The Semilya Sa Kinabuhi Story

In 2003, I asked God why He brought me to Bukidnon. While God would often give me impressions when I inquire, He kept quiet for months. So one my morning, during my Quiet Time, I told God, “If you will not tell me why you brought me here, then ako ang hihingi. Since Mindanao has been very good to me, will you allow me to see Mindanao come to Christ - in my lifetime!”

A few weeks after, the CEO of a large fruit company in Davao asked if I can do the value formation program we do in our farm for his farms. Since they have close to 5000 employees, I would need to train many teachers and build an organization to deliver the service.

By coincidence, or by provision, a 1/2 hectare property near our home went on sale. So along with the pastors who implements the program in our farm, we went to pray and to claim the place for a training foundation. Then, in a piece of paper, I drew how the facility would look like and listed the services it would offer. At the bottom of that paper I wrote, P2M. Because the property was being sold for P1.2M and I felt P0.8M would be enough to put up the structures we would need.But I did not know where we would get the money for this.

On January 2004, I attended a wake in Cagayan de Oro for a family whose only son died of aneurism. I was standing at the back to watch the proceeding from afar, when a small Chinese businessman walked towards me, and asked, “What is this I hear about the miracles happening in your farm?” We ended up talking for close to 3 hours as I explained to him the results of being intimate and obedient to the Lord.

As I related the miracles that have been happening in our farm, the businessman asked, “What is next? What do you plan to do with your experience?” In excitement, I took out the one-piece paper I had in my pocket. I told him that since I had no money to buy the land, I have been praying that God will send me 5000 people who will each agree to buy one square meter, so that I can put up the facility. But after I finished explaining my vision, he said, “I will take care of the P2M!” I was floored and shocked, because this was the first time I met this Chinese businessman!

This was how Semilya Sa Kinabuhi was born! I believe it started when I asked God to let me to see Mindanao come to Christ in my lifetime. I believe He answered that prayer because I that was what He wanted to see happen. I just verbalized it. I learned that when God is about to do something, He will put a burden in the heart of a man who will think that the burden is his. I believe this is what 1 John 5:14 means, “This is the confidence which we have before Him, that, if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us.”

Since its inception, Semilya has attracted a lot of people from different part of the country, outside of Mindanao. And because of people like Randell, its influence has reached Filipinos working overseas.

Around the middle of 2019, Ptr Jeff Eliscupidez of Victory Christian Fellowship introduced me to Walden Chu, President of Coffee Bean and Tea Leaf. While I was sharing my story and about Semilya, Walden cut me and said that he needed to tell me something important when I am done. When I finished, he told me of an incident that happened to him when he was in Malaysia on a business trip, a few weeks back. He said that he met a local businessman, who owns a number of schools for special children, while he was having dinner. This person told Walden that he would like to visit the Philippines and go to Mindanao to look for a farmer who uses the Bible as a reference for business. Then he asked Walden, “Do you know a farmer named Dodong Cacanando from Mindanao?” Of course Walden did not know me then. But when I was telling him my story he realized that he was talking to the Dodong the Malaysian was asking him about. Was this coincidence or God’s provision? Because of these, Walden asked me to be part of CBTL’s Giving Journal for 2020.

As these things develop, I have been asking God to tell me what He wants me to do next. But the prospect of bringing His story beyond Mindanao, plus the alumni’s plan to put up a facility that will attract more influential people to Semilya, have overwhelmed me. I know it would mean a lot of work, it would need a lot of provisions and it will take away the simple life I have in Bukidnon.

But as I think about the principles that God has revealed to me, I know that they are too precious to just stay in Mindanao. Because they have changed many people’s lives and have blessed many businesses. And, I know they could help many in the country, and even world, if I am willing to share them as much as I can. But I have been hesitating because of the reasons I mentioned above.

Last November, after joining Randell Tiongson’s in ICON 2019 in Davao, Ian Co, owner of Sonic Sales, brought me to see the orphanage of Trent Pruett, an American who came to Davao 5 years ago. When he came, he had no land and money to put up the orphanage that God has impressed in his heart. But when I visited, the facility he has built was very impressive because of all the provisions God gave him through the people sent His way. But what was more impressed was the vision he shared with me and Ian. He told us that the symbol of the orphanage is an arrowhead, because he wants to shoot out the orphans he will take care of to the world as doctors, engineers, entrepreneurs, etc. He said that in the future, they will influence the world for the Lord.

When I heard this, nahiya ako kay God. Because Trent Pruett has still to grow the children to become influential adult before he can shoot them out to the world, while here I am with principles that have been tested and proven to be effective. And, yet I want it to stay in Mindanao.I realized that I was becoming an obstacle to God’s desire to bless the world through the principles that He has asked me and Semilya to steward. When I say Semilya, I am including the alumni who have attended our training and have been blessed as they live out our principle.

So recently, I made a recommitment to the Lord. I told Him again what I told Him in 1998, “I will go where you want me to go and I will do what you want me to do.” In my book Breaking Through, I explained that this was the prayer eventually brought us to Bukidnon.

When I presented my burdens to the pastors working with Semilya, one of the said, “Maybe the desire to see Mindanao come to Christ was just the spark that God used to start a fire that will give light to the world.” He said maybe when we are able to to influence the world, we will ultimately see Mindanao come to Christ as a result.

About Semilya Sa Kinabuhi

Semilya Sa Kinabuhi was incorporated in January 2005, so it is 20 years old in 2025. Because we wish to respond to what we feel the Lord is asking us to do, we have developed the following vision, mission, and purpose:

The Vision

We see a world that abounds in fruitfulness as people live out God’s Word in every part of their lives. (Genesis 1:28)

The Mission

We want to be the best model of stewardship, and the greatest influence of intimacy and complete obedience towards God. (John 15:8)

The Purpose

To show people our wisdom and understanding as we obey the Lord’s instructions, so that the world will know that our God is near. (Deuteronomy 4:5 to 7)

Our Values

  1. Everything begins and ends with INTIMACY!

  2. IMITATE me, as I imitate CHRIST.

  3. Be a blessing, never a burden!

  4. Do what is RIGHT, not what is good.

  5. TAKE it in, LIVE it out, PASS it on.

  6. You cannot give away something you do not have!

  7. EXCEL still more!

  8. Hindi pwede ang “pwede na”

  9. NO WASTE!

  10. DELAY GRATIFICATION – for fruit comes in the proper season.


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