Can bees plant a church? Well, of course not. Not really. Bees cannot plant a local church. But do you know that a local church was planted at Barangay Antipolo, Rizal, Laguna because of beekeeping? That’s right! It’s quite an amazing story so last September 25, 2016 I visited this beekeeper to find out his story.

Beekeeping Pastor

It all started when Pastor Tom Sotalbo got interested in beekeeping. This gave him a livelihood and source of income which eventually made it possible for him to get a beekeeper job in Canada.

Having lost their jobs, his brothers also got interested to become beekeepers in order to support their families. So he trained his brothers as well. But before the training, they studied the Word of God first. Other friends and relatives got interested too. Pastor Tom shared the Word of God to them first before the beekeeping training started. That is how that church was planted in their local community. It’s now called the Love of God Christian Fellowship (LGCF), a local congregation of Grace Communion International (GCI).

Another Beekeeping Church in New Zealand

But that’s not the end of the story. Just a few months ago, a new local congregation was planted in Masterton, New Zealand because of beekeepers! These are mostly Filipino beekeepers and their families who have moved there to work as beekeepers. Pastor Tom trained many of them. This is another GCI local church planted because of beekeeping. Isn’t that amazing? God truly works in many amazing ways.