Many members had attended American churches but found that the Filipino congregation was more like an extended family, they said, even though the other churches were welcoming. You want to be part of a group that speaks the same language and you shared the same experiences in the Philippines, and perhaps you came here for the same dreams and aspirations. You feel really at home because you're among the people that you are identified with. The closeness that I've discovered in the Filipino church was strange to me at first because the last nine years, I didn't have that kind of experience. Many Filipinos come here for jobs, and others have married Americans, Padilla said.
Extended families are close there, and generations often share a home.
Family members who visit are always introduced during the church services held in the plain church building. Our fellowship is so close, and that's one thing that they want here. Since we are far away from our home, they go to church and they feel like they belong to family. The Philippines is a chain of 7,107 islands in Southeast Asia with 67 million inhabitants. English is the most widely spoken second language, and Tagalog is the national language.