Last Sunday, Jopel and I went to Arenda for their 2nd Anniversary, with the theme Overcome.
While waiting for the service to start, I met these pretty young ladies and talked with them :)
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| All of them were wearing pink. They had yellow strips of fabric which they asked me to style for them. :) I tied them into headbands and bracelets. Hihi I'm not much of an artist but these kids sure saw me as a very creative ate :P |
I was shocked hearing their stories. They talked about rapists, killers, traumatized boys.. Woah! My head turned while I was talking to them. I mourn at how exposed they are to the wickedness of this world, as young as they are.. :(
Praise & Worship.
(I'm sorry Joy, the Worship Team's pianist, I can't take any picture of you that night.. Laging may nakaharang)
My camera was not so cooperative that night. But I thank God that I still managed to get a few souvenirs from last night :)
1. Hold onto God's promises.
He talked about how to be victorious, how to overcome. The text was Joshua 1.
1. Hold onto God's promises.
When someone tells us what to do, we don't just automatically do it. We somehow assess why we should do it. And when we see the good outcome, that's when we decide to actually to it. It's the same with winning a war. When God tells us to fight, like fighting
2. Engage in the war.
There are no wars to be victorious in, when you are not fighting at all.
How do you taste victory if you don't even engage in war? When you see the enemy, fight it! Don't ignore and expect triumph. Haha!
3. Be strong and courageous.
Our Father, our army's King, can defeat anyone and destroy anything. May it be your sins, your struggles, your problems, your weakness.. Name it, and He can defeat it! However, if we His soldiers, His hands and feet in this land, would be too cowardly, this won't happen. We won't experience the triumph God wants to share with His soldiers who are willing to participate!
Our Father, our army's King, can defeat anyone and destroy anything. May it be your sins, your struggles, your problems, your weakness.. Name it, and He can defeat it! However, if we His soldiers, His hands and feet in this land, would be too cowardly, this won't happen. We won't experience the triumph God wants to share with His soldiers who are willing to participate!
Last January, Gencon was moved to 4pm, which conflicted with our commitments to Arenda. We had to choose between Gencon and Arenda. We prayed for it hard, until God showed us everything that was happening with Gencon (MMF ministry), and we knew it’s the best time to be a breathing and kicking part of Gencon! So we had to talk to the young people that we had to say good bye. We did not know how long we would have to miss Arenda. This March, their Second Anniversary, Overcome, brought us back to our dear young people in Arenda! J
Jopel and I have been going to Arenda since 2010, I guess? In my post about my friendship with Jopel, I talked about working in the ministry with him. Here’s a picture from last year, after the youth group’s first anniversary.
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| We thought of taking a picture as a remembrance after everything.. We were too busy praying and preparing before and during the service! Haha! |
Apparently, Jopel was also the “surprise” speaker in their first anniversary, March last year. The anticipated speaker suddenly texted that circumstances changed and he cannot go to Arenda. Only 30 minutes before the service started did Jopel start doing his sermon for that night! He finished his sermon in a fleeting 30-minute adrenaline rush! Haha I remember that day, I did not know how to help him. I just sat in the far end of the room and prayed for him and his sermon.
Partners in Crime Service
It is my first time to have a ministry partner like Jopel. For a friendship like ours, where we pray for each other and constantly ask God what He wants for our relationship, being ministry partners is a big avenue where we encounter God together.
Prayer sure is important in any boy-girl relationships. (Especially when you two have feelings for each other) Because when emotions are involved, temptations tango around you.
Likewise, ministry gives two people a deeper encounter with their Lord. (and brushes away unnecessary idle moments of sweet-sweet-an lang, sana sa ministry na lang ginastos yung perang pinangdate at yung time na na-spend, nag-away din naman after ng date) Hahaha!
Well, let me explain it in a different light.
Ministry should be the lifestyle of any boy-girl relationship that aims to glorify God! It should not be a mere compensation.
No way! Ministry should never be a bribe to God so He would bless your relationship. For example, “We say that Jesus is the center of our relationship, that’s why we should at least give a poor kid some food together or somethin’.. Jesus being the center of our relationship would make us last.” No way, sistarr! Don’t do that for the wrong reasons. Don’t do it half-heartedly. Don’t even do ministry just so the people around you will approve of your friendship. No way! The truth will stink eventually.
Ministry should not be an accessory, Christian couples! Ministry should be the main purpose of your relationship. Well, that is, if God is really the super glue that attaches you two together.
Firstly, you should minister to each other. You should encourage each other to grow deeper into faith. You two should be a light to each other, inspiring one another to seek God even more. You should learn how to help each other seek a sweeter relationship with God, more than seeking a sweeterrelationship between you two.
If you are a blessing to each other, in the richest sense of the word “blessing”, it will extend to the people around you. You two would learn to love the people around you even more, and prevent the unhealthy mentality of having your worlds revolve around each other. It’s like being so overflowing with the unconditional love from God and with love from him, that you can’t help but love all the other people around you! J
A mutual desire to serve God could eventually lead you two to a ministry you’ll do together. In our case, we go to Arenda together. I have a passion in discipling women while Jopel has a deep desire to be a pastor. Somehow, these two hearts willing to serve are perfectly woven together to make the ministry work.
Having a ministry together constantly reminds me that our friendship is not given by God to just to satisfy our flesh’s desire. God intended friendships like this for something greater than that! Mere satisfaction of emotional and physical and whatever needs is shallow. I cannot imagine any relationship that aims to glorify God that does not have a vision to have a ministry together. Well, at least to encourage each other to devotedly pursue a ministry!
True enough, the greatest moments in our friendship are not the moments when we give each other letters nor having an expensive inner. The most precious moments we have are those times when we experience God in the most personal way.. While we stand beside each other! J
If you are in a relationship, what ministry are you dreaming to do together? How do you support each other in your individual ministries? J
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