culminated in a commissioning service, equipping students with the power of the Holy Spirit that would enable them to fulfill their calling.

Currently, the students are on the second part of B1, the four-month On-the-Job Training. Putting everything that they learned in the two-week Training Program into action, the students are assigned to various local churches where they are to minister. The four-month period is to be devoted to missions, hospital and jail visitations, tract distributions, and other activities where the students are to be sent out in groups to evangelize. Set to finish in September, all who complete this stage will be qualified for graduation.

Based on the over-all performance of the students in B1, only a designated number of students will proceed to the next level, BESMI 2 (B2). B2 is the Categorization Stage, a special training program for specialization which will depend on the strengths students showed in B1. The specialization will be according to the five-fold ministry gifts in Ephesians 4:11: the office of the apostle, the prophet, the evangelist, the pastor and the teacher.

B2 graduates will then to move to BESMI 3 (B3), the Sending Stage. Here, students are to be sent out as full-time pastors, part-time pastors or volunteer ministers.

Envisioned as a “school of ministries producing Christ-like pastors, leaders and workers effectively and passionately impacting and transforming the world with the glorious gospel of our Lord Jesus Christ,” BESMI, with its stage-by-stage comprehensive program, aims to ensure that it is able to give its students the best training and preparation in order to fulfill God’s calling in their lives.

A legacy to keep

The JIL Church has been penetrating the Philippines and the world for the last 33 years. As the JIL Church continues to propagate the Good News to all parts of the world, Bro. Eddie desires to take the world by storm for Christ – restoring signs, wonders, and miracles back to the local churches and even surpassing the glory of the JIL Araullo High School days. He believes that such miracles should be commonplace in the JIL churches, thus fulfilling its mission of “bringing all peoples to the Kingdom of the Living God…through the saving, healing, delivering, and transforming power of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

Through the power of the Holy Spirit, coupled with sound Biblical doctrines and a blazing fire of compassion for souls, BESMI will surely preserve the legacy of the JIL Church in the years to come, and thus incessantly give the highest glory to the Living God.

By: Abigail Rose Roque