John Callanta
He is a Layman Pastor for Christ’s Followers Fellowship.
John works as a Monitoring and Evaluation Consultant both here and abroad for more than 22 years.
Twenty four years ago and in the midst of deciding what college degree to complete, John attended a Bible study about Jesus washing the disciples’ feet, and he went home convinced that serving others was what he wanted to do. This path of service led to him to learn about public administration (University of the Philippines) and international development (Nagoya University), as well as track and assess performance of projects for the governments of the Philippines and the US.
He is a resource person on monitoring and evaluation, street food, gender and international development, curious acronyms, scholarship applications, basketball, and movies.
After Jesus, John is in love with his wife Daisy and sons Joshua and Josiah. He likes Philippine nature, spicy food, and basketball.
Joshua Lacuanan
Although the youngest member of the Board of Directors, he represents the voice of the new generation as Youth Ministry Director.
He is currently taking Medicine in La Salle. In many ways, Jesus has given him many gifts.
He graduated from Senior High School and was recognised for his academic excellence as one of the Gold Achievers in SY 2017-2018 from GCF Christian School.
He is also recognised for his excellence in sports when he was also awarded as “Athlete of the Year SY 2017-2018.” A multi-awarded table tennis player who uses his love for this sport as a way to mentor younger kids to develop spirit of sportsmanship that would make them stand out as believers of Jesus Christ during inter and intra sports events across the country.
Also gifted in the field of music, through his voice and various instruments, Joshua reaches out to young people of his generation about the gospel of grace of Jesus.
He is the eldest son of founders of Jesus HUGS Ministries, John and Daisy. HIs heart remains God loving and fearing, making him not easily influenced by kids his age. Despite nearly being 20 years old, he remains focused on Jesus, his family, and his studies. A role model for young people because of his determination to be a salt and light despite peer pressure from school.
Josiah Callanta
Josiah is the youngest evangelist and missionary of the team but the inspiration behind the vision of Jesus HUGS Ministries.
He is the walking testament of the miraculous healing power of Jesus Christ.
Josiah is the youngest son of John and Daisy, founders of Jesus HUGS Ministries. He was diagnosed with autism when he was almost three years old. Despite the many years of endless therapies six days a week, his healing progress was painstakingly slow.
To God be the glory because through the healing power of Jesus Christ, our little angel was supernaturally healed last June 2016. He was instantly healed and since then shows no trace of autism at all.
What doctors say he cannot do, he now does and so much more.
Recognized by his school as one of the Gold Achievers in his class. Since his miraculous healing, Josiah has been awarded for his academic excellence in Math, English and Science. His memory is impeccable and photographic. He also shows excellence in the gift of music as he can play the piano like his mother Daisy and brother Joshua.
He is quite an evangelist too despite his tender age. He has been known to randomly and boldly walk to any person he meets for the first time and asks, “Do you have Jesus in your heart?”
We praise Jesus for giving us our bundle of joy and surprises.
He is our walking miracle and evidential proof that “God is bigger than autism.”
Atty. Marie Fe Galvez-Gracia
Fondly called by her friends as “Marie,” she is one of the most prominent criminal lawyers in the country. She is currently the IBP Governor for Greater Manila Region.
Marie and Daisy met in the Haggai International Certification Training in Hawaii last August 2018. Given their common advocacy to reach out to the young generation, she joined Jesus HUGS Ministries as member of the Board and Corporate Secretary on October 2018.
A lot of people do not know that she is also a Pastor for the Word of Hope Christian Family Church and is very active on a lot of outreach programs across the country both in the workplace and the ministry.
She is a very loving wife and mother to her two kids, Ninel Thyra and Sandino Miguel.
Susantry Sihombing
Since 2005, she has dedicated her life to Jesus working as a consultant for a living and a missionary for the children and new generation. She loves to go to different places to share the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Lovingly known to friends as Susantry or Su is actually Indonesian with a heart of a Filipino.
She met Daisy also at Hawaii, during the Haggai International Certification Training last August 2018. As prayer intercessors, they immediately developed a deep friendship and fondness toward each other.
After training, they kept closely in touch. Given her advocacy and love for the young people, like Marie, despite being Indonesian, she willingly joined Jesus HUGS Ministries last October 2018 as honorary member and volunteer on missions solely to bring the good news about Jesus throughout the nations.