Week 42: Heartbeat

I attended the Heartbeat for Christ Conference, a gathering of Christian medical students from Metro Manila, from October 21-22 at the Philippine Campus Crusade for Christ National Office in Quezon City. The theme was "Breaking Free," lifted from John 3:36, "He whom the Son sets free is free indeed." 

I served in the Registration/Food/Finance Committee, and I am thankful for my faithful friends—Abby Ortal, Lowie Calimag, Ruby King, JC Malabad, and Aeron dela Cruz—for helping out. I am grateful, too, for Hannah and Khei, both from UE, who volunteered to make the IDs and help out in the registration. 

As always, it gave me great encouragement to see like-minded people from other schools, praising the Lord with songs and serving Him with gladness. We even had the opportunity to visit hospitals—my group went to the Philippine Orthopedic Center—and share the gospel to the sick.

One of the greatest pleasures in life is hearing how the Lord has done great and mighty things in the lives of the people you call friends. I must admit that apart from our weekly prayer meetings, I really don't know enough about the people in our Christian group. But God, in His sovereignty, gave me the opportunity to do just this—to know them more—as friends told parts of their life stories in between breaks. They shared how they came to a saving knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ, what lessons the Lord had been teaching them recently, how the Lord is daily transforming them to be more like Christ. It was these moments that formed the highlight of my two-day stay, and my heart was brimming with thanksgiving and praise at the faithfulness of Jesus, the "author and finisher of our faith" (Hebrews 12:2).

I was particularly blessed to finally get to talk with a close friend from my MBB days. She is now professing faith in Jesus. When I asked her what things have changed after she came to know the Lord personally, she told me, "You of all people should know how I was back in college." And the change has been dramatic. I was reminded of Ezekiel 36:26, "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." May she continue to grow more in her knowledge and love of the Christ.

To God be all glory, honor, and praise!

More photos in my Multiply album.