Rosita Caña was born on March 29, 1925, the eldest of Antonio Omison Caña and Placida Demolo’s seven children. An undergraduate in a Manila law school, he was the first municipal president of Cauayan, Negros Occidental. Placida was among the first batch of nurses trained by American medical missionaries in the Iloilo Mission Hospital.
With her father one of the first Filipino preachers in the province, she heard the Gospel and responded to it at an early age, becoming a lifelong follower of Jesus Christ during her childhood or early teens.
After graduating from what was then the Central Philippine College in Iloilo, she followed in her mother’s footsteps and worked at the Iloilo Mission Hospital as a registered nurse. In 1951, she underwent specialized training in pediatric nursing at Boston University as a Fulbright scholar, among the first Filipinos in the prestigious foreign exchange program.
In 1953, she married Samuel Irving Colinco, a teacher. Six years later, he resigned from his teaching position in a public school to obey God’s call to full-time Gospel ministry. He then enrolled at the Tennessee Temple Baptist Seminary in Chattanooga, Tennessee. To support the first three of what would eventually be four children, she worked at the Negros Occidental Provincial Hospital.
She became a pastor’s wife when in 1962, after returning from the U.S., her husband started the Maranatha Baptist Church. While studying abroad for his Bachelor of Divinity degree, he had seen the need not only for a church but also for a Christian school like his alma mater, Tennessee Temple Schools.
A nurse with a burden for evangelism, she shared her husband’s vision for a ministry in Christian education. Like him, she was also an educator. She served as a clinical instructor in the Negros Occidental Provincial Hospital School of Nursing. In 1967, while working as a nurse in Chicago, she earned a master’s degree in education from Loyola University. Later, she was appointed dean of the Our Lady of Mercy School of Nursing in Bacolod City.
Years after establishing the Maranatha Baptist Bible College, its first educational ministry, the church under his leadership decided to open the Maranatha Christian High School in Villa Soledad Subd., Estefania, a barangay in the eastern portion of Bacolod City. After making a down payment on six lots in the subdivision, it began praying for a school building. With funds raised mainly through the College Founders’ Club and College Helpers’ Club, construction started. When funds were exhausted in December 1982, work was suspended while the congregation prayed.
Its prayers were answered when the proceeds from her insurance policy arrived, not long after she died on Feb. 1, 1983 from cancer while working as chief nurse of Downtown General Hospital in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Her family decided to use the $25,000 (then equivalent to P200,000) for the completion of the building which was subsequently named the Rosita Caña Colinco Memorial Hall, a modest two-storey structure with six classrooms.
During her funeral, friends and relatives responded generously when requested to donate to the RCC Memorial Fund instead of giving the usual love gifts and flowers. Scholarships were later given in her memory, enabling graduates of public elementary schools belonging to low-income families to enjoy starting from its very first school year the Christian education offered by the high school. Even in death, she contributed to the realization of her husband’s vision.
She has made an impact for eternity through her partnership with her husband in the founding of the Maranatha Baptist Church, Maranatha Baptist Bible College and what is now known as the Maranatha Christian College. Since 1986, a total of 2,496 have graduated from the MCC high school department which aims to prepare Filipino youth for the future and beyond.
A significant portion of its alumni were recipients of the RCC Memorial Scholarship which for many years was the only lifeline for students who couldn’t afford to pay the school’s fees even though these are among the most affordable charged by a private high school in Bacolod City. Some of these recipients are now paying it forward as professionals or entrepreneurs who are sponsoring a number of the Blessed to be a Blessing program’s scholars.
She was a sinner saved by grace to serve in love her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ mainly as pastor’s wife, ministry partner, mother and registered nurse. During her relatively short lifetime of 57 years, she influenced others, notably her sister and MCC benefactor Norma Caña Williamson, to follow her example of sacrificial service to Jesus Christ. To Rosita Caña Colinco, “only one life t’will soon be past, only what’s done for Christ will last”.
