My name is Joseph Montoya, and it is only by the grace of God that I stand before you today. I am humbled and grateful for this opportunity—not to lift myself up, but to glorify the Lord for what He has done in my life through SBCH, through this ministry, and through the people He used to show me His love.
Now, let me share a little about my journey. I don’t share this for pity, but to proclaim the goodness of God. Before coming to SBCH, I stayed in two orphanages. I remember little of the first, and the second was in Batangas during my younger years. Life there wasn’t hard—but it wasn’t good either. It was survival, not really living.
In 2007, I was brought here to SBCH after the orphanage in Batangas was shut down by the government—because of what I thought, or maybe what turned out to be false accusations. But what seemed like a closed door at that time, God used to open the best door for me. It was here in SBCH that I experienced not only care and protection, but also the transforming grace of God.
When I came to SBCH, life completely changed. We had daily devotions, Wednesday prayer meetings, and Sunday services—that became life for me, life in the Lord.
SBCH didn’t just give me food, shelter, and education like ACE, they even invested in me by sending me to Bible college in Quezon City where I majored in Music. More than that, they treated me like their own. But what I treasure most is that here, I got saved and baptized. Everything else—the food, the shelter, the education—was just a privilege and grace from God. And it always makes me think of what David said in Psalm 116:12: “What shall I render unto the LORD for all his benefits toward me?”