Let was not always the perfect student. She didn’t accept
authority naturally. If she didn’t feel loved, she didn’t obey
or submit. While in school, she found herself in the dean’s
office often. Through prayer and fasting
in her senior year, she learned the impor-
tance of obedience.
Today, Let Malaluan is an exceptional
leader. She serves as the program coor-
dinator for The Juan Project, an evange-
lism/church planting saturation project in
the Philippines.
Like Jesus, Let uses the MAWL method
(Model, Assist, Watch, Leave/Love). Mark
writes, “He settled on twelve … The plan
was that they would be with him, and he
would send them out” (Mark 3:14, MSG).
As Jesus lived life with the apostles, he
MODELED what he wanted them to be
and do. They then ASSISTED him in the
ministry. Later, Jesus WATCHED them
and LEFT them, still LOVING them, but
releasing them to do the work.
MAWL is a relational process to devel-
op disciple-makers and leaders.
Let began using MAWL early in life.
When her parents moved to Manila, she
went to live with her grandmother. Her
grandmother MODELED key spiritual dis-
ciplines like prayer, Bible reading, church
attendance, and evangelism. Let ASSIST-
ED her grandmother in passing out tracts
and showing the JESUS film. Then, when
her mother returned to the province (her
father passed away when she was seven)
and taught kids in a community outreach,
Let served as her assistant.
At youth camp, Let gave her life to
Christ. She completely surrendered to
serve him in whatever way he desired.
She ASSISTED the worship team at her
church. In her senior year of high school,
the pastor appointed her leader of the
youth group. People WATCHED as she led
Bible studies and other youth activities.
At Faith Bible College, people contin-
ued to WATCH as she led worship. In the
summers, she served at vacation Bible
schools in different communities. During
the school year, she followed up with the
children from those summer schools. She
began to disciple high school students. Let
moved from the WATCH stage of MAWL
to the LEAVING/LOVING stage as she was
released and encouraged to do ministry.
Let points to two key values in her
leadership development: 1. “Key people
believed in me” and 2. “I was allowed to
fail.” Among those key people were family
members, women in her church, and OMS
missionaries. Although Let’s mother lived
in Singapore as an overseas foreign work-
er for many years during Let’s childhood,
even from a distance, she instilled excel-
lence in Let and a love for reading. She
required Let to keep a journal and held
her accountable. Also, three women in
her church faithfully gave her assignments
and encouraged her as she completed
them. Here she learned it was OK to fail.
Jerry dela Paz, the Every Community
for Christ (ECC) national coordinator (at
the time) in the Philippines, represents
another significant person who believed
in Let. Jerry encouraged her to serve, de-
spite her resistance to do so. After gradu-
ation, she was assigned to an ECC team
in Laoag. Within three years, she became
the ECC regional coordinator for region 4,
supervising 11 workers. In 2013, she be-
came one of two ECC national trainers.
Then, in 2017, she became the program
coordinator for The Juan Project.
Let uses MAWL. She MODELS train-
ing. She invites laypeople to ASSIST in
doing the training. As they develop, she
WATCHES them train. Finally, she LEAVES
them or releases them to train others while
she still LOVES and encourages them.
Today, ECC Philippines has more than
70 trained facilitators. Along with her co-
leaders, she has developed an extensive
coaching strategy and helped develop
leaders who feel supported, encouraged,
and accountable.
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