Our History

The Pioneers

PMCC-US and the ministries we support ultimately trace their roots to the pioneer mission work done by Leslie and Carrie Wolfe, who arrived in the city of Manila in 1907, sent out by the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ in the U.S.  The Wolfe’s worked diligently with other pioneer missionaries to evangelize, plant new churches and train Filipino preachers throughout Manila and central Luzon, the largest island in the Philippines.

In 1926, Mr. Wolfe, Dr. Juan Baronia and other Filipino leaders of the work founded Manila Bible Seminary (MBS), which has graduated many faithful, well-trained preachers and teachers of the Gospel.  Mr. and Mrs. J. Willis Hale and others also worked with the early development of MBS. 

Together, the missionaries and their Filipino co-workers planted and strengthened many new churches as God gave the increase.  In 1940, Mr. Wolfe reported there were now 80 churches with 8750 members, and over 1000 converts baptized just in 1939. 

When the Japanese invaded the Philippines in 1941, several of the missionaries including the Wolfe’s and the Hale’s were imprisoned by the Japanese army.  They suffered greatly from starvation and ill-treatment.  Mr. Wolfe died from this abuse just 33 days after their rescue from the prison camp by American paratroopers in 1945, but his legacy lived on.

Mrs. Edith (Wolfe) Allison’s book Prisoner of Christ and Mrs. Eleanor Wolfe Hanson’s book My Walk of Faith in Two Worlds both give excellent accounts of these years up through WWII. 

The Next Wave

After WWII ended in 1945, new missionaries answered God’s call to work in central and northern Luzon.  Each of these new missionary families had independently raised support for both personal and ministry needs from individuals and churches in the U.S.  Some came to help, some to lead, some to establish new work, but all came to serve the Lord Jesus Christ. 

Manila – Central Luzon

In 1951, after serving in church ministries in the U.S., Dr. Barton and Betty McElroy arrived in Manila and served for 20 years, helping provide leadership for MBS and the extensive work in Manila and central Luzon.  In addition, Barton served as a U.S. Air Force Reserve chaplain, ministering to military units on U.S. bases in the area.  The McElroy’s also generously shared their home as a refreshing haven of hospitality and friendship and provided much practical assistance to the missionaries from remote areas when they had to travel through Manila or visit for medical or business needs. 

Later, Dr. C. Jeannie (McElroy) Hoffman was President of MBS for 24 years and altogether, served in the mission for 60 years.  Dr. Jim McElroy and his wife Dr. Karla also served in Manila with MBS from 1983-1988.  Jim later served as President of MBS from 2012-2017, and currently serves as Executive Director of PMCC-US.

Cagayan Valley-Northern Luzon

In 1947, Charles and Roberta Selby arrived in Aparri on the north coast of Luzon to work with Mr. Faustino Peneyra, who was the only full-time preacher of the Christian Churches/Churches of Christ in the 300-mile-long Cagayan Valley. Little did the Selby’s know they would be serving in leadership there for the next 50 years!

Roberta Selby’s book Go – I Will Go With You – 50 Years in the Philippines, published in 2005 through College Press Publishing Services, gives her inspiring, detailed first-hand account of the Selby’s life and work and how it grew under God’s blessing and direction.

Perhaps the most inspiring stories in her book are about the many American missionary and Filipino co-workers God brought together to serve alongside the Selby’s in the Cagayan Valley during those 50 years. These were people whose knowledge and skills were badly needed when God’s call brought them to this work or raised them up from within the work, at just the right time.

Some of these co-workers served for 20-30 years. Others served for a time, then were called to go establish entirely new work in other parts of northern Luzon. Still others came and served for just a few weeks or months or years, depending on the need they were filling. Too many to name in this short history, they each contributed their abilities and left their mark on this work of God.

During the Selby’s first 3 years in Aparri from 1947-1950, Charles and Mr. Peneyra made several arduous preaching trips throughout the Cagayan Valley and concluded there were only 10 churches left after the ravages of WWII. There was a clear need to train Filipino preachers and teachers to take the Gospel to this fertile field.

From this beginning, the Selby’s and their missionary and Filipino co-workers established new ministries, building out their many facilities and activities by faith as God opened the doors and provided the means. The time-line below briefly sketches out these developments. The ministries we support today are high-lighted, and will link you to more information about each one in our website.

PMCC Timeline

  1. 1952

    Aparri Bible Seminary

    Aparri Bible Seminary (ABS) was established. ABS began training preachers and teachers and launched a rapidly expanding evangelistic program of Bible training seminars, preaching meetings, a Christian kindergarten, VBS programs and youth camps.

  2. 1953

    Campbell’s arrive

    Norval and Dondena Campbell joined the work, where Norval’s expertise as a college educator helped greatly to establish strong academic standards and structure.  In 1958 the Campbells moved to Vigan City and founded an entirely new Bible college work to reach northern Luzon’s west coast and mountain areas.

  3. 1957

    Aparri Christian Press

    Aparri Christian Press was launched to print Christian periodicals and other much-needed materials for church ministry and evangelism in both English and the Ilocano language.

  4. 1962

    Church Survey

    Charles reported that 15 years after beginning with just 1 full-time preacher and 10 churches, there were now 20 graduates of ABS doing full-time ministry, and 59 churches in the Cagayan Valley.

  5. 1964

    Boudreaux’s arrive

    Sid and Marj Boudreaux arrived with their children, and served for 20 years.  Marj taught and worked with many programs at ABS, and Sid fulfilled the difficult role of operational logistics.

  6. 1967

    Schools Begin

    A dream realized, classes begin at both Northern Isabela Academy and Southern Isabela Academy.

  7. 1970

    McKinney’s arrive

    Dennis and Lorrita McKinney arrived and served in northern Luzon for 28 years.  They began at SIA, after which Dennis worked with evangelistic teams to plant and strengthen churches, then ultimately founded an entirely new Bible college mission work in Baguio City in 1992 to reach a different part of northern Luzon.

  8. 1977

    Children’s Home established

    Cagayan Valley Children’s Home began caring for abandoned and orphaned children under the direction of Mary Pruitt Bureros, who led this substantial ministry for 23 years before returning to the U.S.

  9. 1979

    Selby Service Legacy

    Lloyd Selby began serving as Operations Director, then as Executive Director when Charles and Roberta retired from full-time field service. Altogether, Lloyd and Marivic Selby served the mission for over 30 years.

  10. 1984

    Fletcher’s arrive

    Roger Fletcher arrived with his family to become Academic Dean of ABS.  He boosted the high standard of academic excellence and trained Filipino academic leaders to succeed him in 1991, when he accepted the call to become Academic Dean of Manila Bible Seminary, where he did the same.

  11. 1986

    Another school begins

    Classes begin at Central Isabela Christian Academy.

  12. 1990

    Church Survey

    A survey reported there were now over 100 churches in the Cagayan Valley resulting from the work of all the ministries.

  13. 1994

    Second Children’s home established

    Dick and Kay Davidson began directing a new satellite children’s home established in Solano, Nueva Vizcaya, where Kay has carried on the work since Dick passed away.

  14. 1995

    C.A.R.M.

    CARM aviation and radio ministry began under the direction of Stan Smelser.   With onsite leadership from the Carl Stevens family and their Filipino co-workers, this radio ministry has resulted in many people being led to Christ and new communities being opened up for the Gospel of Christ.

  15. 1998

    A hospital is built

    The Charles W Selby Memorial Hospital, formerly Aparri Christian Hospital, was licensed by the Philippine Government and opened in March 1998.