Oslo, Norway -Botanical Garden 18th Anniversary with God

I celebrated my 18th baptism anniversary in Norway during the COVID pandemic. (June 30th)

In a recent epiphany, it dawned on me that there are two kinds of people who previously claimed to be christians but left the church anyway. 

First, those who were overcome by worldly desires (Mark 4:19) and instead of being humble acknowledging sin against God, it is easier to just go with the flow and not being embarrassed at all about sin thinking that God is so gracious and it is OK to rely on self, justifying choices and fashioning a convenient God into their life. A God that can bless them with all the material things and relationships they desire. Forgetting that God is just and righteous.

Second are those that declare they are no longer christians after falling into sin or having a lifestyle that is not Christlike by perhaps their own standards and they cannot forgive themselves -based on their own standards. Satan has taken away the word that was sown in them (Mark 4:15)

I think in my 18 years, many times I have seen friends that have been swayed by either of these two. I felt really sad , I even got sick at some point and really angry. However, at times I am tempted to be or the other too. There were times that I feel like a failure in my Christian life I just want to give up and don't care. It is more convenient to just go to a convenient church with no accountability and just be self-righteous.(2 Timothy 3:5) 

I am able to keep moving forward with the help of faithful Christians and by the grace of God alone. I remind myself to forgive myself, ask help so I can find God's will for me and be confronted with my mistakes , my flaws and what I need to grow in.

Philippians 3:14 I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

I am where I am now because God sees the bigger picture. He has a perfect plan and I am glad I am saved by grace.

Mauban:House Visit September 2019

Ate Vilma and Kuya Lando are the disciples from Mauban that we visit about once in three months on a Saturday, and share the Bible with after lunch with their children and grandchildren.

House visits have been both challenging and faith building for me because there is really a need to encourage one another so that we will not forget about what God had done in our lives. I have seen many times in house visits, how easy it can be to forget about God especially when we are far away from the body and we cannot take Communion-a very important part of worship where we get to be reminded of Jesus' sacrifice, his body and blood poured out for us.

Hebrews 3:13 But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called "Today," so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.

Daet, Cam Norte:ICOC-Daet 3rd Anniv + Calaguas trip

I almost though that I had to pass up on going to the beach this year but it turned out that it is time to go to Calaguas! But the best part is the third anniversary of the ICOC -Cam Norte. We were also at their inauguration 3 years ago. That time, we went to Bagasbas beach. The church have grown and they have many teens now and the children of the disciples are now entering their teens and campus phases.

Day 1 May 18, Sat

04:00 AM ETD from Lucena
07:00 AM ETA Jollibee Gumaca
11:30 AM ETA Calaguas Hotel for those who will check in early
12:00 NN Lunch at ICOC-Cam Norte church
01:00 PM Building Healthy Relationships (Excerpt from APLA held in Dagupan this year)
06:00 PM end of BHR session
07:00 PM Dinner at Alvino's with the Elnar's
08:00 PM ETA Elnar residence/ Jesse is at the basketball game with the brothers
09:00 PM Sleep

Day 2 May 19, Sun

05:30 AM Morning Rituals
07:00 AM Breakfast
07:45 AM ETD for Calaguas Hotel 3rd Anniv. venue
08:00 AM going around town
09:30 AM Sunday Worship
11:30 AM group checks- out from hotel
12:00 NN group shops at SM Hypermarket and buys check-out lunch at McDo
01:30 PM ETA in Calaguas Island drop off point at Vinzon's Port (cars are left at a private paid parking lot for 200/day Php)
06:00 PM ETA Calaguas Island
06:30 PM settling in tents and swimming
07:30 PM Dinner - buttered shrimp, adobo, afritada, sinantolan, hotdogs, fish
08:30 PM washing up /sleep - others played bingo

Because there were lots of boats coming back from Calaguas, the port got crowded and we were left stranded for more or less than an hour in the boat because we had to wait for the other passengers to get off their boats and the boatmen had to navigate the narrow channel. I think we saw about ten of them full of people who had to walk a few meters from the boarding/waiting area.

Ushering Ministry

South Luzon Leaders

Calaguas Hotel

Calaguas Island 

Arrival of the group

tent pitch

Day 3 May 20, Mon

05:30 AM morning rituals
07:00 AM breakfast - bulad, hotdogs, sunny side -ups, fried rice
08:00 AM socials /island hopping
09:00 AM trekking
10:00 AM snorkeling
11:00 AM back to main /swimming
12:00 NN lunch sinigang na hipon, laing, sinantulan, fish
01:00 Pm wash up/socials, coffee
02:00 Pm ETD from the powdery sand beach
04:00 Pm back to the port
06:30 Pm Elnar residence socials with Daet group Married’s Ministry;wash up;game monopoly
07:30 Pm dinner
08:00 Pm ETD for Lucena
01:30AM ETA Lucena/Tayabas

morning view from the tent

breakfast of eggs, bulad, hotdogs and fried rice

registration for trekking 40 Php

starting point of the trek

view from the peak

kubo for those who don't want to climb entrance fee 25 Php

snorkeling

11 AM

far right side of the island

monopoly game in Daet

ICOC-Lucena 7th Anniversary at HOPE Center Laguna

This year's anniversary was celebrated at the HOPE Center in Laguna. Many of the new converts in Lucena have never been to this site, a place whose walls were built with the help of volunteers from the Metro Manila area and from all over the Philippines. HOPE is also the benevolent arm of the church, to help Christians live out the ministry of Jesus in helping the needy.

The delegates were composed of disciples from ICOC-Lucena and ICOC-Daet. The first party arrived on Saturday afternoon followed by the second party that arrived Sunday morning at 7am.

DAY 1 August 25th
9:30AM ETD Arias Bust Terminal
3:00PM  ETA Center of HOPE
7:00PM  Dinner at the Accomodation
8:30PM  Cooking of Adobo and Giniling
10:00PM Socials
11:00PM Lights out

Day 2 August 26th
4:30AM Rise and shine from the blasting speaker of K. Rolly
6:30AM ET  Assemble time to meet the second party
7:30AM ET Orientation
8:30AM ET Communion with HOPE Community,Lucena,Daet and Laguna disciples
9:30AM ET HOPE background with JV
10:00AM ET Orientation/House Rules with Bryan
10:30AM ET Q & A
11:00AM Opening Remarks /Game proper
12:00NN Lunch Time
1:00PM Games
2:00PM Afternoon Snacks
3:00PM Loot Bags and Closing remarks
4:00PM ETD

Sermon:The Facts of Light
John 9:1-34 Jesus heals a man born blind
-we all have darkness in our lives
-we tend to question God
-bakit may mahirap, nagkakasakit...
-ano ba ang ginagawa mo?
-Jesus focuses on meeting needs not asking questions or putting blame on someone
"John 9:3 "Neither this man nor his parents sinned," said Jesus, "but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him."
Benevolence by Jesse
Deuteronomy 15:10-11 Give generously to them and do so without a grudging heart; then because of this the LORD your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you put your hand to. There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land.
HOPE ORIENTATION
Isaiah 58:6-10
Matthew 9:35
Mt 25:35-40
Mindset:developmental not just one-time activity

Center of HOPE Laguna

Orientation with ICOC-Daet Delegates and ICOC-Lucena Delegates

pre-worship 

Kuya Bryan S.

Kuya J.V.

kadang-kadang game

lunch time

intermission number from kids at Center of HOPE

intermission number from ICOC-Lucena

the Hoola Hoop Game

the 4 corners game

afternoon snacks preparation

Quezon Delicacies

hab-hab eating contest

loot bags for Center of HOPE Kids

community visit

Positive Choice Program HOPEWW

As part of our community service the ICOC-Lucena ran a workshop called Positive Choice.Some of its objectives are:
- Increased positive attitudes towards practicing abstinence until marriage.
- Enhanced refusal and negotiation skills necessary to resist sexual urges, advances, and offers to participate in high-risk activities such as drug use and alcohol consumption, which may make them more vulnerable to sexual advances and urges

It has four modules which can be used individually, but it is recommended that they be used as a series in order to fully benefit from the program.Because the facilitators wanted to not break the continuity,all four modules were compressed in a whole day of workshop.

Postive Choice Program audience -13 and Up

The audience were teenagers,parents, and church members and their families.There were group rules that were reviewed at the start of every module,one of which is active participation.

Positive Choice-4 Modules

The overview of the 4 modules were discussed,and each module was indeed very engaging because of the activities consisting of worksheets,group discussions and role plays on the scenarios about sexually transmitted infections and negotiation strategy.

Positive Choice Facilitators

The facilitators attended the training held in Manila early this year.They also shared about their own life experiences and were very much able to transfer what they have learned to the participants in the day long program.

Workshop activities

Participants showed enthusiasm during group discussions, and paid attention to the role plays. It was really awesome to hear the teens and parents respond to questions during the discussions.

A very alarming reality about the prevalence of HIV in the country:

SM MOA:IGNITE!-Asia Pacific Discipleship Conference

It was a great privilege to be able to be with the believers from all over the country and some parts of the world this past weekend.It was great to be able to see for myself the people who I grew up with in faith in the singles ministry way back and then through our engagement and young married life period, however short it was before we went on a mission to Lucena. It was so encouraging to be reminded of the fire me and Jesse had when we were just starting out which for me had greatly diminished as encouragement has become scarce for me and is just done during my spiritual birthday.And as I go through life's challenges it is becoming harder to be encouraged even by little things.

It was good to reminisce things from the past in the Maturity Class- the boot camps the activities we had it was all awesome!.It was unbelievable to learn that even Manong Rolan went through struggles with self-doubt and insecurities!and I was like how much more would I feel, as insecure as I am and still coming to grips with how I could overcome difficulties without losing my mind and ending my misery.But, I realized that I would go through these and that's why the Bible is really full of reminders of persevering and focusing on Jesus.In these dark days,I'm glad to be reminded of the the great cloud of witnesses cheering me on to continue fighting the good fight of the faith.

friends from the single's ministry and house hold(house mate)

Maturity Class -from ICOC Philippines 

with our former marrieds group in QC,now most of them have also relocated

with our host in Las Pinas

friends from way back QC Sector

greteful for our awesome stay in Manila

from ICOC Philippines 

Papa couldn't go to MOA soI told him to just watch the Live

Papa is so tech savvy

a righteous man will pray for him too

Day 1 Friday 07/21

07:00 ETD Arias
10:30 ETA BF Homes ,Las Pinas
11:30 Lunch with Maureen,Baby Kaitlyn,Ate Ana and Jesse!
12:30 ETD BF Homes
14:30 ETA National Museum (Date)
18:30 ETA IGNITE! Opening Night
23:30 ETA BF Homes sandwich dinner
24:30 my shut eye

Day 2 Saturday 07/22

05:30 Cooking time with Ate Anna
06:30 Preps/QT
07:30 ETD BF Homes
08:20 ETA SM MOA IGNITE! Conference
09:00 Ignite Faith:Women's Class -Jennifer Lopez& Saun Galang
10:40 Married's Class Chester & Sirikit Umaguing/Charlie & Meek Young Yi
12:00 Lunch Together with friends from former QC Marrieds House Church @ Classic Savory MOA
14:00 Ignite Hope:Maturity Class 35-59 yrs old Koko & Farida Enrile/Roy Soriano
15:30 Ignite Love:Spiritual Growth 15 & Up Rolan Monje & Rommel Casis/Eric & Lisa Sismaet
17:30 Ignite Fellowship: Cultural Presentations
19:30 Dinner with the Wolfs @ Tapa King
22:30 ETA BF Homes
24:30 my shut eye

Day 3 Sunday 07/23

05:30 cooking time with Ate Anna
06:00 Breakfast socials
07:00 Preps/QT
08:30 ETA IGNITE! Ignite the Dream Worship Service / also on FB Live!
12:00 Lunch with former QC friends now in Rizal and Dumaguete -Rachel&Werlin,Chepie with Baby Grant,Jane and Lance with son @ Burger City MOA
14:30 ETD Buendia Terminal bound to Caloocan
18:30 ETA Bagong Silang ,Caloocan

Agdangan, Quezon:Monte Carlo Resort 2017

My summer won't be complete if I don't go to the beach, so this year ,the married's group decided to go to Agdangan,Quezon after scouting other places in Quezon. It was different this year because I'm with the all marrieds group -from Cavite,Laguna and Pasig.

I like how the ocean breeze can make one feel sleepy in this place... so calm...because when we were just checking it out ,there were not a lot of people.However,since it was the Holy Week Holiday,the place was also packed with people from all over come Friday.Of course,there was Karaoke until late at night,but I was still able to sleep.It was really hot and humid inside the tent - everything was damp with mist the next morning though.The water is very shallow,like most of the beaches I have been in Quezon,so kids can enjoy it.The sand is fine,you can walk for  several meters and the water will still be knee deep.It was also the "salabay" (jellyfish) season so people are just advised to stay within the netted part of the swimming area. Oh, our food is so unforgettable in this trip because Jesse I. somehow was able to whip up gourmet dishes : ) so we were so happy and there were lots of food and even house hold appliances abound!We got burgers, frozen-fresh grilled fish, seafood ,soup etc., and rightly so because there were many kids to feed.

Resort: Monte Carlo Resort ,Brgy,Kanluran Calutan,Agdangan,Quezon
Entrance Fee:100
Pitching Tents:Free
Room Accommodation:Available
Paluto/Use of stove/utensils: Available /Price:depending on usage

well maintained surroundings

the outrigger people 

long coast line love love love

starfish

sea grass 

shallow waters 

tent pitching for free

woke up like this

good morning

relaxing with great people

cooking area

available stoves

family room

room