When pressured to work on Sabbath in a country hostile to Christianity, Filipino Adventist Rene Tucaldo refused to compromise his faith. His stand for God—despite threats, fear, and the risk of imprisonment—reveals the cost and courage of Sabbath loyalty.
After six months of going to church on Sabbaths, Rene was summoned by his boss. “The other accountant doesn’t work as well as you,” he said. “Can I ask you a favor? Can you work for at least one hour on Saturday?”
Rene remembered he had prayed for two years, “God, if You give me a chance to go to church on Saturday, I will keep the Sabbath holy until I die.”
He shook his head. “I cannot,” he said.
“You have to,” his boss said. “Only one hour. What time is your church?”
“Eight to 12.”
“Then in the afternoon. You can come at 1 o’clock.”
“But it’s Saturday.”
“It’s OK.”
“It’s not OK with me.”
Rene’s boss looked at him long and hard.
“It’s up to you,” he said, and left.
Six weeks later, the boss gave an ultimatum with a thinly veiled threat. “What’s your final decision?” he said. “You have to work this coming Saturday. If you don’t, I don’t know what I will do.”
Rene knew he was working in a country hostile to Christianity. People didn’t have the right to exercise their religion. He had heard about people being imprisoned and facing death for their faith.
Back at home, he cried, “Lord, it seems like I have a lot of problems. Do You want me to die here?”
Three days later, Rene went to church on Sabbath. He lived in an apartment located in the same building as his office. As he left the building, a coworker asked, “Are you not coming in today?”
“I will not come,” Rene replied.
Rene had a company cellphone, and he switched it off. He didn’t want to be tracked when he went to church.
That afternoon, his boss made a surprise visit to the office. He repeatedly called Rene but couldn’t reach him on the phone. Later, the coworker told Rene, “The boss was like the devil. His eyes were very red, like he wanted to eat you. He might want to send you to prison. Please don’t get us in trouble, too.”
Rene Tucaldo is chief financial officer of the 1000 Missionary Movement, whose headquarters in Silang, Philippines, were constructed with the help of a 1996 Thirteenth Sabbath Offering. Read more next week.
Gina Wahlen
is the editor of Adventist Mission’s Sabbath School mission quarterlies and Inside Stories
