Hello from your family here in Ohio,
The First Fil-Am Church of Greater Dayton! We are a new Christian church in the Greater Dayton, Ohio area on fire for our Lord Jesus! To proclaim the Good News of Christ to ALL - beginning with our kababayans, live the truth of the Father’s love, and partner with the Holy Spirit in the healing and transformation of the world is our mission. For the good news o
f salvation to reach the ends of the earth, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow and that every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. We are "multi-denominational", meaning, people of all religious backgrounds are welcome and worship with us. Other than providing a worship space for all, especially our kababayans, our prayer is for the Lord tear down walls that divide people so that all of us could and would worship Him together as "one body of Christ" "as it is in heaven." We offer a blended Filipino-American worship service. Ours is a “family worship” where the family worships together. Our worship services are followed by a “fiesta”, a festive fellowship meal where people get to bond as they share a table. By the Father’s grace, and the Holy Spirit’s guiding under the banner of Christ our Lord, the church presses on in making a difference in the lives of hundreds in the city and millions around the world though its work of worship, discipleship, and evangelism. If we may share with you a brief history of the church which we pray will bless you...
In the spring of 2014, as Pastor Nitos was having his regular sabbath with the Lord at the Five Rivers Metropark, the Lord gave him a vision-mission to minister to people in the US with a mission to bring souls of all colors to Him, Jesus Christ our Savior. Having said yes to the Holy Spirit, and Oon fire for the Lord, and with intense intentionality, he and his wife, Apple (Layug-Isip) began to reach out to Filipinos in the city and brought them to Christ through bible studies and house worships. On October 7, 2018, World Communion Sunday, was held the historic first ever Filipino worship service in the city of Dayton at Fort McKinley UMC--thus founding the very first Filipino worshiping congregation, the First Fil-Am Fellowship. (This came about through our partnership with Ginghamsburg UMC especially through the love and support of Rev. Dr. Chris Heckaman and Rev. Jon Morgan). Come celebrate with us our 8th founding anniversary in October 2026! Our culminating, big celebration will be on October 25. Pursuing the vision God gave Pastor Nitos, he and his co-church planter, his beloved wife Apple, partnered with Fil-Ams in Dayton, Christ Church Kettering, and Mosaic Church, and worked with the Miami Valley District (now Greater Miami River) and the West Ohio Conference for the fellowship to be adopted by the UMC. On June 28, 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, God made a miracle of birthing in the heart of the metropolis, the First Fil-Am Church of Greater Dayton: the very first Filipino-American Church in the city and the first Filipino UM Church in the state of Ohio. We shall be forever grateful to Christ Church who embraced us, especially to Rev. Dr. Brian Law and Rev. Dr. Roz Picardo, for their love and support. The First Fil-Am Church is proud and very blessed to be a one of the four (4) campuses of our big church family, the Gem City Church Collective, composed of Christ Church, Mosaic, Refresh, and us, First Fil-Am. TOGETHER WE ARE BETTER, STRONGER! We had our Inaugural Worship Service as a UM Church on August 2, 2020 at Christ Church 3440 Shroyer Rd, Kettering, OH 45429. One hundred two (102) adults and young people and eleven (11) children attended the monumental service, reaching 13,000 souls online. The church serves the community through its Mothers on Mission and Service (M.o.M.S.), D.a.D.S. and C.A.R.E., a weekly visitation ministry where we share Panera Bread, flowers, small gifts and homemade food in the community, covering 50-70-mile radius from the church. 500+ Families/Homes have been blessed with bread through our CARE ministries (Indianapolis to Columbus, Lima to Cincinnati). We have a vibrant children’s ministry. Kids take an active part in our worship services. They are taught to play the piano (for free) by our volunteer Worship and Music Director, Apple Dobles, through our thrice-weekly Music Ministry and who are now offering their talent to the Lord on Sundays. Yearly, we have benefit concerts and talent shows. Twice yearly, we do mission work in the Philippines. From 2023-2025, 4,000+ students in the Philippines were fed and blessed with slippers and school supplies. We have weekly prayer meetings, bible studies, learning Tagalog as a second language, annual retreats and camps, sportsfests, and a twice weekly badminton ministry. Nightly, without fail, since March 17, 2020, we have our Family Devotions streamed live via Facebook. On July 4, 2020, our volunteer music director, Apple, began a weekly Music Devotion with “What A Friend We Have In Jesus!” Since then, our online devotions have become our flagship ministries. In 2023, 135 MILLION+ People in 244 countries and dependent territories (“the ends of the earth”) were reached by the good news of Jesus through our online platforms. We celebrated our 1,000th Family Devotion on December 27, 2023, our 5th year anniversary in March 2025. We have our Family Devos live-streamed via Facebook at our small apartment…or wherever 9 pm will find us…happy to serve…to praise…to pray...to comfort…to sing…to celebrate…to love…to gather all peoples to sit at Jesus’ feet…to rest…to be fed…to hear His word, the Gospel…to be satisfied…to encounter Christ, to be transformed…to be his witnesses here to the earth’s ends! We are a growing congregation, “as the Lord keeps adding to our number those who are being saved.” (Acts 2:47). Our most fervent desire is to bring our kababayans to Jesus Christ our Lord, and for us to love with His love, grow in His likeness, and serve cheerfully together. Since our inception as a Church in June 2020 to August 2025, the Lord has blessed us with 145 Baptisms, Professions of Faith and Receptions into the Church as Members. More than 1,500 people from all walks of life, from as far as California and Texas in the west and New Jersey in the east, Canada in the north and Florida in the south have attended in-person our worship services and devotions. We give praise and thanks to God for all that God has done in and through us!
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COME WORSHIP, SERVE AND GROW WITH US.
❤️ Sunday Worship @4 PM US Eastern Time
In-Person: at 3440 Shroyer Rd, Kettering, OH 45429
Streamed Live - FB Page of First Fil-Am Church of Greater Dayton
Online Ministries:
❤️ Family Devotion on Facebook: Mon-Fri, 9 PM US Eastern Time
Streamed Live - FB Page of First Fil-Am Church of Greater Dayton
❤️ Music Devotion on Facebook: Sat, 9 PM US Eastern Time
FB Page of Rhee Joyce Dobles
Regular Ministries:
❤️ WORSHIP LEADING, bible reading, praying, ushering, communion stewarding, welcoming and greeting
❤️ CONNECT GROUPS (Weekly Small Group meetings and prayer meetings)
Pastoral Visitations; Once to thrice weekly (covering 400 kms every week)
❤️ CARE Ministry: We give out bread at our church and to the community (we with Panera Bread)
❤️ MoMs Ministry: Hand out pre-packed food to moms in the community (prepared by moms of our church)
❤️ DADs Ministry: Men’s monthly meeting
❤️ Youth Ministry (looking for volunteer leaders)
❤️ Kids Ministry (looking for volunteer leaders)
❤️ Piano ministry for kids (free piano lessons, thrice weekly)
❤️ Pickleball/Badminton: Mondays and Wednesdays, 5 pm-7 pm, and Fridays 6 pm-8pm at our gym (Christ Church Activity Center)
❤️ Church-wide retreat and students retreats and out-of-state mission trips
WELCOME NEW FAMILIES! We are a CARE HUB for new families arriving in Dayton. As the name of our ministry reflects—New Beginnings Dayton: A Family Transition Ministry—we are committed to helping families, including Filipino medical practitioners and educators, transition into and settle into their new lives in the Greater Dayton Area. This initiative is offered in partnership with Fresh Starts and New Beginnings (Ohio Conference) and Kettering Health.
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Rev. Dr. Nitos Suarez Dobles, MDiv, DMin
Lead Pastor, First Fil-Am Church of Greater Dayton
PS. We love to sing. Offer a song to the Lord one of these Sundays. Meanwhile, come listen to one of the songs we sang for the Lord:
https://www.facebook.com/1st.Fil.Am.Church.of.Greater.Dayton/videos/332988765784810
🕊 "If I ride the morning winds to the farthest oceans, even there Your Hand will guide me, Your strength will support me. If I try to hide in the darkness, the night becomes light around me." - Psalm 139:9-11
THE MOST PRECIOUS NAME OF JESUS OUR LORD BE LIFTED UP!
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YOU ARE WELCOME HERE! YOU BELONG HERE! A HOME AWAITS YOU HERE! YOU ARE FAMILY!
🕊 Come visit us soon in-person. Visit also our webpage: FIRSTFILAM.ORG
