New Year, New Challenges

I was visiting GBC Central yesterday and it rained after the first service. While waiting for the rain to stop, I mingled with several “old friends.” Many of them still asked me – how is the church in Air Itam? Or you’re still with the church in Air Itam? Hey, I was thinking, that was so yesterday! I left the pastoral office, like 2 years ago?! Okay, okay, so I’m now at GBC South & not often seen in Central, so they are still thinking I’m still in the pastoral office in that Anglican church.

Though I only spent something like 5 years as a pastor, it was truly a learning experience for me. Now I know why God sent me to a very difficult church. It was a “crash course” in practically every aspect of pastoral ministry! And it is these experiences that are helping me to minister effectively and practically in my present ministry (in MBTS especially & maybe perhaps at CCM too). During the pastoral years, I was disappointed to discover that there actually are people becoming a pastor for all the wrong reasons! I never thought there could be any case in MBTS – hey, this is MBTS you know!? – but I was wrong. There are people entering ministry for all the wrong reasons here, too & I suppose, everywhere else. Probably because, we are just fallen human beings, inheriting a fallen nature. And we are often numbed from hearing God. If there’s one accomplishment I can say I achieved during my pastoral years, it is building the team, not any team but THE team. And here’s a big thank you to ST, Nix & HA. You guys are a great team! I truly value how we worked together and able to correct one another because we share the same vision to grow spiritually – something that can only be achieved through team-work, like the one we had.

I was serving in the pastoral capacity from end of 2000 till beginning of 2005. 2005 was truly a difficult year for me with many major adjustments. First obvious change was leaving the pastoral office – when you are the pastor of a small church, Sunday morning is so “full” compared to coming to church (a big congregational church) as a member with nothing to attend to except to enjoy the worship – that’s a huge change. Also, in 2005, I returned to student life – signing up for the ThM/PhD program with AGST majoring in Education. (Thank you AGSTers, though it was a brief meeting, I’m glad the Lord brought our paths together) But clearly the Lord wanted me to do something else. I’m never one to give up on something I started, so it was a great struggle having to quit the program after two modules & entering into another program. At the second half of 2005 I officially left AGST program & enrolled into MBTS’ ThM (Missiology) program. I’m hoping to complete this program by this year. I hope to pursue further to PhD (Missiology). I pray that the Lord will provide all that is needed. Why I need to continue pursuing degree after degree? Well, because I’m fully convicted that God deserves the best & I can only offer Him as much as I have. If there’s an opportunity to be better, of course I want to grab that chance so that I can keep giving Him the better each time. Right now, I have the privilege to learn from one of the most renown missiologist of our generation in this campus.

Another change I experienced in 2005 was the nature of my ministry – from pastoral to (mainly) administration. I juggled my time among 7 different portfolios. In 2006, the scope of my responsibilities became more focused & I attend to 5 different portfolios. After the hiatus in 2005, I just can’t wait to get my hands into ministry. Towards the end of the year, I was praying hard – Lord, it’s time I fill my hands with “work.” And truly, the Lord opened doors. I started a “testing the waters” ministry among the younger youth in GBC South (I’m not sure if this has a future), I was asked to oversee the Young Adult CG, I offered to serve in the CCM (Cross-cultural Ministry) work at Bayan Point. For the first half of the year, I was in the BM church and for the second half, led to the Viet work. What 2007 has in store as I suspect is not only a mere continuation of what has been established the previous year but a greater intensity of spiritual fervency in these ministries. I’m growing in my ministry – the challenge to teach the Bible in BM, initiating spiritual awareness/prayer needs, and most of all, the vision of a spiritual revival in campus. While there are ups and downs in ministry, I must confess that I’m having a time of my life! Praise the Lord! I enjoy looking forward to the frequent invitations to teach/preach in other churches/Christian organizations. And I’m enjoying that exposure…

Looking back during my years in the pastoral office, I realize that at every “milestone” of (spiritual) progress, I’ve always experience “problems.” During my first years in the pastoral office, I noticed how the devil managed to divert my focus from God through many “sickness” he brought upon myself or my car. For about (first) 6 months continuously, the week before I was to preach, I always encountered a “problem.” It can be a simple case of sore throat, flu or some mechanical/electrical problem with the car and that often distracted me. Well, my God is great – I’ve grown from an amateur preacher to a good one. (Okay, I should not sound “boastful” but I do know I’m a good preacher, after all God is the One who anointed me to teach & to preach, so if I am good, it’s because of the source of that goodness – GOD!) Yet, the funny thing is, I’ve preached in almost every kind of congregations, except my own home church!

Why I bring this up? Well, I’m experiencing some “disturbance” right now. My car is the victim this time – it’s in the workshop right now & I don’t know how much its repairs will cost. But prior to that was a series of (spiritual) depression – one that actually made me so disillusioned I was nearly giving up. I’m also recalling how I sprained my toe just before going to the Viet Christmas last Dec. Yea, maybe that’s due to my own clumsiness but the pain was so piercing even while I was speaking before the crowd. Coming home that night, I removed my shoes to find a black toe! Yeap, it was black! And the next two days, I iced it often enough to reduce the swell & the bruise.

New year, new challenges – I’m ready for it because I know God is ahead of me. Halleluyah!