Inside Story for Friday 20th of March 2026

The headquarters of the 1000 Missionary Movement in Silang, Philippines, was constructed with the help of a 1996 Thirteenth Sabbath Offering. Just as that offering is still being felt across the Southern Asia-Pacific Division and beyond through the work of the 1000 Missionary Movement, this quarter’s offering can also have a long-lasting impact. Thank you for your generous offering next Sabbath. Watch a short YouTube video with Rene at bit.ly/Rene-1000MM.

Image © Pacific Press

Shortly after Rene arrived in the Philippines, he received an offer to work as an accountant with the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA). After one and a half years with ADRA, he worked for eight years as an accountant with the Adventist Church’s Cavite Mission. Rene enjoyed working with the Adventist Church. Life was simple and comfortable. As a boy, he had thought that becoming an Adventist was a path to wealth. But now he had no desire to be rich. He just wanted to serve others until Jesus’ second coming.

One day, Rene unexpectedly received an invitation to replace the retiring treasurer of the 1000 Missionary Movement, which is part of the Adventist Church’s Southern Asia-Pacific Division and trains hundreds of missionaries every year at its headquarters in Silang, a city in the Cavite Mission.

Rene wondered if he was dreaming. He had wanted to be part of the 1000 Missionary Movement ever since he had given his heart to Christ through the friendship of one of its missionaries.

That missionary, Rodel, now worked as an ordained pastor in the Philippines, and he would be surprised and pleased if Rene became treasurer. But Rene wondered, “Can I handle the job of treasurer? I’m only a simple accountant.”

That night, Rene dreamed that he was working at the 1000 Missionary Movement. Then the president of the Southern Asia-Pacific Division asked him to submit his resume for consideration for the job. A short time later, a division committee approved his candidacy, and he was hired.

Rene hasn’t looked back. As he has been faithful to God, he has seen relatives who once despised his faith join the Adventist Church. Two months after he moved back to the Philippines, his parents were baptized. “That was God’s gift to me,” he said. “It was like God was saying, ‘Because you have been loyal to Me, I have a gift for you.’ ” His two sisters also were baptized.

Meanwhile, the company where he had worked abroad collapsed during the COVID-19 pandemic. If he had accepted the pay increase, he would have lost everything. Today, he said, he owes all to the Lord who declares, “For I know the plans I have for you, plans to prosper you and not to harm you, . . . plans to give you hope and a future” (Jeremiah 29:11, NIV). “Nothing is by chance,” Rene Tucaldo said. “God had a plan for me.”

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