Jem Mary Encarnacion E. Millaro is a 24-year-old graduate of Iloilo Science and Technology University (Batch 2025). She is the third among five siblings and the eldest daughter in her family. Jem came to know Christ as her Lord and Savior at the age of 14. Since then, she has been actively involved in ministry, beginning in children’s ministry and later participating in and facilitating Bible study groups through the Alpha Course during the pandemic. Even through seasons of loss and transition, including the passing of her brother and later her father, Jem has continued to see God’s hand at work in her life—shaping her heart for ministry and deepening her desire to share the gospel with others.
During her college years, Jem faced challenges that tested her faith and direction. It was also during this season that the Navigators Campus Ministry became a place of refuge and renewal. Through this community, she rediscovered her calling and helped establish a Navigators chapter at ISATU-Iloilo together with her peers, witnessing firsthand the impact of a Christ-centered campus community.
Although Jem initially envisioned a career in teaching after earning her degree in Bachelor of Technology and Livelihood Education, major in Information and Communication Technology, God led her along a different path. Despite financial pressures and health challenges after graduation, she trusted in God’s timing. In time, she became a Licensed Professional Teacher and gained greater clarity about God’s call for her to enter full-time ministry.
She shares: “I came to NCLTP 2024 as a shy and unsure student leader, not realizing how deeply God would use that camp to change the direction of my life. Through that experience, God transformed my heart, gave me boldness, and led me to take a step of faith into the Youth Development Facilitator (YDF) program. It was there that I promised God to serve Him after finishing my studies. By His grace, I am now a YDF, continuing to grow in Christ and journey with students, just as someone once journeyed with me.”
In January 2026, Jem officially joined the Philippine Navigators as a Youth Development Facilitator (YDF) for a one-year term and is now assigned to UP Diliman in Quezon City, having moved from her hometown in Iloilo. As a former youth leader, she brings experience in mentoring, organizing, and walking alongside students. More than her skills, it is her own story of transformation in Christ that fuels her desire to help young people know Him personally.
For Jem, becoming a YDF is both an answer to prayer and an opportunity to help the younger generation encounter the transforming love of Christ. She desires walk alongside students in their spiritual journey—helping them grow in their relationship with Christ, understand His Word, and live out their faith daily. With a vision to see students become grounded believers and future disciple-makers, she remains committed to sharing God’s love, trusting Him to equip and sustain her in both ministry and family life.
Prayer Request:
Lord, I come to You with a humble and expectant heart as I begin this journey in UP Diliman, lifting up to You the students I will meet and praying that You would go before me and prepare both their hearts and mine; help me to genuinely love them, listen well, and build real, meaningful relationships that are rooted in You, so that through our time together they may come to know Christ more deeply. I surrender to You my mission, vision, and the values I desire to live out, asking that You teach me to know You more and make You known through my life, to be faithful in sharing Your Word, discipling students, and walking alongside them with patience and grace, raising up students who are grounded in faith and will one day lead others to You. Lord, I also entrust to You my personal journey and my family, thanking You for Your faithfulness through every season, for sustaining and providing for us, and I ask for strength, wisdom, and peace as I continue to trust in Your plans; help me not to be anxious but to rest in Your promises, and may my life always reflect Your goodness and grace as I follow You wherever You lead.