Thursday 2 September 2021, five men from different parts of the world are making their lifelong commitments to the Servants of the Word in Michigan. Below a description of each of them. Please pray for them as they take this important step.
Kenneth Carandang
Kenneth was born on November 15, 1990 in a province south of Manila called Laguna. Kenneth is the middle child of three boys and was raised in a Catholic family and went to a Catholic high school. However, growing up, he was not very involved in his faith. He is the only one of his family who has moved out of Laguna to go to Manila for his university studies. While studying Mechanical Engineering at the University of Philippines, he got connected with CYA, a university Christian outreach program that we are connected with. Through CYA, he also got connected with the Servants of the Word and became interested in their life.
In his early years, he only knew a bit about clergymen and living a celibate life, but it wasn’t until he met the brotherhood that he actually started to consider living single for the Lord. As expected with many young men, it was not always easy to broach the subject with his parents, but in the end his father gave him his blessing.
After graduating from university, Kenneth moved into one of the brotherhood houses and started working as a staffer for CYA. He moved to USA in 2015 to explore brotherhood life even further and to live in the International Formation House. He then proceeded to make his full commitment in 2017 and went back to the Philippines and continued CYA work. He is currently one of the chapter leaders of CYA.
One of the main things that attracted early on Kenneth to the Servants of the Word is that these men had a sense of purpose, knew who they were and what they wanted to do. He would appreciate prayers for faithfulness in living out this life.
Adrian Menezes
Adrian grew up in Mumbai, India just in the suburbs of the city. His initial exposure to the faith was through his family who was connected to an outreach of one of our Sword of the Spirit communities in Mumbai. This greatly strengthened Adrian’s faith.
Adrian’s family is originally from Mangalore, but both his parents grew up in Mumbai. His father works in a small scale factory just outside of Mumbai and his mother is a financial consultant. Adrian has one brother called Kenneth who is working as a Mechanical Engineer for Siemens. Adrian himself is a Computer Engineer.
When Adrian later started working in his field, he got connected with the Sword of the Spirit community in Vasai and he started to seriously consider community life. He had previously met some brothers from the Servants of the Word, but he didn’t know that the brotherhood existed until he visited Manila for a training conference in October 2010 and got to stay at one of our households there. This sparked an interest for him and he later became an affiliate in the summer of 2012 and moved in to live with the brothers the next January. He lived there for another two and a half years where he got to experience our life even more and then moved to the International Formation House in Michigan.
After two years in Michigan, he went back to the Philippines where he is currently living and serving as the bookkeeper for the Asian region and helps with CYA, a university outreach we are connected with. He also sometimes gets to enjoy some of his hobbies which are playing football, running, and reading.
Will Cannon
Will (or William as his family calls him) was born in the middle of summer 1989 in muggy Atlanta, Georgia, the first son of two parents Bill and Evelyn. It took him 19 years to escape the summer heat to Ann Arbor, Michigan where he studied Audio Production and Electrical Engineering at the University of Michigan. God revealed his Love and power to Will as he went through his undergraduate years where he experienced the Lord invite him to dedicate his life to loving and serving others as a missionary of Jesus Christ.
Setting aside a career in the music industry, Will decided to join the Servants of the Word as an affiliate in 2012 and serve in the campus ministry University Christian Outreach (UCO). The more he laid down his life for the people of God the more grace he found in living for Christ alone, and in 2017 he decided to dedicate his life single heartedly to Christ as a Servant of the Word.
The Lord continues giving him opportunities to use his love of music in leading worship, and writing and recording music. He enjoys backpacking anywhere away from civilization and distance running to maintain his sanity. He currently serves as the Chapter Director for the UCO chapter in Ann Arbor, MI—where, as it turns out, the summers are just as hot and muggy as Georgia.
Guillermo Camillo
Guillermo is a native from the Dominican Republic. He grew up in a tight and caring family and a Catholic community. All throughout his early life he was inspired by generous, righteous, and passionate role models to seek out the Lord and live not for oneself.
His free time as a student was taken up with many and diverse interests: drama club, student committee, online gaming, playing in a worship band, social activism, dance parties, volunteering for the local outreach, and tutoring for the extra cash. All enjoyable and all demanding. But God’s call stood out over other paths and dreams, as – “the only cause worth giving my life to” – as he recalls. A call to serve the Lord and go wherever He may lead.
Nonetheless, as years went by and as he lived his faith to the best of his understanding, he received a prophetic word from the Lord calling him out of hiding from Him. God wanted more. So, in the pursuit of finding how to best respond to the Lord, he started this adventure of full-time mission work in the spring of 2013.
He moved out of Santo Domingo and has lived in several of our households around the world. Since then, the Lord has each year drawn him closer to His will for him. Purifying his intentions and his offering, and giving proof that his grace was more than enough when weighing out the cost. – “I know what the Lord asks of me and why He wants it” – he has told us confidently.
Guillermo is a worker in our outreaches and contributes actively to household life. He has found tremendous joy in giving his life to the Lord and to others. He continues to experience God calling him higher through his brothers and our Covenant. We are proud to share our lives with him as our lifelong brother.
Paul Codouni
Paul is the third Lebanese man joining our life. He is currently in Lebanon, in the newest brotherhood household, with John Keating and Joe Fahd. Paul serves with UCO and the scouting movement there. He also does finances for the brotherhood and IT work for the Sword of the Spirit.
Paul was born in the United States and lived in New Jersey until he was 12, when he moved to Lebanon with his family, which has always been close to the Servants of the Word. His younger brother Karl and his cousin Joe are part of the brotherhood, and both his father Andre and his brother Greg considered becoming Servants of the Word before getting married. Paul has a nephew, Christopher, and two nieces: Catherine and Carla.
While studying Civil Engineering at the University of Beirut, Paul started to think about joining the brotherhood. That’s when he decided to live with the brothers and do a GAP year halfway across the world: in Monterrey, Mexico!
Paul loves building things. While he was living in Mexico he got to lead a Mission Trip and build a house in a poor village there. While in Mexico, he got to go to Costa Rica and Nicaragua and do youth work there. He also lived for four years in Belfast and two Michigan before moving back to Lebanon. Paul is always looking for a chance to get away and climb a mountain or enjoy a good meal – or both!
