Alex Cabansagan

Hi, my name is August Alexander A. Cabansagan, I prefer to be called Alex, it’s also what everyone called me growing up til now. I was born and raised in San Francisco, California in 1981. I’m the second eldest of a large Filipino family, with seven siblings in total - 3 boys, and 4 girls. There was never a dull moment in my household. I call it a beautiful chaos, there was always fun and laughter but also a good dose of hurts and tears. But in all the craziness there is one moment that changed my family’s life forever. It was when my father, a Filipino immigrant businessman who became wealthy through real estate,  gave his life to Christ in 1989. He left everything that was completely against God, even the worldly lifestyle of the rich, to follow God; He became a different man, a different father - he became a radical Christian. Many of his words and actions have shaped my faith today. He was always studying the Bible and always sharing the Gospel with the family and everyone he met.
One memory that I can never forget is when my dad stopped what he was doing in the middle of the supermarket to speak to complete strangers and share the Gospel with them. I had never seen my dad do that before. The more I saw God change my dad, the more I wanted what he had.
Then a God moment happened for me. When I was around the age of 9, my parents gave me and my siblings videotapes and cassette tapes of Psalty the singing songbook, and Bullfrogs and Butterflies. I remember clearly how I heard God calling me to give my life to Him as I listened to the songs and stories more and more. The pull of God towards him and his loving words to my heart was so strong I found myself crying and calling unto God giving my life to him and telling Him that I wanted to follow Him.
In 1991, my father heard and responded to the calling of planting a church and becoming senior pastor of Family Christian Fellowship. I followed him wherever he went and asked to help with whatever he was doing. My first “ministry” was folding the Sunday bulletins as well as doing the projector slides for the Praise and Worship Team. Everything that had to do with the church, I wanted to get involved in; whenever there was a prayer meeting or Bible study, I wanted to go and listen and try to participate. I had a hunger to serve and receive all that I could from God.
In 1995, I was asked to serve on the worship team as a backup singer of my church. I was trained how to play the keyboard for the team and by 1998 I was leading the worship team and congregation in song. It wasn’t an easy journey. God taught me a lot of patience and humility through those years as I was in high school during that time; a time of discovering my identity. Being discipled and receiving training helped me stay focused on God.
After graduating high school in 1999 I attended the local community college and I felt the hand of God guiding me. Like many Asian college students, I was told that I could only pursue a few careers. I was highly advised to become a doctor, a lawyer, or a businessman. It was here where I could only turn to God for an answer. Leaning into God and those that discipled me and prayed with me I discovered my heart for families and children. As I transferred to San Francisco State University I got connected with the Intervarsity Christian Fellowship and through that ministry, God solidified my calling to go into full-time ministry. I was leading small groups, leading worship, teaching large groups, and going on mission trips.
In 2006 I graduated, but I didn't pursue my career in Child Development. I told my father that I have prayed and I heard God calling me to help him in pastoring the church. Since then my father passed the baton on to me in 2008. God called him and my mom to plant churches and schools in the Philippines. Now I am co-leading the church with my wife Pauline, of 12 years. We are blessed to have two beautiful daughters, Selah, 10 years old, and Lily, 6 years old, and our son, Caleb, who just turned 2.
In 2019 our congregation partnered with a Spanish-speaking congregation and came under the covering of the Church of the Nazarene as a church plant in Daly City, as of September 12, 2021, we have officially become an organized church. It has been a wonderful experience and we are looking forward to doing more for God’s Kingdom and Him.