Music Ministry Leaders, Unite!

MM Leaders:
♫ Ptr.Gregg -ang poging-poging music director & pastor ng JRC-San Jose.
- plays the first keyboard
- married with 3 children. Sorry. ;p
- lahat na yata ng instruments alam nang i-play
- disciplinarian
- code names: kumukulong tubig ;p
♫ Ptra. Anne -JRC’s worship leader and pastor
- Actually, we don’t call her pastora; ate anne kasi ang sanay naming. For the others, Sis. Anne.
- super galing kumanta; super anointed
- has a big big big heart for the ministry
- code names: kagandahan, kape
♫ Julius -band leader
- plays the bass
- co-youth leader ko; assistant yata ‘to ni Ptr.Phil
- kasama ko nang lumaki sa church
- one of my closest friends; as in close talaga
- code names: moo, tol, sugar
♫ Jez - dance ministry leader
- has been in the ministry for more than 8 years
- has been leading the dance ministry for more than 3 years
- youth worship leader
- code names: buddy, cupcake, kagandahan, kamahalan, tol, creamer

Never mind the code names ;-p

Ptr.Gregg called for a Music Ministry Leaders' meeting.
It was our first ever MM Leaders’ meeting & fellowship.
I didn’t know what to expect. Well, at least I have thought we’d have little sharings and updates on our own ministries.
What really happened? Hmm.. I can’t tell you exactly (yes, they’ve reminded me not to blog about what we’ve talked about. hehe). Basta I loved them more :)

I have realized that it’s easier and happier to work on the ministry this way. Iba talaga. It was my first time to fall in love with them this much ♥ Pure ministerial love.
I have been with Ptr. Gregg for like 3 years, ate Anne for about 10 years, and Julius for like 9 years.. Of course, it’s impossible not to love such nice and anointed people, but this time, it was different. It was another level of love and thankfulness for their lives as my friends and co-ministry workers.
Now, we’re most united in love, spirit, and action. I know this is yet another beginning of something great the Lord is about to do on advancing His Kingdom ü

Youthnited

I know the Lord was pleased tonight, and I am not getting all the credits for that. It was the youthnited spirit that paved way for everything that was done in line with the will and likeness of our Big Boss :)

Indeed, all things work together for the good of those who love God.

We can never put all things in accordance of our own plans 'cause surely the ways of God are higher than our ways.

Tonight, not everything I have expected was put into place; but I saw greater things- greater messages from the Lord.

I had quite a hard time leading the praise and worship at first. Some were unresponsive on the flow of worship; but then, it was not and will never be my job to carry them all as I lead. One od the things I couldn't forget from Darlene Zschech's book Extravagant Worship was the text on connecting to God as one leads a crowd into worship.

During the period that I was a bit burdened, it flashed into my mind that I shouldn't be bearing such loads. As a worship leader, I should connect my heart and everything within me to the Spirit and heart of God; for when I get to connect to the Father's heart and Spirirt, it would then be that connection that would connect the people to the spirit of worship.

Praise God, it was another magnificent worship experience for me, the p&w team, and the whole youth ministry. How Great is Our God!

Ptr.Phil's message was very inspiring. I pray and believe that every single word planted on the hearts of the young people would grow and bear fruit in God's due time :)

"If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things has passed way; behold, new things have come." II Corinthians 5:17

The whole night was greaaaat!

Sabi nga ni Ptr.Phil on his group message (sms) while we were having our snacks (oo, nakiki-GM na rin si Ptr.Phil sa mga youth leaders), "Ang saya saya. God is really blessed."

Lives were re-commited; new souls surrendered.

How Great is Our God!

YOUTHNITED Preparations

Everybody's excited for the incoming
Y
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U N I T E D
T
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We, the youth leaders are very thrilled on what the Lord will do on Friday. In line with this, we had a week-long preparation for it.

Anyway, I would want to first present you some of my co- youth ministry workers and leaders before I start narrating. (this isn’t complete, though)

MONDAY 07.23.07
I do not have classes on Monday afternoons so I got a long time to prepare for our scheduled practice for the youth net's P&W (Praise and Worship).
Vanj, Jett, and Dhez, my back-up singers for the past youth nets, will not be around on the Youthnited (awww), so I would have Monica, Jeza, Joy, and Donna as the back-ups. Donna has been a back-up singer ever since I started worship leading; Jeza and Monica have been involved in the music ministry since April, I think.
Julius (moo) asked me to burn/make a CD for him that'd contain the songs we will be having for the Youthnited as well as the next youth nets. Btw, Julius and Donna are siblings so I thought the CD would be a useful practicing tool for them since Julius is our bassist while Donna, again, is a back-up singer.
I also made compilations of songs for Jeza and Monica to rehearse.

The time agreed was 5, but since I want to be there earlier, I arrived at the by 4:30 and had a prayer time. Monica-Jeza-Donna, Joy, Keyong-Joseph-Julius-Giovan-Ptr.Phil came (in order).

Our practice was okay; I just thought we should be more united as our theme goes. Some of the back-ups were not so familiar with How Great is Our God, so we kind of had flats.
Anyway, I also noticed how Kim (the drummer) matured. Unlike before, he was more open to teachings & corrections on his beats. Good job, Kim!

I also had a great sharing time with Ptr. Phil, our superb youth pastor. The Lord has given me wonderful people around – Ptr. Phil’s included ;)

Line-up:
Refiner’s Fire
King of Majesty
Open the Eyes of My Heart
Great is the Lord
How Great is Our God (selah: How Great Thou Art)


TUESDAY 07.24.07
Jett and I met at school during both our breaks. We’ve talked about the stage preparations for the YOUTHNITED night. Actually, he won’t be there on the event (he’s a DevComm officer, I think they have an affair on the same day); so I guess with that, he wants to contribute in any way he should or at least can. We both agreed to ask Ptr. Phillip for a special meeting re groundwork for the youth net.
I dropped-by home after class to freshen up a bit, and then went straight to the church.

Y
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T
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<-- Ptr.Phil






WEDNESDAY 07.25.07
Youth P&W practice: 1800 PM; since my class was until 6 PM I arrived several minutes late at the church. Our practice was okay; it was just that we don’t have a male back-up—Giovan and Julius, take charge! ;p











After our practice, we started on our stage banner. It was super funnnnn :D

Julius is taking up BS CE so we used his stuffs (T-square and other engineering equipments which I am not very familiar with. Hehe).
Went home quite late (10 PM).

**kinuha nanaman ni Julius yung headband ko.Hmp. Ibalik moooo!

THURSDAY 07.26.07
Whooo. Seeing the date today makes my heart jump, roll, and tumble. I’m not scared of the youth net. There’s just much excitement, tension, and passion that are mixed inside me. The YOUTHNITED will be tomorrow. Yes. I better start conserving my voice. he he.

Tomorrow, I believe, will be a very blessed and compassionate night for the JRC youth. Tomorrow night will be a great start of a real life for the invited ones :)

Anyway, my meeting with Ptr. Gregg and other Music Ministry leaders was cancelled. It was somehow good news---more prep time! I went at the church at around 5PM. Julius and Joseph were already there. Oh.. the banner was excellently done by then! Joseph spent the whole night finishing it (Reina and my buddy helped, too). How blessed is the youth ministry for having such creative (and patient) people!

Donna, Joy, Reina, and Rian came at around 5:30. We’ve waited for Jett since he was the one designated to dye the cloths that’ll be used for the stage decoration (Actually, hindi din siya nakarating ‘till umuwi na kami; he was at CLSU kasi).
We do not want idleness around so we’ve decided to make the side banner stands. It was a blessing that Keyong and Kim came, too, so we had four carpenters. hehe. Ang galing nila, actually. Nakakatuwa to see young people work together without any force but passion.

Rian and I bought pancit canton- something to consider as dinner ;) Nyum.

Ptr. Phil came during our so-called dinner. He’s a licensed engineer so he, of course, helped on the side banner stands. (Hmm, feeling ko lang kasi basta engineer magaling with such stuffs).

Tonight was so great! We had a great bonding time. Super.

Also, it was cool that we had lots of photos taken tonight since I was teaching Rian some photog lessons (naks! Pro photographer daw). She will be on the multi-media ministry for the YOUTHNITED (and probably for all the incoming events).

Rian recorded this video as she was practicing:

(skip with the one holding the cross.. hehe. Enjoy!)

Christian life's the best :)

Youthnited in Christ 07.27.07 --- See YOU.

Commendations on my Psych110 Class

Today was the first day our block would meet with Mam P a r a y n o (Psych110) after our first term exam. I believe everybody was holding on to their sits in case Mam Auda would announce the results of our first exam as Psych students ;p

Mam Auda was being honest when she said that she was somehow disappointed (uhm, that wasn’t the exact word she used. I just can’t recall) with the outcomes. Geek. After I got flying colors with my Psych100, does this mean I’m having black-and-whites this time?

“Okay, so after checking I think more than 30 of your papers, I would like to commend these two students who did really great on their exam. Nahalata talaga that they’ve read the book as well as the articles. Okay so, I they are Mr. Dulias (class: wow…) and Ms. M a n u g u e (class: oooh).”

Goodness gracious! My knees started shaking for unknown reasons (I rather should be very confident lah). Mam Auda even asked me to stand up three times to read my essays (questions 1-3). Wee. Actually, okay din ‘di ba? Plus points sa crush ko. Kidding! ;p I was a bit shy; I didn’t want my classmates to feel like I’m so proud—talk about being a humble Filipino ;)
Anyway, Angelo (Dulias) read his answer on the fourth and last essay (I know my answer on the fourth wasn’t that so good ‘because I only had 2 minutes for that particular question. time limit.)

After the class, I almost hid my face from some of my classmates ‘cause a lot of them approached me and gave me their praises. The funniest feedback I had, though, was from kuya Allan, our batch president. He grabbed my hand and tapped his forehead on it. Aba! Nag-mano? “Jez. Ang galling mo talaga. Sayo na lang ako mag-papa-edit ng mga paperwork ko. I think.. I think.. I think I’m fallin’. Hehe” (puh-leeees, walang issue. Kuya ko siya. He’s a decade older.)

Hypocrisy aside, it’s pretty flattering to receive such feedbacks and affirmations :)

Though I don’t study hard just for these things, I guess it’s a bonus to be given such commendations.
I do not want to boast of it; I just feel good about it. 8-)

Anyhow, I would like to give back all the praise to the One who deserves all these best. Praise God for what He has done. I would hold on to my faith that I did a great job not by my own might and power, but by the Spirit of the Lord.
He never fails me. How Great is our God!

Together Again (..with the youth)

I missed my co-youth leaders at the church.

I have been "quiet" for weeks; haven't really talked to them a lot.. But well, obliterate that. It has been done and is now okay ;)

Anyway, we had a meeting tonight at the church. Our primary agenda was the incoming Youth Net (this Friday, 6 PM). This would be my first youth net after I came from Malaysia & Singapore; I missed two major youth events during my stay at the spicy-food-lovers'-place.

I feel so blessed because I was, again, able to have a bonding and strengthening time with them. I really missed laughing out loud with them! Also, I am glad that I had an opportunity to share something the Lord made me learn from the Project Barnabas - "People will never care about you unless they'll know and feel that you care about them."

I shared with them my personal experience as a "newbie" in a church (Malaysia). Nothing negative about HSG people's treatment - I just had a BIG lesson. That'd probably qualify for another blog post.

Anyway, I will also lead the praise and worship. Whoa. During the previous youth nets, which i missed, Jett was used by God as the worship leader :) Thank God for his life.

Now, I'm so excited that I'm back - not at the scene- but at service. I have started as the youth worship leader before I graduated from high school. (Actually, I used to count the times I lead.. but..err. I don't know what happened to my counting. Hehe) Now that I'm a college sophie already, I am blessed to still be entrusted by the Lord of such a ministry. Lagi akong niloloko ng mga youth.. ako daw si Darlene Shrek. Ha-ha.

Anyway, I guess my passion for the young people is driven more and more. Praise God for this.

I believe every young people should be really compassionate to have such a passion for others, the way Jesus has for us.

"To whom much is given-- much is required."

We are given much; use whatever the Lord has placed in your hands and heart.

Be compassionate for passion.

Be blessed!

My buddy's 20th bee-day

Last Sunday evening, I cannot break off thinking what gift I could give my best friend (buddy) on her 20th birthday (July 16, Monday).
I was exchanging sms’ with Julius, a co-youth leader, about my plans on my buddy’s birthday who actually is his cousin. (Btw, Julius, my buddy, and I are very good friends. They’re like my closest friends... ever). I also was exchanging text messages with my buddy – greetings and all.

Anyway, the next day (Monday), I’ve gathered enough plans for her birthday. I’ve sent group messages to other young people in the church about my plan – a surprise visit! ;) At first, it was frustrating that only two replied... but then, I’m the celebrant’s best friend, I shall not be outdrawn by few replies, right? So there, after my Statistics class, I went straight to Thelma’s to order some goodies for her mini birthday party :)

I went back at Thelma’s by 5 PM to take my orders and then went to the church, our meeting place, with Vanj. Errr.. again, it was frustrating to wait for them ‘till 5:50 PM.

Anyway, we just took a walk on our way to my buddy’s place since it was somehow near the church. The walk we had was fun. There were only 7 of us yet we never stopped laughing :D Masaya talaga ang buhay Kristiyano.
Few steps from the Duran’s place, the rain poured really really hard. I mean, really, it was hard ;p
An umbrella was brought by no one so we all ended up running – getting wet.

As we approached their house, Reina, our accomplice, opened the gate for us. We then sang the birthday song for my buddy. Oh man! She was pretty amazed and shocked. She never thought we’d do that. Akala daw niya it would be her most boring birthday. Well! Well! Who would permit that naman, ‘di ba?

That night was fun. It was the first time, since the quietness and all, for my co-youth leaders and I hang-out altogether again. I missed them. We had lots of sharings – na-miss talaga mag-usap-usap intimately, like we used to do.

I’ll be posting the photos on my multiply na lang.

Happy Birthday, BUDDY!
Be a blessing to more people. God Bless :) Love you.

Hugs,

there's just much pain

It just brings out much salty stuffs from my lids when *** whom I love most is involved.
Lord, help him.

There's just too much shakening.
Lord, help him.

Blessed are those who have ears for they will HEAR.