Dinner
Glenda Garcia, that beautiful, savvy, carefree friend of ours, took us out to dinner. It was supposed to be her post-birthday celebration with us, her KalCF (Kalayaan Christian Fellowship) buddies. I asked her, "When was the last time we all ate together?" Seriously, it was too long ago: more than a year has passed when we had our Kalayaan Brigade planning at the UP Arcade. We weren't even complete then--Luther wasn't there, and so was Jef who had, during that time, recently relocated to Texas.
So anyway, it felt pretty much like the good ol' days in Kalayaan, when we'd usually gather together and eat like a family. The evening was marked by frequent outbursts of laughter, quotable quotes (which I'll be publishing pretty soon), raining of food on the table (like manna from heaven)--thanks, Glenda--and some serious talk.
While waiting for Paul Velasco, Paul Balite, and Jaylord who were all so dreadfully late we nearly collapsed waiting for them, God gave me the privilege to talk to Luther. He's been to Bacolod to attend the National Youth Missions Conference during the Christmas break. I asked him what he learned there, and he told me so many important things that made me really think.
Luther told me how important missions is. As Christians, he said, we ought to leave our comfort zones and preach God's Gospel to the nations. And it's not the kind of Gospel that promotes prosperity or financial reward or temporary worldy gain. But it must be a Gospel that brings glory to God. The problem, he said, is that the objective of missions has become man-centered. It should be God-centered. The glory of God must come first and should not be obscured by any other.
I didn't have to ask him the question whether he plans to become a missionary someday. He immediately said, "Whatever brings God the greater glory--sana 'yan ang mangyari." (Or something to that effect). There were many more things we talked about, and it was such a refreshing, joyful experience.
We headed back home afterwards, hoping that this will happen again sometime in the near future.
So anyway, it felt pretty much like the good ol' days in Kalayaan, when we'd usually gather together and eat like a family. The evening was marked by frequent outbursts of laughter, quotable quotes (which I'll be publishing pretty soon), raining of food on the table (like manna from heaven)--thanks, Glenda--and some serious talk.
While waiting for Paul Velasco, Paul Balite, and Jaylord who were all so dreadfully late we nearly collapsed waiting for them, God gave me the privilege to talk to Luther. He's been to Bacolod to attend the National Youth Missions Conference during the Christmas break. I asked him what he learned there, and he told me so many important things that made me really think.
Luther told me how important missions is. As Christians, he said, we ought to leave our comfort zones and preach God's Gospel to the nations. And it's not the kind of Gospel that promotes prosperity or financial reward or temporary worldy gain. But it must be a Gospel that brings glory to God. The problem, he said, is that the objective of missions has become man-centered. It should be God-centered. The glory of God must come first and should not be obscured by any other.
I didn't have to ask him the question whether he plans to become a missionary someday. He immediately said, "Whatever brings God the greater glory--sana 'yan ang mangyari." (Or something to that effect). There were many more things we talked about, and it was such a refreshing, joyful experience.
We headed back home afterwards, hoping that this will happen again sometime in the near future.
Labels: faith
posted on January 12, 2007
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