NAME: FEAST CALAMBA
VENUE: 2F Maria and Clara Halls, Paseo Uno de Calamba, Mayapa-Canlubang Cadre Rd, Calamba, 20140 Laguna
SCHEDULE: Every Sunday, 9:00 A.M.
NUMBER OF ATTENDEES: 150
The FEAST BUILDER:
NAME: Leonard ‘Toto’ C. Tome
ADDRESS: 5 Villa Maris Drive, Maahas, Los Baños, Laguna
EMAIL: leonard.c.tome@gmail.com
BIRTHDAY: February 5, 1983 AGE: 42
Bro. Toto Tome shares that he comes from a clan with strong Catholic faith and culture:
“As early as 12 years old, I was already serving in a youth ministry. A few years after, I became a mission volunteer and was tasked to handle areas and programs.
Then time came when I had to work in Manila and had less time for ministry.
Nevertheless, he received blessings to continue serving God.
Finding The Feast
In 2012, Bro. Toto married Tin who happened to be also a youth missionary and together, they went on with their faith journey:
“My wife Tin and I felt the need for a faith community that would help us in our new journey. That’s when we started attending The Feast in Biñan in 2014.
“My parents used to live near
The Feast venue there and every time we visited them on weekends, we would include The Feast in our schedule. “It was very challenging for us because we had no car then and we would commute from our home in Los Baños –around two hours one way– to The Feast venue in Biñan. But we were hooked. My wife started serving right away by writing articles for The Feast bulletin, while I just remained as a regular attendee.”
But by Divine Design, they would continue their missionary life.
Bro. Toto explains: “Feast Biñan is part of the Feast Laguna District led by Bro. Jon Escoto (at left, with me). “He would talk with us now and then– particularly about our previous mission work in the youth ministry.”
Building Feast Calamba
In 2018, Bro. Jon planned to build a new Feast in Calamba.
And he invited Bro. Toto to be one of the servants.
Bro. Toto recalls: “I promptly said Yes! That’s because compared to Biñan, Calamba is just one town near Los Baños where we live– so that shortened our travel time every Sunday.”
And again, promptly, Bro. Toto became a servant leader. He became Events head and regular Announcements host of the young Feast which held sessions at SM Calamba Cinema once a month, from February to April 2018.
“We had a good attendance. The venue was always jampacked,” Bro. Toto happily adds.
Then: “After a couple of months, Bro. Jon told me to attend the LOJ School of Leadership as training for Feast Builder.”
And starting on May 5, 2018, Feast Calamba started its regular live gathering.
Challenges
Like infant Feasts, Feast Calamba was not without birth pains. First, at the onslaught of the Coronavirus Disease (COVID)
Pandemic in 2020, which prohibited mass gatherings, Feast Calamba had to go online like our Feasts at Home.
“So, we had a significant decline in the number of attendees,” Bro. Toto laments.
Then, when the Pandemic subsided, and they resumed the live gatherings, the fee for their venue increased.
The solution, Bro. Toto says: “Trusting God’s guidance, we decided to transfer to a smaller venue and focused on strengthening our small groups.”
2024 Programs
By 2024, Feast Calamba was strong enough to implement significant programs.
Shelter Groups. Feast Calamba strengthened its small groups, called shelters. Selected new set of small group leaders were trained on building and managing shelters.
Then, each small group went through The Feast formation programs that led to the Baptism of the Holy Spirit of the members.
Light Dining. Feast Laguna District started the Light Dining program in 2022. It’s a weekly family date where members are encouraged to share a meal and talk about God’s Word using a guide.
The families are encouraged to conduct this weekly habit of faith to strengthen their bonds with their loved ones.
Feast Light Marinduque. Marinduque has been assigned to Bro. Toto as additional mission territory and he has started conducting online sessions with people from the province.
