Commissioned to serve OFW families
After twelve years in Malaysia, Titus and Beth Laxa returned to the Philippines with their three children. First Baptist Church in Malaysia commissioned them on September 21 as Gospel ministers to OFW families.
Our history
More than twenty years of walking alongside churches and families.
Kapatid’s story began with OFW families and grew, through God’s provision and local-church partnership, into ministry among children, young people, senior citizens, pastors, missionaries, and communities in crisis.
The beginning
Commissioned from Malaysia to the Philippines.
Titus and Beth Laxa served as OFWs in Malaysia for twelve years before returning home with their three children. With the help of Sister Doreen Chan, the First Baptist Church Mission Board adopted them as mission partners. On September 21, 2003, the church commissioned them to minister the Gospel to OFW families in the Philippines.
The timeline below consolidates the public history recorded on Kapatid’s former WordPress site and brings it forward with the ministry’s verified 2025 annual report.
Feeding and child ministries begin
Kapatid partnered with local churches to gather children in underserved communities for weekly meals and the Gospel. Child Sponsorship and Child Care Centres also began.
Youth training and wider church partnerships
A vocational partnership with AMG Skilled Hands Technological College served out-of-school youth. More feeding centers opened, and ministry connections expanded among Filipino churches in Malaysia and Brunei.
Relief, street outreach, and child care
Typhoon Ondoy opened major relief opportunities. Kapatid also attempted street-dweller ministry with churches and helped establish child-care centers. A prison-ministry partnership began in Iwahig Penal Colony.
Expansion and equipping
Church partnerships grew. Bread-donation relationships helped sustain feeding, Yolanda relief reached several provinces, the ministry expanded to 132 feeding centers, and sponsored children joined camps, training, and family days.
Senior ministry and renewed OFW visitation
Kapatid began its Senior Citizens Ministry through Christmas gift-giving, renewed OFW-family visitation, conducted medical missions in Pampanga and Tarlac, and continued mission partnerships with churches in Malaysia and the United States.
Serving through the pandemic and loss
Relief supported families who lost income during COVID-19, while online OFW ministry and calamity assistance continued. Founder Titus Laxa died on March 29, 2021. By God’s grace the team continued, and Bless-a-Senior expanded to 330 senior citizens in 2022.
Twenty years of ministry
Arwin and Amy Calansanan, former OFWs in Malaysia, joined as partnership coordinators. Kapatid marked its twentieth anniversary on October 16.
Faithful and fruitful through local churches
Kapatid entered a renewed phase of reporting and partnership. In 2025, more than twenty church partners served across major regions, including fifteen feeding centers, 195 sponsored children, 200 senior citizens, scholars, calamity-affected families, and visiting mission teams.
The thread through every season
Programs change. The calling remains.
Some programs ended when public systems or community needs changed. Others expanded, paused, or took a new form. Kapatid’s continuing commitment is to preach and live the Gospel through partnerships that strengthen—not replace—the local church.