A Letter of Clarification and Affirmation from the Church in Makati
May 30, 2010
To the churches and saints in the Lord's recovery,
We, the elders of the church in Makati, after having been made aware of a letter Sister Jecri Yabut sent to the church in Malabon on May 24, 2010, are writing this open letter so that the saints in the Lord who do not know the facts about the incidents contained in the letter, will not be further misled or stumbled.
In her letter, Jecri made it appear that Brother William and Sister Liza Bahandi prevented them from attending all the meetings of the church in Makati, and that they repeatedly went to her home and caused her neighbors to wonder whether they are really from her church or not because of the way they acted when they were looking for her. The truth is that neither the Bahandis nor we as elders of the church prevented Jecri from attending all the church meetings, unlike what she alleged. The Bahandis were not even here during those times of visitation.
Her claims are a false witness and an evil report which should be rejected by the brothers and sisters. Contrary to her claims, it was we and not the Bahandis who visited her in her home. Her letter omits the real intent and content of our visit to her, which was an earnest attempt on our part to shepherd her and keep her and others from being poisoned and contaminated by the germs of division and rebellion.
When the Bahandis went to Zamboanga last January 2009, it was the three of us who decided to go to her home twice to tell Jecri to temporarily stop the meetings being held in her house and invite her to instead meet at the meeting hall, with an intention of safeguarding the unsuspecting saints who met with her and with a hope that we may help her have a turn, because we felt she had been critically and negatively influenced by Sister Charing Garcia. Her own reply letter to us dated February 14, 2009 recognized that it was we, and not the Bahandis, who visited her when she said: "Last January 28...bro. Chris Caras together with bro. Nemuel Augusto and bro. Wilmar Pancho came to my home in Makati."
Sadly, our going was of no avail because she did not face us. Because of that, we wrote her a letter dated February 3, 2009 to let her know about our sentiments and decision. However, she would not yield to the arrangement of the elders of the church. She said in her reply that, "I am very sorry...but due to lack of insufficient reason, we will decline your request to stop our meetings in District 13." Instead of honoring our fellowship, she chose to stop coming to all the church meetings on her own, effectively quarantining herself and continuously go on with the independent bread-breaking meeting in her home, which has since become a divisive table in our midst.
Her refusal to submit resulted to division. She, her helper, and a newly gained sister continue to meet on their own. Their divisive meetings and divisive table are even supported by Sister Charing and her strong sympathizers because a brother who went to Jecri's house one time saw sisters Charing Garcia, Divina Garcia, and Chique Liwag in her house.
Jecri also mentioned in her letter emailed to the church in Malabon that the "matters at hand in FTTM...started because they wanted to assign him (William) and Liza to Hong Kong. And because they cannot uprightly refuse, he (William) went to brother Jacinto to fellowship regarding this matter." Brother William's letter dated January 16, 2009 addressed to Brother Liu and copied to Brother Jacinto Chua and other leading brothers has already addressed this when he said: "This is totally twisted! Brother Jacinto himself can testify that it was not me who went to fellowship with him. We were silent and preparing the requirements to go to Hong Kong. But one day, Brother Jacinto called me by phone and talked to me regarding going to Hong Kong. It was Brother Jacinto who approached me first and not I; I believed it was of God's sovereignty through him that we are still here for a divine purpose."
Unfortunately, Sister Jecri, who has been a close follower of Sister Charing of the past years, has chosen to believe the disinformation Sister Charing has spread about the Bahandis and other leading brothers, and launched repeated and personal attacks against William and Liza in the church both in public and in private over the past two years. This she did without insomuch as checking with the elders of the church in Malabon or the leading co-workers in the work who could have helped to clarify matters she may have been confused with, despite the earlier strong recommendations for her to go and check.
As persons directly involved in the incidents cited in the letter, we reject the accusations made by the sister that there has been a collusion to coddle Brother William and Sister Liza Bahandi. We would like to testify that our brother and sister have faithfully served among us for over a decade without bringing any problem to the church, and have in fact been vitally functioning and sweetly coordinating with us for the furtherance of the gospel unto the building up of the church.
Both Sister Charing Garcia and Jecri Yabut have caused a divisive work here in Makati. Now that the church in Malabon and the co-workers in Regions I to VI have already issued letters of warning to quarantine Sister Charing Garcia and those who purvey her views and divisive works, we would like to affirm our stand with them, especially since we ourselves have suffered from such divisive work and undermining in the past years.
May the Lord continue to expose the crafty attacks from the enemy and safeguard the pure, simple and innocent saints. Shame to the enemy and glory to God!
In Christ,
