News

The Southern Asia-Pacific Division Executive Committee in the Year-End session elected new officers and re-elected other leaders of the Adventist church in the Southern Asia-Pacific.
 
A total of 19 elected posts were voted and prayed for the evening of November 9, 2021, before it was presented to the session for voting the following day.
 
Fourteen of the 19 offices were re-elected while the remaining were replaced. 
 
Here are the elected individuals and their offices:

ADMINISTRATORS
 
Vice President
Johnny Lubis Before becoming the vice president of the division, the Lord readied Johnny through past affiliations and services he was called to minister. He served as the president of the West Indonesia Union Mission (WIUM) from 2006 - 2010. He also served in the Publishing ministries in different organizations from 1979 to 2005. His ministry started in Jakarta Mission as a church pastor before he was called to be the Publishing and Spirit of Prophecy Director. After his term in Jakarta, he was then called to serve the Indonesia Publishing House as a Marketing Director. He then served the church through the West Indonesia Union and the Southern Asia-Pacific Division as Spirit of Prophecy director for twelve years.
 
Vice President
Roger Caderma God called Him to be a soldier for Christ and brought him in 1984 to Mountain View College, Valencia, Bukidnon, the Philippines to pursue theology. Later in 1999, he earned a master’s degree in Public Health from Adventist International Institute for Advanced Studies (AIIAS). He received his certificate as a Certified Trust Services and Planned Giving Officer in Colorado Spring, Denver, the USA in 2005.

Since being called into the ministry in 1988, Elder Caderma served as a district pastor, church pastor, department director, and presently, as the president of the South Philippine Union Conference, one of the fastest-growing unions of the Southern Asia-Pacific Division.
 
Associate Executive Secretary
Kevin Costello has over 30 years of denominational experience, Pastor Kevin has also served as a conference pathfinder director, conference youth ministries director, and pastor in various locations in America and Guam-Micronesia Mission. He greatly enjoys conducting evangelistic series, Weeks of Prayer, and youth programs, and for the past 25 years, has served as the Assistant to the Director for the International Camporee, in Oshkosh, Wisconsin.
 
He served as the Associate Executive Secretary of the Southern Asia-Pacific Division. His major responsibilities include caring for the inter-division workers who come to this Division; sending missionaries from our division to the rest of the world; assisting inter-union employees; serving as the Human Resources Director for the Division; and mentoring the Adventist Volunteer Service (AVS) volunteers who both come to and go from our Division. He also cares for the policies of the Division.
 
Under treasurer
Jacinth Adap served the church in various capacities since 1984. He Started as a church auditor and accountant at the Central Luzon Conference before moving to North Philippine Union Mission. He became the financial controller of the Southern Asia Pacific Division in 1997. In 2004, he answered the call to become Associate Treasurer in the Southern Africa-Indian Ocean Division in Zimbabwe and South Africa. 
 
Associate Treasurer
Daryl Gay Tanamal has served in the SSD Regional Headquarters for 21 years. She has carried out various Treasury capacities such as an accountant for Property and Investments for a year, Chief Accountant for 6 years, Finance Controller for 8 years, and Associate Treasurer since 2015. As she relates, before that decisive commitment to involve in church work her employment for 8 years covered work experiences as an accountant for a concrete aggregates company, legal assistant and account officer for a financing company, and briefly as a legal researcher at the Regional Trial Court, Palace of Justice, Cebu City. For relaxation, Gay plays badminton, table tennis, and occasionally volleyball and lawn tennis. She enjoys beach camping, mountain treks, and long drives with her husband Jun and their four energetic, young adult children.
 
Associate Treasurer
Joseph Allan Deblois worked in various accounting and auditing offices of our church in previous years. He served as a GCAS auditor for five years. He also served in ADRA as a finance manager for three years. He was then called to serve as a Secretary/Treasurer for over three years in Mongolia Mission. Currently, he is serving in the Southern Asia-Pacific Division as the assistant treasurer. He is married to Sarah Jane Deblois. They are blessed with their daughter Hannah, 8 years old.
 
Associate Treasurer
Sweetie Ritchil served as the Treasurer of Bangladesh Adventist Union Mission and manager of the publishing house since 2005. Previously, she served as head of a department called Bangladesh Children Sponsorship Services, and as an accountant at the Bangladesh Adventist Union Mission and Pollywog Handicrafts. She started as an accountant in 1995.

Her passion is always to do something for children and families. Ritchil is a composer of more than 80 Bible story-based choruses in the Bengali language which are being sung in children's Sabbath Schools in Bangladesh. The goal of the songs is to lead children to study the Bible.  
 
DIRECTORS
 
Adventist Mission
Wesley Szamko serves as the director for the Office of Adventist Mission at the Southern Asia-Pacific Division of the General Conference. He finds joy in empowering others to engage in Bible study and prayer, making them effective witnesses to unreached people groups in preparation for Jesus’ soon return. 
 
Pastor Wesley received his education at Canadian Union College (now Burman University) and at Andrews University where he is currently completing his Doctor of Missiology degree. He has served in various roles since entering full-time ministry in 1994. He was a youth pastor, a university campus pastor, a senior pastor, a church-planter coordinator, and a mission president. The last 12 years of his ministry have been in Southeast Asia in the countries of Cambodia, Timor-Leste, and now the Philippines where he serves the 14 countries of the Southern-Asia Pacific Division. 
 
Pastor Wesley is married to Dr. Ivonne Szamko. Together they are blessed with two children, William and Alyssia. As a family, they seek to reveal the love of God to those they meet and to help people connect to God for eternity.
 
Adventist Health Care
Jo Ann Amparo has served in the healthcare ministry since 2003. She had spent 5 ½ years as CFO and later, President of Adventist Hospital Calbayog (then Calbayog Sanitarium and Hospital) in the Central Philippine Union Conference. Jo Ann was the SVP for Finance and Operations, and the Quality Officer of Adventist Medical Center Bacolod. In 2016, she answered the call to serve as the coordinator for Adventist Healthcare of Southern Asia-Pacific Division serving 19 hospitals in the Philippines, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, and Pakistan, and a dental clinic in Bangladesh.
 
Ministerial Association/Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries
Wendell Mandolang has been in this ministry for more than 39 years. He is a pastor’s kid from West Indonesia Union Mission. He served in several capacities such as district pastor, church pastor, mission departmental director, conference executive secretary, division director, union executive secretary, union president of West Indonesia Union Mission, and now as Division Ministerial Association Secretary and Chaplaincy Ministries Director.
 
He is married to Etty Simanjuntak. Their two children Waldemar and Euclea are physicians, both having finished their Medical Doctor degrees at the University of Northern Philippines, in Vigan, Ilocos Sur. Pastor Wendell likes reading, playing badminton, biking, and gardening.
 
Adventist Children’s Ministries/Ministerial Spouses
Orathai Chureson is the director of Children’s Ministries and the Ministerial Spouses Association of the Southern Asia-Pacific Division (SSD). She is an educator with a specialties curriculum and instruction and teaching English to speakers of other languages (TESOL). Before the call to the ministry, she served in various capacities as an elementary teacher, a tertiary instructor, a clerk, a librarian, and as a translator of children’s stories. As a pastor’s wife, she was also engaged in various leadership roles at her local church. 
 
Communication
Mamerto Guingguing II has served as a church pastor and as a district pastor in various places in the southern Philippines. In 2006 he was elected to serve as Executive Secretary of Western Mindanao Conference, and in 2012 he became the editor-in-chief of Philippine Publishing House. In 2015, he was called back to the south to serve as the Communication Director of the South Philippine Union Conference. This assignment was short-lived as he accepted the call to be the communication director of the Southern Asia-Pacific Division. 
 
Education
Bienvenido Mergal is currently the Vice President of the Southern Asia-Pacific Division in charge of Nurture, Discipleship, Reclamation (NDR), and Integrated Evangelism Lifestyle (IEL). Adding to his portfolio as VP, he also serves as the coordinator of mission to the cities, and SSD representative to the GeoScience Research Committee of the General Conference.

Before he came to SSD, he served in various ministries of the church. He started his ministry as a Bible teacher and a district pastor in the then East Visayan Mission of Central Philippine Union Conference. From the field, he was called to serve in Central Philippine Adventist College (CPAC) in various capacities such as Church Pastor, chair of the Theology Department, Dean of Student Affairs, Vice President for Academic Administration, and College President. In 2008 he was called to Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies (AIIAS) Seminary to serve as a professor in leadership, applied theology, research, and discipleship. He was also chair of the Applied Theology Department of AIIAS for 5 years. 
 
Women’s Ministries/Family Ministries
Virginia Baloyo has been serving the church for 29 years. Virgie has since been a teacher (pre-school and elementary), hospital clerk, administrative secretary, guesthouse coordinator, magazine editor, associate professor, and department director in the central Philippines. In hindsight, she thinks each job taught her skills needed for later responsibilities.
 
Health Ministries 
Rizaline Alfanoso became a health educator of Manila Adventist Medical Center and a Primary Health Care Coordinator of Adventist Development Relief Agency (ADRA). She also worked as Associate Dean and Associate Professor of Ago Medical and Educational Center in Legaspi City. She also served as an Associate Health Director for Southern Luzon Mission. 
 
Alfanoso also served as the Health Director of the North Philippine Union Conference from 2011 to 2015 before she was elected to serve in the division in 2016. Lhalaine is married to Daniel T. Alfanoso 111 who is currently the Executive Director of the City Anti-Drug Abuse Council of Pasay City.  
 
Public Affairs and Religious Liberty/Media Ministry Services Coordinator
Nelson Paulo served as the Media Ministry Services Coordinator of the division from 2016 to the present. Before joining SSD, he was part of the pioneering team that began Hope Channel in the South Philippine Union Conference in Cagayan de Oro. Paulo is passionate about propagating the gospel through TV and radio.
 
Publishing Ministries/Spirit of Prophecy
Rey Cabañero is passionate about publishing work. He began his ministry as a student LE leader. From there he became an assistant publishing director, associate publishing director, ordained pastor, LMS Dean and Instructor, and Publishing Director for the South Philippine Union Conference, and now the director of Publishing Ministries and Spirit of Prophecy of Southern Asia-Pacific Division.  
 
He is an AB Theology graduate of Mountain View College in Valencia, Bukidnon. He obtained his master’s degree in Ministry from Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies.
 
Sabbath School and Personal Ministries
Segundino Asoy Before he was appointed Sabbath School and Personal Ministries Director of SPUC, he was a district pastor, church pastor, Youth, and Ministerial Director, Sabbath School and Personal Ministries Director, Executive Secretary and Communication Director, and President of Western Mindanao Conference.
 
He is married to Joann B. Bagnol with whom they are blessed with 3 beautiful grown-up children: Shayne King who finished his dentistry at Southwestern University, Chelsea Jo, a Registered Librarian, and Bryan Marc, a Grade 12 Student at the Nanuri International School. He is also a grandfather to his first lovely granddaughter Sefia Jem Asoy-Sarmiento. Segundino’s passion is to win souls for Christ. He works with his family to bring glory and honor to God.
 
Stewardship
Jibil Simbah served the church in different responsibilities. He was a district pastor, a Youth Ministries director, a Publishing director, and the executive secretary of the Adventist church in Sabah, Malaysia, before answering the call to become the Stewardship director of the Southern Asia-Pacific Division.
 
He took his theology degree from Mountain View College, after which he took his master’s degree in Ministry from the Adventist International Institute for Advanced Studies. 
 
Youth Ministries
Petronio Genebago hails from Silang, Cavite, Philippines. He holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Theology from the Adventist University of the Philippines in Puting Kahoy, Silang, Cavite. He also holds a Master's in Public Health from the same university. In 2013, Genebago pursued further studies when he took his master’s in ministry in 2013 and Master of Arts in Biblical Languages in 2016 in the Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies (AIIAS). At present, he is in the process of completing his Ph.D. in Religion Major in Old Testament with Systematic Theology in the same graduate school.
 
Interfaith Services Director for Chinese/Buddhist/Hindu Ministries
Samuel Wang was born in China. He grew up with Confucianism, Buddhism, and Daoism. But he was converted from the Hare Krishna movement in China. After his conversion, his passion to reach people of different religious backgrounds with the everlasting gospel burned incessantly within him. Before joining SSD, he served as a Chinese evangelist for Southeast Asia Union Mission (SAUM) from 2014-2017. He is an evangelist, a teacher, and an author. Some of his literary works include "God and the Ancient Chinese", "Back to the Beginning for an Enlightened Life", and "Intriguing Connections: The Dharma and the Gospel".
He is happily married to Esther Wang. Their marriage has been blessed with two sons.
 
Interfaith Services Director for Muslims/Secular/Postmodern Ministries
Abner Dizon is the Director of the SSD Interfaith Services for Muslims & Secular-Postmodern. He served as founding Executive Director of Philippine Frontier Missions (sister organization of Adventist Frontier Missions)-where he served for a total of 21 years. Before he accepted the call to serve in SSD, he was Associate Professor of Mission & Islam in the Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies (AIIAS). He also taught in the Middle East as a guest professor for Islamic studies as well as an online guest professor for the Herbert Fletcher University. Dr. Abner has a Doctor of Missiology degree from the Philippine Christian University and is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in Intercultural Studies at the Asia Graduate School of Theology.
 
ASSOCIATE DIRECTORS
 
Associate Director for Education
Bryan Sumendap is the current Vice President of the Student Services of the Adventist International Institute of Advanced Studies (AIIAS). Before coming to AIIAS Sumendap served as the Youth Ministries and Communication Department Director of East Indonesia Union Conference (EIUC) in Manado, Indonesia from October 2011 to July 2015.
 
As a Youth Director, he provided leadership, vision, and strategic planning to the Youth Ministries of EIUC. As a communication director, he was responsible for the day-to-day operations of the church-operated Radio Angkat Nafiri and Hope Channel production studio.
 

Edward Rodriguez, SSD Communication Department