Dear Pastors and Brethren,
I pray that you all had a very exciting week. Life is a journey and each moment is full of exciting opportunities to know the Lord and experience His love. This past weekend, September 2-4, we had a wonderful chance to be with about 80 pastoral team leaders during the Pastoral Team Conference. Almost all the churches in Mindanao have been represented. We praise God because He has given us the opportunity through different means, to continue to equip our leaders nationwide and to affirm them for their wonderful participation in the Lord’s ministry to our brethren and the community. We thank Mindanao Area Superintendent Pastor Jerome Manriquez for organizing the first Mindanao-wide conference in many years. The atmosphere was one of excitement that expresses love, desire for learning and harmony.
With me at the conference were Pastor Rex dela Pena and Pastor and Mrs. Audie Santibanez. They were my equipping team who helped me cover vital subjects on High Impact Teams, Personal Formation, how do we embody our Christ-centered theology in our lives and ministries, working relationships in our local churches and in our denomination. We praise God for the very positive feedback from our leaders on the modules covered. Our desire is to follow this up with other training events early next year. We plan to extend this benefit to other areas. Please pray for God’s provision for the upcoming Visayas Conference as well, which is scheduled this coming October 8-9.
“Beloved”
Last Sunday, September 4, I also got to join around 400 brethren for the “Beloved” Concert 2 organized by Glory to the Lord Fellowship in celebration of their 7th anniversary. This was held in Camp Aguinaldo, Quezon City. This family concert was a tribute to God in worship, using the different gifts of our local churches, primarily at GCI Quezon City. The praise songs and dances were interpreted by singers from our local churches. The songs were original compositions of brethren locally and from as far as Australia. Thank you to our brethren - Nitz Malaga, Andy Calope, Elma Manseguiao, Carlos Castro and Noel Almera - for those original compositions. I encourage them and those who have a passion for music to keep writing songs for the Lord! Thanks also to Bidz dela Cruz for his support in directing this family concert. I understand how much time and labor of love went into this project and I praise God for the commitment and enthusiasm of our leaders in Glory to the Lord Fellowship led by Pastor Andrew Teng, and of course, our artists coming from the nearby churches for their involvement. With the fun and the encouragement that resulted, the concert was indeed a pre-festival celebration.
Festival 2011
Entering into the “ber” months, our festival celebrations all over the country are now coming up. In Luzon, it takes place on September 21-25, 2011 in Baguio City. In other areas like Bacolod and Cagayan de Oro, the brethren are also busy preparing for these special celebrations, which will take place the end of October. To avoid the typhoon season during October, the brethren in Bicol are preparing for their celebration to take place in December.
Wherever these celebrations may take place, your presence will be most welcome! Our theme for this year is “Growing Together in His Love”. God has progressively expressed His goodness and grace to love to us. As we reflect on almost 50 years of our journey, we relish with awe every bit of our journey with Him. Our growth in understanding prompts us to grow in responding, and in living according to that love. There are many reasons to celebrate! The leaders are busily preparing for these special events that will make the brethren and the community feel God’s love in bigger ways, as we gather as a family of churches. Your presence is already an expression of that love.
We hope that all of you could attend. Let us pray for good weather, the logistical preparations involved, the messages, and the financial provisions. We pray that the brethren will find favor from their respective work places and schools so that they can have a time off for our special gatherings!
I am sure that in your circumstances this week, miracles took place too. Some may be big and life-changing; others not as obvious, but still significant and praise-worthy. Share them with us. I would like us to be able to pray together for our circumstances. Let us grow together as we witness the hand of the Lord at work in our lives.
I commend all of you to a life of faith in our God. Let Him be the strength of all our days. The apostle Peter said that with the Lord, a day is like a thousand years, and thousand years are like a day. His grace and His patience abound. He wants all to experience His goodness, and every day is an opportunity to respond to God. We reckon that our days are numbered with every passing hour, but let us take heart, knowing that the God who is beyond time, but who stepped into time, is the God of every season of our lives. Let us make our limited time as humans count much in God. He is the Lord of our lifetimes and He is faithful. He can use and expand our limited energies and lives – individually and as a church to impact many and for a long time.
God’s best!
Ka Eugene
