STEVE MURRELL (Victory Metro Manila, Manila Philippines)
Steve and his wife Deborah went on a mission trip to Manila, Philippines during the summer of 1984. He says they were idealistic and unprepared for what was in store. What they thought would only be a one month stay has become 28 years of ministry and the founding a church that has grown from the city where it began, to the rest of the country, and to other nations. That mission trip consisted of sixty-five American university students evangelizing in Manila’s University Belt, or U-Belt. After two weeks of meetings at an auditorium the new church, called Victory, moved into the basement of a large theater. This congregation of about 165 high school and university students from Manila’s U-Belt has grown to more than 52,000 students, professionals, and families who now worship in multiple venues around Metro Manila. Victory has equipped and empowered over 3,500 small group discipleship leaders who meet weekly in coffee shops, homes, offices, and shopping malls all over the city for Bible study, prayer, and fellowship.