Teaching – An Honor and A Responsibility

It has been a couple of months since my last entry here.

Workshops, teaching, and seminars took most of my time in addition to school readings.

Last August, I conducted two HIV&AIDS workshops. One in Cagayan De Oro City for two and a half days. The other one is at this private company in Quezon City through a pastor friend’s invitation and connection. Since it is just a half day, I have decided not to share my testimony as first planned. However, I was moved (by the Holy Spirit) to share it towards the end. People who were so grateful with what I shared! Some were touched and cried but mostly were blessed. Last Sunday of the month, I was invited to preach at this house church in Caloocan. The message was about “Embracing the Pain.”

Early of the following month, I was given an opportunity to share “How to love our LGBT neighbors as we love ourselves?” at this forum. Then I traveled to Pangasinan for another Channels of Hope HIV workshop and another with the staff of this private hospital in Tondo. All were great and blessed experiences, a testimony how God can turn things around even the worst situations into our favor when we trust Him.

The month was capped off with teaching on “Understanding Depression and Positive Psychology” at this college in Munoz, and “Stress Management Workshop” at our counseling and training center. I believe that Mental health should be focused on including wellness through stress management especially nowadays. This has become part of my advocacy since I got a calling into helping profession of counseling and psycho-education. Thus, motivated me to pursue my doctorate degree in clinical counseling.

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Counseling and teaching on topics that address our total well-being are truly my passion and calling. Truly, speaking the truth in love is both an honor and a responsibility especially doing it all for the honor and glory of our Lord Almighty! And there’s more to come. In the meantime, as I have mentioned already about my studies, coming middle of this month my classes start. It is time to be a student again and focus. Shalom and God bless!

The Surprise at Officially Forty

Two months ago, I have written whether if life does really

begin at forty. Today marks my third day as an official forty-year-old guy.

Honestly, I am not really fond of celebrating my birthdays. Especially when I became conscious of my fear of getting into geriatric age. So I just let them passed like any ordinary day. However, the Lord has His ways that any man could not stop, including the birthday celebrator himself.

My family and friends spent some time and effort in the past to remember and celebrate it in simple ways. Mostly, I planned to spend this time with family and just stay at home. This year, I chose to be in Bohol and have decided to lead the facilitation of a three-day “Channels of Hope” workshop. The day I thought would pass off like any workshop days I have done previously did not happen. Something I was not expecting took place to my surprise!

At the end of the workshop during the closing ceremony, my dear friend and co-facilitator surprised me with the very thing I exactly instructed her not to do. With the help of the event coordinators, she announced that it was a special day for it was my birthday! Together with the participants, they sang the Happy Birthday song and prayed for me with the chocolate cake on my hands. Truly and sincerely, I was surprised! My plan of lamenting over reaching the age of forty did not materialize. It was exactly the opposite. I was and still overjoyed! Well, it is not every birthday I turned forty and far away from home. Thus, I must say God has made it special somehow and I am grateful for that.

It was not the kind of celebration I have dreamt of a few years before on my fortieth. Only if I have enough finances, I would love to do a mini concert of my own. Accompanied by a full live band, with simple food and drinks, I have imagined myself performing in front of my friends and family in an intimate venue. Oh well, perhaps this could happen in the future. Nevertheless, my turning forty remains special. Like I said earlier, I have lived more than I have expected so praise the Lord for the gift of life!

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Arriving on another decade is something to look forward to and get excited for the rest of what God has in stores for us. In fact, I am thrilled to see how this year would unfold with the prophetic prayers I received early this year. I would share it on my next post. Shalom!

CoH Training@YMCA KL

After over four years, once again I got the chance to do certification training for HIV Channels of Hope (CoH) at YMCA, Kuala Lumpur that began on the last week of August and lasted for seven full days. It was exhausting but at the same rewarding!

The last time I have become part of the training team was back in 2012 of March. It was my last training with my former employer that was held in Chennai, India. This is my first time to do it with AIDSLink, another partner organization of Christians AIDS Bureau for Southern Africa (CABSA) in doing CoH globally. I got to experience once again the long days but short nights, getting to know and making new friends, and sharing what God has done through my life and CoH in a multicultural setting. Usual challenges with the participants and the process happened but in the end, everything went well like before.

What made this experience different from my past trainings are two things. First, there are new additions in the program that makes it even more comprehensive and integrated than ever. Second, my encounter with the Lord took place not through the participants but with my co-trainers. When we were giving feedback to each other during our last meeting at the end of the training, it felt like God has given me affirmation of what I do and how I live my life for Him. Through the words I heard from each and everyone of the team, it pierced through my heart that I could not help but to burst into tears. I was so deeply touched, blessed, and overwhelmed by His presence through them! It was truly an amazingly different experience!

But of course, the participants also expressed their gratefulness on how blessed they are hearing our stories and meeting me. God never fails to show me who He is on this ministry in different ways.

This coming weekend, I will give a short talk on same sex attraction (SSA) to this church in Cavite. Shalom to my readers!

CoH at DZAS and BukSU

 

“Oras Na Pilipinas” was the morning program at FEBC – DZAS 702 where I got invited to talk about HIV&AIDS on its “advocaserye” segment last week. Although it was not my first time to be interviewed at the said station, this particular guesting has become both a good and bad experience. Due to poor judgment regarding time, traffic, and bad weather, I failed to make it on time and lost the first fifteen of the short twenty-five minutes of the slot allotted to me as representative of Micah Challenge, which made it bad. I was not able to do what I have planned to do. However, lesson has been learned. On the positive note, while it was only a little over ten minutes, I was able to speak about HIV through a story and promote the upcoming event of Amara Center for Family Counseling. Overall, I was a bit disappointed with the whole thing. Nevertheless, I still believe it was good based on the few positive feedback I received. 

More on the brighter side, my trip to Malaybalay City, Bukidnon was indeed a memorable one. For the first time, a two-days Channels of Hope or CoH for HIV workshop has been conducted to a non-church or non-FBO or faith based organization. Our participants were teachers, Gender and Development Staffs, one DOH representative, and guidance counselors of BukSU or Bukidnon State University! Honestly, I was a bit apprehensive at first for they are not faith leaders so I slightly modified and removed a few topics that are not relevant to them. But the core foundation of this ministry is the Word of God and the Bible so it is quite impossible not to include the spiritual aspect of this response to HIV&AIDS. Moreover, they have witnessed that it is the missing link that could possibly address the issue of stigma and discrimination through what it has done on my life…and what the Lord has done through my life as I have shared. It turned out that they have appreciated and liked this part very much through their expression of how much they were blessed. In fact, they want us back in a few months for another similar event praise God! 

Also, this trip has become a reunion of my spiritual mother doctor and me. We spent one evening together just simply sharing and talking about our own struggles and other deep personal stuff. We have missed each other so much that we ended up schmoozing past twelve midnight! But it was worth it.

Prior to my departure, with friends who are responsible for this trip and who led me to the life I am enjoying at present respectively, I was able to conquer the longest zip line in Asia at Dahilayan Adventure Park. Bukidnon is the home of sweet pineapple (Del Monte) in the country and the climate is somewhere between Baguio and Tagaytay City. The mountains, the wide road, the widespread plantation of pineapples, corns and other crops, and the peace brought by its natural countryside would be loved by anyone who is thinking of retirement or place for vacation. Indeed it is a cool place with warm people. All these are more than enough reasons to go back, visit the places and experience the things I have not been able to see and do.

Till next time...shalom!