RAINY SUNDAY

It's raining outside and I am running a head cold. I am comfortably positioned on my warm bed with a glass of water beside me.

There are just some Sundays when all I would rather do is stay home and sleep the day off.

But no, I have to get up, get dressed and get ready for church. People might look for me. My small group members might need to ask me about something. My husband needs to see my reassuring face on the front row.

DISCIPLESHIP AND FRIENDSHIP

One of the most rewarding experiences I have gone through as a pastor's wife is that of mentoring women into the place where they can best honor God and advance His kingdom.

Among the many women who have come and gone through my life these past few years, three admirable ladies have stood by me and my husband in the most unconditional way. We sometimes jokingly refer to them as Bong's Angels.

These three women have, on their own initiative, made a personal commitment to pray for me and my husband every week. They have interceded for us, defended us, prophesied over us, exhorted us with the word of God, fought our battles for us when we were down. They faithfully sent us text messages to encourage us and affirm us both in our work and in our personal lives. They cried for me when I was diagnosed with breast cancer. They embraced my children and watched over them while I went through my treatment. They cheered my husband up and stood by him when others deserted him during the tough months of our battle for my health. Because of their love for God and His church, they have made a decision to support our leadership with full loyalty and service.

Alvi is a woman of dreams and visions. There have been many times when she would share to me about what she had dreamt about as a forewarning of things to come in our church. True enough, these dreams would take place and because she spoke to me about them beforehand, we would be able to make our decisions in a more confident manner. Through Alvi's sensitive and timely words, we would be able to see the hand of God in seemingly insignificant situations.

Irene is the encourager. Through her gift with words she can rally large groups of people towards a goal. She is the marketing arm, the charismatic leader, the saleswoman among the three. She can sell her ideas with eloquence and charm. In the days when I am down in the dumps, listening to her lifts my spirits and brings me to the right perspective. If I need someone to talk in my behalf, Irene is the person to carry it out.

Jane is the person who has an eye for details. She is always talking about strategies, timetables, budgets, surveys and systems. Everytime we need someone to accomplish something that calls for meticulous precision, she is the one we contact. Tough on the outside, she is actually a softie at heart. She is a very good counselor and shoulder to cry on. If a problem needs a systematic, well-thought of and properly implemented solution, Jane is the name to call.

Sometimes, the proximity of a mentoring relationship became too much and emotions would flare up between us. I would alternately correct them, affirm them, encourage them, rebuke them. I am sure there were days when all they wanted to do was turn their backs on me because we could not agree on certain things. But instead of giving up on the relationship, these three women stood their ground and learned to trust that I had their best interest at heart.

I have seen how the violent storms of life have tossed each of them to and fro, driving them to tears and on their knees. As much as I could I would let them know that I was there for them but there were times when I had to stand painfully aside and watch them get back up on their feet alone.

We have now come to a point where I trust them with my very life. I am fully and totally confident that they will do everything in their power to help me.

I entered a relationship with these three women with the intention of sharing with them all that I know, in the hopes that they will also share what they learn with others. The wonderful bonus in this arrangement is that I think I have learned more from them than what I have shared. They have given more than they have taken.

We have laughed, we have cried, we have loved and we have grown together. Now our relationship has evolved from discipleship to that of deep and lasting friendship.

EN07 WORLD CONFERENCE

Over the weekend, my huband, my daughter and I attended EveryNation World Conference 2007. The EN07 was a gathering of members of the Every Nation movement around the world, the movement of which our church Victory Christian Fellowship is a member.

It was an awesome experience to be in the same arena with over ten thousand other people where we heard powerful messages and in one accord sang worship songs to God.

After the World Conference, I was telling my friend, Deah Mora over lunch that the EN07 highlight for me no doubt was hearing Pastor Steve quote John Lennon. The profundity of the act is just too complex to explain, but suffice it to say that John Lennon was my greatest childhood hero. Of course other than that, I had a blast spending time with these great people who have reiterated to me, through their smiling faces and kind words, that, Yes indeed…all I need is love, love…love is all I need.

Recap Video courtesy of EN07 staff

PLEASE MEET THE REAL ME

Every so often someone in church pulls me aside to be introduced to his guests. Inadvertently, a still and rebellious voice screams inside of me: I am more than that you know. Sometimes, my mind then flies into all the good things that can be said about me and about what I do. I am a school owner...a teacher...an accomplished painter...an astute businesswoman...a good writer...a proud graduate of our state university...a cancer survivor, for heaven's sake.

And then the thought transforms into annoyance about how I am always overshadowed by my husband's good looks, charm and charisma and how I will never conform to one's picture of a demure and lady-like minister's wife. My brain then rants off about society's male chauvinism...the fact that ours is really a matriarchal society and that this country will not progress without the women...the ineptitude of our government in addressing the real issues of our nation. But scrap that thought because I am sure men will say, but our country is being run by a woman.

It's a good thing I know how and when to stop and laugh myself. I then put on my sweetest smile, reach out my hand, as I always do, and say, Welcome to our church.

BACK ON TRACK

When I was twenty-three years old and heavy with our first child, my husband and I were installed as ministers in our old church in Cebu. Suffice it to say that after six years of faithful service, we got caught in the crossfire of church politics and we decided to retreat rather than be annihilated.

If you could have talked to us then, when we were young, aggressive, volatile and hurting, we would have told you that ministry life is hell on earth.

For many years after that traumatic experience, my husband and I vacciliated between religious devotion and compromise. The good thing was we took turns at being depressed and discouraged. We never did it at the same time.

Eventually, after years of running away from people who looked to us as ministers, we found ourselves in a small church called Victory Christian Fellowship in Iloilo. That was in 1999.

We tried to remain as nondescript as possible.

But somehow, one's calling has a way of creeping back into one's life. Other than that, no matter how hard we try to deny it, people who are sensitive to the promptings of the Spirit can see the invisible neon lights flashing on our foreheads: called to minister.

One day, my husband's friend who was our pastor, pulled him aside. Our pastor was being called back to the mother church, he said, and he needs someone to take over his position in our church.

My husband's and my response were loud and clear: over our dead bodies!

I should have known as soon as the words left our lips that we would not be able to sleep that night. Nor the next two or ten nights after.

To cut the long story short, here we are again, after being badly burned and after having to pick ourselves up from the rubble and ravages of church conflict.

It's back to ministry life, so help us God.