Before I left for Chennai, India a little more than two weeks ago to lead training on Channels of Hope (CoH) for the second time, my office closest friends surprised me with a birthday cake and balloons to celebrate my 35th birthday!
Honestly, I was not so keen on celebrating it. In fact I have hidden my birth date in almost all of my online accounts so nobody can remember. Well, my true friends knew when it is and still have received a lot of greetings and few gifts from them which I was so thankful about! It made me realized that these people are God's gift and His way of reminding me that I am surrounded by His love through all of them.
Perhaps I was just afraid a bit that I am officially on my mid 30's but still single with the same SSA or same-sex attraction struggle and have not accomplished so much. This could be the reason why I was not into celebrating it and was a bit grumpy that day. Nevertheless, I can say confidently that I am happy and contented with how's this God-given life going on and I believe that's the most important thing. Looking back exactly five years ago since I have celebrated my very first birthday with the Lord Jesus Christ, He has done a lot of great things in my life in spite of my unworthiness and in the midst of all my struggles. The past five years are more than enough to be grateful and happy about my 35 years of existence. Surely I have failed and sinned so many times either sexually, selfishly or pride-fully but will continue to press on and live under His amazing grace and testify!
Exactly that's what I did on this almost two weeks trip in Chennai! It was my first international trip this year and the Lord was there I can tell and will always be. Although the team have struggled a bit for we have not met the minimum target of participants, God led us in such a way that His name will still be honored and glorified in the end so thank you Lord!
We were able to visit and see a couple of beautiful tourist places near the area in Mahabalipuram and took some pictures from it. I also had a great time to work with old friends I have met the first time I came to this country and had a fellowship with brothers and sisters in Christ from different parts of the world. Truly it was another wonderful and blessed trip!
Now I will be preparing for another CoH workshop with Logos Hope at Subic port later this month and perhaps for my fellow staff from the office. I remember a newly found friend asked me once if I face spiritual warfare before and after I testify about God's grace. Of course I said yes so I will be asking for your prayers my dear brothers and sisters who read and follow this online journal of mine. I really appreciate it. God is really awesome!
