Back in the Philippines From Pasadena

Just a little over two weeks ago I (DJ) boarded a non-stop 13.5 hour flight to Los Angeles from the Philippines to attend the two week on-campus seminar required for my Masters program at Fuller Seminary, in Pasadena. For those who are curious, it is the MAGL or Master of Arts in Global Leadership program. Yes...I know, its a mouthful but as cool as it may sound, it has nothing to do with preparing myself for some sort of world domination.

Actually, the MAGL is an excellent program that brings together a cohort of students from all over the world to learn aspects of Christian ministry and leadership from each other and professors, while still working in ministry from our various locations. It was a costly trip, fortunately we had started saving for this two years ago and were able to cover all the expenses, praise God! Thankfully, I am excited to say that I am only a couple of classes away from graduating! 

It was an inspiring two weeks to say the least. My faith was immensly encouraged by the stories and ministries of the people in my cohort. It was great to just hang out with these lifelong friends who've stuck together in our program over the past two years. 

Lynnette remained in the Philippines, and I have to say that I am really proud of her for sticking it out, and holding down our fort in a foreign land by herself. Of course, we have a great community of friends here that are always here for her as well.

Some Highlights:

1. Being around my cohort that is full of sharp minds from a variety of ministries in US, Rwanda, China, Sri Lanka, France, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Cambodia.
2. In-N-Out Burger
3. Visiting Homeboy Industries (in Chinatown), an organization committed to training, finding jobs and giving hope to former gang members in Los Angeles.
4. Visiting and analyzing Mosaic church in Hollywood, known for the creative arts that effectively speaks to that creative culture.
5. LA Mexican food 

Now that I am back in the motherland, it's time to put some of the lessons learned into practice!

DJ's Return From Pasadena

Just a little over two weeks ago I boarded a non-stop 13.5 hour flight to Los Angeles from the Philippines to attend the two week on campus seminar required for my Masters program at Fuller Seminary, in Pasadena. For those who are curious, it is the the MAGL or Master of Arts in Global Leadership program. Yes...I know, its a mouthful and probably sounds like I am preparing myself for some sort of world domination...which would be nice..

Actually, the MAGL is an excellent program that brings together a cohort of students from all over the world to learn aspects of Christian ministry and leadership from each other and professors, while still working in ministry from our various locations. It was a costly trip, fortunately we had started saving for this two years ago and were able to cover all the expenses. Thankfully, I am only about one quarter away from graduating!

Lynnette remained in the Philippines, and I have to say that I am really proud of her for sticking it out, and holding down our fort in a foreign land by herself. Of course, we have a great community of friends here that were there for her as well.

Some highlights include:

• Visiting and analyzing Mosaic church in Hollywood, known for the creative arts that effectively speaks to that creative culture.
• In-N-Out Burger
• Visiting Homeboy Industries, an organization committed to training, finding jobs and giving hope to former gang members in Los Angeles.
• Being around my cohort full that is full of sharp minds from a variety of ministries in US, Rwanda, China, Sri Lanka, France, Brazil, Costa Rica, and Cambodia.
• LA Mexican food Now that I am back in the motherland, it's time to put lessons learned into practice!

Hope Chapel Metro - 1 YEAR ANNIVERSARY!

This past weekend we celebrated the one year anniversary of our church, Hope Chapel Metro! It's been inspiring to look back and see all that God has done in only the first year through this church plant. We had been anticipating and planning for this service for a couple of months. We knew that this would be a great opportunity for people to invite friends and family to join us in the celebration.

Before the service I (DJ) admit that I was nervous, and I wasn't even the one speaking that night! But I was nervous about the videos that I edited being any good, if we could set up everthing in time, if people would show up, and I was just nervously excited for what God would do.

The night was incredible, the place was full, 200 people attended and about 25% were first time guests joining us. We were blessed to see a friend, that Lynnette met and connected with through her youTube video blog, bring his entire family to celebrate with us for the first time. 

You could feel God's presence, the room was filled with joy and many were moved to tears by His love for them as they listened to the message given by Pastor Nolan and the stories of some church members whose lives had been transformed by God. Over 80 people responded to God that night by giving their lives to Jesus or rededicating their faith. It was powerful!

Then like a cherry on top of an already awesome sundae (and Sunday), we were able to raffle a brand new iPad, it was encouraging to see a yaya (nanny), accept her prize in tears. We were able to further serve the people with a giant 65", 600 slice pizza - the biggest in Quezon City!

For Lynnette and I, the past few weeks leading to the celebration have been busy, and crazy! Our days were filled with shopping for equipment and supplies, organizing teams, late night video editing, and countless other details. But it was all worth it to see lives changed, and Jesus glorified. In the end, without His strength and help, we couldn't have accomplished anything.

With the anniversary over, now the hard work begins! Now we must now focus our efforts in connecting with all the new people who joined us, to thank them, and to hopefully help them become a part of this awesome Hope Chapel Metro family!

 

Newsletter - May 2012 - Our New Home!

We were really blessed to find our new home in Quezon City! After many prayers and a connection through our good friend at church, God orchestrated everything to help us get this apartment/condo.

Check out the tour!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGJJ1ZJ3EKk]

Newsletter - May 2012 - Our New Home!

We were really blessed to find our new home in Quezon City! After many prayers and a connection through our good friend at church, God orchestrated everything to help us get this apartment/condo.

Check out the tour of our new place!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UGJJ1ZJ3EKk?rel=0]

We Are Moving!!!

Crazy Week of Many Dilemma's & Answered Prayers 

It has been a crazy busy week for DJ & I as we are preparing to move to a condo in Timog (closer to the church). As some of you already know, our aunty in the Philippines blessed us to live at their condo for a year for free. This June will be the end of our year and in turn we will need to look for another place to live. 

Dilemma #1

As missionaries we were concerned about rent money, since our current financial support isn't sufficient enough to cover the upcoming monthly rent. On top of that we weren’t sure if our current supporters would continue their support for another year.

We are literally stepping out of faith. Our faith budget was $500/per month for a small studio. We were trusting that God will some how provide an extra $500 a month for the rent along with another year of support.

Answered Prayer

It is now end of April and God has answered our prayers. Another missionary who is leaving to another country had just bought a brand new condo unit. She too was praying for a married couple that is a missionary to occupy her unit. The unit owner and I crossed path through a mutual friend and she was willing to lease her unit to us. She even lowered her price of $400 to $300, which is well below our faith budget. Praise God. 

Dilemma #2

When we visited the unit, it was completely bare. There were no appliances, fixtures, furniture’s etc... it was literally completely bare. My heart dropped. There is no way we could afford this place if we have to purchase our own appliances, and furniture (which is a common thing in the Philippines)! 

Answered Prayer

Me being a bargaining person, I asked the unit owner if we can deduct the amount we spend on appliances and furniture off the rent. Without a hesitation she said yes! God is so good! We will not be paying rent for 8-10 months instead it will go towards the furniture & appliances.

Dilemma #3

Now, the 3rd dilemma was where are we going to get the money up front to purchase the furniture’s & appliances! Well, when God provides he really provides! 

Answered Prayer

My father-in-law who so kindly did our taxes just informed us that we would be getting a lot of money in "tax returns"! With the tax returns and our fundraiser money from HCWO, it will be more than enough to help us with the purchasing! I love it when everything just falls into place and God literally takes care of everything. When you are faithful with the little, God definitely blesses you with more.

So, now the fun of decorating, and purchasing brand new furniture, and appliances of my choice begins. However, the unit is 250 square feet, which is a super duper small 1 bedroom studio, I have a challenge of carefully purchasing furniture’s and appliances that will not make the already small studio smaller. 

I know God will continue to provide for us this upcoming year. 

 We are planning on moving in on May 1. I will post before and after pictures along with a video tour. 

 

A Taste of Hope Chapel Metro's New Venue

This past Sunday Hope Chapel Metro was excited to moved to Berting's Grill, a new location within the Timog area. It was a huge blessing to find this bar that is centrally located, just feet away from the main strip of clubs, bars and restaurants that make the nightlife of Timog so popular. 

This new venue is not only cheaper, but they also provide storage space for all our equipment. But what is even more encouraging is that the owner had been praying that some sort of religious group would come in and rent his space...and that was us! Although, as Pastor Nolan said, "we are far from being religious, we just love Jesus", and we're hoping he and the rest of this area will catch that vibe too and join us.  

We're are just thankful to God for His continued provision for our church. Here is a short 2 minute video highlighting our first night at our new venue!

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ClGRii5ElsI?rel=0]