You Had To be There

(written yesterday)

it’s 5AM, monday, and i just got back from a whirlwind weekend in baguio. thank God for hindsight, because i never would have planned spending a weekend like that all by myself. and it was blessedawesomefun. i wouldn’t have had it any other way– except maybe, i would’ve had time to go to Good Shepherd to get me some of their chocolate crinkles…

i’ll do a quick recap first–it all began four saturdays ago, when jorem met up with us at the airport. we just got back from a long vacation from the states and he asked if we would like to go to baguio second weekend of september– all expenses paid. maybe it was from travel fatigue that i said, “i’m there” without thinking that it had a catch.

a couple of weeks later, jorem said he’ll email us the MP3s for baguio. sherie and i were like, “MP3s?!” oops. he forgot. there’s the catch! we’re going there to sing at a praise and worship concert! so, i haven’t done that for a long time now, but yeah, sure!

(we were better off than josh though, who got the same invite to go to baguio only late on Sept 4, and decided to go on the day before we left.)

sherie and jorem went ahead and left for baguio on thursday midnight. josh and i took the 11:15 PM deluxe bus last friday from the victory pasay terminal and arrived at 4:30 AM saturday, slept from 5:30 AM to 12 noon, rehearsed in PMA from 3:00 PM to 9:30 PM. josh only found out that day that we were going to do 16 songs– and he’s singing half of them. and then tita ams asked if he could also lead worship for the service on sunday morning. two minutes before the service, josh and milton asked me to help back them up. after the service, we had a quick lunch at camp john hay before going back to PMA at 1:30 PM to prepare for the evangelistic praise and worship concert. from 3:00 PM to 6:00 PM, it was nearly non-stop singing, jumping and praising God with 50-70 cadets and friends.

but it was more than just the singing. it was the fun and fellowship, witnessing the power of God’s Word and the PMA cadets.

we stayed in a house PACKED with missionaries and Bible seminary students (from ISOT-Asia), and a huge friendly black flatulent labrador named Boggart. the house of pastor erwin and tita ams always smelled of food cooking (learned how to make burmese adobo chicken from Johann, a missionary from Myanmar), i met up with a few friends from my freshman and sophomore college years in UP Baguio, who are now in full time ministry, met people from vietnam, myanmar, and GCF north.

The messenger (as they called the speaker) for the weekend was kuya mike (a student from ISOT). he preached straight from the Word, and while his speaking style was never flashy, his messages were satisfying and always spot on. he reminded (and admonished) us (the band) about the dangers of performing, rather than worshipping. it’s all about God. we know this, but, i know i often forget this without meaning to. and in the morning service about good things happening in bad situations (he made us cry a bit with his testimony… or my eyes just got sweaty. hehe), and how God turns them around all in His good time.

at dinner after the concert, pastor erwin read out the response forms from the cadets and it was awesome to hear that most of them accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior, renewed their faith and want to join a Bible Study.

 

Tita Ams had told us that since they had begun their ministry in PMA, there have been a lot of opposition from the enemy. There are still a lot of spiritual strongholds over there. and we could even feel them working againsts us in preparation for the outreach and evangelistic concert. oh, the enemy tried to get as few people to attend the event. though while there could have been more souls there, we knew that the hearts that God had sent to go there were prepared personally by Him to hear the Gospel that day.

and i’m sure it wasn’t just my heart that nearly burst with joy while pastor erwin read out those positive responses. the night before the concert, i asked sherie, “wouldn’t it be just awesome if one of the people who gets saved at the concert becomes, like, a general someday? imagine, a God-fearing man in a place of power in our country?”

i can’t believe that i was just there for two days and so many things had happened in just 48 hours. well, my body’s aching, and my throat feels like it’s torn to shreds from it. but after a week of being attacked by so much discouraging thoughts, the weekend was a great vindication for me. our God’s great, and His love is just awesomeamazing.