Three lessons I learned as I opened my wallet…
By Audrey Amanda C. Quir

There are always times in our lives when we peer inside our purse and wonder, where on earth has my money gone!  How did I know? Easy. I had experienced the same thing over a million times.
My father had been teaching me that stewardship is not only about how much you save, but how you used your money in a way that would glorify God. And as I look back and reflect, I wasn’t doing any of the two. I was not saving, nor was I using my money in the best way I could.
I just spend it, fast enough to even amaze me sometimes. You would think that I was in a money-spending competition! Not long after every money escapade, I would stare at my wallet and ask: did I just squander my allowance for a week in just two days??
Believe me, this episode did not happen once, or twice, this happened many, many times over the past few years. And it just keeps getting worse. I became a spending machine. Though I was aware of what was happening, I couldn’t stop!
The day when the editor-in-chief of this church’s newsletter told us about the topic we were supposed to write about, I felt my stomach churned into knots. That night, I stared blankly at the computer screen my hands were on the keyboard but not moving. Writing an article wasn’t supposed to be this hard, I felt little to no idea.
My mom answered that for me. It was hard because I wasn’t doing it. I wasn’t being a steward of God’s blessings, and this bothered me a lot.
The next day I intentionally sat down and opened my wallet to find things that seemed always there: a picture, a 25-centavo coin, and my parents’ calling card.
And these are the things I want to share that taught me a lesson.

A 25-centavo coin
I recalled how many times I bought something that I don’t need just because it’s cheap. I would buy CDs, notebooks, pens, accessories that aren’t really important at the moment; it’s just because the price was very affordable.
Though I don’t know what I could do with it, as long as I could afford it, I buy it! And not long after, when the time comes that I really need the funds, I don’t have it anymore.
The centavo coin reminded me that every small sum you spend, even if the amount seemed insignificant at the moment, will still be of value when the time comes that you need it.

Parents’ calling card
The calling card had reminded me that the money I used for my pleasure didn’t just magically appear in my hands. It was worked for. And the sad part of it was that I was not the one who labored for it – it was my parents – but I was the one spending it all away.
And if I would reminisce, it has been a very long time since I did something for them in return. When was the last time I bought flowers for my mom? When was the last time I bought my dad a new handkerchief?
In special occasions such as birthdays, how many times have I used my own money to buy them some gifts?
I felt ashamed and sad that all those times when I could have used the money to thank my parents, I wasted it all away to things that are not really of great importance.

A Picture
Most of the times I would use my money for enjoyment, like internet and cell phone load. And it wasn’t long before I realized that I had been spending less time with my friends. My relationship with them is becoming a little too dense.
And the picture reminded me that I could still enjoy life without having to spend so much money. God has blessed me with friends that are more valuable than money, friends I could treasure forever.
Being a godly steward does not happen overnight, nor does it happen right after you realized you made a mistake.
Learning is a process, and sometimes it’s not easy. Temptation will always be there, trying to put you down. But the person who wins over the world’s ways is always the person who has Jesus Christ at his side.

From Her Desk
A newer look

We, the staff of Vision 2010, are certainly excited and happy to present to you the newer appearance of our Davao City Alliance Gospel Church (DCAGC) bi-monthly newsletter starting this issue – March and April 2009 with the theme “Christ-Centered Stewardship Antidote to Financial Crisis”.

First, our Associate Editor Rasmie D. Garcia decided to pass all her responsibilities to the newly elected Vision 2010 Associate Editor Jofferson Jones C. Panos. Mr. Panos said it’s absolutely a big challenge on his part to be the successor of Miss Garcia being the new associate editor. He said he will do his best to make the bi-monthly newsletter a better read.

Second, we all agreed to make the newsletter a little bit thicker with several pages to glance at. Since March 22 (Sunday) is a very special day for all family members of DCAGC, we prepared a colored publication for your enjoyment.

Third, the members of Information Ministry Department (IMD) headed by Rovic “Butch” Jereza has created a modern website with more stories to read on. You can visit the highly-improved DCAGC website at www.dcagc-camacop.com/ver4

Regarding its cover page, it depicts the shadow of a person in obedience to God’s will in his life by focusing on what Jesus did at the Cross. He did what is pleasing to God like doing what is right when handling God’s money and other resources.

We would appreciate to receive more comments or suggestions from our avid readers and prayer supporters from this newsletter to our new website.

May the God Almighty bless us all!

Ana Theresa F. Basilio,R.N.
Editor-in-Chief

Senior Citizen Fellowship plans the best way to enjoy this summer

“The Senior Citizens should not confine themselves in their vicinities. They must come out and take active part in working for the advancement of God’s Kingdom.” this is the message of Ms. Vicenta “Babes” Chiong, Secretary of the Senior Citizen Ministry to convince our seniors to join fellowships initiated for them.

This coming April 3 2009, from 9am to 3pm, our church will hold Senior Citizen’s Youth Fellowship. The speaker of the fellowship would be Ptra. Laila S. Lapian. This will be held at the Gulf View Beach Resort to concord with the summer season. The fellowship does not only aim to awaken the seniors physically but also emotionally and spiritually. It aspires to inspire seniors to be physically fit. At the same time, it will also give them the chance to express their thoughts of gladness, thanksgiving and of course, problems to each other. They will also take part in fulfilling God’s commission to share the gospel because one of the highlights in the said event is Evangelism.

True Fortune
By DESIREE DONN P. MAGLANOC

One day while we were having our Literature Class, we discussed a story entitled “Once Upon a Time” by Nadine Gordimer. She is an African writer who never wrote any children stories. But a particular incident - the current situation of her country during her time inspired her to do so.

Have you ever heard of the apartheid issue in Africa wherein they separated the blacks from the whites and the latter was given more importance?

The story revolves around a white family - a wealthy one. The couple had a son. They had plenty of workers, servants and guards. Their mansion was surrounded by high, thick and majestic walls that the mansion would look like as if it was a prison for top-class criminals. Broken pieces of glass and barb wires added decoration to the already high-end security wall. The grounds were safeguarded by big, active, monstrous watchdogs that would bite anyone that they do not know. And if that wasn’t enough, each corner of the mansion was adorned by security cameras recording every move made within it. This was done so because the whites were afraid that the blacks would one night, break in to their homes, kill everyone inside and get their most prized possessions. The couple had a hard time sleeping every night because of the fear that was developed within themselves, thinking that such things would happen. And every time that the couple would go out, bodyguards would always envelop them almost not allowing any air to pass through them. To put these in simple terms, the couple was practically concerned of their treasures and with their lives as well.

One day while the son was playing outside their house, he was imagining that he was a prince and that the wall that he was facing was a tower where on the other side is his princess waiting for him. So, he was super curious of what was on the other side of the wall and what awaits him on the top. Quickly, he got a ladder went up the steps unaware of the dangers that await him when he reaches the top. When he reached it, he imagined that the barb wires were some kind of a forest that he needed to pass through it slashing each vine that would come in his way. As his feeble and tiny body went deeper into the barb wires, his hands went through the broken glasses, he looked liked a tiny fish that got caught in between the shark’s jaws. The gardener saw the boy struggling for his life and the gardener rushed on top, slowly got the boy’s body out of the intertwining wires and out. His parents saw what happened and they quickly ran to the boy. The boy’s bloody body lay dead in his parents arms.

End of story.

What’s the moral lesson of the story? The world offers so many grandeous things and these things do cover up and block the simplest things that we really need that really make us happy.

After our class, I got a bit hungry so my friends and I went to our cafeteria. After eating, I got bored so I started to observe some students in the cafeteria. Honestly speaking, you can easily distinguish the ”financially blessed” students from those who are not. The rich people eat light foods like salads or sandwiches or a meal that you cannot understand what is it made up of. But the “not-so-blessed” people are not picky with what they eat and they are often shy when they line up and pay for their meal. But, there’s just one thing that I cannot understand: Why do the rich people pay so much for their food and yet they do not finish eating it?

As I weigh things, relating it with the story that we discussed in our class and the observations that I’ve made with the students, I’ve reached a conclusion. One thing is missing in the lives of the family in Africa and of the students in the cafeteria - CHRIST.

When you put Christ in the center of your life, you need not worry of the things that you would need for tomorrow for He has planned and prepared it all. If He can provide the things that the birds need everyday for their survival, how much more to us, the most precious creature He has created and loved the most? What I’m trying to say is, prices may go up, life may get a bit harder as time goes by, money is even harder to find and earn, but one thing will and shall remain - that we have one God to lean on in times of trouble.

Let me close this with a simple mathematical equation that I’ve made to counter the problems that we face everyday:

ADD God in our lives and let Him take control of it, SUBTRACT all your worries and fears, DIVIDE the things that are of no worth and those who have and MULTIPLY not our treasures here on earth but our eternal deposits and investments in Heaven.

DCAGC’s 62nd Anniversary
By ANA THERESA F. BASILIO,R.N.

The Davao City Alliance Gospel Church (DCAGC) celebrated its 62nd anniversary last March 22 (Sunday) with full of praises and thanks giving to God because of His faithfulness to bless the whole church for several years.

Invited guest speaker Dr. Prescilo Engkong, a practicing OB-Gynecologist, told the congregation in a Sunday message that complete obedience to God’s will in your life will open the doors of God’s resources in heaven. This is in  connection with the two-month theme of the church for the months of March and April,. which is “Christ-centered Stewardship, Antidote to Financial Crisis”.

Among the church’s pastoral staff includes Dr. Levi Quir, Rev. Romy Romarez, Rev. Rey Cayubin, Ptra. Rose Quir and Ptra. Laila Lapi-an.

SGM Convention II : Another success

The Membership Department of DCAGC specifically the Small Group Ministry spearheaded by Ptr. Romy Romarez and Bro. Guillermo Maglanoc conducted the Small Group Ministry (SGM) Convention II, a sequel to SGM COnvention I. During the event, samll group leaders and aspiring small group leaders - 42 of them conjoined and enjoyed each other’s company during the whole day convention held at DCAGC.

The objectives of the said event were the following:
·    to follow up results from the first convention
·    to address questions and concerns on any area of the SGM
·    to identify families and individuals situated in the same geographical location
·    to identify individuals interested in joining a small group through the small group Interest Form results
·    to spend time in prayer and initial planning for the identified prospective small groups

The convention is composed of 2 main activities. First, the Open Forum wherein the participants were given the chance to ask questions from the panel members, which were constituted by Dr. Levi Quir, Ptra. Laila S. Lapi-an and Mrs. LJ Engkong. some of the vital points raised by the participants were how to start a small group, the organizational structure or chart of the small group ministry, the 5 purposes of our church and its role in the small group, the qualitative and quantitative characteristics of a small group and most importantly the Small Group Covenant.

Second, the formal grouping of each auxiliary according to the target people. Here, the leaders receive the names of individuals/families located in the same residential communities with the leaders. Each auxiliary grouped themselves, prayed, and made initial plans for the first meeting of the small group. the results of the Small Group Interest Form were also distributed among the leaders during this part.

The convention did not only produce new members of the SGM but potential leaders of the Church as well. With these people, well-equipped and well-trained, the spirit of enthusiasm and vigor in reaching out to and for others will never die and would continue to exist and live on for ages.

A God-centered life as a student

Having the Lord in your life means that you have peace and comfort in your heart as you walk down any pathway your life has to offer.It means you can pray to a caring and compassionate father who always has the time to listen and who never fails to understand the hurts and fears that are dwelling in the depths of your soul.

Having the Lord in your life means having the assurance that nothing can ever come your way that you and he, united together, cannot deal with and  ultimately overcome. eventhough tears, hurts and painful times have come and undoubtedly will continue to come, you can know that he has his hand in everything, and things will always work out for your good.

It means that you can be assured, with no uncertainty, that you will be given the strength to endure anything that happens to you, and you will become a better person. eventhough all of these blessings are crucial to our day-to-day existence on this earth, they are small compared to the promise of spending an eternity in his presence. therefore, what it means to have the Lord in your life is knowing the blessed hope of tomorrow and the glorious promise of heaven that he has prepared for us.

Stewardship in the eyes of a youngster
By Jofferson Jones Panos

“I don’t prefer plain rice. Can I have Java Rice miss instead? Bigyan mo na rin ako nang pinakamahal na cut na chicken. Pati na rin mango shake at chocolate mousse. Make sure that there would be lot of marshmallows and cookies sprinkled on it.” I felt an awkward shiver as I heard these words came out from my schoolmate’s mouth.  I was stunned not only to the fact that she eats a lot of EXPENSIVE foods that five people can devour but also to the fact that she carelessly buys without the plan to scoff them all.

Spending all the money
It is rampant to catch a glimpse of careless teenager spenders these days. They buy anything they felt buying without pondering the hardships of their parents for their provisions. You say that this is not true for others who don’t have well-to-do parents but there are teens that came from impoverish families that spend the little money they have to play internet games and exploit drugs. I believe that is indeed vital for them to realize the proper way of handling their resources, May they be rampant or scarce. Many teenagers may not be aware of the negative connotation of “Consumerism” yet, most of them practice it. Quite obviously, many youngsters take great significance to material possessions. They are overly conscious on the latest trends and the brands of their get-ups. They prefer something labeled Abercrombie & Fitch, Dolce & Gibanna, Oxygen, Bench, Folded and Hung, Penshoppe, Artwork, Parker(for ball pens), and Apple or the Mac Book for laptops. After reading the listing above, others may even say that they’re not the “in” already or like “there’s something better than those”. I don’t care actually and I don’t really have an expertise in depicting the hottest trade names. Aside from that, there are also many young people that don’t handle well not only their tangible resources but also the intangible. They may not appreciate they’re opportunity to pursue studying, the effort of their parents for them to feel loved, or the gifts of talents God has freely given them. The keyword in this problem is the term “stewardship”.

The steward we ought to be
There are two kinds of stewards in the world. The first is the one who excessively and carelessly spends and uses resources without appreciating its real value. The other is the one who properly utilizes the blessings God has granted. They appreciate and also conserve for they know the resources’ benefits and limitations. As young people, or the young at heart, which are knowledgeable of God’s purpose for our lives, we ought to be the second type of Steward. The ways to show that you are a good Steward are endless. But the simplest advice I can impart is to count the blessings around us. Let’s not stop on just counting them. Let’s appreciate them and realizing their importance follows. After the realization, conservation follows. So that’s the cycle of Christ-like Stewardship.

Delving deeper
To give you an insight of my personal experience, I believe that I have been careless in spending the money I have before even though I don’t even have a great amount of money to start with. I have been obsessed in playing Online Computer Games. I spent the money intended for my ‘baon’ and school projects. It ended up fasting and failing grades for having an hour of temporary feeling of deceitful gratification and ecstasy while playing the game.  Quite obviously, it’s not the Lord’s plan for me. He wanted me to be a good steward. Besides, my parents worked hard for them and God doesn’t want my parent’s hardship to end up in the money drawers of Internet Cafes.

The wisdom of Christ in handling God-given resources is truly our antidote not only to the common talk Global Financial Crisis but also in the personal crises in our lives. Let’s just seek God first and His righteousness in handling our resources and all the things we need will be added unto us. This can be the gist of Matthew 6:33 in an economical point of view

God does not want us to be good stewards for his own reservations but his doing this for my good, for your good, for our good. So, let’s count our blessings so that we can begin the process of good stewardship.

For the ‘sheltered’ and from those who came from the “well-to-do” family,

Taking Care of God’s Property
By Faye Dianne M. Gayo

Ephesians 5:15
“Be very careful, then, how you live – not as unwise but as wise.”

When I was still a small child, I used to join the Sunday School Ministry where in I’ve learned a lesson of being a good steward in everything that God has given me. I was taught that being a good steward means taking good care of my body, my talent and my testimony. At a very young age of seven, I started to apply that truth in my life and found it difficult yet very fulfilling.

Being a student, I discovered that the word STUDY doesn’t only mean to just read and understand what was learned in school. It also means staying late at school, being awake overnight doing all the assignments and projects. Sometimes, it also means skipping meals which is very unhealthy.

In my first two years in high school, I managed to practice the truth that I have learned with regards to taking care of my body.

But when I reached my junior years, I forgot all about it, instead I just went with the ‘flow of business.’ It was later that God reminded me of a very important thing in life. It is when I failed in the subject of mathematics; it is the subject that I really did my best to get a very satisfying grade.

Consequently, I got depressed. I cried out to God and asked Him why it turned out that way. Then God made me realized that because of my desire, I failed to take care of my body well, my ministry in church and my relationship with my family.

From then on I learned that even if we do everything else in order to succeed yet I failed to also take care of myself, God has a way of reminding us in our mistakes.

God wants us to be a good steward in all the things that he has entrusted to us. This does not only mean to take good care of the things that we have but also it means about investing and developing these things for God’s Glory.

Creating a greater impact in my life

When I was told via text message that we were going to write about how I would apply our new theme Christ-centered Stewardship: Antidote to Financial Crisis to my life, I was frozen for a few seconds and my mind began to ponder while having a rendezvous with a blank page on Microsoft Word. I knew that it would have to sound personal so it took me an eternity to think of what I was going to write.
It has been eons since I had introspected and gave my inner self a little visit. It felt good for a while but something excruciatingly painful occurred as if my heart was filled with a gallon of my favorite Nestle Fruit Selection Yogurt when I was able to reach and walk down memory lane and was able to discover the heartbreaking truth that I was a better steward before than I am now. So I was saddened seeing how much I had changed.

I want to come clean this time. I know that there is a large possibility that anyone who would be tasked to write about this would most probably end up writing about how much they had become Superheroes to everyone who needed their help just so they would sound like the real stewards that they are expected to be.  But still, maybe what they are saying could be spot on - or almost, to say the least. But if it would be coming from me, it would be standing on the demarcation line between truth and falsehood. Don’t’ get me wrong, I’m not a bad person…I’m just human – I make mistakes.

I grew up being aware of the different social issues our world had been facing since time immemorial. I feel fortunate that I was not blinded and saw the world as a perfect place because if I did, I may have not valued my life or life per se for that matter.

Christianity made a great impact on my outlook in life. It is one of the most valuable things (unlike the very uncommon (sarcastically speaking) name my parents gave me) which I’ve never regretted to possess throughout my entire existence.

I was able to see the realities in life even at a young age with due thanks, of course, to humanitarian problems featured in one of the greatest inventions that reached the face of the planet – the television. Then again, seeing would still be of no value if we won’t do something about it. So I still owe a lot to what Christianity taught me for that was what urged me to aim for and to make a good difference, and to dream for a better life for the entire humanity which, for me, is now surrounded by vultures. And to that, I am eternally grateful.

Of all the flaws in our impaired world, it was poverty that struck me the most. It’s like an incurable epidemic which spreads rapidly. Homeless people starving, malnourished children and their almost-lifeless bodies lying in the streets is no laughing matter. No, I never laughed…I wept.

Having to belong to this life-loving community is an honor, and at the same time a responsibility, that I would forever keep. It is because I was blessed with this Christian perspective that I had lived my life having this deep compassion for the less-fortunate and financially and economically challenged people, hoping that one day, they too, will have their share of pleasure which most of us are enjoying right now. And I believe and am certain that I’m not dreaming alone.

Just like everyone else who have this big of a dream, I also reached a point where I felt all hopes are lost. I was too much in a hurry that my patience drained as fast as I wanted the change to happen. I got frustrated and lackadaisical that my hopeful heart went kaput. I didn’t stop caring though. But I guess that was also the problem.  I was too tired of doing more than that and not seeing the change I hoped for that I eventually got contented with just that…just caring.

I was too ambitious. I didn’t realize that I was trying to change the whole world in just a blink of an eye – which, I know now, is impossible.

I somehow knew that I needed a wake-up call, something that would remind me of that responsibility I said, once upon a time, that I wanted to keep forever– and I got it sooner than I had expected.
So just like everybody else who had reached that all-hopes-are-lost point, I changed back and regained optimism after I was texted…after I froze…after I pondered…and before I finally got to write a decent introduction.