By Cyrus A. Natividad

Centralian Pastor Jonan Casillon with wife Jewel in New Zealand.

Central Philippine University alumnus Jonan Castillon joined the Editorial Advisory Group that the NZ Baptist Union organized in May 2023. The Baptist Union in New Zealand uses the website and social media to fulfill its objectives of bringing gospel renewal to people and places in their local neighborhoods.

In May 2023, an advisory group was formed primarily to oversee the content on the Baptist NZ platform (the Baptist NZ app and social media). The viewership was marked by robust leadership, effective mission, growing disciples, healthy resources, and authentic worship.

The Editorial Advisory Group, a group of volunteers with an active interest in this form of communication, has a unifying feature of the collective faith communities. The group meets quarterly online, with one of these meetings hopefully in person, with communication between meetings.

To provide ethnic diversity, the NZ Baptist Communication Director invited Jonan to be part of the team.

He is the Oamaru Baptist Church pastor in North Otago, New Zealand, and the Multicultural Response Ministry Coordinator of Gleniti Baptist Church in Timaru. He also works part-time as an online marketing consultant. He is passionate about playing and composing music, blogging, and developing pastoral ministry tools.

Jonan graduated from CPU’s BS in Civil Engineering (1989) and Bachelor’s in Theology in 2001. He was a former editor-in-chief of Central Echo and News Editor of the CPU Engineer during his college years. He worked with CPU as Executive Secretary for three years and became the first Communication Director in 2009. The Castillons migrated to New Zealand in November 2011.