I woke up at 5:30 am, and after washing my face and brushing my teeth, I went up to the rooftop to enjoy the sunrise God painted. Being on that place in that particular hour is for me, like attending a Christian conference! It tells a lot about God. The sun, the sky, and the wind in that place reveal a lot about God and His Splendor, as any conference could. I stayed there for 5 minutes and went back home to get ready for our basketball ministry at 7am. Then, after the basketball ministry, it was part of my plan for that day to attend the Rise Up Sing Pinoy Conference – a seminar for Christian people in the Praise and Worship Ministry. I was lucky blessed enough to have been one of the beneficiaries of a free ticket. I’d like to thank Ate Evelyn Doce – our very beautiful, generous, and kind worship team head in the 3 o’clock family. Thanks Ate Eve! You don’t know how grateful I am for it, even now. Thank God.
By 6:45am, I was already at the church. I decided to stay at the guard post near the gate to wait for the disciples of the basketball ministry in order for me not to miss them. Doon lang naman sila puwedeng pumasok eh. Then, after a few minutes, a white Pajero entered the church premises. My eyes were not actually looking on it, but my peripheral vision saw that the driver was doing something, and then later I realized that he was waving; and then a little more later, I realized he was waving at me; and a little more later again, I realized that it was Pastor Roni Valencia – JCSGO Quezon’s pastor.
Pastor Roni signaled me to come to him. He stepped out of the Pajero, and four male youths followed him. They were the delegates of the JCSGO Quezon youth for the Rise Up Conference. “Paki-alagaan muna sila ha, may pupuntahan kasi ako.” Pastor Roni said So Pastor Roni introduced us to each other. They were Genesis (keyboardist, 13), Paulo (guitarist, 15), Gerald (worship leader, 17), and Moses (drummer, 18). Pastor Roni endorsed them to the head of the church canteen telling her to just charge his boys’ lunch to him. And guess who got included in that privilege of a free lunch? Yes! Me! It wasn’t really part of the plan, but of course, who am I to resist? Hahahahaha! So there you go, my ticket was free, and my lunch was free! But wait. . .there’s more!
But first let us go back 5 hours prior to eating my free lunch. Well, the disciples in the basketball ministry arrived at 8am. There were only 5 of them. They cannot start a game because they were lacking one player. And of course, who else is going to fill that spot but me!? Me!? Ako!? In my conference-ready get up!? Weh!? Maglalaro ba ‘ko!? I was wearing my best pair of shoes (bought by my lolo and lola last September 2007); my most expensive pair of pants (gift nila mommy and daddy last Christmas; my newest and very beautiful orange polo shirt (lolo’s gift for my 19th birthday); and my favorite sunglasses (bigay ng aking paboritong tita – Tita Gi). So. . . . I took off my sunglasses, brought out everything from my pocket, and played basketball! It was a sacrifice indeed! Once again – it wasn’t part of the plan! But as the bible says: “All things work together for good to those who love God.” I didn’t regret it. I, for one, had such a fun and exciting game! I can see that my companions had such too. After the games, we had our bible sharing. Eventually, another disciple came, so there were all in all 6 of them who came. One was a first time. Six was a rather small number compared to what we had last Saturday. But even before I came there, I promised the Lord that I’m going to give my best in everything today – in big things and in small things. I’m going to do everything excellently for Him (even the act of writing and typing this blog). Besides, it is a great privilege to share God’s Word in a creative way to these young people. You see, not all people are open to the gospel. I told them a story regarding the need, importance, and benefits of confessing our sins to God and asking for forgiveness. Our topic was about freedom. The story goes like this. . .
There were two brothers –Pedro and
Julio. Pedro was
older. They live with their grandfather. One day, when
Pedro was practicing with
his slingshot, he accidentally hit the duck that
their grandpa loves so much.
The duck died. Guess who was there to witness
the whole scene? It was Julio.
Pedro knew how punishing their grandpa could
become, so Pedro begged Julio not
to tell anything to their grandpa. Julio
agreed.
The next day, the
grandfather asked his two
grandchildren if they have seen his favorite duck.
Both of them shook their
heads in response. One day, when it was Julio’s turn to
wash the dishes, he
was like: “Ahh, ayoko muna maghugas ngayon. . .” Pedro, being the
kuya, answered: “Ano!? Hindi puwede ‘yan ah! Responsibilidad mo
‘yan.” Upon
hearing this, Julio cast a sinister look upon Pedro and
said: “Kuya, ang pato. .
.” Pedro remembered his sin and how angry
and punishing his grandpa could become
especially if he hears his favorite
duck is dead. With these things in mind,
Pedro conceded to
Julio.
The day after that, their grandpa asked
Julio to water
the plants. “Ikaw muna magdilig Kuya, tinatamad ako eh.” Pedro
was
furious when he heard his brother’s illogical unreasonable reason. But once
again, the sinister gaze of Julio came to Pedro with the phrase: “Kuya,
ang
pato. . .” Pedro had no choice but to obey.
For two weeks, this was the cycle: Julio
would simply
remind Pedro of the duck and Julio would get out of his
responsibilities.
His big brother became his slave. This was the situation for
two
weeks.
At last, when Pedro has had enough, when he could not
take it anymore, he summoned every bit of courage from his gut and although
afraid, he approached his lolo. He was hesitant at first, but then he
realized
that it was the wisest thing to do. “Lolo, natatandaan ni’yo po
ba yung nawawala
ni’yong pato? Natirador kop o kasi ‘yun. Ako po nakapatay
sa pato ni’yo.
Patawarin ni’yo po ko." The grandfather was
silent for a few seconds. Then, what
happened next sursprised Pedro. His
grandfather took Pedro on his arms, smiled
and said: “Nandoon ako nung
napatay mo ang aking pato. Nakita ko lahat ng
pangyayari. Hinihintay lang
kitang umamin.” Tears flowed from Pedro’s eyes as he
hugged his grandpa
back. He was not simply forgiven. He was set free! Julio no
longer has power
over him!
“If we confess our sins, He is Faithful and Just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
- I John 1:9
“Who The Son sets free, is free indeed!”
- John 8:36
Rise Up!
Let’s go back to the Rise Up Conference. Moses, Gerald, Paulo, Genesis and I, together with other JCSGO Central leaders went to the dome. Man! Halos ‘di mahulugan ng karayom ang JCSGO Seed Dome! Ang daming kabataan! Hanggang sa uppermost bleacher, ang dami! These are youths from different parts of the nation – mula Apari hanggang Jolo (hehe). Pastor Roman Guevarra – the main speaker – is a dynamic pastor! He could really relate to the youth and the youth could very well relate to him. Mapapangiti at matatawa ka na lang on your seat kasi makaka-relate ka sa mga pinagsasasabi niya. There were things in his preaching that I did not agree with, but on the whole, God used him to make me realize a lot of things. Napaisip talaga ko sa mga sinabe niya. In one of the altar calls, I just stood there, humbled before God sa lahat ng ginawa, ginagawa, at gagawin Niya sa buhay ko. I was surprised to hear myself say the words: “Now I know You have called me.” Then I came to realize, that indeed, every Christian has a calling from God, a destiny specific for each one. It’s just a choice of either believing and embracing that destiny, or running from it. This God is becoming more and more personal; more and more real; and more and more beautiful each day. You know, it is a crazy thing to believe and to love someone you cannot see nor touch; and all the more crazy to believe that that someone loves you; so to all those young Christians out there (and to all Christians regardless of age), Pastor Roman has a message for you: “SAMA-SAMA TAYONG MAGPAKA-BALIW!!!”
The conference ended at 5:30pm.
The Surprise Pin-Button
When Angelo and I were checking some cool Christian pin-buttons, Kuya Allan – one of the guards in the church – approached me and told me the same thing he kept telling me the whooooole day (this is another story). Nahihiya (or I think, the more appropriate description is “feeling undeserving”) na ko dahil naririnig na ng lahat ng youth na kasama naming, so para maiba ang usapan, biniro ko siya: “Kuya Allan, bilhan mo naman ako ng pin.” I could honestly say na hindi talaga ako seryosong magpalibre, but the man took it seriously (hehe). At nang talagang sobra na ang pamimilit niyang bilhan ako ng pin, nahiya na talaga akong tumanggi, so I picked one, and he paid for it. In-explain pa niya sa mga nagtitinda kung bakit niya ko binilhan. Hahahahah! It is indeed a very humbling experience to have someone share a testimony of theirs involving me! Glory to God! Dahil sa experience na ‘to, I remembered nung biniro ko si Tita Gigi that I desperately need a new guitar. One month after - just before Christmas – she went home carrying a new guitar! Hahaha!
Cell Group on the Move!
Now, let us go back to my new-found friends. Sinamahan namin sila ni Angelo na hintayin si **tooot** - itago na lang natin siya sa pangalang A.G. (I’ll explain why later, sana walang makahula kung sino ‘to, hehe). When I introduced my new-found friends to my old-friend Angelo, and vice versa, it was as if they have known each other for years: kuwentuhan, kuwentuhan, kuwentuhan; sharing, sharing, sharing. You know what, Angelo later on referred to them – and this one really made me laugh, I don’t know exactly why – as an “interesting bunch” of youth! Hahahaha! “interesting bunch”!? Gusto ko ‘yun!” I replied. “Oo nga noh! They were an “interesting bunch” indeed!" Hahaha! Nice one Gelo!
And so, we left the church. Everyone was rather excited. Pasyal. . .hmmm, oo nga naman. It’s definitely better than just sitting motionlessly and waiting there. We went through Ali Mall, and then through SM. At grabe, kahit habang naglalakad kami, sharing lang kami nang sharing. Hindi matigil ang usapan. Eh pa’no ba naman, tanong nang tanong sila Moses at Genesis. Those boys were thirsty for knowledge of The Word; hungry for revelations; and I was equally excited and energetic to share to them the things that I have received. After an answer to a question, they would pause for a while (selah moment) and then Moses would ask a follow-up question! Hahaha! Nakakatuwa. Ang talagang maganda sa kanila, matanong sila. Ang dami nilang gusting malaman. A good listener is a good learner. Plus, ang sarap mag-kuwento sa taong interesado (masarap din magkuwento sa taong ‘di interesado, kasi challenging, hehe). At a later part of that day, I realized that we were actually having a cell group/ bible study by doing that. I call it – a walking bible study.
Finally, we reached Gateway. Tumambay kami sa tapat ng cinema, and continued our delicious conversations there. This is where the most exciting part of the day (for me) happened. We didn’t actually realize it immediately, but we were already having a bible study in the middle of the crowd also sitting in that area. What made me glad to see, was that two others were listening attentively while we were discussing. One on our left, and one on our right. How did I know that they were listening attentively? Well, they were looking at me as I speak. Kaya nga ako parang nahiya, I realized medyo malakas pala boses ko (hehe). But then again I realized: “Man! This is the Word of God they’re hearing, who am I to be ashamed of it!?” honestly, medyo nilakasan ko pa lalo boses ko, and it just inspired me to be more excellent in speaking the topic. Besides, wala akong ginagawang masama kaya walang wala akong dapat ikahiya. When the Holy Spirit made me realize these things, I became more confident and bold in doing what I am doing. We left the place. I told my friends what I have observed, and they were glad. You know what, I do not know what happened to those two youth who were listening to our bible study, but I am pretty sure that the Holy Spirit influenced them – one way or another – I am sure of it.
Free Dinner?
Finally, A.G. texted: “Puntahan ni’yo ko sa Speedo.” So to Speedo we went. Parang nakakalungkot kasi it seems that the time to say “goodbye” has already came. Gelo and I were getting ready to leave when A.G. said: “Dinner tayo.” When someone like A.G. says those words, it also means, “Libre ko na kayo.” (hehe, yeah really) That’s the reason why I don’t want to reveal who this mystery person is, because the first time he/she treated me (last last year pa, but I would not forget it), she emphasized: “Huwag ni’yo na lang pagsabi na nilibre ko kayo, partly because mag-expect ang iba, and partly because, I want my reward to come from God, not from other people’s compliments. (e.g. Uy ang bait naman ni A.G. Galante!”). To make the long story short, nalibre kami ni Angelo ng dinner nang ‘di oras (hehe). Thank God and thank you A.G.! Call me childish pero ganito ko matuwa 'pag may nanlibre sa'kin. Hehe! Nakakatawa kasi habang kumakain at habang pinag-uusapan naming yung Rise Up, yung mga nasa katabing lamesa pala naming ay galing ding Rise Up! In-okray pa naman namin yung mga musicians! (joke!). One more reason kung bakit lubos ko talagang ikinatuwa ang pagyayaya ni A.G. na kumain ay dahil matutuloy pa ang kuwentuhan naming anim, at ngayon, kasama pa si A.G. It was a blessed fellowship indeed!
Sinamantala na ng apat ang punta, at pagkatapos ng dinner, ay naglaro pa sa time zone. At tapos, nagpaalamanan na sa isa’t isa.
Almost Over
Akala ko tapos na ang araw. I was almost ready to call it the day. But the favor of God and His Spontaneous leadings just kept flowing. 10 o’clock na kami nakaalis ng gateway, at nung dadaan na dapat ako sa ali mall for a short cut going home, aber, eh sarado na pala! So that only means one thing, I need to take a longer walk home. Haaaay, eh pagod na ko. Well, God seem to have read my mind (DUH!), at sa hagdanan ng SM, aking nakita si Ate Rose (a churchmate) na nakatayo at wari’y may hinihintay. Actually, siya pala ang unang nakakita sa akin. Nilapitan ko siya, at dahil overflowing, pati tuloy siya nabiktima ng aking mga kuwento. Patapos na lang ang araw, nagkaroon pa ko ulet ng yet another blessed conversation. At hindi lang yan, it turned out na ang hinihintay pala niya ay sila Ate Sheila at Ate Malou, at pareho naman din ng route papuntang house nila, kaya imbes na maglakad, nakalibre pa ko ng sakay pauwi! Once again, it wasn’t part of my plan. But obviously, it was part of my God’s plan. As I was inside Ate Sheila's car, I could not thank God enough for letting His Favor flood over my day. Libreng ticket-libreng lunch-libreng pin-libreng dinner-libreng ride home-libreng revelations-libreng joy. It is true that it is better to give than to receive; it is also true that the best things in life are FREE. I said goodbye and thanks sa mga naghatid sa akin. Then I went home, told my mom everything, wrote it on my devotional notebook, thanked God with all my heart, and then slept just before the clock strike 12.
ZZZZZzzzzzzzz
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