A Little Encouragement

In times like this that we hear a lot of Chrisitans or former Christian leaders that fail in their testimony, abandon their faith, or live a life of sin. It might be that some of them were never saved to begin with.. but still, there are times that we need to be reminded that God is POWERFUL. And He uses the MOST unlikely individual to spread His love. Just like Shelly Lubben. I hope you all enjoy watching this... 

What Kind of Animal Is Your Personality?

So last Friday, Young Pro Fellowship's activity was a personality test. It is a simple personality test written by Gary Smalley and John Trent. Before I explain it, click THIS to open the test, click File Menu of the opened Spread Sheet and click Export -> XLS to download the who thing and take the test. hehe...

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZzzz.....................

Are you done???

Now let's begin.

There are four personality types or animals in this test: Lion, Otter, Golden Retriever, and Beaver. In the same order are the columns in the exam. 

A simple explanation is:

Lions are Leaders

Otters are the Friendlies

Golden Retrievers are the Caring ones

Beavers are the Diligent Ones

Each character has its own set of strengths and weaknesses. But don't get me wrong, you don't necessarily have all of the mentioned strength or weakness. The psych evaluation only gives you an idea of where your tendencies are. One can also be in multiple categories. If you're a lion then an otter. It just means you are a leader first, before you are a motivator. It's just a matter of letting one see what is a person's biggest potential and possible areas of improvement. Remember, having those weaknesses don't give you an excuse to stay weak in those areas. Knowing your weakness makes you more responsible in taking the initiative to improve on them. While knowing your strengths shows which areas in ministry and work you can shine in. Maximize your God given strengths. Comprende?!?! It can also be helpful in understanding other individuals. Why they are like that, and on what areas you can help them improve.

	Strength	Weakness
Lion	visionary	cold
	practical	domineering
	productive	unemotional
	Strong-willed	Self-sufficient
	independent	unforgiving
	decisive	sarcastic
	leader	cruel

	Strength	Weakness
Otter	outgoing	undisciplined
	responsive	unproductive
	warm	exaggerates
	friendly	egocentric
	talkative	unstable
	enthusiastic
	compassionate

	Strength	Weakness
Golden Retriever	Calm	selfish
	Easy-Going	stingy
	dependable	procrastinator
	quiet	unmotivated
	objective	indecisive
	diplomatic	fearful
	humorous	worrier

	Strength	Weakness
Beaver	analytical	moody
	Self-disciplined	Self-centered
	industrious	touchy
	organized	negative
	aesthetic	unsociable
	sacrificing	critical
		revengeful

So what kind of animal are you?

Family Summer Conference 09 - Ilocos Pix

So today, they released the compiled pictures of the Ilocos Summer Conference. It's not perfect, and the test shots were not filtered out. I tried to fix some of them; I hope I didn't turn a good shot into a bad one.heheh.. Also, if you're wondering why some pictures appear all over the place, it just means that multiple photographers took that same picture. You can also wonder why some photographers take multiple pictures of just one person. :D Anyway here are some of the pictures that I've uploaded, enjoy!!!

Summer Con Ilocos - The Return

OK, so we've returned last Saturday. Around 140 of us. We arrived at 5:30AM. It was really earlier. I only had 30 minutes of sleep the whole night. Worst of all, I didn't sleep much the other night as well. BUT, it was still enjoyable,  I was able to catch up with old friends and meet new friends as well. Anyway, I hope I can get the pictures soon, so that I can post them all here. So how was your Holy Week vacation?

Fort Ilocandia Resort Here We Come

So pack your bags, and be ready to meet tomorrow 8:00PM at GCC for our trip to Ilocos. Anyway, don't forget to bring your Bible, personal water for the bus, medication (especially for motion sickness), a little bit of cash, shades, sweater/jacket (it could be cold if you get the chance to ride the hot air balloon),  toiletries (tooth paste and brush, etc.) [The hotel will probably provide most of it, but it wont hurt if your bag has some space], camera if you have one, plastic bags to put your dirty laundry, clothing, socks, undees, slippers, junk food, games to play on the bus... Well, you all know what you need. 

Just be at Grace by 8:00PM tomorrow (April  7). If possible, take a little nap in the afternoon. I know it's hard to sleep on the bus. So it might help to get your sleep in advance. God bless. See you all.

MV Doulos

What was supposed to be a short trip to the MV Doulos Bookstore turned into a five hour tour of the ship. It was a warm, sunny day when a few church members visited the Doulos to purchase a few books. And to our utter amazement, the line was looooong. Reminder to those who will visiting the (new) Doulos in two years, don't visit the bookstore on a Sunday.

Fortunately, we had visited the Doulos a week earlier and became acquainted with a few crew members. So instead of lining up in the bookstore line, we went to the back of the ship and received a tour of the whole ship.

Our tour guide, Mrs. Ilona Csernus, began with sharing the short history of the Doulos and the Logos. We ventured into the small corridors of the ship, visiting the laundry area, the fire station, the engine, room, the dining area, and eventually found our way into the Csernus living quarters in the lower levels of the ship.

Learning about the Doulos and its mission has been an eye opening experience to not only life on a ship, but also the importance and hard work involved in the missions ministry. Crew members don't stay on the ship during the entire duration of their 2 year stay on the ship, but go out to parks and prisons to tell people about the gospel.

Look forward to seeing the new Doulos in 2 years.



That's not the Doulos. That's the Melville, the shipped parked behind the Doulos. But it makes for a great picture.

The line went all the way down the pier, and zig zagged like a scribble at the end of the picture. It was insane -- sooo many people.

Eleanor poses at the fire station.

The main entrance to the bookstore.

Welcome home who-ever-you-are. (Anna with an H.)

That guy's the Bouncer. He's from the Netherlands and he makes funny faces. And he's 18.

TAIWAN! TAIWAN!!! TAIWAN!!!!

The Engine Room.

This guy looks like Samuel Tan, Rev. Stephen's brother. Ya think?

The gang minus Spencer. Left to right: Lawrence, Ellie, Jina, Cat, Ilona, Benjamin, and Daniel. We rock.

They've got a trampoline in their cabin!

From the outside -- without the long line of people.

Good bye Doulos. See you again in two years.

Joshua

I've posted about Joshua last December. I just received the sad news that he went to be with our Lord. It was this morning (3/17/2009, not sure which hospital). 

I know he struggled hard. He fought and trusted God. We prayed for him, for his family; even though some of us never met him; because he is our brother in Christ. We may not need to pray for Joshua anymore for we know where he is, in heaven. However, we do need to pray for his family, friends, and love ones. Those whom he left here on earth. Let them be comforted by God's promise that they will meet Joshua again at the appointed time.

I leave you with this verse, of comfort. To remind us that the place where he is... is a wonderful place.

Revelations 21:4

"And God shall wipe away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away."

The Summer Con 09' Quest for Funds

So we've already talked about the garage sale for our summer conference. As a continuation for that. Last last Sunday, our church sold shabu-shabu; and today they sold some siomai. It was a fun fund raising event. Even if it's just a little, a few thousand pesos was raised.

And a new development is... if you want to join and don't have enough money, just look for Enoch hia (5'10" with a big smile) and ask for some raffle booklets. A mountain bike, Nautica Cologne for Men, Samsonite Camera Bag, Samsonite Neck Rest, and a Hi-Lock Glassware set will be given away. Draw date will be on March 29 @ 12noon. Each ticket is only P30... and if you sell an amount more than P1500, the amount you sold will be deducted to your summer conference fare. (I'm not so sure about the mechanics though, I'll clarify this in a few days). So start selling now and join our summer conference in Ilocos. God bless you all.