60,000 square meters. 10 buildings. 1,000 people. Beyond its geographic specifics, this sprawling and bustling compound is the World Headquarters of the Kingdom of Jesus Christ The Name Above Every Name.
If 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington DC and 10 Downing Street are the most famous addresses in the United States and the United Kingdom respectively, Jesus Christ Compound, Phil-Japan Friendship Highway, Catitipan, Davao City is the Kingdom Headquarters’ famed address.
What it is now – a sophisticated complex teeming with life—is a reverse
of what it was when Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy and the full time miracle workers tilled its soil and laid the foundation of its very first structure,
the ACQ College of Ministries.
Pastor Apollo and his “then skinny
workers”, who barely had food to eat, toiled night and day in the construction
of the Bible College – juggling
soul-winning, landscaping and construction works. Even female workers were not exempted from doing
menial tasks.
Soon after the adobe, Middle Eastern inspired Bible College building
was erected, Pastor Apollo led the KJC Compound’s sky-breaking ceremony
in preparation for the construction
of the 10,000 seating-capacity Cathedral.
|
The Cathedral
was completed
in 1991 and from then on, has served as a regular worship venue for all Kingdom
citizens who come to the central headquarters every Sunday. The new international airport wasn’t there yet and the only noise that could be heard along the endless stretch of Diversion Road, were the sounds of praises wafting
from the cathedral, from morning until evening.
|
 |
Paving the ways
What used to be muddy fields and pathways were transformed into beautifully landscaped highways. Trees were preserved but cogon grasses were mercilessly cut for landscaping.
Then the ACQ Gymnasium was built. Being a passionate basketball player that he is, Pastor Apollo made sure that there was a gymnasium for everyone to freely play basketball. This also became the center for all sporting activities during international youth conventions
and other Kingdom events.
|
 |
It did not take a decade before the whole parcel of land fronting the Island
Garden City of Samal across the Davao Gulf and the old Davao International
Airport, was converted into a sprawling modern complex – the heart and nerve center of all the Kingdom’s activities worldwide.
The first foundation of the C-shaped Jose Maria Academy (now Jose Maria College) was laid at the turn of the new millennium, in 2000.
The school was inaugurated two years after, in 2002, while its second and third phases were under construction. |
Buildings sprouted
In 2001, wood and stone bunk houses were replaced by an imposing
Victorian Era-inspired mansion called the “Dorm 2” at the far end of the compound, overlooking the rising new Davao International Airport. This served as a home to Davao-based full time miracle workers, administrators and ministers.
The ACQ Gymnasium saw its last when the ultra-modern ACQ-KBN Worldwide Broadcast Center was built in the same site mid-2004. Within five months, the studios were completed and a grand inauguration was held on January 28, 2005, in time for the launching of the 17 AM Sonshine Radio stations and the symbolic switching on of the 36 Sonshine TV Channels nationwide.
|
As if to provide a better view of the imposing ACQ-KBN Studios, the lagoon fronting the former ACQ Gymnasium was removed, the bushes
uprooted, and flowering plants moved to the sideways as the area was re-landscaped into a plain, open space, carpeted with eye-refreshing Bermuda grass.
|
 |
In the same year, a spacious dining
hall was built for the full time workers just 10 meters away from the KBN Studios.
The Jose Maria College expanded
and the once barren piece of land fronting the JC cathedral was made into a children’s playground.
Immaculately clean
Its roads are bleached regularly
and its well-manicured lawns are maintained as a newborn babe. Trees are brushed, washed and cleaned everyday.
Right from the huge, patterned gates, curious guests are left with mouth agape upon stepping in its premises. A visiting Jewish magnate in 2002 commented that “stepping into the compound was like entering a new nation, which is completely different from the Philippines and where the people are different from typical Filipinos.”
Spiritual aura like no other
And though taxiing aircrafts can still be heard, (with the Davao International
Airport only at a shouting distance) quietness, peace and serenity
reign inside the compound.
Amid the silence on its roads and environs, each office is a microcosm of a busy Kingdom community. The Administration Offices teem with life from morning
till late in the afternoon. The Publication and Printing building, where the Kingdom literatures are being printed, echo with the sound of Heidelberg printing machines. The Sonehine Media Network International
News Center is abuzz, 24 hours a day. Sonshine Radio’s glaring sound waft through the se-cond floor of the Bible School building
where DXAQ Sonshine Radio broadcasts its programs from Davao City to the world.
At noon time, executive-looking students go down from the ACQ College
of Ministries classrooms. Female students don dark purple suits while males are in light lavender long sleeve shirts and tie. They are the Kingdom’s future administrators and ministers.
Spiritual aura permeates each building. Joy is permanently etched on everyone’s face. Walking along the compound’s highways late in the afternoon
while feeling the cold breeze from the sea and beholding the falling leaves and flowers of fire trees is always
an experience. But the JC Compound
can never be more beautiful than at night when the lights are turned on and the larks begin to sing their songs. Trees, festooned with tiny yellow lights, complement the quiet and prayerful mood of the walled 8-hectare complex. The well-lighted
mounted pictures at the hallways of KBN Studios add up to the glam and glitter of the state-of-the-art media center.
|
 |
Not far from the studios, the Pastoral helicopter’s engine sounds, as it lands at the helipad and parks at the hangar just beside the open field stage. Pastor Apollo just came from various Kingdom Locale Congregations
in Mindanao and the Covenant Mountain and Prayer Center, minutes
away by helicopter, which he personally visits almost everyday when he is in Davao City. |
The world stands still
Just before dusk, the sound of speeding club cars cut through the growing silence. A club car parks in front of the ACQ-KBN studios. With the occasional opening of the studios’ main door, the amplified sound of the Kingdom Musicians’ rehearsals inside
can be heard.
The sleek KBN hallway is all polished and prepped up. A huge plasma screen hangs on the wall, letting
incoming visitors get a preview of what’s transpiring inside the confines
of the theater-like studios. .
Upon entering the main studio,
one gets an impression of awe and admiration. First-time visitors
are surprised to see such grandeur
and elegance. Far from what it was three years ago, ACQ-KBN Broadcast Center’s main studio has transformed into a colossal space, which is a fusion of class and modernity.
The 50-piece orchestra is at the center of the set. The Kingdom Musicians are lined up right beside the life-size plasma screen. Pastor Apollo and his co-panelists ready themselves for the live broadcast.
At 8 p.m. sharp, everyone drops any work at hand and awaits the airing
of Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy’s popular nightly live program, Give Us This Day. Inside the technical control area, rows of multiple monitors
picture the various angles of the 8-set tube cameras inside the set. The crew is all ready for the “big night.”
The universal counter starts to play. Three, two, one. “Fire!” the main station operator signals. Give Us This Day’s famous opening billboard
begins.
Milliseconds after, the Appointed Son of God, Pastor Apollo C. Quiboloy,
speaks before the camera to his global audience. The Kingdom of Jesus Christ Compound is now quiet,
and so are the highways and the nearby aircraft terminal.
Everyone stands still and listens. And the whole world listens too.
|
|
