Planting Seeds

I always believe that I wouldn't be where I am today if not for the people who have sowed seeds in my heart and took time to pray for me with or without my knowing.

One of my disciplers is Ate Ruby. She is my first small group leader and the one who shared One2One with me. I remember attending her small group before in Kalayaan Dorm in UP Diliman. I was in first year college then.

Being the only Miriam College student in that group, I am grateful that she chose to keep me and mentor me still. Knowing that someone didn't give up on me, took time and gave so much effort just so I would have a relationship with Jesus keeps me encouraged to do the same.

Just the other day, I asked her what encourages her to make disciples and to mentor people and why despite all the hardships, she still chooses to continue. She is so generous enough to give us some encouraging words. Read on and enjoy. :)

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What happens when after long days, months and years of labors and hard work, not even a single sprout appeared? After all the love has been given, not a bit of it was returned? After all the hundreds of texts that have been sent, not a single reply was received? What happens?

It will always be encouraging to plant, to labor, to persevere and to continue whenever our eyes could see glimpse of the bud, the flower and the fruit of what we have invested.

But what happens now when the fig tree has not blossomed? The vines have no fruit? The olive failed to produce? The field yielded no food? The flock was cut from the fold? And the stall has no more herds?

Are we to give up loving? Are we to despise the people who rejected us? Or are we to stop believing and obeying the commandment He has given us, which is to go and make disciples?

Along the way of making disciples, there will be times when we will experience drought, when there seems no fruit in the land we are tilling. There will be times of rejection, when people will say no right before our face. And there will be times when the love that we have given will not be reciprocated. How did I know? Because not only have I seen it but I have experienced it first hand.

But never have I lose hope. Yes, a lot of times I almost have given up - give up on encouraging, give up on giving and loving but thank God who always reminds me that my labors are not in vain. Many times have I cried before God, cried because there is no fruit in the land, cried because a voice is telling me that all I have invested has gone to nothing. But right there and then, God would remind me of the lives He has allowed me to mentor before, lives who once have received the seed and were forever changed. Lives who once have accepted the seed, were filled and now are continuing the work of planting the same seed that has been planted in them. What a domino effect! Right there and then I am amazed. Amazed of how the seed has grown, how it withstood all the storms of life and how it is multiplying now. Right there and then I have resolved, though years of labors give no sight of fruit never will I give up, never will I stop reaching out.

I will continue to plant, I will persist on giving and loving for He has said my labors are not in vain. Time will come, when I will see all the fruits of what I have planted. My job is to plant and wait, it will be Jesus who will grow the seed. Once Jesus grows seeds, their leaves will not wither, nor their fruit will fail, but they will bear fresh fruit every month, because the water for them flows from the sanctuary of the Living God.

Our labors are never in vain, one seed, one soul at a time. We will never know how far that seed would go unless we start sowing the seeds of love God has once sowed in our hearts. We give because He has given all, we reach out because He initiated to reach out to us and we love because He first loved us.

How can we get weary and lose sight of the big picture if we would fix our very eyes on Jesus who first did all these things for us. Anyway this is about Him.

Ate Ruby and I during her visit in QC last April 2010

Rubyruth Marie Garobo is an Economics graduate in University of the Philippines Diliman and is now currently working in Palawan State University as a professor.

I planted the seed, Apollos watered it, but God made it grow. So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God, who makes things grow. - 1 Corinthians 3:6-7

DAY 62 10.12.10 8:57pm

Why Reach Out to Your Campus?

The month of September has gone by like a whirlwind. It was during this month that the demands of my academics were at its peak. Each day was a tough fight that even finding time to sleep was a battle.

I'm sure you can relate.

Yet with all the demands that we get as students and with our busy schedules, why do some students still carve out time to do One2One, lead a Victory Group, share the Gospel or volunteer in a youth service? I guess the more important question would be, why do some students take time to reach out to their campus?

You've probably heard a lot from me already and for sure you'll hear more soon. So I thought it would be nice to hear from some of the students from the three major campuses in Quezon City.

So here it is, enjoy and be encouraged! :)


Steph Gabriel

A few months ago, if you ask me who am I and what do I do, I could answer in a heartbeat--I’m Stephanie Gabriel, libero for the Ateneo Women’s Volleyball Team. I have this clear definition of who I am, and it’s something that I really hold on to. I think everyone is like that. We always try to define who we are because apart from that identity, we think we can’t make sense of life. The problem is, because change is inevitable in this world, we keep holding on to an identity that is temporary. That is why people keep on searching. I, for one, have been searching. As I feel my own definition slip away, something in my heart seems to slowly come to clarity. Somewhere along the way, I wanted to say I have finally found it, but I know it has been there all along, waiting for acknowledgement. It’s an identity, and what makes all the difference is that it is constant.

I am Somebody’s creation. That alone already gives me a path. And every step I take, it is ever clearer. I have been a “Christian” all my life. I grew up in a Christian community, studied in a Christian school. But it never made sense to me until a few months back. I am basically new to this. But because it made so much sense, my heart overflows. I just have to tell someone. I have to reach out. Not because I need to, but because I could not contain it. For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks. I know how it feels to be lost and constantly searching. But I also just came to know that there is rest. You can’t deny who you truly are. It will come out, no matter what. But why wait until you are weary? I guess it’s true that the more you know, the more you are responsible. But what amuses me is that because it’s Jesus, reaching out is not a matter of responsibility, but of love.

Stephanie Gabriel is a graduate from Ateneo de Manila University and currently taking up her Master's Degree at the Ateneo School of Business. She is the libero for the Ateneo Woman's Volleyball Team.

Patrick Diaz

Why reach out?

When you enter into a relationship with God, you will feel that it is something so wonderful you couldn't just keep it to yourself. When something good happens to you, you want to tell your friends about it. But when the best thing that could ever happen to you, happens to you, you COULDN'T NOT tell it to the world. A genuine relationship with God, and the countless perks that with it overflow: nothing could get better than that.

Knowing about the sacrifice of Jesus which is good for everyone but seeing that not everyone knows about it just pushes you to preach it to them. Being with your friends everyday and seeing them not sure of what or who they are living for, or from whom to draw comfort and strength when they need it, or where they will go after their life in this earth, you couldn't just sit back and relax and not tell them about Jesus.

Truth is, one doesn't get any material reward for doing this. In fact, reaching out and engaging people could cost you a lot of money, time, and energy. It requires you to get out of your comfort zone, get into many awkward moments of sharing the Word, feel people try to avoid you and think you are weird for what you do. But what keeps one encouraged and fired up is knowing that it is not him who saves the people but Jesus, and he is merely Jesus' instrument. This is also the reason why difficult and seemingly impossible cases become possible. Why Sauls could turn to Pauls. And why we could keep the faith even when people don't reply to our texts or attend our Victory groups.

"Jesus' instrument." I'm absolutely sure there's no title I would rather have than that. He loves me so much that He gave His life just so I could be with Him. There's nothing I could do for Him that would match up to what He did for me. So if the most that I could do in this life is to be His instrument, that's what I will do. Because I know that He loves us more than I could possibly imagine, I know it would please Him if I would live my life, trying to lead as many people to their faith in Him.

Also, it's a command from Him which we disciples don't have the option to just politely decline. He said it in His Word, along with a message that He will be with us.

Why the campus?

According to Pastor Manny Carlos, who is one of the founders of Victory QC, the campuses of Miriam, Ateneo and UP compose only about 2% of the college population of the Philippines, but almost all the leaders of this country come from these campuses. This makes the campuses a good and strategic starting point for discipling the nation. I also believe God put me in my campus not just so that I could have good education but also so that He could use me to shine His light here.

Patrick Diaz is a 1st year BS Civil Engineering student at the University of the Philippines, Diliman.


Meg Samelin

"Why do you reach out to your campus?", Fiona asked

I remained silent, letting myself drown into the feeling of being joyfully unexplainable. It was the feeling that topped my answer.

I am fond of calling my past as my "dark years" simply because I haven't seen the light yet, it was when I was lost in the dark because my life didn't have any direction.

After knowing my God, a new life was given to me, a brighter and better life.

Coming to know God did not happen in a blink of an eye, it was a journey Fiona and I started with God. I was in school when we started to talk about Him seriously, something I was not used to but I slowly fell in love with it.

After my life has been changed and I began to see myself as a daughter and follower of Christ, I knew right there and then that I should share what I've felt and the changes I've undergone but most importantly share about God who made it all possible to my fellow students.

I have witnessed and realized that many students strive hard to blend in with the ways and beliefs of the world that they are being led to nowhere, trying to be satisfied with what the world offers and looking for their purpose in life. Little do they know that apart from God we are nothing.

Purpose is known, meaning is given when we are one with Him.

Why do I reach out to my campus? Because God is worth knowing, His word is worth sharing.

Meg-Anne Samelin is a 4th year student in Miriam College taking up AB Communication.

DAY 59 10.09.10 3:30am