G12 1728 Pinoy Encounter (Baguio City)

G12 Pinoy 1728 Pinoy Encounter
August 26-28, 2008
Baguio Convention Center

Hello, hello, hello!
I’ve obviously been so busy these previous weeks.
I realized that I actually I haven’t even blogged about the G12 Pinoy 1728 Encounter at Baguio City and the G12 Conferences at Davao and Cebu (as well as the side trips on those voyages).

Note: this isn’t a long blog entry. It only has a lot of pictures, so ignore your lazy eyes and read on :-P

Okaaaay. So yeah, I’ve been to the islands of the Philippines in three weeks as we’ve (my family and I) gone through all the major G12 conferences for this year (Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao networks). Btw, G12 (Government of 12 or the "principle of twelve") is a church vision and strategy that was first implemented by Pastors César and Claudia Castellanos at International Charismatic Mission in Bogotá, Colombia. We’ve actually implemented the G12 Vision at our church back in 2002 through the mentoring of Ptr.Frank, but has stopped employing it for some time now. Well, not until Ptr. Frank Santos of TFBC (Tarlac) called my dad up and told him that he choose him to be one of his National G12, or the National 144.
What in the world is this 144? You might be wondering..
Ptr. Castellanos appointed a G12 Coordinator for the Philippines (Ptr. Rich Witmer). This coordinator then also chose the Philippines’ G12 National Leaders/ Pastors (one of which is Ptr. Frank). These 12 also will choose their 12 from all over the country or the 144 (one of which is dad, who belongs to Ptr. Frank’s network). These 12 will, again, choose 12 who will come from their respective churches (which will complete the 1728).
1x12= 12
12x12= 144
144x12= 1728
1728x12= 20736 and so on…
The network isn’t meant for “positions” but for proper coordination purposes. The vision is not to have a lot of people come to church. Rather, it pursues a goal to win souls for Jesus and to bring multitudes in salvation and in discipleship that they, themselves, may also win souls for His Kingdom!

*all photos were shrunk to speedup site loading. Just click on them to see their larger versions.

FIRST DAY

36 people from our church went to the G12 1728 Encounter held at the Baguio City Convention Center from August 26 to 28 of this year.
The collage below are pictures of us at the registration/ lobby area of the convention hall (aww.. nostalgic! This is where ‘Judgment Morning’ plays where held when we were still staying at Baguio).
You’ll see Ps. Frank placing G12 pins on my parents’ collars. You’ll also see me writing down 36 names for the registration (it was freezing cold, so I had hard time writing!).
The event started off with a great praise and worship (okay, worship is not just singing, but it’s the term that I am used to :D) lead by a group which I think is from one of the churches in Baguio. It was great to experience worshiping the Lord through melodies and songs together with more or less two thousand strong and faithful leaders around the Philippines, specifically the Luzon area. Iba, e. 80% of the delegates were pastors – such anointed and sanctified ones, so the worship was beautifully spontaneous. Most were on their 30s, 40s, and 50s, but nevertheless the air was full of energy and a passionate spirit in worshiping God in spirit and in truth. It was a different worship experience for me.
No much jumping, shouting, and perspiring (which is typical in youth gatherings), but the Lord was truly magnified.

Ptr. Rich Witmer and Ptr. Johnny Touzet, the main speakers, were introduced and were given a short time to talk a bit about their messages for the next days.
HO-HO. We managed to take a picture with them before they left the convention center!
Anyway, here’s the house we’ve rented for three days (thanks, ate Jackie, for finding us a place to stay). It was spacey so we really got a chance to relax. For the first time (after a long time), I’ve fallen asleep before 11 PM (credits to my iPod and the Passion Podcast).
Breakthrough it was -- I woke up before 5AM the next morning!

SECOND DAY

Today marks the end of having myself included in photos! Argh!

The same worship team lead us, but with new worship leaders.

Ptr. Rich introduced his whole family who flew all the way from Arizona with him. It was really cool to figure out that his 8-year old son (second youngest) leads a cell group already! They must’ve really been caught by the vision! Ptr. Rich preached the message “If I Change, Everything Changes” where he discussed the power of change, mentioning 7 people in the Bible who changed in the presence of God and were greatly used by the Lord. I will blog about that wonderful message some time.Ptr. Johnny talked about Righteousness and Sin through II Corinthians 5:21

God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.

Aha. *light bulb over head* So this is where the first line of Chris Tomlin’s Jesus Messiah was taken from. Just a thought! :D



After the morning session, Ptr. Frank called my dad and invited us for a lunch fellowship with his other G12 --- I was included out of the blue.haha. Korean food for lunch (aaahh.. Vanj and I suddenly remembered Malaysia!).

LAST DAY

The session today started with everyone taking group photos at the front! Ahaha.


Anyway, I was soooo happy 'cause we were able to take the second row seats during the last day. No more zooming of lenses! ;-)

L-R: Mom welcoming the Witmers// other people asked me to take pictures of them with Ptrs. Rich & Johnny // Ptr.Bobby & Ptr.Rodel with Ptr.Rich // Sis.Star called Melissa (Ptr.Rich’s wife) and introduced her to my mom.haha.Big time si mommy Star! // group picture with Ps.Melissa // (some) JRC delegates
Nasan ako? Wala. HAHA. Kamusta naman ‘yun :-P

More photos...

Grabe, so much inputs! I made use of 7 back-to-back pages of my devo notebook! Digest..digest..digest!
I was spiritually refreshed and had a deeper desire to really change and consecrate myself as the Lord equips me for discipling a multitude.

As Ptr.Frank ended the convention, I would also end this blog entry with "Mabuhay ang G12 family! Mabuhay ang Pilipinas!"