Up In The Air

I also want to tell you about how God has allowed me to see the world. Way back in 1993 I was able to go to Bangkok to attend a training in Statistics for 3 months. Then for 2 years I was in South Australia to do my master's degree. But I think these 2 opportunities were but God's way of giving me a taste of what is out there. After I got home in 1997 from Adelaide, I pretty much got stuck in Manila. I thought that was it for me; no more travelling. So when my passport expired I did not even bother to renew it. Deep inside I was actually glad about it. Why? Because I am scared of airplanes.

But I guess God had other plans. As soon as I moved out of government, God gave me a trip to KL. Then 6 months after, another trip, this time to Oslo, Norway. Since then I had been travelling to Europe and Asia several times a year. I had been to Copenhagen, Frankfurt, Singapore, Bali, Kota Kinabalu, Hongkong and Kyoto. I had also been able to bring my family to HK Disneyland, to Singapore and to Bangkok. This year, I am bringing them to Hanoi for about 3 months. Not bad at all for a guy who hates flying. I remember praying to God before not to make me travel anymore, but I guess he is The Boss. And now I also understand why he makes me live a part of my life up in the air. The Lord is teaching me not to be scared of both living and dying. In other words He is teaching me to strengthen my faith in Him. He is a great God indeed.

Finding CCF

Attending BSF for about 4 years really allowed me to grow spiritually. In the beginning my wife did not know I was attending, and was a little suspicious when she started to notice I always go home late on Mondays. But later she told me that she was also noticing that I was changing and becoming a gentle person more and ore, so she did not say a thing. A few months after, she just suddenly said, Dad, whatever it is you are doing on Monday evenings, just keep doing it because it is making you nicer. It really made me laugh, and glad too, that my Christianity is growing in me.

A good friend of mine, Glenn, who was married to another friend I introduced, RV, told us about CCF, or Christ Commission Fellowship, a Christian church. At that time my family was in a very active search for a church to go to. My wife and I were born Catholics, but we thought we should begin attending service at a Christian church. My daughter goes to a Presbyterian school, and she was also getting introduced to Christ as our Lord and Saviour. We tried going to CCF one Sunday afternoon on the prodding of Glenn and RV, and we immediately felt spirit of God telling us that CCF is for us and we are for CCF.

I do not know what are the other aspects of God's plan for us, but as a Christian family we just now pray for wisdom to discern His will so that we may go where He wants us to go.

BSF

A month after, a new boss from Norway arrived, and said that he will be moving into the country full time. He told me to close down the office in Mandaluyong City, and open a new one in Makati City. Makati is where the bible study for men is being held. Two full moons after, we moved into the new office, and I no longer have a reason not to attend BSF, the bible study group. So I started to attend, and about 4 years after I was offered to join the leadership program. Knowing that there is no pont in saying no to God's plan, I joined the program and commenced teaching the Word of God to kids. And in the process of teaching, the Word became ever so clear to me. The Big Boss is always in charge.

Civic Work

As country representative, I opened an office in a business center in Mandaluyong City. I chose that place in order to also give focus to my civic duties. I had been a member of the Junior Chamber (Jaycees) of the Philippines, and had been doing civic work since 1999. That year 2006, I was elected as chapter president of the Jaycees in Mandaluyong City. We held a lot of projects in the local public schools and the correctional institution for women. It was a lot of work. It was physically taxing, but it was great for the spirit. I just knew that God gave me an office in that City so I can do things for the needy. I started allocating a chunk of my income for this.

Mid stream during my term as Jaycees chapter president, I got an invitation from a friend to attend a bible study for men on Monday evenings. The location is in a different city, so I said no. But God had other plans.

Jobless in Less Than 1 Second

Th story about building the house and getting a car upgrade wa really something, but let me tell you also about the employment front.

The HR guy from Oslo said that the office will close by March 1 of that year. But before that day came, I got a call from a Norwegian company I was helping to secure hydropower plants in the Philippines as part of my job at the Commercial Section. SN Power heard about the office closing, and will therefore lose the representation in the Philippines. The guys in Oslo decided to then put up a Representative Office in Manila, and asked me to be the country representative. You start on March 1, the voice on the other end of the line said. So I had a job as soon as my other job ended. They also bumped up my salary scale by about 20% and gave me an assured 14th month pay. After 2 years they also gave me a Toyota Innova of which 80% of the price hs been paid for by the company. I only needed to pay Php5,700 for 24 months for it. Thank you, Big Boss!

Path to Christianity 2

At the embassy, things really changed. I got sent to various countries for conferences and meetings. I got a good break. Everytime they send me somewhere, I got a per diem at Norwegian rates (they call Odin rates). And I started being able to save up. We started buying more stuff in the house, and sent little Aya to nursery school. Things looked rather bright both spiritually and materially. Until I was told the embassy will close down the commercial section in Manila, a decision taken from HQ in Oslo. Many a new dad would have been scared *hitless, but at that time I was already having a strong enough faith in my God who has given me so much. An HR guy came to Manila to tell me that they will give me a package amounting to about a quarter of a million pesos. When I left government 3 years ago, after working for about 12 years as a civil servant, I even owed government about Php14,000. Here I am, after 3 years with the embassy, being sent packing with a hefty Php250,000. Now that is a lot of zeroes after the numbers 2 and 5. The HR guy was perplexed t see me happy, while all the others looked rather sad.

I used the money to co-share with my brother-in-law in buying a lot, and together we built a 3-storey house. I occupied the 2nd floor, a 1-bedroom unit. Finally I own a house. It was a bit of a shell, butwhile it was being constructed I found an opportunity to moonlight. I prepared a feasibility study together with some old friends for a wealthy Taipan, and got paid about half a milion pesos for it. So we were able to make the house look like a home eventually. There was still a little money left, so I also sold my battered 1990 Nissan Sentra, and upgraded to a 1995 Toyota Corolla.

I just have to be crazy not to think that my God is giving me a little boost.

Path to Christianity 1

With our new baby, we started to build a new family. We rented a studio apartment in the community where my wife grew. We really started small. We had a two-seater sofa, a bed and a 14-inch TV. I was then occupying a neat position in government, Director for Transport BOT Projects. The position was great for social stature, but the salary was meager. There were temptations to cross the line in order to bring home big bucks. But I stuck to my guns, and my God. I had this feeling in my gut that if I feed my baby with food bought wth dirty money, she will choke to death. That kept me in line. I was too happy for the miracles I got, and was too scared to disappoint the Lord.

At some point God kicked me out of government, and led to me to a job in a different government. I got a post a Market Adviser at the Commercial Section of the Royal Norwegian Embassy. The travel time was shorter, and the pay was almost double. I feel that I got rewarded for saying no to the serpent who offered me a bite in the apple for so many occassions in so many years. God is gracious indeed!

Miracle of the Disappearing Lump

A few months after my wife and I got married, she discovered a lump on her breast. She was then pregnant with our first daughter. I remember being very scared. I have friends who have told me stories about sisters and aunts who had been afflicted with breast cancer, and succumbed to it eventually.

I called and prayed to my Lord again. I asked that she be healed. But knowing too that God wants us to aso act towards the resolution of our own struggles, I told my wife that we will have it surgically removed and biopsied as soon as she gives birth. I buckled up and got ready for a rough ride ahead, both phsychologically and financially. Meanwhile our attention got refocused on the anticipation of the arrival of our first baby. We bought baby clothes and all the stuff she will need. We went to the ob-gyne regularly to make sure our first baby is healthy.

Aya was born on the 1st of January, 2001, the first day after the end of the first year of the new milineum; portent of good things to come. As soon as we brought baby Aya home, I told my wife we should get ready to have the lump checked and removed. I remember hoping that it did not grow so big during the intervening months. She examined the lump, and looked at me, and said: Dad, I can't feel the lump anywhere at all.

Yes, the lump disappeared. Some doctors later told us that her body must have cured herself in order to protect the baby, which is quite reasonable scientifically speaking. But I have a Big Boss who takes cares of us, and I say, our God healed her.