Evelyn Canete was a former rebel and defiant to the Philippine government. But today, she no longer recuits young people to follow her cause. She shares the good news of salvation by the Savior, Jesus Christ.
Former rebel now Judge and Pastor
Evelyn grew up in a religious family but she never knew God personally. Until one day, her sister shared Jesus to her. Despite that, she still strayed from the path God had her.
Since childhood, Evelyn did not took her studies seriously even when attending law sschool. She would not follow the rules of the academy and at their house. She said, “So, it was no surprise that I stopped my schooling altogether and left home.”
“That was the height of my rebellion against my parents, against my studies. And the beginning of rebellion against the government. Rebellion was my norm.”
For 2 years, Evelyn joined the NPA or the National People’s Army. It is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines.
Though she never had the intention of going home, she was forced to because of some circumstances. She went home with a bag full of guns and paraphernalia.
She finally finished law school after overcoming many hitches. Evelyn got pregnant and married the father of her child. They separated shortly after.
She then spent her following years in prodigal life. But her sister did not give up on her, neither was God. Her sister’s words were what made Evelyn contemplate on her life. She said, “God can take out anything and everything that you depend your life on.”
So in 1990, Evelyn turned to Christ, kneeling and confessing all her sins. She left her life of sin and started a life of faith in God.
Though life did not start easy with Evelyn when she began to turn back to God, she persevered.
She finally took the Bar examination. It was one of the hardest Bar exams in history and only 500 passed out of 3,200 examinees. Amazingly, Evelyn was one of the 500.
“Truly, God will honor the hearts of His children who will obey Him in faith.”
Today, Evelyn is now a judge and a pastor. She claimed, “I still go to different communities but instead of talking about Mao Zedong, teaching them Marxism, and Imperialism, I am now introducing Jesus to them. Discipling them to be part of the movement, which is a discipleship group of Christ, for Christ.”
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