WARNING: IT'S BEEN A WHILE SINCE MY LAST BLOG SO MAHABA-HABANG KWENTUHAN(LONG POST) AHEAD. READ ONLY IF YOU ARE BLESSED WITH THE GIFT OF READING & YOU WANNA BE BLESSED. YOU MAY ALSO CLICK THE LINKS TO SEE WHAT I WAS TALKING ABOUT :D
It was the Best-est Summer of my Life or yet, because that is something I look forward to saying every year. Wow, where do I begin with all the excitement that went on. I apologize for my absence in the blog world for those who actually like reading my stuff. You'll understand in a while why. Let me just recap all the highlights of what went on. Starting off in May, we had Kitchie Nadal perfom at our Rock Da Church event & that went cool. She still rocked it even if her performance was just acoustic, I mean this woman is so astig, she don't need no live band to rock!
Soon I found out it was the Summer that campgrounds became like my 2nd home. This year I had 12 youth camps overall & I think it's a record! Not to mention other speaking engagements. I'm looking at my calender as I write this, just going through some of the stuff in here. Holy Week was fun because there were 2 camps there, I also attended the Jesusfest Praise & Worship event in Marikina w/ some friends & there also discovered how to make kwek kwek pizza.hehe. On the Thursday, we had our annual alay lakad event where me & our youth group would set up a stage to have our bands perform & me do my thing I call "Alay Lakad Radio". This year, we called it "Rock the Walk" & I actually did the poster on Photoshop because this was also the summer I learned new things & that being one of them. On Good Friday, I went swimming twice that day.hehe. One in Club Manila East & at night, up in Antipolo. In between, we had my Tita, our Senior Pastors surprise 60th Birthday party at Church & that was fun. Surprise dance #s by the mommies & daddies showed our folks still had the fun in them. Funny, I didn't get to go home from swimming & change no more cause ran out of time but I still hosted.hehe. At 60, my aunt rocks & I love her!
This summer was not only filled with new stuff, but new challenges like for the first time , I spoke in a Kids Camp & it surprisngly went well! So I overcame my fear of speaking before children & that's why I also said yes other kids speak after that which I'd usually turned down. Amidst the busyness, still, I was able to have nice quality family time every now & then. We'd go for lunch or dinner, me & dad would watch movies etc. On April Sunday, it marked ATF's 12th Anniversarry! Can't believe the show has been going on for so long, God sure rocks! The following week, had some more youth camps. The one in Batangas was kinda far plus, I passed the place getting lost so how far did it get then?hehe. The next was at RRC Laguna & I sure went this place a lot this Summer. The Light It Up Events me & my friend organized was also on fire! Great Christian artists were performing & the crowd is getting better!
This was also the summer I attempted to buy my first car. Her name was Ruby. She is a red 2 door Pajero. First time I saw her parked, "I said Lord, can I?" My cousins are into buy & sell & so every now & then comes a unit I like. This one was red & I loved it! I tested her out but later, I would find out she's not the one for me. But it's cool. My attempt also tested my faith because I don't really think I'm ready to buy one although I'm sure ready to have one, but I would try & wait upon God's miracles to help work. I thought it'd be cool if this was the summer I'd drive my own, but hey, Lord knows, it's all good. For now, it was a nice attempt.hehe. I just trust the Lord to help provide when the time comes He really wants to bless me with my own vehicle.
I spoke also to Church Anniversaries and I love how God has given me opportunities to share my heart & passion for the young people to challenge the Church to take part in redeeming this generation. I hope to see that as a result, more youth will go to their church & youth services like ours would be born in their area. Speaking of annivs, big things sure came this Summer like our Big Anniv at GenCon which we sure prayed & worked hard for. We planned to have the Biggest Pop Superstar in the Philippines who is Christian to be our speaker by the end of the month for our event. Later I'll tell what happened.
My favorite camp of the summer had to be when I was invited to speak at the Blind Youth Camp held by Resources for the Blind. It's funny how these kids inspired me more when I was suppose to be the one giving the inspirational message. These Children were the happiest campers I've ever seen & they also gave me the warmest welcome ever. Sigh. I'll never forget that & the smiles on their faces. It was sure special & this was a top moment during this break.
Our District Camp in Baguio also went well. It's the best I've seen our district do. Our good friend & powerful speaker, Ptr. Jesse Dedel was the main messenger. I led the Praise & Worship. Even though a typhoon hit us on the last night causing a blackout & changing the program, the very next day the sun would shine & none of that rain had effect on the outcome of success this camp had.
We had our local Sportfest the following day returning from Baguio. I was in the Red Team & we won the basketball tournament. I don't I've ever played so well, I really think those were the best games in my life. That day was FUN!
The next week, we had our Local Camp this time. It was the first time we held it so near, just up in Antipolo hills, first time we didn't invite a guest speaker(just us youth pastors), first time we left the whole program to the youth & they did extremely well. It was a first of many things & it was AMAZING! In just 3 days(we usually do 4 or 5), God moved into the lives of 70 plus first time campers. There were a total of 100+ campers & we were only expecting & preparing for like 50 really. In this camp, it didn't really take much to see much. God is just SO BIG & SO GOOD! This would also help fire up GenCon some more!
Also took part in Redeem The Airwaves Conference up in Makati that same week. I sure wanna take part in Redeeming the Airwaves because by that, we could also redeem many listeners for Christ in the process.
The next week was The Craziest Week, Ever! Can't believe how I got though it alive!hehe. It would be the second to the last week of this Summer. It seems everything I did this Summer '09 was crammed up in those days. I mean it had it all, camps, speakings, hostings, a Pastor's retreat, organizing, meetings etc. Ya, a SUMMERy of this summer it was. Phew! What was interesting also that week was how things went terribly wrong. First, the car I was testing broke on the way to camp causing me to turn back & postpone, then I got sorta lost on 2 out of 3 camps that week, I missed a meeting, my ATM card was eating by the ATM machine etc. Nothing seemed to go as planned & still God had one! He also always had His ways in reminding me to SMILE :D more & not lose my sanity. There may have been delays that week, but over-all, mission accomplished! What's cool is what I learned from the experience even if I did the hard way. It became a lessons for sermon material plus it became a script for an upcoming episode on Perfect Rhythm.
Thursday had to be the most hectic, because from the retreat in Laguna, I had to drive & find a camp to speak at & then after hopefully be back in Manila for a Worship leaders meeting with Tim Hughes(but that I missed). I was sure sleepy driving by myself on the way back but thank God for the traveling safety. Then me and some members of our Worship team headed to Worship Central, for a lil field trip for us. Couldn't stay because I then had to head to Light it Up. On this day, it was 3 out of 4 on that what do do list.
On Friday, it was a very special day for me. It marked My 12th year as a Christian. This was the day I fully surrendered to Christ & my life was never the same again! I praise God for also giving me a speaking engagement that day in Binangonan. Before that, I was supposed head back to Laguna to pick up the Pastors but the vehicle(not Ruby) I was gonna drive also broke. If that didn't happen, there was no way I'd make my engagement in the afternoon in time. At night we had our Camp Victory Party. Nice to see so many of the campers still so fresh & fired up for the Lord. Later on after, went with some friends to check out this minor event. It wasn't a Christian thing but we were sure Christian being there. Represented cause while everyone had their cigarettes & beer on their table, we had C2, Pinapple Juice & water on ours.hehe. Then when we got back, got to celebrate a lil more for my spiritual Bday at Chowking which was open 24/7.
On Saturday, still more things. In the morning made a quick stop at Marikina to check out the Imerge event. Then I headed to be a judge in a battle of the Bands event followed by a a youth gathering in JOHIA church called 'Sinag' where I spoke about EMOtions. Since that was near Gateway Mall & I always avoid the traffic going back, I went for dinner at Taco Bell & a movie. Startrek then became the biggest movie surprise for me this summer. Can't believe I watched & can't believe how good it was! This day was so big, I had 2 big macs! One for lunch & one was given for snack during the judging.hehe. Funny, despite my business, God still gave a lot of space to breathe. People would tell me I need time to relax & I actually did find time for that. Like I was able to watch all the movies in the theatres that I wanted to catch. It seems the harder I worked, the harder there was playing time provided for me. So there was also time to shop a little, food trip etc.
On Sunday, it was a normal day, except my normal Sundays are the busiest! But what a fine day it was. At night, I got to deliver what I believe & others may agree, my Best Sermon yet. That's because I shared on my experience on my 12 year being a Hardcore Christian. I preached real life experience that anyone could experience. I showed the highlights throughout the years. A special video was also shown made by some of our youth entitled "What if...PJ Didn't Become Christian."
So that wrapped up the longest summer week. Can't believe it was 6 speaking engagements in 7 days! God sure really had this birthday celebrant moving! But still there was one more week to go.
The next week or the last was much lighter on the sched but still full blast on preparations for our Big Anniv. I had one final camp stop to go. This was followed by My First Trip to Palawan which was only for a day. What's cool about this trip is, God really must've really wanted to give me a break. Imagine, after a whole summer of ongoing speaking & emceeing, you had to guess which one this last one had to be? You know what it was? It was for judging. That's it. I was flown all the way here just to sit down & write my grades for bands that competed. It was an all all expense paid trip & I did absolutely no work except walk, sit, site see, eat & rest. It's like inviting a magician over & not seeing any of his tricks.hehe. My favorite part of this trip was seeing the crocs & finally holding one. What a way to help wrap up this summer. Is God good or what? Thank you Lifechurch for God had used you just in time to give me a short but great lil break. I sure hope to be back & minister in return.
On Saturday, I got back in the morning. Was still a long day, cause after being picked up at the airport, proceeded to run some errands, pick up equipment for the anniv before heading back church . At night, we ran tests for the program & did final preparations. But we also found time to really pause & sing worship & pray. After, went to a reunion with my highschool classmates & just pigged out on the food. It was really cool to see these guys again.
Moving right over to Sunday where our youth group celebrated & we had the biggest night of our life. I wouldn't have gone to NU to do my show today if we didn't have a guest. Still, it worked out well, I got to head back in time for practice & some rehearsals. This was definitely GenCon's Biggest Production Yet. It rained kinda hard but that was like an advantage because we had worried about how everyone would fit in the Sanctuary that night. Everything looked so great! When it was time to start, the program went so well, like the smoothest & on time. The special # we did was sorta a disaster because of an instrument mishap(going way outta tune). Still nothing would spoil this night for us. For 5 years, our youth have been going strong & working harder than ever which is whay we may have gotten a bit tired. That's why our theme was "ENERGIZE" based on Colossians 1:28-29. And who else would be the perfect speaker for it than Mr. Pure Energy himself, Gary Valenciano! So glad this worked out! It had always been a dream to have him come over our church & tonight, we would see how God has blessed us in making this dream come true! When the night was done, everyone was sure amazed & energized. It was May 31, the last day of Summer '09. What a spectacular way to close out this years Summer not just for me, for everybody there. This was the icing or cherry on top
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This summer, I learned that I had turned into a carpenter because 'Lagari'(pukpuk, ratrat) talaga mga lakad at sunod sunod(or I was just super busy). I just hope that me being a Carpenter in that way, could make me more like Jesus who was a real carpenter back then. Perhaps what I loved most about what I did was the many opportunities God gave for me to minister & be a blessing to many. Everyday I pray God would make me a blessing & so I pray that these were the answered prayers. GRABE! Iba talaga summer na toh. I never felt more energized & used up at the same time, more smiley, relaxed, inspired, challenged atbp. Now, it still actually feels like summer, only now I could actually have time to finally blog. JESUS RULES! :D
