Ablaze may mean keenly excited or indicating excitement,
These past few days, I ablaze in one way or another.
I just came from a life-changing experience. It is indeed an honor being part of the first ever SFC Bicol Regional Conference (previously with Southern Tagalog for the SFC STaB Regional Conference). The SFC ReCon entitled SFC ABLAZE (anchored on the verse "I have come to set the earth on fire and how I wish it were already blazing." -Luke 12:49) is, as expected, a revealing and moving meeting with God. With sessions about the Holy Trinity and how to ablaze the world for Him, who would not be inspired?
This is how I (together with the SFC Albay Delegates) spent my weekend in Masbate City.
Friday, October 24:
For our 9 am meeting time, as usual, some were late and I definitely cannot be excluded. We left for Pilar, Sorsogon at 9:30 am. After an hour of travel and another hour of waiting, we departed through the Montenegro Shipping Fastcraft. We reached Masbate National Comprehensive High School at around 2 pm. Upon arrival, we had our lunch and immediately looked for a place to settle at (DepEd Masbate City Division Office warmly accomodated us for only Php150 - the place is very nice and the people there were very kind; thanks for the pair of basketball shoes that was lent to me and for the Indian mango fruits and seedlings that were given to us). We toured around the city through a motorcade at 4 pm and attended the opening mass at 6 pm. After the preliminary activities, we had our dinner, took a bath, dressed formally (okay, just semi) and proceeded to the hall for the evening session: Embraced by the Father [Lessons learned: That God is so rich that He can and He will provide all our needs; we just have to trust Him. That our Father loves us so much that if we offer everything to Him, we will be truly blessed.] The night was concluded by a short disco party of the knights and princesses - the heirs to the throne.
Saturday, October 25:
Woke up at 6:30 am and started preparing for the morning activity: Workshop Sessions. I attended the Counseling Workshop (Gift of Wisdom) with Fr. Felix Ponferrada. The workshop was truly nourishing; Fr. Felix is really a gifted counselor. Not only I learned about counseling but I also learned how to deal with my 'back subjects'. Listening to the unsaid, unearthing, forgiving yourself, cherishing yet treating the wounded past and printing good memories are just some of the things that I will keep in mind. After a couple of hours, we had our lunch break, took a short break and prepared for our basketball games wherein we played against Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur. With only 5 players in the team, mostly haven't played an officiated game, both games resulted against our favor. Nonetheless, we sweat hard and enjoyed the game. After the games, we went back to our 'barracks', rested for a while, freshened up and attended the anticipated mass. After which, we ate dinner and dressed up for the evening sessions: Saved by the Son [Lessons learned: The if we are to love and trust the Father, we ought to be more like Jesus - an obedient son of God. That whatever hardships and difficulties we encounter as we live our Christian lives and as we serve God, all we need to do is to simply remember what Jesus went through - His passion to abide by the will of God.] and Empowered by the Holy Spirit [Lessons learned: That it is by Holy Spirit that God is able to manifest His love for us. That if we learned to acknowledge the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we will be richly blessed and be able to go just about anything in serving God.] The night was concluded with a party with the Lord through worship.
Sunday, October 26:
Woke up at 6:30 am, packed our things and started preparing for the final session: Ablaze - Set the World on Fire [Lessons learned: That if God and His Spirit is with us, who can be against us? That if God and His Spirit is with us, we can set the world ablaze, we can conquer the world for Him, we can build the Chruch of the Home and the Church of the Poor.] Praisefest, symbolic pray-over of the continents and awarding ceremony concluded the conference. We rested for a bit, had our lunch, headed to the port and boarded the Fastcraft. We then bid goodbye to Masbate and say hello to Camarines Sur. After 2 hours of sea travel and an hour of land travel, I am back home - physically tired and exhausted but emotionally and spiritually nourished, inspired and invigorated.
What a weekend; what a bliss! God is truly an awesome God; I couldn't ask for more. I wished that the said conference would not come to an end. Conferences, for me, are like charging devices wherein I am being re-supplied with spiritual energy or power after a 'hard day's work' serving God. It is like taking a break, going home, resting, freshening up, nourishing and equipping yourself, reviewing your battle plan, and getting ready once again for attacks. It is paying homage to God and asking His grace, blessing, wisdom and 'encouragement' to enable you to keep going and conquer more territories for Him.
Looking forward to the SFC International Conference on February 20-22, 2009 in Cebu City!
Maktub!
These past few days, I ablaze in one way or another.
I just came from a life-changing experience. It is indeed an honor being part of the first ever SFC Bicol Regional Conference (previously with Southern Tagalog for the SFC STaB Regional Conference). The SFC ReCon entitled SFC ABLAZE (anchored on the verse "I have come to set the earth on fire and how I wish it were already blazing." -Luke 12:49) is, as expected, a revealing and moving meeting with God. With sessions about the Holy Trinity and how to ablaze the world for Him, who would not be inspired?
This is how I (together with the SFC Albay Delegates) spent my weekend in Masbate City.
Friday, October 24:
For our 9 am meeting time, as usual, some were late and I definitely cannot be excluded. We left for Pilar, Sorsogon at 9:30 am. After an hour of travel and another hour of waiting, we departed through the Montenegro Shipping Fastcraft. We reached Masbate National Comprehensive High School at around 2 pm. Upon arrival, we had our lunch and immediately looked for a place to settle at (DepEd Masbate City Division Office warmly accomodated us for only Php150 - the place is very nice and the people there were very kind; thanks for the pair of basketball shoes that was lent to me and for the Indian mango fruits and seedlings that were given to us). We toured around the city through a motorcade at 4 pm and attended the opening mass at 6 pm. After the preliminary activities, we had our dinner, took a bath, dressed formally (okay, just semi) and proceeded to the hall for the evening session: Embraced by the Father [Lessons learned: That God is so rich that He can and He will provide all our needs; we just have to trust Him. That our Father loves us so much that if we offer everything to Him, we will be truly blessed.] The night was concluded by a short disco party of the knights and princesses - the heirs to the throne.
Saturday, October 25:
Woke up at 6:30 am and started preparing for the morning activity: Workshop Sessions. I attended the Counseling Workshop (Gift of Wisdom) with Fr. Felix Ponferrada. The workshop was truly nourishing; Fr. Felix is really a gifted counselor. Not only I learned about counseling but I also learned how to deal with my 'back subjects'. Listening to the unsaid, unearthing, forgiving yourself, cherishing yet treating the wounded past and printing good memories are just some of the things that I will keep in mind. After a couple of hours, we had our lunch break, took a short break and prepared for our basketball games wherein we played against Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur. With only 5 players in the team, mostly haven't played an officiated game, both games resulted against our favor. Nonetheless, we sweat hard and enjoyed the game. After the games, we went back to our 'barracks', rested for a while, freshened up and attended the anticipated mass. After which, we ate dinner and dressed up for the evening sessions: Saved by the Son [Lessons learned: The if we are to love and trust the Father, we ought to be more like Jesus - an obedient son of God. That whatever hardships and difficulties we encounter as we live our Christian lives and as we serve God, all we need to do is to simply remember what Jesus went through - His passion to abide by the will of God.] and Empowered by the Holy Spirit [Lessons learned: That it is by Holy Spirit that God is able to manifest His love for us. That if we learned to acknowledge the power and gifts of the Holy Spirit in our lives, we will be richly blessed and be able to go just about anything in serving God.] The night was concluded with a party with the Lord through worship.
Sunday, October 26:
Woke up at 6:30 am, packed our things and started preparing for the final session: Ablaze - Set the World on Fire [Lessons learned: That if God and His Spirit is with us, who can be against us? That if God and His Spirit is with us, we can set the world ablaze, we can conquer the world for Him, we can build the Chruch of the Home and the Church of the Poor.] Praisefest, symbolic pray-over of the continents and awarding ceremony concluded the conference. We rested for a bit, had our lunch, headed to the port and boarded the Fastcraft. We then bid goodbye to Masbate and say hello to Camarines Sur. After 2 hours of sea travel and an hour of land travel, I am back home - physically tired and exhausted but emotionally and spiritually nourished, inspired and invigorated.
What a weekend; what a bliss! God is truly an awesome God; I couldn't ask for more. I wished that the said conference would not come to an end. Conferences, for me, are like charging devices wherein I am being re-supplied with spiritual energy or power after a 'hard day's work' serving God. It is like taking a break, going home, resting, freshening up, nourishing and equipping yourself, reviewing your battle plan, and getting ready once again for attacks. It is paying homage to God and asking His grace, blessing, wisdom and 'encouragement' to enable you to keep going and conquer more territories for Him.
Looking forward to the SFC International Conference on February 20-22, 2009 in Cebu City!
Maktub!
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