Forty years ago, a young couple from Southern California arrived in the Philippines under the Short Term Evangelism Program (STEP) of OC International (OCI).  They planned to stay for one year, but God had a different and wonderful plan for them. As STEP workers under Philippine Challenge (PC), they concentrated on doing Outreach Bible Study in the blighted areas of Mandaluyong City, where they were initially based during that one year.  Before their short-term ministry in the Philippines, Dave White was a pastor in the L.A. area for six years, while Sandy worked as a nurse there.  Little did they know that they would spend the best and most fruitful years of their lives in the Lord’s vineyard in Southeast Asia. 

After their initial term ended in 1985, they returned to the USA to apply for and start deputation work and raise funds to become full-time missionaries of OCI. A year later, they resumed their work with their Bible Study groups. During that period, they also coordinated the ministry of many STEP volunteers coming to the country from the U.S.A.

Their ministry radically changed from leading Bible Studies to training pastors how to lead small groups and Bible Study groups in their areas.  This paradigm shift happened when then PC Field Director Dr. Me Castillo asked Dave to conduct a seminar for pastors and teach them how to start Bible Studies in their villages.  This was new to Dave as he had no experience in teaching pastors before.  He tried to read books on the subject assigned to him, but there was a dearth of books available.  After the seminar, he decided to write a book for pastors that is contextualized to work in the context of the Philippine culture and not the Western culture.  He wrote the book entitled Anyone Can Lead which was extensively used by Filipino pastors.

Later, he wrote Your Church Can Multiply and the highly popular Bayanihan Church Planting.  He was also involved in the launch of Natural Church Development in the Philippines. He also produced a video entitled Why Plant Churches, which is very popular among pastors attending our seminars.  In 2012, he heard about the very successful church planting strategy in China called Training for Trainers (T4T).  Dave decided to try the strategy in the country.  The initial test showed discouraging results, so he again contextualized the approach so Filipinos could adopt it in their churches.  With that strategy, T4T became a success, replacing Bayanihan Church Planting as an acceptable and reliable tool for church planting nationwide.
In 2018, Thailand churches asked Philippine Challenge to help them grow using the T4T strategy successfully used in the Philippines.  Dave immediately came up with contextualized materials exclusively for Thai pastors.  Trainers like James Cantoria, Arman Mercado, and Judah Cantoria are presently training, mentoring, and coaching in 12 provinces in Thailand.  Efforts to duplicate the effort in Myanmar were made, but it was cut short by the military takeover of the country.

Dave and Sandy are blessed with two kids, Julie and Kevin.  The couple are due to go back to California by the January 2025 but they will not retire but continue their ministry with PC while based in the US. 

Submitted by James Cantoria (Exec. Director Philippine Challenge)