Where God's Stories Take Me

I had the privilege of spending three days at the Faith Hope and Love Kid’s Ranch in Sariaya, Quezon. I joined  FaithBaptist Church – South Metro’s team who conducted the DVBS at the ranch. I must say that the group of young people I was with was awesome. I’m talking about young boys and girls in their teens who were passionately giving their best to the Lord. They could have chosen to stay at home, or take a needful summer break. Instead, they went all-out for God. Inspiring!

The young people teaching the kids at DVBS.

The FBC-South Metro Team with the FHL Family

FHL Kid’s Ranch is an orphanage God entrusted to Celing and Lorraine Lamar. The Lamars are missionaries who opened their home and family to children who are robbed of it. I came to know them a little more than 10 years ago when I worked with them in the first orphanage they built. When God expanded their territory, they built FHL. God’s miracles unfold to them by the hundreds. Their testimony is powerful!

For 10 years now, FBC-SM handles the DVBS in the orphanage. The kids in the ranch enjoy the time out of their regular school. The kids from the neighborhood come and enjoy the time of learning God’s word too. This year, we had 181 kids! The theme was “Knowing God”.

God is gracious to me for making me a part of this year’s DVBS. They flew me in to be the story teller for  3 days! Appointments like this affirm my gift. There is a certain kind of peace and joy when one operates in the area of his or her gifting. My joy welled up and my peace was overflowing. Praise God!!!

I love this Job!

with the awesome young people of FBC-SM. Me in a jacket because I was sick.  :(

Though short, the time with the kids are worthwhile. DVBS time is an investment of great returns. After all, the scripture says “ My words will not return to me empty. It will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it.” Isaiah 55:11.

I will be flying back to Bacolod on Monday to start another journey. That, will be another ‘grace-full’ story.  Thank you for upholding me in your prayers and for celebrating with me the joys of serving God!  








Note: All photos are from my friend CeeJay

An Interruption

Sometimes, random and totally unrelated things conspire to bring me to an 'Aha!' moment. 

Some people call it circumstance. I call it Miracle. 

I think, I am about to walk into one. 

Eiemdee took this photo

Updates in a few weeks. Praying for it. 

March 2: Single and Thankful

I will always thank God for March 2.

When I opened my first blog, Venus Speaks, I wrote mostly about romantic love, a theme I have not given much attention in this blog. The blog ran for 3 years, until I had to take it down for some very childish reasons (which I now obviously regret.haha!). Every single year, in that blog, I’d put up a post titled “I Will Always Thank God for March 2”.

Why? 

In early 2007, my heart got broken. I thought I wouldn’t survive (we all think we wouldn’t, right?). But, one wonderful afternoon in March, 2^nd to be exact, while shedding a pool of tears, God came down and touched me. I was healed, and never cried again for the same reason. Oh, the reason my heart was broken was, the man I was in love with chose someone over me. Well, technically, I chose for him because I was the one who walked out of the relationship. Ok, ok! I will put it simply (*swallows pride*) : He fell in love with someone else…while still in a relationship with me.

This plot is not unique to me. This happens to many people too. Some survive and come out of the heartbreak better, some sadly watch their own lives waste away. Some curse love, others discover another meaning to it. Some come out scared, others, braver. I am the latter. And a little later, bravery met its match.

I fell in love again. And, well, got my heart broken. Again. This time, (*swallows shame*) out of confusion.

I also do not own this plot. Many hearts get broken out of confusion. Some choose to remain confused ‘in the name of love’,  others, just snap out of it fast. I am the latter. Ok, that’s a lie. I cried a lot few times. Truth is, no matter how much you ‘pad’ yourself, you can never be ready for a heartbreak. But, I eventually got over it. The saying is true: Time wounds all that is healed…and well, heals all that it wounds. Haha, I made that up. I have a better reason. 

 I decided to write the part where I got heart broken again, though not in details, to prove a point. In this world, we don’t have immunity to pain. And the measure of your faith is tested everytime it hits you. But more that that, the measure of God’s love is manifested everytime it happens.

Some people have sworn off love because of the countless heartbreaks. But I testify that every after each heartbreak, my idea of love becomes more real and my view of God becomes bigger.

In February, I spoke to a few youth groups about Love. And when these young people asked me questions about their romantic relationships, I was all the more convinced that all my experiences in romance have a purpose. I had an opportunity to shape their thinking about love and pain. It was also a chance to comfort them and tell them how real God is. At the end of each talk, I waved a hand to heaven and asked, “So this is what these were all about?”

At Pinasahi Evangelical Church

Circuit John Youth Rally

1 Corinthians 1;3-4 say, “Praise be to God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the father of compassion and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God.”

When someone comes to me with a broken heart, I can always say, “It’s gonna be ok.” And I can say it with utmost certainty for indeed, after countless heartbreaks of varying degree, I AM OK! 

Today, March 2, I am single and still thankful. 

And yes, I am ready to love. Again.

Or, am I already? ;) 

Stand Up for Jesus

More than five hundred kids sang to Psalty’s words, 

“I’m gonna stand up! Stand up and live for Jesus…Oooo! I’m gonna stand up! Stand up and live for Him.” 

I stood there still blown away by the things God does to me. That small stage I was standing on became my sanctuary.

Last week, I spent three days with the kids at Trinity Christian School. It was my second time to be their Bible Week preacher. The first time was in 2009 when I was still teaching there.Speaking to them always give me that New Testament feel. You know, that time when Jesus was speaking to multitudes. There were more than 500 of them divided into 2 sessions

First Day Storytelling and Interviewing the kids

 I had a great time sharing about how we should live for Jesus. The first day, I talked about how Jesus gave it all for us. On the second day, I talked about how we should love our ‘neighbors’ too the way Jesus loved us. And on the third day, I talked about standing up for God the way Daniel and his friends did in the old testament.

I got carried away when I was telling the story of Jesus hanging on the cross and how, at that moment while He was writhing in pain, he looked at His mockers and in His mind He’s saying ‘I’m doing this for you!’ I looked at the kids’ eyes and they were welling up.

It was also awesome watching the kids write down their commitments on their notebooks. They wrote how they were to show their love to their parents over the weekend (e.g. washing the car, cleaning their parents’ closet).

The kids raising their hands and writing down their commitments

Making the STAND UP FOR JESUS posters

But what drew me to tears was how easily their hearts were drawn to compassion. These are kids who live very comfortable lives but when I showed them photos of kids in desperate situations -  a poor kid feeding his armless mother, a little kid who had no arms feeding his younger brother with his feet, a young kid who had deformed limbs dropping money in the donation box – the hall fell silent. You could hear a pin drop.

THE Looks of compassion. Aaaawwww!

PRECIOUS!!!

A seven yr old girl met me at the lobby and said “Teacher Jabez, you made me cry yesterday. And today, you made me cry again!” I hope it wasn’t because of my acting skills. I pray it was because God was stirring something inside her that would change her life forever. Afterall, I was 7 when I said I wanted to be a missionary.

The kids praying the prayer of dedication.

On Saturday, I had another divine appointment. I spoke to a bunch of young people about Public Speaking. This year was my third time to be invited at the Leadership Camp sponsored by the Rotary Club of Bacolod North. It is wonderful to know that I can leave an imprint in these young people’s lives.

Louie Gonzaga of RI Presenting the certificate to me after the talk.
Right: The young leaders from public schools.

And oh, I must mention too that I spent my nights (at the same time) at the hospital. My grandmother suffered from a minor blood clot in her brain. I get a different kind of high when God sets me up like this.

Our pastor was on leave for 2 weeks. I preached in church last Sunday.

Didn’t Paul talk about God’s grace being sufficient for us? 

IT IS SO TRUE! This week was proof!

The Thrill of Fellowship

“ I love the thrill that I feel when I get together with

God’s wonderful people

What a sight just to see all the happy faces

Praising God in heavenly places

Love the thrill that I feel when I get together with

God’s wonderful people.”

My last post talked about the long bus rides I have been taking and their significance to me. Last Wednesday, that’s exactly what I took again – a long bus ride.

The student Pastors 

The Convention Baptist Ministers Association (CBMA) had its national assembly last week and the students at our Bible School (NNBBC) which I plan to write about in the near future, were to perform a few numbers during the Institution Night.

Our school is relatively small in comparison to the other Bible institutions under the Convention. So,  it was understandable why all our students were a little jittery while waiting for their turn.  I, too, who was assigned to be the narrator had butterflies eagles fighting inside my stomach. In the many years that I have been into public speaking, I have not been nervous like I was that night. There were over a thousand pastors and church workers in attendance. I have spoken to an audience bigger than that but somehow, that night, I. WAS. JUST. VERY. NERVOUS!

Set Free Skit

Light of a Million Mornings

The students performed 3 numbers that depict unity in the body of Christ. It was grace displayed. Considering our limitations in time and resources, it was really God's Grace that helped us pull through.  The performances were very amazing, people were touched and God was glorified. After the performance, people couldn’t stop talking about it. There’s a reason why people can’t get over it. There’s a history that has God’s providence written all over it. Story for another day!

But there’s something that really left an impression in my heart. It is the overwhelming warmth of the pastors. As I watched them gather in small circles, talk about random things, I can hear them laugh like they have no cares in the world. (And to think, pastoring a church is one of the most stressful work there could ever be.) Their clothes depict simplicity yet they have a posture of contentment.  It was really wonderful sitting down with them and getting some of that energy and unwavering spirit in serving the Lord.

Young and Older  pastors taking a break 

It’s now Saturday and I still can't shake off that wonderful feeling of being with people who share the same passion as I do. It is meet-ups like this that encourage me to sing…

“ I love the thrill that I feel when I get together with

God’s wonderful people

What a sight just to see all the happy faces

Praising God in heavenly places

Love the thrill that I feel when I get together with

God’s wonderful people.”

My kind of Guys!! A photo opportunity with some of my  Young Pastor-friends..with a few older ones! I love being with them. Inspiring!

Love and Bus Rides

Source

I have a long standing relationship with the yellow buses called “Ceres”. It’s a love-hate relationship. I love them because they take me to places I need to be in but hate them too because they leave me with no options. Talk about monopoly!

For as long as I could remember, bus rides play a role in my memories. When I was about 8 or 9, I remember my father telling me and my younger sisters  about a long bus ride we were going to take to see his parents. It was going to be a 3-hour ride. Roads were terrible back then and travels were long. I remember vomiting in the bus. But I don’t remember my parents being uncomfortable about it. Years after, I dreaded the vacation for fear of vomiting again in the bus. I was so anxious that at the moment we would hop on the bus, I’d tell my father I was gonna vomit right away. Haha!

I outgrew that fear of bus rides in high school. I was 15 when I first traveled alone. I endured a 2-hour bus ride to spend the summer with my cousins. 

My fear of travelling alone was addressed in college. I went to a university in Manila and stayed with my Uncle and his family. They lived an hour and a half by bus from my school. And traffic was just T.E.R.R.I.B.L.E. I had to leave by 5 am so I won’t be late for my 8 am class.  

But it was during those bus rides when poetry started dancing in my mind. My mind wandered as the bus rolled through the coastal road in Paranaque. I didn’t have the luxury of owning a phone when I was in college so my lines were crookedly written in a tiny notebook that I had handy.

When I started working, Monday bus rides were dreaded  but a late Friday night ride home was all I looked forward to the whole week. And that longing to be home intensified when I fell in love.

Love. Yes, that too had its own share of bus ride memories. I once packed my resume in my suitcase and took an 8-hour bus ride to Cebu, with the intention of starting a life where love blooms. The promises of warm embraces and that “soon-to-be blissful morning”  were all I have in my bags. After what seemed like the longest 8 months of my life, after a long  afternoon talk with the man I have loved for years,  I headed for the bus stop. On a cold January night, I packed my suitcase along with my broken heart and headed home.

Bus rides never stopped amusing me. I have had my best moments and best cries, too, inside the bus. Since I moved back home, I constantly travel to Bacolod for my appointments. Everytime I look at the landscape or the intricate designs of the clouds, I can’t figure out why men still deny the presence of God. its awesome how God reveals himself to me in those moments.

Source

But I also had my irritating bus ride moments. Like, when I was teaching at a Bible School for two semesters, every Tuesday I’d take the bus down there and the ‘konduktor’ would always drop me 50 meters way past my stop. It was always by mistake despite my constant reminders. Then there were times too, especially on a Friday night, when the bus would be so full you could hardly move and the rain would pour down hard. Naturally, they’d close the windows and bam…my claustrophobic self would then be in tears.

More than once, I had commented on how I love bus rides except the part where it reminds me of my singleness. (Especially when I overhear lovers' conversations...and sometimes, their phone conversations too. Haha!)

Bus rides have also played a great role in my ministry. I travel most times via bus. Once, I traveled 4 hours to speak to a group of pastors. There were just 12 of them. At times, the bus takes me to appointments with hundreds, and once a thousand or more.

This the bus ride we took to Caramay, Palawan during a
mission trip to the Batak Tribe in 2010.

This post is inspired by a recent bus ride I took to speak to over a hundred young people last Friday night. I spoke about LOVE. It was amazing to watch these kids burn with so much passion for God and spend their time and energy worshipping Him. On my way home, though tired and sleepless, I couldn’t help but think about it. Then I was reminded of what I spoke about:

“Greater love has no one than this, that he gave his life for his friends.” John 15:13

The cross was not a bus ride away, yet he came.

And so I thought, all these long bus rides are worth it. All these long, bus rides alone are worth it. They are nothing compared to what Jesus had to go through.

And oh, we can never tell, love might also just be a bus ride away. *wink*

Decors and Planners

A few days back, I took down the Christmas decors. I put it up last Christmas and actually wrote a blogpost in my mind about it. Obviously, it didn’t get to the papers.

So I took them down with thoughts of how similarly, when we decorate ourselves with things that don’t last, the ‘removing process’ is always tedious and unenjoyable. I love Christmas decors. Although I know that decors don’t say much about what Christmas really means to me, I still insist on putting them up. I make a big deal out of Christmas. I have all the reasons, right?

Taking them down is not an enjoyable as putting them up. And same thing is true when God asks you to take down some seemingly nice things in your life when their season is over. There are some things, however, that should have not been in your life in the first place.

My new year’s reflection, Isaiah 43: 18 – 21 says

“Remember not the former things, 

nor consider the things of old. 

Behold, I am doing a new thing; 

now it springs forth, do you not perceive it? 

I will make a way in the wilderness 

and rivers in the desert. 

The wild beasts will honor me, 

the jackals and the ostriches, 

for I give water in the wilderness, 

rivers in the desert, 

to give drink to my chosen people, 

the people whom I formed for myself 

that they might declare my praise. 

There are many things about the last year that God has been talking to me about with 2 strong words: DROP IT!

At first, I tried to ask God to explain to me these things. How silly. I asked as if, when God explains them, my small mind would understand. “My thoughts are not your thoughts…” . I went back to sanity soon enough and surrendered.

There is a reason why God wants us to ‘bury’ these things away. The Lord has promised that He is doing a new thing:

(a) A way in the wilderness – The dead-end situations will see new pathways to freedom.

(b) Rivers in the desert – The Lord will make appointments to refresh us just when we can’t see Him.

(c) The wild beast will honor me, the jackals and the ostriches – All that make you afraid will fall before my feet. There is nothing to fear.

All these because we are chosen with one purpose: TO DECLARE HIS PRAISE.

So, out with the decors, in with the planner!

Its time to surrender the plans to the maker so He can plot His praise!

I always decorate my planner. So here's the 'Planning the planner'  scene.