ANNOUNCEMENT!

For all those who have my suncell number, text me there for awhile okay... Well, I lost my other phone...again!

I won't mind it either if you'll text me my suncell number. I haven't memorized it yet and all I know is that it starts with "0922" and ends in "5181"... If you don't know my suncell, pity you..hehe...contact roan, edsie or ron for it...

I don't plan to tell my parents about this, so if you are my mom or dad, just pretend that you are not reading this, okay? My birthday is coming up, yep...July 18, I won't mind a NOKIA 6101 as a gift, the black one. Hehehe..

This particular event hurts me more than when I lost my 3G phone, or my videocam or...hehe...that's all I manage to lose. The rest, I managed to break into uselessness like my laptop. But then, my laptop is old. Anyway, I was more distraught with the loss of my 6101. Maybe becasue this is the third time that I was outwitted...or maybe...well...I don't know...

However, I will replace it!! I swear I will! My family is a financial crisis right now and I won't bother them with something like this. On top of that, I need to save for the second semester of ENLI. So, goodluck for me. All in all, I will need about Php6000. Where, oh, where will I get that hefty amount of money!!!???

Okay, enough is enough... Ja ne!

Out in the Streets...

hah! i'm in a computer shop when I'm suppose to be slumbering happily on my bed dreaming of pleasant things, though nothing is out of ordinary about that. It's just that now, I did not really plan to spend the night out in the streets of Ermita, Taft. It's entirely my fault, by the way. I arrive in front of the dormitory about 10 minutes past the curfew time and I don't want to warrant a violation so I just spent, and will spend, the next few hours in, first, ministop, then Wendy's and currently, in Anglo. I plan to do some homework and research but I am currently browsing the internet just now so I'll put it off till later. Should it be called procrastinating, I leave that up to you. Anyway, after I printed whatever it is that I would dig out of the internet, I plan to read them inside Ministop until the dorm opens, given that I don't sleep over a pile of paper...that would be embarrassing. I don't know if I'll sleep yet. I believe my body will decide for itself later, inspite of what I THINK I should (or should not) do. SV has an exec meeting at 11:30...got to keep that in mind...

By the way, I bought the continuing series of Left Behind--the Tribulation Force. I am actually engross in it (I was reading it at Wendy's) and if only that I could feel that there are still people inside Wendy's, I would have continue reading it and boycott my suppose internet research and assignments. That would save money and for sure, I'll be as equally delighted.

I haven't yet tell why I am way past the curfew, have I? Well, I went with the VCF peepz and stroll through the bookstores at MOA. Didn't know that they are so passionate about books that they went to all the bookstores there--FullyBooked, PowerBooks, BookSale, National Bookstore, etc. We also spend some time looking at cute doggies and doggie accessories and of course, eat. Actually, it was more eat and stroll around. Either way, I was late for the dormitory. Somebody actually beat Edsie-chan's record at mall strolling... Edsie-chan, I promise we will do better next time!

Okay, I am not as coherent as I was before I start this blog entry. Well, I doubt this entry has anything coherent in it, but pardon me, it is 2:17 am and I am currently running on caffein right now. I think I am just babbling. Anyway, I still call this a decent blog entry. It's been awhile since I posted something.

Okay, on to the more serious stuff...

I am currently in a dilemma right now. I am no longer contended with the church that I am supposedly a member of. Spiritual growth is one of the reason why I am considering being "adopted" to yet another church. Come to think of it, spiritual growth is also the reason why I went out of the church where I grew up and unto the local church that I have in Bataan, only, this situation is a little, just a little, complicated. A friend said that I should really be looking for a church that I could be rooted. SV, after all, is a campus ministry and I can't be a student for life. I have to find a church. Seriously. Anyway, so far, things are going great. I am still waiting for some affirmation/s though.

The last paragraph sobered me a bit, but I have to say goodbye...

Ja ne!

BAGUIO TREK!!

Anniefair A. Ausan
Personal Testimony
Baguio Trek 2007

At the first news that we are going to Baguio for missions, I made up my mind that I am going to go, no matter what happened. There is no way that I am going to miss the Baguio Trek 2007. My mind was so made up that I don’t really need the consent of my parents, I merely informed them that I was going, leaving them no choice but to give me the thumbs up. However, despite my unyielding will, there is an empty heart for what is about to happen. By then, my heart is not really that of missions, I just know that I will go. I have to admit though that since this is my first time in the mission field, I am apprehensive about what is going to happen, but other than that, my heart remained uncaring. That is, until I set foot at the little Day Care Center of Ambiong, our designated Muslim community. There are about 30-40 Muslim children there, and at the moment we entered their room, we could already hear the excitement in their voices. They are waiting for us.
The program that we held for the Muslim children are what I could honestly call Spirit-led, for there is no really tangible program for the day. We are supposed to do some games, then sing, a skit and some crafts, but even as we are on the taxi bound for Ambiong, we are still in the middle of planning. It is a good thing that Kuya Dave told us that the disciples has only one tangible thing on their plan—to Go! And go we did, not really knowing what will happen.
I could say that the day went along fine since the children are laughing every now and then, especially during the skit where my part is limited to the narration. We performed the story about Abraham and Isaac and the kids laugh the hardest when Alvin played the donkey part! And yeah, I believe they learned a moral in the story as well… For the ending part, I taught the children origami, the art of Japanese paper folding. I taught them how to do a heart. They seem to like it, and we part with happy faces.
After my first experience at evangelism and missions, I could feel that there’s a renewed fire in me. It seems that it is not only the kids who benefited from the experience but also us, me to be exact. I remember what my one of my co-Baguio trekker said (or was it Kuya Dave?), he said that we can’t really share something that we don’t have. Simply put, if you don’t have Jesus in your heart, then you can’t really share Him to others. That’s why I am glad that after the Ambiong experience, I am eager to go back again (we were scheduled to go back the next day) and share to the kids Isa Almasi (Jesus Christ in Muslim). I praise God that it only took me a day in the mission field to rid myself of the apathy. My heart was eager to go back.
After the eagerness to go back, my heart was once again challenge by the next agenda on the list—stranger evangelism! Well, compared to the Ambiong experience, stranger evangelism is much scarier and heart wrenching. We are to go to SM Baguio and witness to people on a personal level. We used the salvation bracelet (though we called it the Gospel Bracelet) as a way to present the gospel to the people that we will meet. Like the biblical example, we have gone in pairs and Cedrix was my designated partner. Fortunately, we were able to get out of the Mall alive, and a few experience points in evangelism. For my part, I learned several practical things in evangelism, and realized dozen other insights. However, the most important thing I learned about the experience is total reliance on God and how powerful prayer really is. Total reliance because practically we have no inkling what’s going to happen. I mean, SM Baguio is big and there are a lot of people, the questions who you will approach and how, then afterwards how to go with the conversation and all. The real challenge is when you are just about to start conversing with the person, trying to prove that your motives are pure. Only then will they really listen to you and what you are saying.
Inside, I learned another meaning for the phrase “total reliance to God”, because aside from the more objective part of the evangelism, I need total reliance to God in my inward self as well. My first stranger evangelism is one of the moments that I totally feel that I can do nothing. That I am powerless and that we will spend the whole day in SM Baguio and still, I won’t be able to do it if I were to rely on me. I simply can’t do it. I have to get my strength and encouragement from God. Ironically, this is also the moment that I learned the power of prayer. Before we start, Cedrix and I prayed to God to lead us, to give us strength and encouragement, etc., It is also a blessing that the word “GO!, no matter what happened”, is already etched in my mind. It tells us that what matter is that we obey. No matter what happened, whether the person has rejected us or insulted us, the important thing is that we have obeyed and witnessed to Christ’s name. It is not us they are rejecting or insulting anyway, so we just have to go. For sure it helped us during our stranger evangelism experience.
We have also realized how pitiful the general situation of people really is. Many are living a comfortable life, with a false security that they will go to heaven. Generally, the people have no idea how bad their situation is and that they are not bound for heaven but for hell. Truly, living in a country where the Gospel is supposed to be dominant does not ensure that the people are saved. As a matter of fact, the people in SM Baguio are just as lost as the people in the Muslim communities that we have visited. We were also able to meet Christians through our evangelism, more or less, they are inspired by the example that we have given and somehow, (and we pray), that they do it also. We explained to them the bracelet and gave them some so that they could witness too. It feels good to know that at the very least, our action served as an inspiration to fellow Christians!
The Baguio Trek took two days of traveling, a dozen times hike on a 70° inclined plane back and forth, two mornings of reaching out to muslim communities, three afternoons of sharing the gospel to strangers at malls, parks and shopping centers, a night of rowing boats, almost non-stop picture taking here and there, many planted gospel seeds, continuous forming and strengthening of friendships, getting wet in the pouring rain once or twice, several saved souls, eating chicken and chicken related menus for every meal, eating the meager ration of bread with peanut butter and jelly every morning, cold showers every now and then (the rest are hot showers, of course), a morning devoted for the culminating festivities, another morning devoted to touring Baguio, a lunch at Ate Dot’s house and of course, the continuous seeking of the Lord’s guidance, without which, I don’t think we could have survived. All these experience, and a lot unwritten more, happened in just five days, but I believe that the implications are those that would last a lifetime and the life after that.

Hey guys. i'll be posting a my Baguio Trek testimony soon, so wait for it. By "soon", as people close to me already know, I mean days, weeks, months, though not necessarily years... so REALLY wait for it. Okay?

I have watch Shrek 3 and I was laughing the whole time. I know some people will say otherwise, but I guess I'm just that easy to please. That, or there is something wrong with the others...

Anyway, my favorite part is when the scene when Pinocchio is being interrogated! Haha...Speak about evading to lie while holding the truth. I have a feeling that some of our politicians follow after Pinnochio's example (or is it the other way around?). Also, I like it when puss danced during the credits... yay!!

I wish our internet connection will stop jerking around so that I could browse without worries that the next page will display "page cannot be displayed". Sigh.

Blogging! Browsing!! I've been deprived much over the past three weeks!