Serving God in 2011

2010 was rough and tough, but abundant in grace.  A year of great challenges, fulfilled dreams, and wonderful friendships. I thank the KFC family, who showed me how it is to Dream Big and to make big dreams real.  Yes, we are out to change the world for Christ, and with Him nothing is impossible.  The Island Kids Villages and the 13th IKV in Singapore will forever be testimonies of the great faith we share in the Lord and how our brotherhood can conquer impossible feats.  To the KFC fulltimers, thank you for sharing your love with my wife and kids. Sev never fails to include your names in his prayers. We will, forever be, FAMILY! Thank you for 3 Spirit-filled years in the service with the Lord.

My 2010 journey has taught me a lot. Allow me to share a summary of lessons I learned from the year that was:
Value your faith, family, and friends.  Many things may change in our lives, but these 3 F's, we have to treasure and guard well.  For if we lose them, we may have lost our whole life.
Do not be afraid to dream. Our goals do not hold meaning if they are not faith goals.  Our goals, offered to God, is one of the best ways to honor Him.  At the end of the day, we only hope that our dreams will coincide with God's dreams for us.  But He always, always has a better plan for our lives.
Peace will be given to those who seek it. The path to peace, specially in discernment, is a rough road.  Prayer, patience, persistence, and sacrifice will help us along the way.

2011 for me will be about "serving God with humility, passion, and excellence." Taking on a new service in the International Missions, meeting new people, and learning new ways will once again bring me to a point of "nothingness." Once more I will be a student, learning from my predecessors, making some mistakes, and challenging myself to do better at each time.  Once again, I am brought on my knees in prayer, submitting to God in full dependence. For I yet not know what lies ahead and it is up to Him to bless me with His wisdom.

Have a blessed new year everyone.  May God reign in all our plans and actions.


So whoever is in Christ is a new creation: the old things have passed away; behold, new things have come (2 Cor. 5:17)

A Christmas Reflection

Jesus was born in a manger.  I remember when Michelle and I had our first born, Sev. We only wanted the best for his delivery.  Born in a hospital, with the care of doctors and nurses, with advanced technology, and sterilized equipment and sanitized environment. While God's only begotten Son, was born in a home for animals, with shepherds to support them, and with hay to cushion Jesus as he laid in a manger.

Even as a baby, Jesus wanted to teach us about humility.  When the inn keeper had no room for Jesus' birth, they settled for a stable.  There are times when we experience rejection, intentionally or unintentionally, yet He tells us to absorb the harshness of this world and stay focused on His love, His mercy and His mission for our lives.

We can be likened to a manger. A manger is a trough or box of carved stone or wood construction used to hold food for animals (Wikipedia). No one would  want to be identified with something that's used for animal feeding.  When we sin, when we are in shame, we are like that manger, dirty and filthy. Yet Christ comes to us, and is born for us and in us.

God is with us, Emmanuel! God's Son born into the world to save us. A prophecy fulfilled, yet many refuse to accept that the King of kings and Savior of mankind is someone born in such poor circumstance (besides being born in a stall, he was being hunted by Herod), grows up as a carpenter, and would end His life on earth by being put to shame on a cross.  Like many of us, we have gone through difficulties and are struggling with our sinful ways, yet the Lord wants us to share in His glory, in His Kingdom. We need only to accept Him as Savior and turn away from sin.

He is with us! It's Christmas!

The Best Gift

The 13th IKV's final day was truly empowering! Bro. Nic Escalona gave an inspiring talk to the kids, sharing how he was also a KFC member. He said something that struck me, "The greatest gift that my parents gave me was to bring me to Kids For Christ."

This Christmas season, everyone is busy buying gifts for their loved ones.  We think of what will make that person happy and feel special.  The best gift we can ever give to someone is an invitation to a life with Jesus.  Christ is the gift Himself.  God our Father, sent His Son Jesus, to bring us the gift of salvation.  Now, that's Christmas.

Are You Crazy?

Today, I was going around the venue of the 13th IKV to catch up with friends, coordinators, and fellow missionaries whom I haven't seen in months. Most of them hosted me while I went on mission to their country or province in the past 3 years.  Some are new friends who share the same exciting vision for God's work of spreading His mission.  While talking to them, I can't help but feel inspired and energized that there are many "crazy" people out there, like me, who believe in giving their all to bring Christ to new territories.  Crazy is what we might seem to many of our friends and even kin. Crazy for putting in so much of our time and resources to do something that may not enrich us financially.  Crazy for devoting ourselves to a way of life that may cause us to be ridiculed in school or in the workplace. Crazy for committing our lives to Jesus Christ.


But we are reminded by the words of St. Paul, "For the wisdom of this world is foolishness before God (1 Cor. 3:19). We therefore have to choose; to look crazy before man or to look crazy before God? 


Let us take on this challenge to be righteous before God even if it means to look foolish to the world.  As long as we continue evangelizing, soon enough, inch by inch, step by step, one person at a time, being "crazy" would eventually mean not to accept Jesus as your personal Savior.

Like a Child

Just finished the 1st day of the 13th International Kids Village in Singapore. I'm very inspired by the countries who joined namely Brunei, Canada, Indonesia, Malaysia, Qatar, Seychelles, Australia, China, United Kingdom, Singapore, and the Philippines.  Seeing kids expressing their convictions as World Changers inspires and excites me of the future. I heard them saying, "I can change the world by taking care of our earth."  Another one said, "I can change the world by telling others about Jesus." And from other kids, "I can change the world by helping the poor" and "I can change the world by obeying my parents and loving my family."


Simple yet, powerful statements that come from their pure hearts. I guess when we grow up, we tend to lose our ideals.  Suddenly, we don't really want to change the world, we just want to pay our bills and move on with our own lives.  It's as if our ideals have been reduced to saying, "As long as me and my family are secure, the rest of the world can take care of their own problems." We are influenced by the materialism of this world to think only of ourselves. Many of us have become "me-centric."


Let us therefore be child-like.  And he said: "I tell you the truth, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 18:3).


Children are dependent of their parents.  Just like us, we have to be dependent to our Father in heaven, to Jesus, and Mother Mary.  Our sense of independence from God, and "unconsciously" not needing Him by neglecting to set our prayer time leads us to rely on our own strength. We need God, period.


Children like to discover things.  Kids are curious. They are always excited, because they know that they will experience many things for the first time. My 3-year old son, Sev, when entering the cinema for the first time said, "wow Dad, a big TV!" My son is fascinated with many things, specially animals like the Zebra and the Hippopotamus.  Every time we pray and open the Bible, God has something new for us to discover.  We just have to be curious like a child and continue to be fascinated with His Word.


Children believe in God 100%.  When we teach our kids about Christ, in pure faith, they know that He created the world.  They know that Jesus loves them.  Kids believe that Jesus is their Super Hero who saves all of us from our sins.  It is this kind of faith, that makes them idealistic in being World Changers. They just know that God will help them do many impossible things.


Let us pause for a while, and look at the world around us.  There is a real need for change, to restore the world back to God's original plan. But we first have to change ourselves by being child-like. We are to be changed by Christ, and the rest will follow.  


Mother Teresa said, If you cannot feed a hundred people, then feed just one." She also said that, "Each one of them is Jesus in disguise."