Testimony of Engr. David Tauli

           This is an account of the main features of how I have come to accept the Lord Jesus Christ as my Savior and my Lord, and what that means to me now. 

My father was a priest of the Philippine Episcopal Church, so I grew up in Baguio City as a religious person following in the rites and practices of the Anglican community. In all those years of being a nominal Christian. I did understand the need to be personally related to God. I went to church, recited the creeds (“ I believe in God, etc.), made the general confession of the sinfulness, and participated in the Holy Communion simply because these were the practice of church members. But I was not seriously involved personally in any of these acts. And I had no understanding of the holiness and love of God. 

         A saving grace in my pre-college years was that I learned how to love another person through what is usually called teen- age crush or puppy love. Such love had the element of seeing another person as more important than my self and worthy of any personal sacrifice on my part. And I experienced the wonder of being loved by a person for whom I had very much respect. Apart from these graces, I grew up as the proverbial bad boy of the family. But because I was such a terrible boy, it was easy later on to accept that was a sinner. 

        A high IQ and a love of reading resulted in good, though not excellent, school marks, and enabled me to obtain a college scholarship to the Mindanao State University in Marawi City, through the selection process of the National Science Development Board, now called the DOST scholarship. My initial ideas in coming to Mindanao were stay for a year (1964-65) and then continue my studies in Manila. But I stayed on in Mindanao, eventually spending eight years as a college student in MSU. What I developed in college were leadership and a strong responsibility to participate in the struggle for justice for the common people. 

         In my extra three years of the college life (I was supposed to graduate on the fifth year), I was confronted with the Bible and the need to make a personal decision to follow the Lord Jesus Christ. (Incidentally, it was also because of the three years in college that I came to meet the woman who eventually becomes my wife.) The confrontation with the Bible and with God came through a Baptist missionary to Marawi, Earl Howard, and through the writings of C. S. Lewis. From the words of Earl Howard, and the works of C. S. Lewis, I came to accept in 1970 that the Bible is the authoritative reference for what man can know about God. Through the Bible, I was confronted with the loved of God, particularly in the statement that “ God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should perish but have everlasting life,” as the King James version of the Bible says. This verse was most significant to me at that time because I knew what being in loved means, and I had experienced the joy of being loved by a significant other person. I knew that central to loving another person is being ready to give anything for the good of the loved person. And here was the Bible telling me that God whom I know to be the Almighty Creator of the universe is also one who loves me. Accepting that, it was easy for me to understand Paul says,” If God is for me, who can be against me?” And I came to see one major meaning of Christ’s death on the cross as the ultimate demonstration to human beings of the love of God. After understanding all of that, the main feature in my life has been an assurance that because of the Lord Jesus Christ, it well with my soul despite my sinfulness. 

       Many years after that revelation that I received from God, I have also to understand that since God loves me, I should then spend my life in trying to glorify God and serving other people. And I consider as a central part of my service to others, the continuing campaign to make others understand the love of God in the Lord Jesus Christ.