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.

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.

“Flowers, chocolates, hugs, kisses, and stuff toys”, we used to know them as a sign of being romantic. They are used in every reason just to express love. These things could seldom catch the hearts of people. They are a guide of giving or expressing importance to someone. But do we know who gave the most romantic love?
Before anything else, what does being romantic really mean? According to some, it refers to another way of portraying love or an act of giving material things. It may also mean to a way of sacrificing something.
In our world today, love is expressed in various ways. They may be found in friendship, courtship and in family relationship. Thus, we can always see to it that worldly love is of one purpose which had no absolute assurance. Mostly, they may end up in hatred, gone of trust and loyalty, divorce and even great hurts. This worldly love, which has a part of having selfish desires or discontentment or even just for self-beneficial, is temporary. They won’t last a long time.
The good news is, there is one kind of love that never fails; a love for everyone, with or without a sweetheart. Everybody knows how He gave His only Son and how He portrayed it. GOD has given us the most romantic love. His being romantic is far more valuable than flowers, chocolates, hugs, kisses, and stuff toys. To be one of the reasons why Someone died because of love is such a very romantic reason; because in our time today, no one could dare to do it. And God did it!
For us, if being romantic is in giving and receiving flowers and chocolates and we will suddenly fall in love, then why don’t we fall in love with Jesus Christ who has given us everything? Why don’t we say YES to His plans and promises for us rather than to those who courts us?
In starting our life right, when we express our undying love and faithfulness to this world, let us not forget that God gave us His only Son as the most perfect and romantic love. The more we understand God’s love for us, the more love we’ll show to others, the stronger our race in life we’ll be.

*Jofferson Panos
*Apple Cayubin

The New Year has just started with lots of challenges in life and even at work. Some are overwhelmed with the complicated issues they deal in their lives while others remain faithful to God’s will and purpose.

I’ve learned that a real Christian believer does not falter or lose hope easily. He or she will always hold on to God’s promises much more in times of crisis in life as the two months’ theme is focused on “Starting Right, Finishing Strong.”

Indeed, we cannot do anything without God in our side. He is our source of inspiration, our source of Hope and Refuge.

We, the staff of Vision 2010, have decided to make a different issue this time. Instead of publishing a once a month issue of the church’s newsletter, it will come out bi-monthly.

Hoping that the articles we will be sharing with you today will somehow bring more inspiration to you as a Christian believer trusting that God is able to provide everything that you need.

Having faith in God is all that we need to do because there is nothing more or no else who can truly satisfy our needs and longing but JESUS CHRIST. Have a Blessed Sunday to everyone!

Starting Right, Finishing Strong: What’s in between?

In every process, there’s always a beginning and an end. But have you ever wondered what is found before the latter? You might be surprised to know:

Committing mistakes
Young as we are, we commit mistakes. Big or small, it’s just the same. Each one of us has a choice, and as human beings, we are naturally weak. The Holy Spirit guides us in every step that we make.
Committing mistakes are natural, but don’t make it a habit. In this experience, we learn. It is a matter of responsibility and control. Some people experience depression when they have a mistake. People forget that someone is challenging them. It is God.
How we deal with life is really a matter of personal choice. When times are difficult, we are reminded that no pain comes to us without a purpose. God has a handcrafted plan that He has made just for you. Let Him love you through life’s joyous and painful aspects. If you do, you will find inner peace and unending joy.

Realizing, meditation, internalize
Often it is through the most difficult days of our lives that we come to know ourselves and what is truly most important to us. No matter how sad we may feel at times, we should be confident that hope will awaken us tomorrow.
Believing in the impossible produces extraordinary results. The darkest cloud produces the brightest light. God knows when the impossible is just about to get us down, and he lets us know how much He cares. Faith and courage reaches out. Take hold of it and you will find that you will be able to smile again and truly be happy once more. God is always there to give us a rainbow for every rainy day.

Finding a solution
Every math equation has a corresponding formula. That goes for everyday life too. Like a teacher, God doesn’t send us problems without knowing the answers. All we have to do is check the Bible and find out the right method.
When we read the Bible, we would find a three part formula: Understand, Pray, and Trust.
Understand. Proverbs 2: 9-10 says “Then you will understand what is right and just and fair- every good path. For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will be pleasant to your soul.” God doesn’t want us to just read the Bible, He wants us to understand it as well. When we understand the Bible, God would bless us with wisdom and knowledge to solve whatever problems we may have.
Pray. A lot of people in the Bible were guided by God through their prayers. One of them is David. God blessed David not because he was smart, brave or because people looked up to him, but because he humbled himself in prayer before God.
Trust. Prayer and understanding the Bible would be useless without believing and trusting in God. Above all God wants us to trust that He knows every solution to every problem, even the ones that seem impossible.

Learning from your mistakes
God didn’t allow us to make mistakes so that we would humiliate ourselves, but instead, that we would realize that we are in need of His help.
Sometimes it is quite hard to think that the mistakes we make today would be of any use in the future but shame and pain. But we should also remember that everything works for the glory of God, no matter how impossible the situation may seem.
In this sense, we should also understand that the mistakes are intended for use to learn. It may seem unbelievable but we should be confident that God really wants us to be more like Him day by day. And what better way to teach us than by mistakes we ourselves made.
When we make errors we should not box our thinking in the present, instead, let us think ahead to the future. In that way we would learn a great deal more, than waiting for the future to come and regretting what we could have learned in the past.

One may be too busy concentrating on his starting point and where he would end up. Failure to see the best things that he could carry throughout his lifetime are the lessons he learned in between.

Backyard Mission
By Pastor Rey “Toto” Cayubin

One day, a Pharisee asked Jesus what must he do to enter the kingdom of heaven. Jesus replied by saying, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, mind, soul, and strength and to love your neighbor as you love yourself.” Our mission therefore is to love others and to demonstrate that love in such a way that all people, irregardless of their status and present condition, may experience the love of God. This is our mission, your mission, and my mission.

Because not all of us can join or directly participate in the organization’s mission endeavors, we can however start our own, by ourselves, or family in our respective community in general and homes in particular. With this concept, let me call this as “backyard mission.”

Backyard is a yard adjoining the back of the house. This term is used in several ways such as “backyard project”. It refers to a project right at the yard adjoining at the back of the house owned and managed by the family themselves. Backyard missions, therefore, are mission endeavors by the family just right there in their immediate community or household.

One might ask the question “How do I go about backyard mission?” Do we have biblical models of a mission endeavor by the family right there in their respective homes? The answer is “yes”. The Bible has several models of what we call backyard missions. Let us learn from some of these models and creatively think on how you can do similarly.

During Paul’s missionary journey, he experienced both of what to have plenty and to be in want. While in Corinth, he experienced financial crisis in the ministry. It was timely that the couple in the persons of Priscila and Acquila came from Italy because all Jews were deported on the order of Emperor Claudio.

Because Paul was also a tentmaker like Aquila and Priscila, they raised fund for the ministry just right there at the house of the couple. As a result of their work and ministry, the proconsul there came to know the truth about Jesus and experienced a life in Jesus. Generating money for the work of the Lord does not necessarily be confined to offering and tithing but also by being entrepreneur and a good steward of God’s resources.

Another model or example of backyard missions is when Peter was imprisoned for preaching the good news about the Lord Jesus. But on that evening, the Lord sent his angel to free Peter from chain and got out of the prison cell unnoticed. At first, Peter thought he was only dreaming but when he came to his senses and found out that what was going on is real, he immediately went to the house of Mary the mother of John Mark and found many believers doing an overnight prayer meeting for the salvation of Peter and for the success of his mission endeavors.

There are several ways we can do for the Lord and for our fellowmen. At home, we can do something that can bring tremendous results. Think of a backyard mission endeavor. Let me therefore make these recommendations for all of us who desires to create a community that love the Lord with all our heart, mind, soul, strength, and loving our neighbor as we love ourselves.

First, create an avenue to share God’s love to others. A birthday party, wedding anniversary, graduation day, Thanksgiving Day, or any special occasion can be very strategic in sharing God’s love and your life with others. You don’t only rejoice and celebrate but also share a testimony on God’s faithfulness and goodness to you and your family and how can they also experience the same.

Second, creatively think of simple support system to the mission Word of God. You can start a very simple “Saving System” for mission. In the Philippines, we are so familiar with the term “Alkansya”

Lastly, you can organize a group of few individuals who can gather in your homes for prayer. We need to pray for God’s workers and more workers in his vineyard. The Bible says, “Pray therefore that the Lord of the harvest will send forth more laborers in the harvest field.” If they are not available, you can still pray with your husband, wife, or children. You can pray for the Philippines to always recognize the Lord – not to trust in themselves but in the Lord who is the source of all things that we need, even life.

Just as backyard projects augment the family income, so is the backyard mission. It helps the greater missions of the Lord to grow and reach more people all over the world. Christmas is fast approaching. This is a time to love. Begin to think of a very simple way you can do to share God’s love and goodness with your fellowmen especially with those who are marginalized, less fortunate people in our community. May our lives be a blessing and a channel of blessing to others. Life is not only measured by the quantity of material resources you have but also by the quality of life you live.

Yesterday a Muslim, Today… and Forever a Christian
April Mae E. Cayubin
Jofferson Jones C. Panos

Upon reading the heading, you will probably ask “How come?”, “Is this so?”, or “Really?” However, this is just but a few of the realities around us that we could hardly imagine.

In our everyday living, there are a lot of changes that we encounter. We are all obliged to accept these changes but still need not forget of what it was before. Nobody is exempted. Not even one.

Changes will give a great impact to your life, but it is bearable only if you know how to carry it. Changes are constant and inseparable in your life.

But will you ever think of how this type of change happened – from a little Muslim girl to a Senior Missionary Christian?

We knew then that it was not that easy to go through this kind of change. But we were quite fortunate to interview her personally, and God has been so good and gracious that she has revealed to us the confidential details of her life that includes the personal struggles, suffering, trials and great testimonies that she has encountered.

Let us call her “Myra Ann Dimayago” who is currently living in Jolo, Mindanao (not her real address). Her mother is a mestiza Muslim while her father is a pure Chinese (Buddhist). She is the eldest of seven siblings; three of them are already deceased.

It was in 1953 when the story of her conversion and her way of life as a Christian believer began. Rev. de Jesus and his family have shared to her the Gospel during the time that her classmate-friends invited her to a Youth Worship and Fellowship Night. Through that, she decided to accept Christ Jesus as her own personal Savior and planted the seed of change.

Together with the seed of change are sprouting challenges. A week or two after that night, she then became conscious of her physical wellness and later discovered that she has a toxic goiter. Her neck is getting bigger and her eyes are bulging out each day. She thought that this condition is just God’s first trial to her Christian faith and this made her surrender more her whole life to God.

Many doctors are telling her that this kind of sickness cannot be healed anymore, not unless a miracle takes place. After being sent in various hospitals, she was finally confined for three months at the Veterans Memorial Hospital, which is the best hospital in the Philippines that time. Her doctor told her that only a miracle can heal her condition. Then, the doctor was not mistaken when she died… for three days.

After three days, she’s supposed to be put to her coffin but, miraculously, she woke up early in her bed, like nothing had happened; as a result, everybody rushed to her including her non-Christian Doctor and was amazed and said, “You have a Great God!” Indeed, this was the first time that this kind of phenomenon has happened in the said hospital.

This is indeed the greatest testimony in her life after being converted. Consequently, she continued to grow as a Christian believer and started to attend the different church activities despite her family’s persecution. She served God with all her heart and strength based on her favorite verse in Psalm 119:11: “I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you.” She even never had a boyfriend since her Christianity and told us that her heart only belongs to God.

It is also through her that her siblings were evangelized. In fact, one of her brothers is already a pastor and others who built a strong foundation of faith in Christ, except for her sister who resides in Malaysia because she’s married to a Muslim.

However, she has also encountered a lot of discriminations, persecution, rejection (especially from her father), and the like. When she went back to their province in Jolo, the Muslim people around her or who knew her Christianity conversion have cursed and did evil things to her. There was even a time when a sharp knife was used to attack her but the Power of God has shielded her so she was not hurt, not even a single blemish. When her father saw her mingling with her Christian friends in their house, he simply requested them to go away from her. But fortunately, that did not last for long, because her father has been converted to Christianity, too, before he died.

During our interview, she also differentiated what a Muslim life is from a Christian life. Muslim life is empty (that’s according to her); although they pray most of the time, they still fear death and they don’t achieve true peace in their hearts. But a Christian life is much more very peaceful and true salvation is really felt. Her faith as a Christian has been in reality, she said.

Now, in her late 60s, she’s traveling several times to different places, which is supported by those people who has been blessed by her life in Manila, Cebu, Jolo, and even outside the Philippines, while some schools also support her in order to set up Bible studies, teach in Sunday Schools, share her testimonies, pray, attend fellowships, and other Church activities. She has certainly been a blessing to all other people through her living testimony because of the blessing-giver Father – Jesus Christ! Truly, “…in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28

Little builders of God’s Kingdom
Faye Dianne M. Gayo
Rasmie D. Garcia

Can you think of something small that can carry heavy things?

Yes, you’re right! Ants. Such amazing creatures are tireless and very strong.

They also remind us of children whose hearts carry two heavy – and important – things. First, their great love for Jesus that makes them love other children, too. Second, their responsibility and willingness to share the Gospel to other children.

According to Vicky Suclan, CEF staff, missionaries are not only those who are mature and old enough to go to other places or those who have enough money to support mission works. But we also call those people – or children – who have the heart to share and spread the Good News as missionaries.

Suclan narrated that it was on February of 1952 when two ladies, Miss Ana Danielson (from Canada) and Miss Mary Dayton (from USA), have pioneered the Child Evangelism Fellowship (CEF) here in the Philippines. They settled in Davao City and started the Good News Club and other teacher trainings.

She said CEF reaches out to children: evangelizing them, discipling them and bringing them to a Bible-believing church. And because these children already received eternal life, they share their new life to other children. CEF trains them and prepares them to become missionaries even at their young age, she said.

“Little Missionaries” is what they are called, Suclan said.

The following are some of their regular activities:
•    Elementary School Values Education Campaign (ESVEC), a 30-minute class inside the classroom where they share about Jesus. ESVEC classes are permitted by the Department of Education.
•    Tribal Outreach. They go to places where tribes have not heard of Jesus.
•    Good News Club is being done in a neighborhood, gathering children to sing, learn Bible verses, hear and see visualized Bible story.
•    5-Day Club is done every summer to bring Jesus to children whose parents would not allow them to attend a church-based Vacation Bible School.
•    Open air Evangelism is when children go to parks, playgrounds, street and other places where they introduce Christ through the Wordless Book.

CEF-Davao’s mission is to saturate the whole Davao City children with the Word of God. And with children reaching out and sharing the Gospel to their fellow children, God is not only pleased but also He is glorified most of all.

The Church and Missions
Audrey Amanda C. Quir

Davao City Alliance Gospel Church (DCAGC) was built by God through an ex-American soldier named James Watts - a man who had a heart for God.

He had his heart set on to do what God has ordered to all believers. What he had started as a small wooden church grew and became a big Christian family, who, like him, wanted to reach souls for Christ.

The DCAGC has been able to raise four ministry centers namely: Agdao, Dumanlas, Bucana, and the latest, Chinatown ministry center. God has blessed the church with pastors who willingly share their faith to people who needs them. Among them are Ptr. Joshua and Pepot Apostol, Ptr. Reynante and Maribeth Mamolo and Ptr. Prince and Jannisse Sudario.

The church also has mission centers, by the grace of God, at places where people seldom hear the name of Christ. These are Salumay, Dolo and Kibalang.

Pastors who had been touched by God are also assigned in those places to help the people. They are Ptr. Reynante and Elsie Wayan, Ptr. and Mrs. Hernan Ayog, and Lorena Calungsod.

DCAGC addresses the missions with a holistic approach. The church family not only attends to the spiritual needs of the people but also in their material needs. Medical Missions is scheduled to help the physical needs of the people at the mission centers. While the doctors, nurses, and volunteers would check them on their physical problems, they also try to touch the spiritual aspect of the person’s life. In that way, they can help these people in two ways.

The mission work cannot be done with mere hard work. There must also be prayer. For the Lord had said, “Seek and you shall find, ask and you shall receive, knock and the door shall be opened”. The church also supports the mission work through prayer. Every Wednesday and every third Friday of the month, a prayer meeting is being conducted regularly. In each meeting, the congregation includes in their prayers the people who have been called by God to go.

Though these are trying times, it is with certainty that DCAGC is improving in their mission work. God is indeed faithful and true. It could be exciting to hear God soon saying to the believers of DCAGC “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

• Center of population: Two-thirds of the world’s population — more than 3.2 billion people — live in the 10/40 Window..
• Unreached and unevangelized: 95% of the people living in the 10/40 Window are unevangelized. Many have never heard the Gospel message even once. There are either no Christians or not enough of a Christian movement in many cultures of the 10/40 Window to carry out vibrant near-neighbor evangelism. If those groups are to be evangelized, believers will need to leave their own culture to enter another where they will seek to plant the gospel. Such cross-cultural evangelism is required because there are people groups with no church movements that are understandable or relevant to them.
  • Good news: There’s a difference between unreached and unreachable. In 1989 there were only four known Christians living in Mongolia. That country now has an estimated 10,000 indigenous believers. Also, Christian television programming can now be received in many closed 10/40 Window nations.
• Poverty: Eighty-five percent of those living in the 10/40 window are the poorest of the world’s poor.
  • Good news: Christians delivered more than $1 million worth of food to just one 10/40 Window refugee camp in a recent year. In one North African country that is hostile to the Gospel, abundant rain fell after an Easter service. A local news channel reported, “Christians have brought rain to the desert.”
• World religions: Islam, Buddhism and Hinduism are centered within the 10/40 Window.
• Least evangelized cities: Half of the world’s least evangelized cities are in this window.

(Sources: Southern Nazarene University and Professor Howard Culbertson of Missions and World Evangelism)