BYI SUMMER CAMP 2009 AT ISLE OF PATMOS, TARLAC
The Campers pose with Bro. Art Sims
182 young people came, participated and got revived during the recently concluded BYI Summer Camp at Isle of Patmos Baptist Camp in Luisita Tarlac.
Ptr. Mike Duran, this year’s camp director opened the week-long activities with a challenge to the young people to check their motives as to why they were on camp. The following morning of Tuesday, it was the assistant director, Pr. Honey Cua who gave the morning devotion.
Later during the morning, the 6 teams, namely the Dream Weavers, Young Monarchs, Pulpiteers, Mountaineers, Visionaries and Wall Breakers, competed for a Missions Presentation that will be adapted by the Missions Drama Guild of the MBBC for the upcoming Antioch Conference. The Mountaineers won that event.
Pr. Ric Malit gave the first morning challenge of the week, reminding the young people to go back to the first purpose of the BYI which is to evangelize and reach out to the youth of their schools. Other speakers for th morning challenges were Ptr. Robert Malit, who reminded the youth of the example of the Apostle Paul as a trailblazer of new footprints, and Ptr. Jojo Tuason, who spoke of avoiding comparisons among each other, and how each young individual has his or her own way of making a mark in their involvement in the work of the Lord.
In the afternoon, the campers joined several sports events, as well as the “Larong Pinoy” Tournament, where they played famous Filipino games such as patintero, tumbang preso, tamaang tao, kickball, catch the dragon’s tail, and many others.
Bro. Art Sims was also there to share his insights on how young people can help in the growth of their churches. Speaking in full Filipino, the former BBF missionary spoke of Moses and Abraham whose lives have been the example of Godly living because they followed God fully.
Prs. John Lamela and Cris Reyes were also part of the line-up of speakers as devotion leaders every morning. Other speakers for the Morning Sessions included Ptr. Jun Ramirez who tackled soulwinning as the heart of the youth ministry. Pr. Reyzel Cayanan followed him, and spoke of the snare of the changing times. On Thursday, it was workshop time for the young people. The line-up of lecturers where Pr. Boy Glinoga, who gave fatherly advice for the high school boys; Bro. Crisant Dema-ala, who discussed responsibility for college men; Ms. Princess Dizon, who gave the principles of modesty and decency for high school girls; and finally Mrs. Cua and Mrs. Duran spoke of principles to follow for college ladies when it comes to relationships.
Pr. RC Cayanan poses here with his YP from MBBC Taguig
In the evening, the young people also enjoyed several treats, such as the “pinoy henyo” games, as well some inspiring videos about the life of the BYI’s founder, Dr. Benny Abante Jr., the pictures and snapshots of the old and new BYI’ers, and the life story of Dick and Rick Hoyt, the father and son tandem of marathon runners.
The evening challenges zeroed in on checking the life of the young people, and how they can be useful vessels for the Lord’s work. Ptr. Jojo Tuason spoke of young people being responsible men and women of God. Ptr. Goody Dogaong talked about building the future today, and Ptr. Chris Compalas spoke of being a surrendered young person to the will of God.
young people flock to the altar after the stirring challenge of Ptr. Jojo Tuason
For the three nights, 1 young man surrendered his life to the Lord, 4 got saved, while 34 others came forward to re-commit to the ministries of their congregations as volunteer workers.
We praise God for the results of the camp. Our prayer is that these young people will have a sense of history of the Youth Ministry of the church, and be challenged to look and move forward into the future, making sure that they remain faithful to the footprints that have been already made.
BIDA BA KAYO? SALI NA!
(more pictures to come next week)
So Hot In Tarlac!
The 200 young people who joined this year's BYI Camp
Just blogging about the ongoing youth camp of our church young people here in sunny Tarlac!
We are now on our day two here at our youth camp, and so far things have been turning out good. We just had our team brainstorming session for the presentation we are preparing for our upcoming conference in June.
But among so many other things, one thing that you’ll never forget the feeling of is the heat.
It is so hot here in Tarlac. Because the place is a good 4 hours away from Manila by travel, pollution hasn’t taken its toll on the province yet, and so the clear sky makes way for the sun’s full power to shine on all of us. The heat is just energy draining, and hopefully with the programs in line, we would be able to make this camp one that will be unforgettable for all of us.
I haven’t had a decent sleep since last night. Me, Cess, Sant and Kish stayed up until 4 AM early this morning just to account for all the payments we received. Awww, poor Cess. She just arrived at 6AM today and just woke up a few hours ago.Just take your time to rest for the day, Ga!
As for me, well, I’m still very busy as coordinating director for the camp. Just a minute ago, I was dealing with lost items, violators of camp rules, and the sked of activities. Hope I still have enough left for the basketball game later.
We’re off to Tarlac This Week!
Just a quick blog:
The Baptist Youth Impact is off to Tarlac this week for a five-day Summer Youth Camp at the Isle of Patmos Camp in Luisita.
That means, I will be quite intermittent as an online citizen…
huhuhuhuhuhuhu….
Well, minsan lang naman ako mag-hiatus eh. Plus, since I am the coordinator for the camp, I will really be very, very, very busy for this entire week until Friday.
Duda din ako na maka-online, kasi maliblib yung lugar. Baka hindi rin abutin ng signal ng wireless broadband ko. The nearest computer station is a good 7 kilometers away pa.
I will also miss the TMR, that is, kung hindi abutin ng signal ng radio ang cellphone ko. Pero try ko pa rin. Hehe. Actually, parang kelangan ko rin ng break ng konti sa radyo. Napupuno na yung memory ng PC ko dahil araw-araw kasi akong may download ngpodcast ng show.
But, if all goes well, baka swertehing makapag-blog, makapag-tweet, makapag-multiply.
Hehe. Nagpapaalam lang para hindi magtaka ang mga fans.
‘Til the next blog.
Nothing Like A Good Haircut
before
For me, the top three refreshing things to do are the following:
3. Good night’s rest;
2. A refreshing drink after basketball; and
1. A good haircut during summer.
Ahhhhh… nothing compares to the joy and refreshing feeling of having your hair cut just the way you like it. For me, it’s the easiest, cheapest, and most fulfilling facelift you can ever have. I’m really not into facial, so you can deduce I don’t spend a portion of my budget every month on some face doctor who will try to make me look good… after all, there’s not much to alter if you’ve got an envied, heartthrob face already.
And I don’t go to high-end barber shops either. If ever I can afford to go to one, I don’t think I’d go there on a regular basis. I mean, yeah, the shampoo, the massage, the hair treatment and the entire package are worth the price. But for someone on the run like me, it is luxury already for to spend over 40 minutes getting my hair cut.
Simply, I just go to King Roger’s Barber shop along J.P. Rizal St., in Sta. Ana, Manila (between Mabuhay and Zamora St., beside a vulcanizing shop). One haircut is just 35 bucks, it only takes 20 minutes, and if you get lucky, you get a free massage from one of the barbers there (I forgot his name, though). I regularly get a haircut once a month, but when I feel like a horrendous wretch with my hair getting long (specially during summer) I go to the shop twice.
The thing about haircut is that you spend less money on shampoo, less time combing it, and less effort looking good… well for me I don’t exert any effort at all. And it is really refreshing. Every time the barber lifts off the covercloth from me after he does my hair, I feel like a new person, no exaggerations. Plus the fact that this summer has been a hot one, I could really use some hair trimming from a barber.
after!
You know the top three businesses that won’t go bankrupt?
3. Food;
2. Funeral; and
1. Barbershops!
A final note: have you heard of the statement “kuwentong barbero?” Try spending time with your friendly neighborhood barber, and you’ll know what that means! =)
“Fishing” For Life
see the poor mom standing in the beams?
Just today, I parked my car along the bridge over a dead creek somewhere in Manila. I was waiting for my preacher-friends to come, and so I parked for a while, as “The Morning Rush” was on air.
When I looked outside my window, I saw this poor mother, tiptoeing across the beams that were placed along the edges of the creek. She had a strainer attached to the end of a long stick which was roughly twice her height. She was looking through the thick pile of trash, rubbish and other UFO’s (unidentififed floating objects) floating on the dead creek. A shallow current, probably from up the Pasig, had pushed some of it to ebb along the dead creak.
I was thinking this mom was looking for edible fish she could probably cook for her family for lunch. But instead, I found out she was “rummaging” through the ebbing trash, looking for old plastic bottles, slippers with missing pairs, glass bottles, and other recyclable materials that are as good as money when brought to the junk shop.
For me, this was the first time I have seen someone industriously finding ways to keep her stomach filled with just the right serving of meal that could bridge her through the day. She expertly caught the items, separating them from the refuse and the thick mud that was abstractly flowing along the current.
By the time I was about to leave, I saw a mound of objects good enough for trade–and she still wasn’t finished.
I was both amazed and appalled by the sight. Here is a woman, who through her common ingenious found a way to survive the life that has been, in some ways, “unfair” to her. She must have probably been doing it for years, because, even if I am no expert in trash fishing, I can say she has a “surgically accurate way” of collecting the items she needs for the day.
But that’s exactly what makes it ironic. If she has been doing this for quite sometime, how long will she continue to do so, until things ease up on her? Is there no one else among her family who could do something more for them than just the trash that she filters through the dead creek?
Or, could it also be, that this poor old mother has grown contented with the fact that this will be her eternal lot on life. Maybe, after all the many years she has sieved through the ebbing of the dead waters, she also found out that time, and the opportunity that comes with it, are also ebbing away from her. Just maybe, she will have to live with this predicament for the rest of her life.
As I was driving home, I looked around the car and saw the so many things that have been afforded me through ways that did not include a 9-feet stick with a stinking strainer on one end. I realized that there were moments I was complaining for the small trivial things that, for people like her, will be hard to come by in a lifetime. I kind of realized that I have oftentimes taken for granted the many material blessings that God has allowed me to enjoy.
No, I don’t believe God was unfair to that poor old mother. I think that, just maybe, she was used by God to show me one thing: that by taking things for granted, I am the one who is being unfair to her.
PBA096op779s
Sir RC is Back at MICA!
Yey! I’m back at my alma mater!
Although it’s not yet final, my senior pastor has given his nod over me taking a teaching slot at my elementary alma mater, the Metropolitan International Christian Academy.
It was last year when I was designated to take the lead of the congregation and Imus, and for that I had to leave the school for one full school year. Some of my students were saddened by my leaving, but be that as it may, it all worked out good for me, as I was able to test my mettle as a preacher in our work in Imus. My stay there was a fruitful one until I was again re-assigned here in Taguig.
And now that I’m basically just 11 kilometers away from the school, and with the help of a provided transportation, I will be teaching again at the school I have always been a proud alumni of.
And of course, I get to see Cess more! Wootwoooh!
Me and Cess during the last NSC we were together in 2007 at Ilo-ilo.
Cess is a full-time teacher there, handling math and advisory classes for the freshies. During my stay there as a teacher for 7 years since 2001, as a part-time CAT instructor, I handled history and Bible classes. My very own sister, who just graduated from college at EAC finishing BS Nursing, was one of my students actually.
I’m so excited to be back in the teaching roster of the school, especially that I will be once again leading some of our students competing for the National Student Convention this year in Bicol. Last year, even though I wasn’t a part of the faculty, I coached the Scripture Video team of the school, and won second place! This year, we are not aiming for first place–we just want to do the best.
I love MICA, because, next to the home and the church, it was here where I learned everything as far as my Christian values are concerned. This was my training ground that prepared me for the big challenges of the world. In fact, as a show of my gratitude, I was privileged enough to have written the lyrics of the school’s hymn. Credit is due, of course, to God, and to my pastor, Dr. Benny Abante, Jr.; our directress; Mrs. Marie Paz Abante; Ms. Tess Jacinto, the school principal; all my teacher friends, of course including Cess; and the best students in the whole of Revellin St.!
I am proud of MICA. I hope one day, MICA would be proud of me as well.
Go MICANS! March onward to the light!
Towed!
Of all the days that I would have my car towed, why did it have to be today?
AAAAAARRRRRRGGGGGHHHHH!
I was just 10 minutes and 20 meters away from my car, as me and our YP’s were out for community work. There was no signboard telling it was a tow-away zone, and there were a lot of cars parked along the highway. I already had the premonition that parking the car on that spot in the road was a bad idea. But I still went on with it.
When I came back to check the car, my greatest fear happened.
I payed 50 bucks to the tricycle driver just to look for the impounding office. When we got to the place, there it was, the Crosswind, sitting pitifully like a lost child waiting for his dad to pick him up. But unlike the dad who found his lost child, I had to pay a thousand bucks just to get him back.
Ouch…
Oh, well… like what one of my church mate said to me, “charge it to experience.” So, Experience, I’ll be collecting that 1,000 pesos one of these days, OK?
As I was driving back home, of course, I can’t help but be down and sad. And that’s just normal, especially if yesterday I already shelled out 1,600 for my broken laptop power cord. And with next week’s Youth Camp in Tarlac, it’s no joke to have your funds draining away like water down the sink. But along the way while driving, I kind of thought, “hey, being depressed can’t bring back the money I spent, right?” And so, like a scathed but undaunted soldier, I dusted off myself, and with a confident smile I said, “this can’t possibly bring me down!” I’ve been through darker days, and this one’s like a mere ant bite compared to it.
Just as I halted at the intersection, I whispered a prayer. “Lord, you really have a unique way of making Your presence felt. Thank you for telling me one thing… that you’re always in control!”
I went on my way as the lights went green. I was driving 70, but I’ve never seen the world pass by me at a very slow pace like 30. I was smiling, while swinging my eyes from front sight to rear view. I jacked the radio volume up by 3 levels.I checked on the gas: it was near E.
Oh, well, life goes on… and so does the Crosswind along C5.
Cess finally meets C&D; Midday Date at Goldilocks
Yesterday morning, I was finally able to convince Cess to join me at RX. The trick? Because we were going to pick up the Goldilocks gift certificate I won over at the Morning Rush during the “Chillig promo.”
Chico and Delle gave Cess a very warm welcome. Finally! Some proof that Cess wasn’t just an invention of my head! Hahaha!
The Dynamic Duo flanks Cess for a snapshot!
We also met Joe D’ Specialist there at Ortigas. He went out of his way just to meet Cess! Thanks boss Joe!
The closest store on our way home was the one along Shaw Blvd. The security guard, as we were entering, said “Ser, ang aga namang date niyan!” I just smiled back.
I can’t believe how much the 500 gift certificate actually gave us for free. Me and Cess got the following:
2 meals;
1/2 brazo de mercedes;
1 box of cookies and cream polvoron;
10-pc bag of polvoron;
3 heavenly slice cakes;
2 pop corns; and
1 slice of egg pie!
Sulit na sulit na rin! Thanks RX!
RC and Cess 
They Say…