Youth Summer Camp Fellowship

 We had a nice long weekend in the camp as we joined the youth in our church in their annual summer camp fellowship. Last year we travelled all the way to Lupao, Nueva Ecija to join our brethren in the North area in their youth camp but this year we held it the Overcomer Worship Center.  As the fellowship is really for the youth there are few elders in the church just a few to assist and support the youth in their activities and whatever we can do to help them achieve their goals. As warm as the heat of the summer season the summer camp brought out a fulfilling 3-day fellowship that gave a chance for the young brothers and sisters to mingle, get to know each other from different churches and for those who became friends in the past youth camps they enjoyed being with the brethren friends again.  

The attendees came from Northern parts of Luzon in Isabela, Cagayan, Zambales, and in the distant part of Region IV in Palawan, in the south from Tagaytay and  various towns in Rizal province.  They were accompanied by a few elders in their church including their Pastor.  For our small church with some really young and new members I found joy, excitement and fulfillment in their hearts as they experienced their very first youth camp.  It was reminiscing for me as well because when we were near their ages we experienced travelling to far away places to attend youth camp and the joy we experienced were bountiful as well.  Through the scheduled activities, plays, games and the sharing of God's word and messages from Pastors the youth had a really wonderful time together.

I'm sharing here some fun moments of them. 

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Favorable Qualities in a Church Pastor

Most people who are searching for a new church want to make sure that the pastor of the church is someone they will want to get to know. Consequently, there are many favorable qualities that people look for in a church's pastor. For instance, many people want a pastor with a great amount of faith. They want to learn from someone who is fully dedicated to his or her faith. In fact, there are people who become members of a church because the pastor is clearly someone who wants to share his or her faith journey. Here are some other personal qualities that many people look for in a church pastor. 

The quality of being plain-spoken is something that many people look for in a new pastor. They want to be able to easily understand what the pastor is trying to convey during sermons. They want a simple interpretation of the books of the Bible. After all, if they find something difficult to comprehend, they are less likely to remember the point that the pastor was trying to make. Ideally, a pastor will try to make his or her message accessible to everyone. 

There are lots of people who search for a church with a pastor who is caring. He or she takes the time to talk with everyone who attends the church, even if they are not members. This goes for both the adult members of the congregation as well as the children. If a person wants to meet with the pastor, he or she makes time to talk with the person. A caring pastor is not in it for the status of being the head of a church. He or she genuinely wants to help as many people in need as possible. 

A pastor who is enthusiastic about the Bible and faith is also a very desirable thing to many people who are searching for a new church. If a pastor is enthusiastic, he or she truly believes in the work of helping people strengthen or develop their faith. A pastor's enthusiasm can be contagious to people in the congregation who are searching for answers to their basic questions about life. Ed Young Jr is an example of a pastor who preaches in a well-known church. 

People want an honest pastor. The person is honest in all of his or her dealings inside and outside of the church. This quality prompts people visiting the church as well as its members to trust the pastor. This is very important especially when a pastor is asked to help an individual or a couple through a very delicate problem. An honest pastor serves as a wonderful role model to everyone in the congregation. 

Finally, lots of people look for a warm, friendly pastor. A person visiting a church may not come back if he or she doesn't get a personal welcome from the pastor along with an invitation to come back. Everyone wants to feel welcome in a place they are unfamiliar with. A warm welcome and an invitation to return goes a long way with a person who is looking for a new church to attend. In addition, the visitor is likely to recommend the church to a friend or family member as a result of the kindliness of its pastor.

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Preparation for December Fellowship and Family Vacation

The youth in our church are gearing up for our camp meeting and as early as now they’re assigning tasks per group. They’re also searching for new songs for choir presentation as they seem to present familiar songs always. As the fellowship is coming near they noticed that they need to replace some microphones for better voice quality. Someone suggested a quality one to last for long period usage and for this they want to buy boom mic to accommodate and harmonize with drum and amplifier as well. 

Early planning and preparation is very important so we can have a fruitful and fulfilling fellowship come December. High quality musical instruments and accessories are also a good contribution for a successful occasions thus it should always be checked and noted for repair or replacement. Since we’re having it in Baguio this time maybe we’ll have some adjustments to make. We’re all excited for the coming fellowship vacation.

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Youth Praising at the House of God

As part of our church quarterly schedule the youth held their youth fellowship on the last Sunday of the month with 5 Sundays. For their fellowship the musicians played for their praise and worship segment but for the guitar one of the youth participated. They’re getting so interested in guitar playing that 3 of them can really play some nice praising song pieces including my daughter who is one of the trainees although she’s geared to handle the keyboard. 

For some other youth members they were still deciding which could be the best to handle bass drum because they will only choose two to play alternately. Of course this will be just for the youth fellowship because for the regular Sunday fellowship they need to practice and learn more. Sunday worship usually concerns several songs and the musicians should be able to play them all continuously so if they’re going to let the youth join them it would take several training first before they can do it.

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Pray Over at MIL’s House

I finished all my house chores today with the help of DH who has no classes every Friday. I always like doing things ahead of time and I don’t want to do all work on weekends to maximize my time with my kids. It was such a tiring day for me and it felt like I lost all the energy I have in my mind and body. I figured that it’s all because of our outdoor fellowship activities in my MIL’s house. I’m used to going to that town near the mountains but if we go as family we usually spend the night there also so it’s really tiring to go home the same day. We didn’t bring the kids as it was only midweek but we missed them and so are their grandparents.

I was happy to be able to come while I’m free from office work. I promised to help them with cooking and an elder sister also offered to help us much to our relief because we’re really in a hurry then. When the dishes piled up I had a wishful thinking that we have frigidaire fphd2491kf so it would be easier to clean and sterilize the utensils. Well for simple household like us we just do it manually and to do it fast we just joined forces and work seem so light after that. We’re thankful that we’re finished with the pray over and we have faith that MIL will recover fully soon.

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Communion and Footwashing

We held communion and foot washing every quarter of the year in our home church but decided to do it this quarter in our summer camp fellowship to complete the fulfilling 2-day fellowship we had last Holy week. The ceremony lasted for hours until everyone has done all. We had our late dinner and rested to prepare for an early sunrise prayer service.

 Since I prepared everything and cooked our 2-day meals the night before the summer camp I haven't had the opportunity to sleep so after the foot washing it didn't took me long before I dozed off. I woke up feeling refreshed and ready for the day’s final service. Two days are not really enough for our summer camp and we hope that next time we’ll have more days to spend in the camp and enjoy more services.

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Summer Camp Fellowship Choir

We had so many choir offerings in our recent summer camp meeting fellowship in the Prayer Garden in the hills of Tikling.  Of course the most awaited one was the kids' choir performance where they include toddlers as young as 2-year old children.  Josh seemed taller than before especially that he's behind the younger ones.

 The youth followed after the kids' performance where my two daughters Ruth and Gen were included.  As they entered high school they were baptized and were also promoted to youth.  It's nice seeing my two girls who transformed into teenage ladies now.  I still remember their younger performances in our previous fellowship and they really grow up fast.  They're more serious now and soon they will be playing musical instruments too.

Even without too much practice we - the elder sisters - had our choir songs too, yes not just one but two song offerings. It's our thanksgiving to God for always blessing and taking care of our family.  The last but not the least are the ministers who happily rendered their offered song and finished the testimony to begin the message hour.

With all our best efforts and thankful heart we offered all our songs to God who always guide and protect us all.

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Summer Camp Fellowship in Prayer Garden

We had a fulfilling holy week during our summer camp fellowship in Prayer Garden in Tikling Hills. As we always held our summer camp in time for the holidays we find it a little crowded in our usual venue. We're blessed to secure a place where we can be accommodated with their facilities - enough beddings, simple ventilation, kitchen and comfort rooms. 

Since dormitories are reserved for the bigger group who reserved very early ahead of us we were given a big room with double deck beds and we're happy enough to spend one night there in slight comfort with our brethren. Serving God is not expecting too much comfort but spiritual blessings so we're contented with what was given to us. 

On different times and occasions we're able to enjoy the air-conditioned dormitories but at this time of the year the place is fully booked. Nevertheless the function room which served as our fellowship hall is solemn enough to hear the message of God with clarity and impact. We thanked God for the opportunity He's always giving us to worship, serve and thank Him.
 

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Thanksgiving Fellowship

Had a good time in our thanksgiving fellowship in Tikling prayer garden last Sunday 15th of this month where our church mate Sis. Marivic gave a thanksgiving bash for the healing that God gave her.  We held our fellowship outside our home church just for that Sunday alone because she requested for it.  Early morning we had a group prayer at the garden just before the sun rises.  Everyone is there – Pastor, the ministers, deacons, sisters , youth and the kids.  

We had two services in the morning and also in the afternoon.  It was fulfilling and we all cried at the testimonies of our dear sister and her relatives.  God is a great healer and even if people will say that she’ll not make it God will always make a way for her to heal if we just pray for it.

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New Guitar Amplifier for the Church

Our church needs a replacement for the guitar amplifiers and we’re now canvassing high quality brand that can give us long period of service. We’re not actually choosy we just want something reliable and can be depended upon for excellent service. Our praising song time takes us about less than an hour so a good amplifier would be of great use. Fishman Amplifiers for sale would be a nice option as it’s really a good brand so I’ll definitely recommend it to the music ministry group. Of course it will be compared to some other brands and will be voted upon because all equipment that we buy is always decided by majority. Anyway whatever we decide to buy I know that it will give us better way to sing our praises to God.

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Early Preparations

We've started packing up clothes and things for our fellowship vacation in Baguio. I've arranged the little boy's things in his own traveling bag and he excitedly watched me while I choose which clothes he will bring. For my big girls I told them how many they should bring including extras should we decide to stay longer then they showed me and told me that they will arrange it themselves.

When they grew older I began to feel lighter whenever when we're expecting long journey because they can fix their own things. They just need me to approve what they want to bring and assure them that they've packed enough clothes and they're fine already. I even had an easy time with DH as he has packed earlier than us. He's a light traveler and I always envy how he manage to pack just the necessary things and he did it very fast this time.  Well we're 5 days ahead of our travel day and it feels good that I'll not be rushing next week. Really excited!

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Spending Holidays and Vacation

We had a final meeting yesterday for our church holiday camp meeting on December. We’ve already reserved for our camp site which will be in Villa Dominga Resort in Indang, Cavite just beside Tagaytay City. It’s a 4 hectare villa resort cum plantation with conference halls for fellowship. We didn’t reserve for rooms because we’re sleeping on tents and the conference hall is so big that we can also use the back area for our belongings. We will be at the camp site for four days so we listed all things that must be brought in order not to forget necessities. The place is far from market and grocery so all we must bring everything we need.

I can still remember our last stay there where we had fellowship services, communion, footwashing ceremony and bonfire. It was a very fulfilling camp meeting and a little bit vacation for us all. So when some people are out there in Colorado having their ski vacations to enjoy good times with their families we’re out there in the villa to enjoy the holiday in fellowship with our brethren. Different ways of spending holidays and vacation but both are enjoyable.

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Fulfilling Sunday

My hands still feels slightly numb since Saturday night and I find it a little hard typing on my PC so I just finished what’s due and did some blog hopping before I rest. I had a nice and fulfilling day at the church with my church mates and every Sunday is a bonding time for my family as it’s the day that we’re all together going to church, having our lunch in our favorite fast food and just letting the day pass with no worries at all. We spend our Sundays in the church from morning up to evening with lunch breaks in between and we’re happy with the setup devoting the whole Sunday in fellowship service. We still have no car so we just hire cabs in going to church.

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Bus For Sale

Our church is always spending holidays on faraway provinces conducting camp meeting with fellowship service for about three days. We always see to it that holidays and vacation were spent on special fellowship services rather than spending it on some lesser important things. On journey to our designated or chosen place of camp meeting fellowship we hire vehicles of some sort to transport every member of our church. Sometimes I keep thinking that if there’s a pre-owned bus for sale we could at least use one bus only during our fellowship. It would be much convenient and economical if we could use a bigger transportation service, don’t you think?

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Hosting Bible Study

I filed a half day leave yesterday as our family is now the host for our weekly bible study held at our church every Wednesday night. As my boss just got back from abroad I didn’t leave early as he has some things discussed to me. When everything’s ok I left the office and bounded for home. I cooked more than 4 kilos of chicken afritada and because Mom helped me I’m finished and ready at 6pm just in time for my travel to Cubao. Hubby brought the car to work bringing with him all the things that we’re going to use in our hosting. Gen came with me so I’ll have someone with me.

This hosting was an arrangement by every participant family in our church community and it was done on a round basis. Hosting was done by each family every two months. If you’re the host you’re in charge of the food after bible study. You’re free to serve snack or dinner, light or heavy meals just as long as it’s for everyone who attends bible study. It was a nice pray-sing-share God’s word and eat-together service in our church. It bonded us together in faith and brotherhood. It was a great privilege to host a service like this. Praise God.

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Worship Amidst Typhoon

Typhoon Frank hits the country with gusty winds and rains which brought about floodwaters in many areas in Visayas. Rizal and Metro Manila were earlier announced as Signal No. 1 only but we experienced winds blowing hard on the roof, trees and billboards. Electricity was cut early dawn Sunday and since that hour we never had a decent sleep.

Rain or shine it's going to be our worship day as long as our car can pass through the fallen trees, slippery road and gusty winds. Even if our brake is slipping we know that God will take care of us in our travel no matter what. Though it took us almost an hour traveling to our church we thanked God that He never let us met accident in the road despite faulty in our brakes. He hold us in His protective hands because He wanted us to have fellowship and we could worship Him amidst Typhoon Frank.

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Getting Ready for BS

Pastor and his family informed me through text that they're on their way to my office. They always drop by my office to give me a ride to our weekly wednesday bible study, it was a habit they obliged themselves to do for me to arrive in our church earlier. I really appreciate their kind gesture, I can never find such a humble and thoughtful pastor who's like a father to me also. With him are his daughter, son and his wife Ninang Remy (sponsor to our wedding). Oh how I'd love it when Wednesdays and Sundays come because it's our fellowship days, the time that we sing our songs to the Lord, give our praises and worship Him. I always look forward to these two special days.

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2nd Fellowship Day at the Camp

We’ve started the day with an early prayer at 5:00am and get ourselves ready for breakfast to have an early fellowship at 8:30am. We’re around 80 persons so preparation is quite a handful but we’ve delegated responsibilities to each and every group for a smooth scheduling of activities. My kids really love this place in Tagaytay and made the most in enjoying the cool weather and peaceful surroundings. My youngest kid

asked me if we can stay for another 3 days lol! He really liked it there! Testimonies were touching and most were coupled with offered songs. I was particularly touched by testimony of Sis. Sarah (the eldest daughter of Pastor) she was backslide for a time but now back again in the presence of the Lord. All six of them offered a song (wife and daughters of Pastor).

Choirs were presented starting from the kids ranging from 2 years old up to 10 years old, followed by the youth and finished with the wife of the deacons including me of course. Messages were carefully prayed and deliberated which brought reflections and feeling of fulfillment.
The day ended with the prayer of oil. The oil that we used to pray for sickness. The oil was personally prepared by us. We then had our afternoon snack which turned out to be a light dinner as it’s already dark outside. We packed our things and made sure that everything is in order and right places, the place immaculately clean as ever.

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First Day Fellowship

We arrived at the site 6am in the morning with 3 groups of our brethren already there, one group hasn't arrived yet and I learned that they had trouble with their brakes. We arranged all of our things in the room and had our breakfast immediately to prepare ourselves for the first day of our fellowship. I was assigned as the first teacher of the day so I studied my lessons and activities for the children. The kids and I were having an interaction with one of my biblical story when the last group arrived, tiredness was well written on their faces. After an hour or two I closed my lessons and catched up the fellowship in the upper room where we held our service.

I was lucky to catch Pastor's preaching but we're not complete yet so the air just breezed through us freely breathing through our ears. It was always good hearing deep inspirational messages from our dear Pastor but the preaching was almost at the end. We planned a different set of menu this time avoiding meaty recipes because cooking meat took up plenty of time just to get it tender. This time we planned spaghetti for breakfast, monggo and fish for lunch and chopsuey for dinner, for our last afternoon before we go home we will just have lomi for late afternoon snack which can be good enough also for a light dinner before travelling. For the children we have jumbo hotdogs in each meal. Rice was served all throughout the day, we've prepared one sack for us all.

Afternoon service was fully packed as all brethren were there already. I had the time to listen to all exhorters and preachers because I've already finished my camp school teaching, will miss the kids though. I always liked to be scheduled first makes me feel better if I finished first. The master of ceremony carefully planned the time slot for ministers because we'll have to start our service for communion and feetwashing right after the speaker.

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All Set For Summer Camp

We're all set for our summer camp fellowship in Tagaytay City. I've packed everything from food to clothes and every little thing that we will be needing for summer camp fellowship. It's gonna be a two-day fellowship and we'll be doing the communion and feetwashing on the first day (that's today). Have searched some lessons for sunday school as I'm also scheduled as one of the teachers. Just sneaking here at my blog before we go at 3am today. Have a peaceful and solemn holy week!

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