Tom & Nancy Cook: Serving the Lord with Gladness
Since January 10, 1999, we have had the profound privilege of serving as missionaries to the Philippines. Called by God and anointed by the Spirit, our life’s work is to proclaim the Good News to “the least, the last, and the lost.”
We are ordained and sent out by Gateway Christian Fellowship in West Haven, Connecticut. Our work here involves coming alongside small, local, independent Filipino ministries and individuals as friends and helpers. Prayer, preaching, teaching, and spiritual training are the priorities. Over the years, the Lord has led us into urban, rural, and tribal environments to demonstrate His unconditional love wherever sin and circumstance have left wounds.
The Early Days: Manila to Olongapo
Our journey began in 1999 in some of Manila’s most poverty-stricken areas. We spent that season preaching the Gospel, providing meals and clothing, assisting a local pastor in establishing a Christian preschool, and joining medical missions to flood-devastated villages in Pampanga and Bacolod. It was in Manila that we first developed a “Children’s Gathering” to teach Bible lessons to inner-city kids.
In 2000, we relocated to Olongapo City in Central Luzon, situated on Subic Bay. Olongapo has been our home and the base of our operations ever since.
Education and “Mga Batang Gapo”
Before we were fully unpacked in Olongapo, we replicated our “Children’s Gathering” with just four local kids. Over time, that small gathering blossomed into a preschool ministry and eventually a Scholarship Granting Project. During one season, we were able to provide full Christian school scholarships for as many as 11 children. Today, we are providing full-tuition scholarships to three students—who are actually the children of some of our original “Children’s Gathering” kids!
Indigenous Outreach: The Aeta Communities
Our ministry has also taken us deep into the mountain villages and resettlement areas near Mt. Pinatubo to serve the Aeta people. By God’s grace, we were able to help build a one-room school and chapel, and arrange for two water wells to be dug and fitted with hand pumps.
Bringing “Living Water” alongside safe drinking water transformed the area. Today, that church and school remain the thriving center of a community that survived and prospered. Over the years, we have also assisted the Aeta communities with school lunch programs, fish pond projects, and provided gas cooking facilities for the Aeta Children’s Home.
A Life Shared
We have not just worked in the Philippines; we have lived our lives here. We have been foster parents and are blessed with an adopted Filipino son. Since 2005, we have hosted house-church meetings in our home for worship and teaching.
Time would fail us to tell it all. Over the last 27+ years, we have lived through typhoons, earthquakes, floods, and social unrest alongside our neighbors. Through disaster relief, livelihood assistance, and simply holding hands in hospital rooms, we have baptized, buried, and built relationships.
We count it a small price to pay to see Christ transform lives. We look forward to seeing what Jesus will do with us, and through us, in the future.
Tom & Nancy Cook 