A pastor spent months in a canoe to reach isolated islands in the Philippines and share the Gospel. 

On the northern coast of Samar, three churches now stand on the small islands because of the bravery and faithfulness of  Pastor Vedasto "Veds Subiaga. 

He felt the Lord calling him to these islands to plant churches. However, this was not an easy calling to fulfill. Not only did Subiaga lack financial support, but he also did not have a place to live or know how to swim. In addition to those factors, he did not know if these islands had followers of Christ. 

That did not stop him. He found a canoe and headed off. Bill Passions who works for AMG international says to Mission Network News (MNN), "I recently visited this island and we took a 40-minute boat ride in a motorized boat. So you can imagine how long it took him to get there … and then staying every day on the boat [with] storms and whatever may come up, but he knew God had called him there.”

The second Subiaga landed he was stopped and told by the local villagers that he was not allowed to live on the island.

Again, this setback did not stop him. He decided to live on the canoe for the next five months. To survive, he would take his boat, go between the islands and live off the fish and crabs he caught. 

Subiaga filled his days with visits to islanders. He would pray and share the Gospel with them. One well-respected islander who was part of the indigenous cults of the Philippines asked Subiaga to speak with him about faith. Through the relationship built with the pastor, the man gave his life to Christ. 

Together they shared the Gospel to the rest of the islands and now there is a growing community of Christians in the region. 

"It’s just a great example of when God calls you to do something, it may be difficult. It doesn’t mean that you’re going to have instant results. And we’re not really guaranteed any results. But if God has called you to do it, then you should be faithful,” Passions says.