WHY CELEBRATE TODAY?

Twenty four years ago today, I was born into this world.

I may not have a very special party or extremely happy day. In fact, today I am clouded with mixed emotions, disorientation, and confusion. I believe I should be having a quarter-life crisis next year, but mine probably came a year early, I'm not sure.

24 years of my existence has been very rich and meaningful. I thought of writing about 24 reasons to celebrate, but as I count the reasons why I should celebrate today, I realized that there is just so much to write that they would not fit in one blog entry. I celebrate my family, my church community, my friends, my career, my ministry, my special man, my dreams, my struggles, my failures, mixed emotions and confusion. I celebrate my life as it is, and all the realities I have come to discover and experience in this 24 years of existence. 

Today, as people send their greetings and love, I want to give the praise to only one name, the Lord of my life, Jesus. As I experience this phase of struggle and confusion, I rest in the fact that Jesus is Lord and that His blood has saved me, and that his resurrection is the reason I am alive and experiencing life on earth to its fullest. 

I would probably live for a few more decades, or maybe less, who knows? But one thing I would constantly celebrate is that my Lord is alive and that He walks with me through my journey. In triumph and victory, He celebrates with me. In darkness, He holds my hand until I see the light. In sorrow He comforts me until I find my peace. In confusion and despair, He's the only one who understands. From the day I was born until my last breath, Jesus is alive and I constantly feel His love. That reason alone is more than enough, and could surpass any list, I could possibly make up.

This is the day that the Lord has made, I will rejoice and be glad in it.

ONE DARING MOVE

Two years ago, I dreamed of writing a book - and this dream remained a dream until about a month ago. It took inspiration, perfect timing, and a lot of determination. This time, I'm determined to make it happen!

I dare to write a book, and I dare to dream big. I dream of writing a book that will inform, inspire, teach, and simply tell a story of one life that was influenced by a long tradition, and share stories of many more lives who chose to follow this same tradition. 

I am writing a book.

The other night I cried about not being able to add anything else on the 45-page manuscript I've written the past three weeks. I cried and cried because there were many thoughts, many ideas playing in my mind, teasing my brain to add more to the story I am writing, yet these ideas I cannot capture and put into writing, and came out only through tears.

Writing is a mystery.

Writing is a search to the inner core of your being, a journey to one's self to defining the source of your strength, the reservoir of ideas, the fountain of creativity.

I am on that journey.

I am on a journey to writing a book about my journey and the journey of many others.

In trying to write about my journey, I find myself journeying into a different realm - into the realm of writing. The mysterious, magical, and surprising journey of writing.

I do not know what lies ahead, but I know that in this writing journey, I am learning and I am enjoying.

For the love of writing, I will continue this journey.

Because of love, I will be able to continue.

WHAT LOVE HAS TO SAY

For many years, I've said some words about love, and what I have to say.

Today, I relax and smile as I savor the sweet message of what love has to say.

I was caught off guard. This heart I have tried to protect and preserve, suddenly found love and all it does is listen now - to what love has to say.

There were no conditions, nor any reasons why.

There was no "if only" and "what if"

As I used to always feel

There was only that confidence, that as I gaze into your eyes,

All I wanted was to listen - to what love has to say

There were no fears or any doubt in everything you do or say,

Because as I listen to your voice, all I hear is - what love has to say

I only know I want to be better - better than I've always been

And I will always just be here, in your journey to become better too.

Well, I guess that's what  it is - what love has to say

When all I want is to have you near, and a look in your eyes makes me feel like I'm looking through your soul.

Today we may be far apart, but I hear the message loud and clear - what love has to say.

To be so confident in the love we feel, and be so inspired for the journey ahead of us

I guess this is what I first hear, of what love has to say

And through the years, every single day

I will look in your eyes and just listen - to what love has to say

I'm pretty sure there will be more

Messages that are loud and clear - of what love has to say.

For the love I found in the most unexpected place, at an unexpected time.
What love has to say?
It can be surprising :)

ANABAPTISM IN THE PHILIPPINES

Around the same time that the Anabaptist movement was beginning in Europe, the Philippine islands once had a civilization of its own. It was later discovered by Spain, which explored the earth to expand its territory. Since then, Christianity came to the Philippines, with the cross being used as a symbol of power and authority. Protestantism later came to the Philippines when America acquired the country from Spain in the 1898 Treaty of Paris. The Philippine history has then been about foreign conquests, battles fought and won, and an ongoing struggle for independence and self identity.

Anabaptism, which originated in Europe, only came to the Philippine shores in recent years. After the World War II, the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) sent volunteers to assist war victims in the northern islands of the country. It was the first recorded entrance of Anabaptists in the Philippines. A hospital was founded by MCC in 1948, and is still existing up to this day, owned by Protestant doctors.

In the 1950s, several Filipino pastors were convicted to serve people not only spiritually, but also to provide for their physical needs. They used their own resources to provide livelihood assistance to the communities they serve. This was then organized as Missions Now, Inc. In the 1970s, one of the Filipino pastors went to the United States to share the ministry that he was doing in the Philippines. He met some Mennonites and was attracted to their conviction of peace and holistic ministry. Later, the Eastern Mennonite Missions (EMM) formerly the Eastern Mennonite Board of Missions and Charities (EMBC) sent missionaries to the Philippines to plant churches and provide educational and livelihood assistance, especially to the poorest among Filipino society.

In the 1990s, the church suffered some conflict and division after the death of the pastor who started Missions Now, Inc. His son continued the leadership of the organization, but did not embrace the Mennonite doctrine. Thus, the Integrated Mennonite Church (IMC) was born in 1991 out of the rest of the members who still embraced the Anabaptist Mennonite conviction.

Today, the Integrated Mennonite Church of the Philippines still strive to be faithful in its calling. There are 21 small congregations affiliated to the IMC, majority located in the Northern Provinces of Luzon, in the far-flung areas of the mountains. There are also existing Church of God in Christ Churches around the country, and also conservative plain fellowships of Mennonites but there is no existing communication lines between the IMC and the other Anabaptist-embracing churches present in the country.

LESSONS IN LOVE AND RELATIONSHIPS (2013 overview)

God brings people along our way to teach us life lessons we need to learn, and to prepare us for the next stages of our journey. At age 23, the year 2013 has taught me so much about love, life, relationship, humility, courage, and joy. It has not been an easy year, yet it was full of essential lessons I need to learn before I face another chapter of my life.

Years of spending time with people from different walks of life, different ages, cultures, and worldview, has made me share love with people easily. I remember that I used to easily get attached to people I work with, that it becomes hard for me to say goodbye once I have to leave and move on to my next destination. Through time, I have learned how to completely share love with people, without being too emotionally attached to the point of crying every time I had to say goodbye. This year, I have learned to express love and care without the emotional attachment and painful goodbyes. I learned it the hard way.

Building relationships with people also taught me very important lessons on love and relationship. It is easy to build relationships with people who have similar mind set as ours, but it is challenging and very difficult to build relationships, much more maintain one, with people who have totally different perspectives! Genuine love is tested when you have relationships with people who may at times have conflicting ideas and personalities, and that is the beauty of love that God has taught me this year.

Genuine relationships are built on genuine love. Genuine love brings genuine relationships. These two are inseparable. If a relationship is built on other motives outside of genuine love for the person, it usually does not work, or may not last very long. Genuine love is manifested in genuine care, protection, respect, understanding, humility, honesty, and transparency with one another. The mutuality of these manifestations create a beautiful illustration of genuine love and relationship. There are times, however, that genuine love and its manifestations are not mutually shared. That is the lesson God allowed me to learn from the previous year.

In the past, I have been loved by someone whose love I cannot reciprocate. This love did not last, leading the other person to look for a love that will reciprocate his. This experience hurt my pride more than anything else. This experience, I thought, would be the greatest lesson in love that I will learn, and yet there are still so many things I have not known until 2013. One day I woke up to a painful realization that there are people I've learned to love but does not share that same love with me. It is a challenge God has led my way to understand the essence of love.

Loving someone who shares the same love with you is a perfect illustration of love. God  has created humanity to share His love with us, in the first place.  It hurts, however, if we love someone who totally doesn't care and rejects the love we offer. I can't imagine how much hurt God could be when His own creation chooses to set apart from Him. It is the lesson I am learning. The art of love, risking love, and getting hurt when this love is not reciprocated.

Love is the foundation of genuine relationships. You should never expect to be loved mutually, but the beauty of it is that "you can never go wrong with love." Love, when shared mutually, is a very beautiful thing. But loving freely and unconditionally - even people who are hard to love, is the greatest gift we could offer to humanity, and an even greater gift we allow ourselves to receive.

Give love, share love, receive love. :)

Happy and Lovely 2014!

THE JOURNEY OF A GODDESS

In college, I had a roommate named Venus. Her name meaning "Goddess of beauty," she literally is a beautiful person inside and out. She is a year younger than me, and we met at Room 310 in UPLB New Dormitory, year 2007. We had fun times together, sharing and learning in class, in school, and in life.

A year after, we moved to a new apartment, together with our dear friend Monic, and there we still managed to live happily together. Being younger than me, I was surprised how this lady taught me many lessons I needed to learn back in college. At that point, I was beginning to grow in my Christian faith as a young leader at church, and there were times we talked about spirituality.

She struggled several times and asked so many questions about the Christian faith and I've seen how she sought to find answers to her questions. In my capacity at that time, I tried to also find answers to her questions and prayed for her spiritual journey. I sincerely prayed that she will find the answers to her questions, and that God will reveal himself to her.

I finished college a year earlier than she did. We only kept in touch very seldom through social media. She eventually got her degree, passed her board exam, and came to know Christ. I was surprised and excited to learn her story, six years after we first met.


***

When she was reviewing for her board exams, she prayed to God in an empty appeal, that if God allows her to pass her board exams, she will begin to seek and know Him. It was a half-meant, self-centered prayer of a person who wanted to pass a board exam and fulfill her career aspirations in Manila.

She passed her board exams, but she forgot about her prayer and was busy looking for a job in Manila. Unfortunately she cannot find a job that will support her and her family financially. Job opportunities in Manila for her field - Nutrition - does not promise good wage vis a vis her expenses. She decided to go back to her province where she could find a job that will support her family and will require only minimal expenses for her.

She worked at a hospital with another co-worker who was also a Christian. She stayed at an apartment and all her roommates happened to be also Christians. She remembered her prayer from before she took her board exams, and realized that God made a way for her to come to know Him more. She was surrounded by people who follow the Lord. So she started attending church services from time to time, until she finally wanted to seek the Lord and know Him better.

Since then, God has revealed Himself to her and never failed to amaze her. She never thought she would work in that  place, and that in exchange for her aspirations to work in Manila, God has prepared for her something far more wonderful and meaningful. She has come to know the Lord in a different way.

Right now, she is still on a journey towards pursuing career and family aspirations, but everything never felt the same again after she has come to know the Lord deeply. She trusts God in all her decisions, and she dreams of marrying a godly man and building a godly family of her own, someday. :)

Venus is one of the many people who have inspired my journey, and her journey towards knowing Christ has touched my heart so deeply. By the time she shared me her story, I knew it is worth including in the radical journeyist's page:)

This photo was from year 2008. We visited the UPLB Botanical Garden for the first time together. Looking back at our old photos refresh the great memories we shared back in college :)

Venus and I. Some years ago :)

The ROOMMATES from UPLB NEW DORM. Room 310. L-R Monic, Me, Venus, Corine, Nikki (Missing ate Yaos here)

WHAT IS A PEACE CHURCH?

Since I was born, I have been in a church. Being born and raised by a pastor and a family that is devoted to Christ and active in the church has been both exciting and challenging. I had my own share of frustrations, confusions, and heartaches because of the fact that being raised in a Christian family is not that easy. Don't misunderstand this, but being raised in a Christian family is really not easy. It is not what most people would assume it would be if your whole family is a Christian.

But my point of writing this is getting myself clear about the "church." Church, for me, has always meant family. Church has been a place where my whole family is, and everyone else who is part of the church is also part of my family. It is a place where everyone can share their lives - celebrations, grief, and conflict. Yes, conflict. It is part of every organic being getting together. Yet, the church has been a place where conflict is seen as a point of learning, growing, and transforming the life of the individuals involved in it.

I grew up in a traditional church setting where we meet every Sunday for worship service, we meet for mid-week service or prayer meetings on Wednesdays, support group or Bible study on Saturdays, and a whole lot of activities especially meant for men, women, youth, and children. This church experience has spiced up my life in that I've been prepared for the kind of work I am doing right now. Church activities are like programs, church leaders like bosses, youth members are like my co-workers, and the whole organizational dynamics that are always challenging. Church and work have been very similar for me.

So, if church and work seemed similar for me, what then, is the distinction of a church? And what does it mean to become a peace church?

For more than a year now, I am part of a budding community we call Peace Church. We meet every Wednesday nights to study the scripture, share and reflect, and eat together. We meet some Saturdays to get together with each other's families, eat, play, reflect, and dream! We are a church. Not the traditional church setting people would expect us to be, but we are a church. We are a peace church because we all follow Jesus Christ and embrace his teachings of peace and nonviolence, and we strive to live in obedience to this teaching. Would it be sufficient description of a church? If not, then what are we?

The word church as we now know it has been originally written in the Bible as ecclesia, which meant "a body of Christians CALLED OUT of the Roman and Judean system to come together into a separate civil community." The early Christians have been an ecclesia in that they proclaimed no other king but Jesus. They were called out and were turning the world system upside down. They dethroned kings and rulers in the  minds of the people, and those whose hearts responded became citizens of God's kingdom and joined the community of believers called ecclesia.

Now, let's look at the other way around. Suppose there is a community of people following Jesus and seeking to actively and obediently respond to his nonviolent radical teachings. Suppose they work together to read the scripture and actively pursue peace in their everyday life - career, business, family, hobbies, manners. Isn't that already an ecclesia? Isn't that a church? A church is not defined by the building where they meet or the regularity of worship services and the order of worship. A church, for me, has been and always will be a family. It is a community of shared lives seeking to actively follow the teachings of Jesus Christ in every aspect of our daily living.

What else do you see a peace church to be? You can share me your experiences and opinions.