Pastor Raf and his family are national Filipinos serving with Philippine-Asian Missions, Inc. (PAMI). They live on the campus of PAMI's Bible school, Emmaus Bible Institute (EBI). In addition to the Bible school, the EBI campus serves as PAMI's headquarters, a ministry center for Compassion International, and home to Emmaus Christian Fellowship (ECF)--a church for EBI students, staff, families of Compassion sponsored children, and the surrounding neighborhood. Rafael is the senior pastor of ECF. He and his wife Elsie also teach EBI classes and support the Compassion program. Pastor Raf also serves as secretary on the local Philippine PAMI board.
Philippine-Asian Missions, Inc. (PAMI) is an interdenominational evangelical mission in the Bicol region of central Philippines. Although first started by U.S. missionaries, the ongoing ministry of evangelism, teaching, and discipling is today carried out entirely by PAMI's dedicated Filipino pastors and workers, most of whom are graduates of its Bible school. A volunteer U.S. board of directors and minimal administrative expenses covered by board members enable all contributions to go directly to the mission field. Besides a Bible school, PAMI has over a dozen churches and conducts many home Bible studies, children's feedings, film showings, and Christian radio programs. In addition to Compassion International, PAMI has partnered with Samaritan's Purse to distribute thousands of Operation Christmas Child Boxes, and worked with several other organizations.
For more info, contact Prairie Hill member Mike Thorud. His uncle and aunt were the original U.S. missionaries of PAMI when it was started in 1982. Mike eventually took their place as mission administrator and president of the U.S. PAMI board based in Bloomington, MN.