Jhoanne Cadano Hoglen — Side by Side

Calling & Mission

To faithfully serve, disciple, and empower individuals and communities to grow in Christ, live with purpose, and reflect God's love in everyday life.

Matthew 16:25 — "For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it."

GROWING UP

I grew up in a non-Christian household, where vices, gambling, frequent cursing, and daily arguments were a normal part of life. Back then, I often wondered, Is this what life is? Am I destined to live this way too? Does a better life exist or awaits me? Or I will just die without truly understanding what life is? These thoughts weighed heavily on me, and I remember thinking, If this is all there is to life, I'd rather die than live without purpose.

I grew up in the province without my parents around. My siblings and I only saw them on weekends because they worked in a different city during the weekdays.

There was a moment in my childhood when I saw a classmate run towards her sister and hug her. They looked so happy, and it made me feel jealous. It was then I realized that I longed for the same joy I saw in them to fill my heart.

My first encounter with Jesus came through a prayer on TV that played everyday at 3 PM. Though unsure if He was real, I began talking to Him while looking at the sky. One day, when I prayed for my parents to come home because of feeling unloved, they arrived shortly after. That moment planted a seed of faith in my heart.

When I was 10 years old, I contracted dengue fever, no hospital in the province was available to help me. It almost cost me my life, but my parents didn’t give up and brought me all the way to Manila, where I was finally admitted and received the care I needed. This event led to my siblings and me continuing our studies in Manila while living with our parents.

Finding Jesus and Facing Struggles

Moving there allowed me to focus on my studies because I had dreams I was determined to fulfill. My achievements in school brought happiness to me and my family, but these also stirred negative feelings in others. I began receiving insults and people would say things like, attending school will get me nowhere and that I would just end up pregnant, like many other young people in our community, that there’s no good future waiting for me. Those words pierced my heart and made me doubt myself.

One day, I was invited to a church within our community that helped me to know more about Jesus, that He is not just a stone statue or the prayer I had seen on TV as a child but a real and living God who was sent by His Father to this world to save the lost. I realized that I was one of the lost, in need of His salvation. I accepted Him as my Savior and started my journey as Christian.

This walk of faith didn’t remove all my struggles—in fact, I encountered even more hardships. A group of people at school started bullying me that caused me to rarely attend classes. My achievements became a thing of the past, and I felt like I was losing a part of myself. As things continued to get worse, I began questioning God. “I thought life would get better with You, but it’s only getting harder.”

Despite this, I continued to walk the faith. I graduated high school and dreamed of attending college, but as someone from an underprivileged background, I had no means to pursue it. So I prayed “Lord, I really want to go to college. Help me, and I will serve you.” The very next day, someone came looking for high school graduates they could support for college. I immediately remember the Lord, seized the opportunity and praised Him.

After four years of hardship in college, I graduated with a degree in Bachelor of Science in Computer Science. Before looking for a job, I enrolled in a Discipleship Training School for six months. However, right after I finished, the pandemic struck. I began looking for jobs, but many companies were downsizing their workforce. I tried applying for online jobs, but I lacked the resources needed to work remotely. Despite numerous attempts, I faced rejection after rejection.

While waiting for opportunities, I dedicated my time to serving at church. Along with being part of the music ministry, I was privileged to lead our youth ministry. I poured my heart into it, while remaining prayerful and hopeful to find a job.

Surrender and Purpose

In 2021, problems began piling up in my life. There was brokenness in my family relationships, a romantic relationship of over four years ended, still jobless, church problems, and the hurtful words I kept hearing from others. I started doubting myself deeply and felt useless, purposeless, and hopeless.

I cried out to the Lord. I wanted to take my own life, but deep down, I knew it wasn’t what He wanted for me. So I prayed, “Lord, please just take me. If not, do whatever You want with my life—I have nothing left to lose.”

Before the year ended, I got connected with Kids International Ministries, which offered me an internship. At first, I was hesitant, but then the Lord reminded me of my prayer “...do whatever You want with my life—I have nothing left to lose.” So, I took a step of faith and accepted it.

Some people questioned my decision, they think my degree was wasted on this internship. However, I am certain that God is leading me here.

The Lord showed me His goodness through this internship. He surrounded me with people who helped me heal and be set free. I began to understand what a Christ-centered life truly is—it helped me forgive those who had hurt me in various ways and taught me to love people as God wants me to love them. I no longer treat Him only as my Savior but also as my Lord.

CHOOSING THE CALLING

After a few months, I received an offer to become a missionary, along with another job offer outside that promised a good salary. I couldn’t decide because I needed a job to provide for myself.

I asked the Lord where He wanted me to go. He reminded me of the joy I found in serving through the internship and how he never let me lack anything, plus the prayer I had before college “Help me and I will serve you”. These words spoke to my heart and helped me choose to become a missionary.

I became part of YouthLab leadership, where I had the opportunity to lead young people, teach them skills in music and tech, I was sent to different places to share the good news of Jesus Christ. And even had the privilege of teaching computer studies at CCS senior high school.

Today, I am part of the Marketing Team of Kids International Ministries and serve as the Worship Director at RockFish Church PH.

All of this happened not because I wasn’t afraid, but because I chose to trust God despite my fears.

Proverbs 3:5–6 says:

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to Him, and He will make your paths straight.”

My natural way is not His way but as I surrender, I learn to walk in His.

I stopped just living my life with Him—and started truly letting Him take the wheel.

My life is so much better now but not because I no longer faces challenges, but because I am facing it knowing that the Lord is with me. I have peace in the midst of chaos and joy in the midst of trials because my hope is in the Lord, who has never failed and never will.