March is now a blur. It was one of my busiest months in the ministry, demanding much time, energy and resources. I could barely pause and reflect because of the overlapping demands from the Lord's ministry.
Just to give you an idea of how busy March was, I'm listing the activities I joined:
1. DCF elections
From the praying, to the challenging, voting, counting and down to the proclamation, I worked hand-in-hand with the outgoing DCF exec. The election season is really one of the most faith-stretching times of the campus ministry. Yet, God is always faithful. At the end of the elections, He gave us Bryan as chairperson, Hubert and Jasper as Vice-chairs for the central exec. In the dorms, God raised Jeanette for Sampa-Kamia and JD for Yakal. As of this writing, we're still praying for the KalBrig Head and the core heads for Cente, Molave and Ilang.
2. DCF send-off fellowship
March also marks the graduation season in UP. During this time, the seniors slowly inch their way to finishing their undergraduate degrees. They overcome the last requirements, papers, exams and THESIS! For us who are staying, we send them off to a new phase of life during the last big gathering of DCF. Our send-off or kick-off GA features a challenge for the graduating to continue burning for God as well as an encouragement for the younger batches to continue God's ministry in the dorms.
3. ACTS closing fellowship
I also work with a high school ministry in Pisay called ACTS. Because the college and high school academic calendar are parallel, March also marks the closing of our Pisay ministry for 2013-2014. Like in DCF, we also had a send-off fellowship and a baccalaureate service for the graduating seniors. Though I'm handling the Juniors batch, I still know a number of the graduating senior from our ACTS fellowship. It is not really a goodbye for me because most of them are entering UP. Chances are, I'll still be ministering to them as they go through college life.
4. ACTS year-end reporting and retreat
The ACTS counselors and teachers gathered in a year-end overnight retreat at IGSL to look back, reflect and plan ahead. We revisited our goals drafted two years earlier and evaluated our performance. We looked at our progress as far as our vision of raising faithful disciple-makers is concerned. For us in the Juniors, we still have a lot of work to do. However, last year's recollection was a big boost in the enthusiasm and involvement of our students. We're praying for greater maturity and responsibility for the incoming Seniors next year.
5. VOICE three-day values teaching at Kisay
The Quezon City Science High School opened its gates to the VOICE Ministry this month. I volunteered to teach Godly values to a very dynamic grade seven class. I was with 7-Neon for two days and we tackled truth and honesty, self-discipline and responsibility. Even if I stayed with them for only a short time, I built friendships among the freshies. We're praying that Kisay will eventually allow us to teach values on a weekly basis next year.
On the third day, I was a teacher for the Juniors Neon on Love and sexuality. Many of the students were excited with the topic. I think this is because they're starting to fall in love and have crushes in their puberty stage. Our lesson was a condensed curriculum developed by VOICE, and much like the True Love Waits series. I was hoping for a longer time to teach the material, but even in our brief interactions, I'm praying that the students will commit to live in purity through and for the Lord. I don't know how many will respond to the challenge, but I'm trusting God to water the small seeds planted in their hearts.
6. Grade 6 Recollection at Balara Elementary School
I serve not only college and high school students but even elementary pupils. I joined our church at a recollection for graduating elementary students of Balara Elementary School. We had a simple program per class with games, songs and a short reflective session called "Timeline." During the activity, we encouraged the students to look back and beyond their life's timeline. We encouraged them to see God's faithfulness in past experiences. We also challenged them to trust in God's continuing goodness as they look forward to their future . I handled a relatively shy class, but there were still a number of active students. The recollection was very challenging because I had to compete for the students's attention. There were noise, heat, other activities and sleepiness to contend with. My joy, however, rested in the opportunity to serve our youth. We ended our recollection with full hearts, expectant of better years for our students in high school.
7. Sem-ender meetings at Cente and Kalai Fellowships
DCF has satellite fellowships in the dorms. So, aside from our central send-off meeting, I also joined the fellowships in Cente and Kalai during their sem-ender gathering. We spent the time looking back at the year that was while enjoying food together. We also prayed for the graduating members of our fellowship. This was true for Cente as we bid farewell to Jim, Job and Marlon.
The Kalai fellowship is made up of freshies and sophomores so no one was graduating. We had a passing of the baton, however, as we transferred the responsibilities for next year's gatherings to the freshies. They will soon be ates and kuyas as a new batch of freshmen enters UP this first semester.
8. DCF's new exec preliminary meeting
A lot of changes are coming to the college ministries starting 2014-2015. For one, UP Diliman now adopted the Aug-Dec, Jan-May academic cycle. From our usual June opening, we're starting two months later. This logistical challenge met our new DCF exec. As such, I worked with them to have a long overdue strategic planning. Everything is new so we decided to have a fresh start. We were able to finish the DCF's purpose, mission, values, vision and goal during the first part of the meeting. There's still much to do, but with the long break ahead, God has given us more than enough time to prepare. I'm excited to see God's plans unravel this coming year.
9. Planning and preparation for ATS Missions Trip
Aside from all my usual ministry tasks, Kuya Mark invited me to join a Missions Trip down South this April 5-19. We had several meetings at the Asian Theological Seminary as well as individual group planning. I'm not allowed to share where we're going specifically on public, but in a gist, we'll be helping a ministry that reaches out to M communities and to tribal groups. If you want to know more about this item, please contact me directly and I'll send you information privately.
10. Planning and preparation for DCBC's Children's Summer Bible School
Lastly, I volunteered to help in our church's CSBS this coming April. We're teaching children from Villages A, B and C at UP Campus. I'm handling the youngest age group together with several other churchmates. The program runs for five days and we'll cover the life of Jesus while teaching talents and crafts to the children. A free health and dental missions is also scheduled at the last day of the CSBS.
I don't know how I survived March but I did, all by God's grace. April is also as hectic but I know that God will continue to show His faithfulness to me and the people I serve. Thank you for reading! God bless you all!
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