Don't Just Pass it On

Second semester has begun and it's a bittersweet. This is going to be my last as a college student.

This semester I hope to shift my focus (ministry speaking) from leading small groups to training and empowering potential leaders; from overseeing Night LIFE to mentoring someone to oversee it. The time has come to pass it on to someone. The worst thing that I could do is let go of my small group or my job as a volunteer in Night LIFE right before graduation and entrust it to the people next in line unprepared.

Recently, I came across Maria Ressa's statement on leaving ABS-CBN as the chief of news and current affairs. Her contract expires in January of 2011 but she will no longer wait for January 2011 to leave, rather she chose to go on a terminal leave starting November 15. I loved her reason behind it, "It’s time for me to move on, but it’s important we transition properly and prepare our organization – and its new leader – for the challenges ahead."

As leaders, it is also our job to prepare the next leader. We don't have to wait until they take over and become leaders themselves to teach and mentor them what to do, we can actually start it as early as now. That's why it's called preparation in the first place. Preparation happens before, not during.

I hope and pray that I will be able to prepare the next leaders and encourage them NOT to be like me but rather to see them do greater than what I've done.

This semester is going to be exciting!

DAY 85 11.04.10 2:10am

Back-to-back-to-back

Three significant events that took place the past few days...

August 27, Friday - Night LIFE

We've just entered a new season in Night LIFE as we are trying to incorporate new things in our youth event. Last Friday was the second time that we ended the word by singing a worship song and it was the first time that we were led by a full-band worship team. We sang the song "You Are God" and "You'll Come." God's presence was there. You see, praise and worship is something new to the students who attend our event so we're on that stage of trying figure out what will work best for them. At the end of the day, whatever format we may come up with, our goal still is to minister. So far, worshiping God after hearing the word works for Night LIFE.


We also invited Ptr. Joseph Bonifacio to speak an encouraging word for us last Friday. He talked about being thirsty for God. It was powerful. After the word, we had our usual "Coffee Talk." It has been a trend in Night LIFE where we don't just only listen to the word but we also take time to share among our groups what we learned. This is my personal favorite because it gives us an opportunity to check our hearts, to think and apply the lessons to our personal situations in life. This is the time where the word gets more personal.


August 28-29, Saturday and Sunday - Campus Victory Weekend


Three girls from Miriam College attended Victory Weekend last Saturday and Sunday. It was refreshing for me and life changing for the three girls. Seeing people die of their old self and living a new life in Christ never gets old. Indeed, if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed. I am excited to see what God can do in and through them. I am also blessed by their heart to reach out to their friends and classmates. I believe that God will use them to shake our campus and I am in faith that they will do greater things than what I've done when I was their age.


August 31, Tuesday - SJE's LSS: Life's Successes and Struggles Event


This is the second time that LifeBox was invited by a student organization to give a talk inside Miriam College. The first one was when David Bonifacio gave a talk on "Value" to Marketing students. This time, Joey Molina gave an inspirational talk to the Entrepreneur students. We didn't stop by just giving a talk but we also encouraged the students to continue on learning from each other by joining a Life Group or more popularly known to Miriam students as Chill. Around 170 students attended the event and a lot of them signed up for Chill. This is a major major breakthrough and I am believing that God will open more doors of opportunities.


These back-to-back-to-back events leave me with no words to express how great God is moving in my campus. He loves the youth so much, isn't He? And this is just but a tiny piece of the bigger picture. I believe as we continue to sow seeds in the hearts of the young generation, we will see a great harvest that will not only change our generation but will also make an impact even to the generation after us. Let us not stop preaching the Gospel and discipling the youth! :)

"Do not let anyone look down on you because you are YOUNG. But set an example to the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity" - 1 Timothy 4:12 NIV

"Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up." - Galatians 6:9 NIV

DAY 20 08.31.10 11:28pm