The Birth of the Vision
The dream of an evangelical church for Filipino-Americans in the Twin Cities came into being when Greg Olson returned from a short-term missionary experience in Manila. As a married student and working to support his family, he didn't have adequate time to make his dream a reality. Despite that, he and his Filipino wife, Rose, contacted several Fil-Am families and held Bible studies when they were able. Greg shared his dream with Neal Floberg, who was then the director of church planting and evangelism with the Minnesota Baptist Conference.

Marv and Ruth Lindstedt newly retired BGC missionary to the Philippines came into the scene when Neal Floberg shared with them the vision. The Lindstedts got acquainted with Filipino organizations and individuals.

The Lindstedts were soon convinced that a full-time Filipino pastor should come to start a congregation. They proposed that his good friend and former colleague pastor while he was in the Philippines, Rev. Gonzalo Olojan would fit the task of church planter.

It was not hard for the Minnesota Baptist Conference to make the decision of calling Gonzalo because of the various visits he made here in the U.S. before and being known to various key people in the Conference. The Olojans agreed to come. Negotiations, paper work and the raising of initial support and airfare was done.

Gonzalo and Anita Olojan arrived in Minneapolis-St. Paul airport just as 1991 was born.
It was 10 degrees below zero.

During their first month, the Olojans stayed with the Lindstedts getting acquainted with the Cities, Filipino organizations already in place and looking for Filipinos in phone directories. The first families contacted were those of Gavino de la Cruz clan and Carl and Lolita Thoe. In turn, these families were vital to reaching other families and contacts.

On March 25, 1991, the first 'celebration' service was held at the MBC headquarters. Twenty-three people came. These monthly gatherings supplemented the home visits and Bible studies made by Rev. Olojan.

Early Growth and Organization
After five months it became obvious to the group that they ought to meet every Sunday. Rev. Bruce Peterson, pastor of Bethany Baptist Church, graciously presented his church facility for the fledgling group's meeting place. The church decided they would gladly host the Filipino-American group. The first Sunday meeting was held on September 16, 1991, with 78 people in attendance.

The growing church activities and attendance led naturally to the decision to organize as a local church. A constitution was worked on by a committee. On February 28, 1993, the group was organized with the election of officers. The Minnesota Baptist Conference and the parent organization Baptist General Conference later recognized the Filipino American Christian Church.

In 1994, FACC's Sunday attendance hovered around 55-65. It was contributing $500 a month to the pastor's salary to MBC. As in any growing organization, FACC faced so many storms and sunlit seasons.

FACC faces the New Millennium
In the years 1995-96, the need to pass on the baton of leadership to somebody younger was felt by Rev. Gonzalo Olojan. He was already retirable in 1991 when he came.

FACC then came to the process of looking for Papa Olojan's replacement. After thinking through their options, they wrote a call letter for Pastor Sanny Olojan in 1997. Sanny Olojan and wife Milet has been involved for 13 years as medical missionaries in Negros doing church planting/growth, community health and development ministry.

It was in this time that the church did its first major broad exposure of the gospel to the Filipino-American community through the evangelistic gifts of Eddie Mesa, the Elvis Presley of the Philippines.

Facilitated by MBC, Pastor Sanny secured his visa in October of that year. He arrived as 1998 was born. His wife and daughters (Doan, Jed, Yasa) arrived 6 months after due to visa problems.

In Pastor Sanny's first weeks, FACC charted her future by making its vision statement. Her mission as a spiritual organism was also revisited. There was a drive to do more Bible study groups and to revitalize and organize ministry teams.

Music, Arts and Drama, Prayer, Missions, Youth, Children, Men and Women's ministry were among the new ministries which were featured in the Church Anniversary Celebration in February of 2000. Last year was the 7th Anniversary of the organization of the church and the first time it was done on a love month.

The church showed numerical growth with attendance ranging from 60's to 110's. The church felt that it should face the new spiritual environment and began earnestly to fellowship with other ethnic groups even through a first Sunday of the month joint worship with Bethany. FACC continues to seek God's leading for the coming years.