Pastor Boyong Mesina

I left the Philippines in the year 1982. I didn’t intend to go to Saudi Arabia, but now I had a family. I needed to earn, so that’s the reason I went out of the country, money reasons. I went there to work in architectural design. That’s my job. And at the same time I was seeking the Lord.

It was a shock to me when I first came to Saudi because it’s a totally different culture. For me being in the world, I used to go to discos, I used to take drugs, I used to do immoral things, I used to go to movies. But in Saudi that is totally absent. So for me, I thought, ‘That’s no life in Saudi. I cannot live in Saudi.’ So within two weeks, I planned to go back...but something happened. I still had the desire to know the Lord, to meet the Lord, to know more about Him. Every night I used to read the Bible.

Sometimes I was high on drugs, but I wouldn’t miss a day, I wouldn’t close my eyes at night until I read the scripture. So at the same time I was doing the worldly things...but in my heart I was seeking the Lord. I made a decision. I said, ‘Lord, you have a purpose, right? You have brought me here. And there’s no church in Saudi.’ It was totally prohibited.

But I learned something. There was a church allowed inside the compound of an oil company, a big company. So the thing I learned is they do not allow outsiders but if you have a friend they can sponsor you; you can get in there. So how could it be? So I just started praying, ‘Lord, send me someone that I could meet. Someone working in that big company so they could sponsor me and I could go to church and worship You.’