(The entirety of this testimony was taken from my book Quiet Strength: And Learning from Women of the Bible Who Had It which was published in 2014. Mommy Rose’s amazing testimony is one of the few featured testimonies in the book. Mommy Rose went to be with the Lord a few months ago in a full old age. Hers was a blessed life and her testimony, God’s great miracle in her life, will live forever in our hearts).
At 73, Sister Rose, or Mommy Rose as she is fondly called in Church, still possesses vibrant vitality and health more than other women her age or even younger ones. When she testifies in the pulpit, she is straightforward and her voice carries an underlying power which can only come from a life that has experienced God’s miracles first-hand.
In 1978, when life was generally hard and Sister Rose had to help her husband to provide for their family of eight, it would also be the time that she would suffer from anemia. A neighbor who was very concerned with her took pity of her situation and lent her money so she could see a doctor at Our Lady of Mercy Hospital in Novaliches, Quezon City. The doctor who checked up on her gave her prescriptions for her healing and advised her also to undergo blood transfusion every month. Sis. Rose could not afford to buy the costly medicines let alone a bag of blood for transfusion. Meanwhile, she was growing weaker and paler each day.
But in the same year, she attended a spiritual and healing crusade of the JESUS MIRACLE CRUSADE MINISTRY held at Plaza Novaliches in Quezon City. Through the prayers of Beloved and Hon. Evangelist Wilde Almeda, she was healed instantly. The following day, to prove to her doctor that she was healed in the name of Jesus, she went back to the hospital and showed herself to the doctor. After some tests, the doctor was amazed to find that she was, indeed, cured from her anemia! She noticed Sis. Rose’s cheerful demeanor and asked if she had been taking the medicines she had prescribed, to which sis. Rose readily answered, “Doc, I can hardly buy food, how much more those costly medicines?”
She proceeded to testify to the doctor that she attended the crusade of Jesus Miracle Crusade Ministry wherein she was prayed over by the beloved pastor, and thus, she received healing. “That’s marvelous!” Her doctor exclaimed in awe.
Sister Rose and her brood continued to serve the Lord faithfully in Jesus Miracle Crusade Ministry. Her husband refused to be converted though. Every time they attended worship service, he stayed at home. Sis. Rose and her children traveled from Novaliches to Urduja Village in Caloocan City which was quite a long distance. Since the Sunday service was a whole-day affair, her husband wondered where they ate every time they went to church. They did not pack lunch, neither did they have the money for it, so he asked what they were eating the whole day. Sis. Rose’s youngest daughter, 5-year old Wela, answered, “Tatay, the food there is really delicious! We eat the Word of God and we are filled!”
Shocked, Sis. Rose and her teenage daughter Marissa glanced at each other. “Nanay, how did Wela know such a thing?” Marissa asked her mother quietly.
“Her answer came from the Lord,” Sis. Rose answered.
Sis. Rose and her children attended church in Jesus Miracle Crusade Ministry without her husband. And so it went this way for four years.
On April 22, 1982, a day no one in the family would ever forget, a great miracle happened. Sis. Rose was selling mango at the side of the road near their house along Quirino Highway. Her son, 9-year old Timoteo, was with her assisting her. That side of the busy highway where buses ply was a row of fruit vendors.
A Metro Manila Transit bus was approaching at high speed. When a car in front suddenly braked to a stop, the bus driver tried to avoid crashing onto it, but it was too late. The impact of the crash and the momentum of the bus sent it flying over the side of the road, ramming through the vendors’ shanties until it finally stopped on top of Sis. Rose’s stall, pinning her, her son, and a dog underneath. But before the bus even landed on top of them, Sis. Rose managed to shout, “Halleujah! Praise the Lord! Lord, save us!”
The bus instantly killed one of the vendors in its wake. Two sisters who were buying mangoes were rushed to the hospital but both perished the next morning.
Meanwhile, pinned down by a pile of wood from their wrecked stall and the bus itself, Sis. Rose and her son saw the dog beside them smashed and dead. But Sis. Rose and her son were both alive and unharmed! They were both amazed as to how on earth could they have survived such a tragedy! They knew without doubt that it was God’s hand which delivered them – a miracle of all miracles!
Timoteo was able to pull himself out from underneath the wreckage and bus with nary a scratch, shouting gleefully, “PRAISE THE LORD! PRAISE THE LORD!” Later on, Sis. Rose was rescued and pulled out, also uninjured.
Sis. Rose’s beloved husband, Bro. Timoteo Sr., witnessed the whole mishap. When he saw his dear wife and son disappear beneath the bus, he knew for certain they would both be dead. But he couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw them come out, alive without a scratch.
Such a miracle of this magnitude merits our remembrance of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego and the fiery furnace!
Because of this, Bro. Timoteo Sr. gladly surrendered his life to the Lord Jesus Christ, and together with his family, served Him faithfully in Jesus Miracle Crusade International Ministry to this day.
Hallelujah! Praise the Lord!
All the glory, honor, praise, and thanksgiving belong to our Lord God Almighty!
