Test Your Limits

October 28, 2011(friday)
It was a mission-filled day here in Mandalay, Myanmar. We went to 7 homes and conducted Household Prayer Meetings. It was the first time for each of the families to experience a household. We started at 7:30am and ended at around 10:00pm doing a sort of a "household-marathon" around the city where the CFC members lived. I could say we were stretched to the limits of our physical strength, but the spirit is strong and alive.
I believe that in testing our limits, we will be able to achieve a breakthrough to a new level of strength. Just like how our muscles grow as we continually test the limits of the weight we can carry and the number of repetitions.
Pushing ourselves to love the seemingly unlovable, increasing our prayer time, reading more pages of a book in a sitting, and preparing extensively for a talk are but just some examples of testing our limits.
But we also realize that we are serving a God without limits. Impossible is a word unfamiliar to God. If we think we have done our best for God, there is still more strength and abilities that He has in store for us that we might just surprise ourselves.

What is God's Mission for you Today?

October 28 (friday)
The Lord chose His apostles for a purpose. Jesus wills that through them, His love and power will be known. He has set for us a mission. Let us ask ourselves, "What is God's mission for me today?."
Let us reflect on these three things that will help us in our mission today.
1. Do not forget that you are Chosen for mission.
Remember that the Lord calls each of us by name. Just like the apostles, they were called and they followed. "Remember I chose you..." The Lord anoints and equips the vessel He has chosen.
2. When Challenged, Be Faithful.
When we do things for the Lord, it will not be easy. There are challenges we have to face. Your mission might challenge you to ask for forgiveness or forgive somebody. You may be lead to be humiliated because of your mission. In some instances, you might just find the mission as impossible or beyond your capabilities. Jesus carried the challenge of the cross and was faithful until death. Our challenges will strengthen us because we will endure by faith.
3. Have Christ always in your heart.
Without the presence of Christ inside us, we will not bear fruit. We might have all the skills for mission but do not have the reason for the mission. Christ is the reason for mission. With Him in our hearts, love will overflow to the people we meet. Love is at the heart of every mission. Without love, our work is bound to fail. Only Christ brings us the true victory in our mission.

Daily, let us ask the Lord to reveal His mission. Keeping in mind that we are chosen by God to do His mission. Through our faithfulness we will overcome life's challenges and claim the victory with Christ in our hearts.

Faith is an Encounter with Jesus

October 28, 2011 (friday)
I went to a 6am mass in Mandalay and in the priest's homily he said,"Faith is not an ideology, not even a morality. Faith is life. Faith is an encounter with Jesus."
We can get caught up in the routine of service and lose the essence of why we serve or attend mass. In all we do, we are reminded to seek for an encounter with Jesus. This is what faith is all about, a relationship with our Lord.

Time to Serve

October 27 (thursday)
One of the brothers in the mission said, "There is no convenient time to serve the Lord." At any phase of our lives, we will always be busy. When we're young, we are busy with school. When we graduate, we're busy with work. When we retire, we're busy vacationing. And later at the final years of our lives we realized I should have spent time in knowing, loving, and serving God.

If you are reading this, now is the time to serve the Lord!

God of the City

Oct 27, 2011 (Thursday)
We are now in Mandalay City, Myanmar. Together with the Mission team. We went through a 9-hour bus trip from Yangon. We were humbled to have been met by the archbishop at 5:30am. On our first day, we conducted 2 prayer meetings with burmese members, a kids camp for 100 burmese kids, and met the filipino community. The whole time, we had priests translating our words. We could see the hunger of these people to know God more and have a personal relationship with him. Although we are in a Buddhist country, there is a great longing and thirst for the power of the Holy Spirit.
We've been listening to Chris Tomlin's song "God of the City."

One of the stanzas goes:
"You're the God of this City
You're the King of these people
You're the Lord of this nation..."
The chorus goes "Greater things are yet to come in this city. Greater things are still to be done in this city."
It is true that He is the God of all, and of this city where we are. I have a 3 point reflection on this.

1. We have a Great God who will do Great things through us.
To doubt our capacity as God workers is to doubt God's greatness through us. Most of us are hesitant to lead or take on a responsibility because we feel we are ill-equipped. By submitting to God, He will open the floodgates of His graces to flow through us. Just like how some simple fishermen have become the Church's pillars.
2. God has prepared the City
"The harvest is plenty and the workers are few. Pray to the Lord of the Harvest to send more workers." We need more people to go on mission. We need harvesters. I read in a Catholic Missions magazine, "Mission is the hallmark of the Holy Spirit." The Holy Spirit pushes our hearts to go to the end of the earth. I believe every Christian should experience mission.
3. Love is the ultimate language
When we give talks, we always have translators. But there are many instances during casual conversations with the locals that we have to act out what we want to say as if playing charades. But the eyes tell a lot, and they speak of love. We see the love in the eyes of others and we know what they mean to say. When we talk about God we use the language of love.
Yes greater things are yet to come! As we embark on day 2 of mission in Mandalay, we are excited of God's greatness to work through us.