“From a persecutor to a preacher,” such will I summarize the life of the following assistant pastor of Cornerstone Baptist Church (CBC).

Roland Arcega Niar, the assistant pastor of CBC, belonged to a middle class family who lived in Mandaluyong City. His father was Romeo Niar and his mother was the former Lourdes Arcega. They had four children, and their second son, Roland was born on January 18, 1966.

Roland grew up in Mandaluyong City. He was raised in the traditions and superstitions of the Roman Catholic Church. He received his elementary education at Plainview Elementary School. During this period of Roland’s life, his father and mother got separated. His father left their home and never came back. After graduating from elementary school, Roland continued his studies at Arellano University. While he was in his second year, his older sister became mentally ill.

His mother worked hard to provide the needs of her children. However she rarely had the time and strength to attend to the things in the home. Roland was forced by the circumstances to step up and take the place of his mother in the home. He became a mother to his three siblings, cleaning the house, cooking meals, etc.

After Roland finished high school, he enrolled at the Polytechnic University of the Philippines and took up Bachelor of Science in Accountancy. In his second year in college, Roland had a classmate named Ivette Bermude, who was a believer and a member of CBC. Through her Bible studies within the PUP campus, she exposed the false teachings of the Roman Catholic Church. Being a faithful Catholic, Roland defended his religion and angrily criticized Ivette and her faith. However, she encouraged and invited him to come to her church on Sundays. He, on the other hand, only made fun of her invitations by promising to come but would not.

On March 17, 1985, discouraged about his family’s current condition, Roland wanted to end his life by jumping into the Kalentong River. On that Sunday, he decided to go with Ivette and to attend the worship service at her church. At CBC, someone explained again the Gospel that he already heard from his classmate. And right there and then, he accepted Jesus as his Savior from sin. Having found a bright hope and a new life, he, at that moment, voluntarily gave himself into the service of the Savior.

Roland began to preach the faith that he once condemned. He gave out Gospel tracts and Source of Light Lessons to the people he knew. He conducted Bible studies within their campus, and taught children in the Sunday school of their church, and sang in the choir. He experienced joy whenever he did something for the Lord. He was especially delighted to see people getting saved and growing spiritually.

After receiving his college diploma, Roland worked for different companies for almost 13 years. While he was working for Metrobank, he sensed that the Lord was calling him into the fulltime ministry. But he did not immediately follow the call of God. After some years, he became fed up with his job, which caused him to compromise some of his spiritual convictions. Finally, in September, 2001, wanting to spend every fleeting moment for Christ, he resigned from his job and entered the fulltime ministry.

He enrolled at Bob Jones Memorial Bible College in 2001 and earned an Associate in Music Ministry in 2006. Because of his unquestionable loyalty to the senior pastor, he was ordained as CBC’s assistant pastor on January 31, 2007. Besides being the assistant pastor, Pastor Roland is the choir director of CBC, and the music teacher of CBMS. True to his office, he desires to continue helping the senior pastor and the local church accomplish the mission and vision of CBC.