7 Years of our Lifetime Twogether

Today, Divine & I are celebrating 7 Years of our Lifetime Twogether.  There are so many reasons to be thankful to the Author of this Love Story that was officially "sealed " on March 31, 2007. These 7 multi-colored years brought a lot of good memories through our up & down experiences. We would like to share our top 7 most memorable moments twogether:

7. Travels to different places, exploring the nature, taking time to rest and reflect about life, about us, our ministry & our walk with the Lord.

6. Cooking & Eating food together - in our home & outside-  taking time to savor the "taste" of food over fruitful discussions about life, ministry & family.

5. Going to campus together, reaching out to the students by sharing the gospel & discipling them to know Jesus & make Him known to others.

4. Setting appointments, meeting potential ministry partners. Divine was the one pulling in the appointments over the phone while I did the ministry presentation and invitation during the meeting for them to become part of our mission team.

3. Morning or evening walk along the streets near our house while talking about anything under the sun.

2. Bedroom discussions - fruitful, engaging & conflicting ideas even for mostly not-so-big-deal topics.

1. Family bonding. We enjoy being with one another - be it in our room (with bible stories) or in any public places - simply enjoying each other's company.

To our Great Lover who enables us to love each other unconditionally,
To the One who brought us together,
And taste the beauty of life's wonder
To Him we are awful & thankful
To unconditionally love by His power.

Celebrating 10 Years!

I'm celebrating 10 YEARS of God's peace, power, presence & provision as a missionary with Philippine Campus Crusade for Christ (PCCC).

In 2004-2005, I was trained as a New Staff in the Great Commission Training Center (GCTC) of PCCC. My field ministry was Polytechnic University of the Philippines, Sta. Mesa.

In 2005-2006, I continued my field ministry in PUP. I'm blessed to see 89 disciples under the chain who multiplied in the lives of others. This is God's purpose for me as I obeyed His call to help fulfill the Great Commission.

In 2006-2012, I was assigned in Mapua Institute of Technology (MIT), Intramuros. I got married with Divine on March 31, 2007. It was a privilege to serve Him as a trainer to new missionaries and a team leader in 2008-2012. Having 134 disciples down the chain was a humbling experience before God & men. It's truly His work.

In 2012-2013, God led me & my wife Divine to Ateneo de Manila University and called us to serve the PCCC National Student-Led Movements, working with a team of committed individuals who provide leadership for the national ministry of PCCC.

In 2013-2014, I joined in His team serving the Area Southeast Office (ASEO) of CCC. Greater scope. Mixed Culture. The same God. The same Mission: to help fulfill the Great Commission. The same Process: Win people for Christ. Build them up in faith & ministry skills. Send them to WIN, BUILD & SEND.

All these years' journey taught me a lot to discover more about myself and my one true God.

What has given me the greatest joy?

"Walking with Jesus in seeing His plan unfold in different areas of my life & ministry gives me the greatest joy.

I'm blessed to serve God with my family in helping see stronger student-led movements in campuses of Southeast Asia. As God is continually changing me from
glory to glory, it's indeed a joy seeing generations of changed lives who multiply in the lives of others to help fulfill God's Great Commission. "

Now , What's Impossible?

So what's up after a weeklong visit to two countries lately? Face-to-face conversations are meaningful and accomplishing much, more than the monthly Skype Coaching can do. Thank God for this privilege of going to where our people are--- right there on the field--- sowing the gospel, leading people to Jesus and multiplying in the lives of others.

When asked about what keeps them
excited, almost all of them mentioned about discipleship. They love to help students know Jesus, journey with the latter to discover more about Him and equip them
to do the same thing with others - evangelism & discipleship. Most of these young missionaries joined our student-led movements because of the ministry of our experienced fellow missionaries who once surrendered their lives to Christ, devoted themselves to the Great Commission (Matthew 28:18-20) and went to campuses where the influential student leaders are to share the message of God's love and forgiveness through Jesus (John 1:12) with them.

Though there were a lot of challenges along the way, like support raising for some, family and personal concerns, yet the love of God and His calling sustain our brothers and sisters. I'm so much encouraged hearing from them and praying for our great God to continually and mightily use them for the expansion of His Kingdom here on Earth.

He has commanded us to "Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit," -Matthew 28:19. And He also promised to empower us, "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest parts of the earth." -Acts 1:8

Now, what's impossible with God? I believe, nothing is impossible with Him. If we want to see more Christ-centered Multiplying Disciples who will help turn these campuses upside-down for Jesus, OBEDIENCE  IS THE KEY!

About Him

For about 5 years, I had no communication with him. I kept on searching for him in Facebook, twitter, and tried to communicate through emails, but none of him could be found nor heard about. Until one day, I remembered to open my old cellphone and scrolled down the contact list. I then found out the number of his girlfriend. I was able to chat with her through SMS and found out that their relationship did not work out. I also got his new number and contacted him. The phone just got ringing, nobody was answering. So I left a text message. After about an hour, a message that I received was, "I'm okay, Nalds who?" That started the conversation and confirmed that he is Ben (not the real name), the one that I have been looking for- to know how he is walking with the Lord, his career in life and his family back in our region as well.

To make this long story short, we met late at night in a coffee shop in Cubao, just a 20 minute drive from my place in Masinag, Antipolo City. During our time, Ben confessed that he did not walk with God for the past 5 years,  that he was lavishing so much the blessings God has poured in to the things that hurt the heart of God. He forgot the Lord. He thought that with the big income he is receiving as a seaman engineer, he can buy anything he wants, he can indulge in anything that will give him pleasure he desires and he can go anywhere he wants. Then later did he realize that he was already trapped in fornication, addiction on masturbation and buying material things that he didn't really need. These all led to his own distraction that put him in great debt until one day God opened his heart and eyes ti see the sins he committed before God. He was broke and cried out to God for help. Ben realized how calloused his heart was and how deeply he hurt the Lord. He acknowledged these sins before him and God was dealing with him, guiding him to once again stand up, pick up every piece of him and start to walk again, this time, more intimate with God.

Ben is currently serving as a professor in one of the universities in Metro Manila. He chose this time not to go back venturing in the middle
of the seas despite the favorable amount he can earn. For him, with the average income he is receiving, living by faith everyday matters the most. He is allowing God to use his life by being a good steward of his time, talent and treasure. He is now assisting some students' financial needs for their education. He is also meeting 8 guys for a weekly discipleship group as I walk alongside him for coaching. One of his guys is presently meeting 4 guys, the other 3 are meeting 2 and 1 each, respectively. This is Spiritual
Multiplication. Ben is building a movement in this campus and the students that he is discipling take ownership to reach their fellow students for Jesus through evangelism and discipleship resulting to Spiritual Multiplication like what Paul said to Timothy, "And entrust what you heard me say in the presence of many others as witnesses to faithful people who will be competent to teach others as well." -2 Timothy 2:2

God is indeed a loving, gracious God. We may stumble and fall and yet, His hand is always upon us to carry on the task that He has entrusted to us. Ben drifted away from the path our Father led him to take and embraced the pains and brokenness for him to go back to the arms of our God, just like what happened to the Prodigal Son. He is more concerned of our being and as we abide in Him, He will cause us to bear much fruit.

 "I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remains in me - and I in him - bears much fruit, because apart from me you can accomplish nothing. -John 15:5

Would you like to know what Ben is sharing to the students? Go to this link Get the Knowing God Personally
http://www.godtoolsapp.com/?p=kgp&l=en

A Journey on Parenting

It's been our prayer to be good parents to our kids as we desire to be good spouses as well.

As the bible says, "Train a child in the way that he should go, and when he is old he will not turn from it." -Proverbs 22:6. We pray that this will
become a reality in our home.

We desire the best for them by being good examples in our walk with God, relating with one another and to others. We want them to experience God's unconditional love as we parent them, helping them walk through the path that leads to godly choices - as early as now and in the future. They are a delight to us and we want them to have good memories with our family and friends during these formative years and beyond. So when our daughter Dana turned 5 years old last Feb. 12, we had a simple, family surprise party in our bedroom. We prepared a "breakfast in bed" for her and her younger brother Ardi. We saw how elated she was with that simple gesture of love & celebration for another year of God's blessing for her life. We also took time to pray for her and Ardi. The celebration did not end there. A month prior to this, we invited some family relatives and friends to a pool birthday party on Feb. 15. Friends came and had fun swimming and playing games with Dana. Of course, Ardi had fun too.

These are our prayer points for Dana as she celebrates 5 years of God's Gift of life:

1. She will grow in fear & love of the Lord.

2. She will be an obedient daughter.

3. She will be a responsible filipino citizen.

4. She will be a woman of Wisdom, Integrity, Truth, Compassion for the lost.

5. She will grow healthy in all aspects of life.

Truly, we have the reason to celebrate life. Life that comes from
Him. Life that will give glory and honor to Him.

Heaven!

One of the joys in serving the Lord is seeing Changed Lives who continue to touch lives for Jesus. In my recent ministry visit to Indo-china, I got a chance to meet Rudirick whom
I had the privilege to disciple during my college years in Western Institute of Technology, Iloilo City. I still have those fresh memories with him and some other guys for our discipleship meetings, bible studies, going out to the school grounds to share the gospel to fellow students, and ( the most daring thing to do) performing evangelistic musical-dance drama during the school's Students' Night - boldly proclaiming the message of love and forgiveness before the 7,000 crowd at the grandstand. Those were the days that I continue to cherish and praise the Lord for! Such a wonderful experience with our living God!

Discipling Rudirick was one of my highlights in the campus ministry. I got to know his family and the community in the middle of the mountains somewhere in Leon, Iloilo. We had memorable times of brotherhood with our disciples in that place--- enjoying the falls, the mountains and of course the people in that community. Through his leadership in the movement, God blessed us to have about 100 students who multiplied spiritually in the lives of others. The campus ministry was also recognized in our campus and we almost had all the club presidents, including the frat leaders join the movement of Christ's followers. In praise God for allowing us to see it happen on campus and to experience His awesome presence in our lives and in the lives of the students we reach out for Him.

After 14 years, God appointed this time for us to meet here in Indo-china. We reminisce those days of our lives in obedience to His call and we continue to look ahead for what God has in store for us. For me, God is enabling me to serve Him through campus ministry across Southeast Asia. I envision to see more lives come to the saving grace of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ. For Rud, to be  continually used by God in the education sector to help the citizens of this country realize that their permanent residency is in Heaven.

"As you go, preach this message: 'The kingdom of heaven is near!' -Matthew 10:7"

Passion for Food, Passion for People

Traveling to different countries means exploring variety of food for my tongue's delight. As much as I love to get to know people, their beliefs, culture and values, I also love to discover different spices that make up a delicious food.

But more than enjoying the food, it's the deep conversations that I actually look forward to when meeting with people over the mouth-watering specialties--- specifically with those that I'm privileged to journey with in this leadership calling from the Lord. Meeting individuals with the food we love to eat sets a safe, comfortable and meaningful conversations. This has been proven to be a good experience on my part. It's not about bribing them with sumptuous meals in return for something, but this is my way of appreciating them for a job well done or even for a job that still needs to be done well. I want to motivate them and communicate that I value them no matter what.

Few  months and weeks ago, we invited our teammates in ASEO Finance, Mapua & PCCC Finance teams for a dinner in our house. I cooked Ilonggo specialties as my way of appreciating their labor of love for our fellow missionaries in crusade. Divine, of course, took charge in table arrangement. PCCC and ASEO Finance teams are doing a good job to serve us (campus missionaries) well and it's our way of appreciating them and likewise building deeper connections as we work together in seeing movements of multiplying disciples in the Philippines and beyond. Mapua team has been part of our journey of christian growth too. I was assigned in this campus for almost 6 years while Divine was there with me for 4 years. That was such an awesome experience being with the Mapua team--- the food trips, travels, getaways, team efforts in evangelism & discipleship, trainings, and many more to mention.

Speaking about our accountability group and our children's playgroup, we had good times of fellowship too. Each couple had his own menu to prepare for everyone.  Our next-door friends and soon-to-be neighbors plan to hold an Ilonggo Fellowship in the next few weeks.  For sure, food will be our most effective way of making deep connections. So we can conclude that food is the best way to any man or woman's heart. Through this, we can pour out our hearts. Through this, we can be ourselves as we listen to and encourage one another.

How about you, my friend, when do you plan to be with someone you wanted to have deeper conversations with? Don't forget to bring food or bring them to a resto or to any food station they like. Better yet, cook for them.

Grateful to the Giver of Life

While away from my family, I'm thankful to God for sending generous people, genuine brothers and sisters in the Lord, to assist what my family needed the most. Today is Sunday and it's time for Divine, Dana & Ardi to go to church. Divine can't drive yet, so their best option to go to Quezon City from our home in Antipolo City was to take a taxi. After almost a year of praying for a reliable  house help, we thank God for bringing to us Ate Lisa, Divine's cousin, to help in our household chores and assist with the kids too. So going to church is much easier for my family with her help.

From our church, our pastor Joshua offered his service to drive my family to our office (PCCC) to celebrate the 50th birthday of Ate Carol, our teammate in Southeast Asia Office. It's our way of showing love and appreciation to her and husband Kuya Ricky who have contributed to our growth in the Lord too. I believed my family had a memorable time of celebration with Ate Carol & family and deepening connections with God's people present in the event.

After the party, going home to Masinag (Antipolo City) was blessed with the servant hearts of Kuya Ed & Ate Judy. Driving for Divine & kids was so touching, an expression of love & care. Father God, you know what Your every child really needs. Thank you for taking care of my family.

Psalm 106: 1 Praise the Lord! Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, and his loyal love endures!
2 Who can adequately recount the Lord 's mighty acts, or relate all his praiseworthy deeds?

On Travels

It's almost 10 months already since I took on this role of serving our campus ministries across Southeast Asia. Time flies so fast, indeed. Seems yesterday when I tried to figure out what my life & my family set up would look like considering the scope of this God-given role.

Now, I'm at the airport again for my next flight to two countries and be staying there for a week. Whew! I need God's strength and wisdom as I will be meeting our co-workers, along with my teammates, in the next few days. Travel times are good times for me to reflect on what took place in my life, family and ministry for the past few days. These are good times to break my regular routines (though travel is somewhat part of these regular routines already, hehe). These are good times to be alone with my Creator even in the midst of the crowd. These are also good times to connect with people of different beliefs, colors and race --- connecting them to Jesus, my Lord and Savior --- be it in the taxi, airplane or food chains.

Oh, I miss my family--- Divine, Dana & Ardi. But thank God for the technology for us to connect through FaceTime.

These travel times remind me of my journey with God. Wherever I go, He is with me just as He is with my family.

A Journey in January 2014: An Open Letter to ASEA SLM Team

As I took time to ponder upon what took place lately, I felt bad that I missed the Former National Directors' Conference. How I wished to be hearing stories from them--- be it their successes or failures. I longed to be hearing life's precious lessons directly from them. Then days passed and it's over, but my passport didn't arrive yet. So I settled in my heart that I already missed the conference. I prayed that my passport will arrive soon so I can fly on time for the LT Forum. 1st day...second day of the forum...I kept following up the agency for my passport. Still, no update from the Zimbabwe Embassy in Malaysia. Third day...FedEx courier updated our agency that they already picked up my passport with Zimbabwe Visa for my Feb 2 Global SLM Meeting.

Looking back, few weeks before the Former NDs Forum, I struggled in my heart the thought of going away from home--- that means missing my family for 12 days! I have been traveling the past few months, having accumulated about 68 days of trips. Every time I travel outside, there's a mixed emotion of joy to see our co-missionaries across SEA and sadness in my heart to be away with family again. Fear sometimes if I can still be with them. I learn to continually surrender these struggles to the Lord. I'm all the more experiencing His grace for me to endure and enjoy what He has called me to do.

I remember Dana praying, "Lord, please don't let daddy go." God knows her heart. God knows what I'm going through. I missed the NDs Conference. This ASEA LT Forum
will end in the next two days and I'm still here waiting for my passport. I would want to go, but I think I need to let go and let God take control. He is our Sovereign God, He takes full control. He lets me stay here. But I'm glad that he is raising up leaders who can continue with the task even in my absence. I appreciate their leadership in helping grow student-led movements across SEA. Above all, God is our Movement Leader and He will lead us all in seeing stronger student-led movements for His glory alone.