I am so blessed to hear that in those days where the storms of life are attacking me, you and your warriors are not stopping in praying for me. I know that whatever happens, God is still in control of everything. Since the start of my wife's battle against cancer I have done my best and I know that this is the best and not the least in responding to a situation like this. The moment the doctor confirmed the illness, I claimed James 5:14-15. We prayed and let God worry about her situation. For so many remaining months of my wife's life, she testified that those extended months were already a great blessing to her and she said God hear our prayers. She was so thankful for that. She was not afraid of what will happen because she know where she is going if she dies. One more thing she was so grateful for is that we as family are already saved. Before she left this world, we prayed together for the last time giving our thanks to God and ask Him for comfort, strength and all that provisions and guidance that me and my boys need, and in His perfect will and time, He proved that His word is true. Me and my boys were not able to say our gratitude to some of the people whom God used to bless us but I know that God hear my prayers and He will be the one to repay them. As days go by God is always with us and everything that needs to be done were done with excellence. His time and will are perfect because He prepared us for this time as we are able to live with the situation right now and I believe in the years ahead as well. Right this moment and time, we are set to live a new life with out her physically but we know we're with her spiritually. God blessed us with a new house which my wife had prayed for and He also answered my long time prayer about my work schedule to be Monday to Friday with Saturday and Sunday off. When I came to visit my work, my employers offered me this schedule for they're concerned about my boys time with me. What a blessing! He is even touching the hearts of other people to give me favors. I have so much to share and to give thanks for and I think we need sit down together, have STARBUCKS coffee and reveal everything God has done in my life. Thank you Sister Nida and please extend my warmest gratitude to all people we haven't reached. God Bless JIL-BC WIN. Testimony By: RAFFY AGUSTIN JIL Surrey-Fleetwood

I entered a public university when I was sixteen. The atmosphere is unlike the surroundings in elementary and high school, which put premium on order, discipline and piety, in the midst of a Catholic education and upbringing. In the university, I met students and professors who expressed frustration and anger over many things – whether the government or the school systems, a lot of which were justified. Yet, their frustration would also sometimes be directed against God – more specifically, against people’s beliefs. They did not always disavow the historicity of Christ, but claimed the story of his resurrection to be absurd, a form of delusion. Many in the university defended their faith against such assaults. While I had friends from both sides, I shunned away from any discussion of faith, thinking that since each had deeply felt conviction, these could only lead to endless debate or confrontation. Moreover, it was a time when my focus was aimed at a new discovery that held far greater appeal, the world of vice. Of course, I did not consider excessive beer consumption during my university years as a form of addiction then, but only as a passage in a young man’s life which sought enjoyment in the company of his peers. I would eventually overcome the call for alcohol, after graduation, but would still give in to the lure of other pleasures. But something else happened from the time I entered the university, which will be carried through in the next twenty years. I lost interest in going to church; I avoided reading the bible, and found myself doubting if there was something to be expected beyond the material world. On few occasions that I entered the church, or say a little prayer, I did not seek, nor feel, a sense of connectedness with God. I began to lose faith, and moved towards the slow undertow of disbelief. I had no illusion of having a personal encounter with God when I first attended, upon Ferdie and Lanie’s invitation, the bible study group led by Brother Joey and Sister Grace or when I began showing up to the church services. I went there to win the heart of someone else – and now we have a son. Before we were married in August last year, Juliet told me that there would be a pre-marital seminar to be conducted by our pastor, to which I agreed thinking those were part of formality procedures prior to the wedding. Our first session with Pastor Louie did not start with a focus on marital topics right away, but instead with questions about our levels of faith, and our idea of heaven, exactly those things I have no interest to dwell on. I answered nonetheless saying that I have not been a religious person, although my idea of heaven when I was younger is that a person’s conduct here on earth while still alive will be assessed, and if the good things done outweigh the bad things, then one will gain admission in heaven. What I did not tell the pastor then, to avoid being locked in a prolonged and futile debate, was that I found it hard to believe in the idea of life after death. Our pastor just gave a one sentence reply. He said:  “It is not because of your religion or through your works that you are saved but only by the grace of God through his Son of Jesus Christ, because all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God.” We proceeded to the topic of marriage afterwards. Because my wife is a Christian, I would continue to attend the cell group and church services after our wedding, and would even join the Encounter. The Encounter had given me a glimpse of what God is like, yet a few months later God’s presence seems to fade, and I would again be riddled by doubts, and would ask “Does God really exist?.” The intimacy in dealing with a personal God evident among other church members when praying or when worshiping seems to elude me. Oftentimes, I wonder if I there are better uses of my time on Saturdays and Sundays other than fellowship. But then, just as my doubts and stubbornness begin to weaken my resolve, I would find myself recalling the moment when I first heard about God’s grace during the pre-marital seminar. That one word evokes in me a feeling of pride, arrogance, and boastfulness. Arrogance for behaving the way that I do in the face that “God might be a real possibility.” Pride for not giving the search for God a serious consideration. And boastfulness for thinking that my conduct here on earth – which has been unsatisfactory –would merit my own salvation. Yet, I would be also swept by a feeling of reverence. I’ll offer a possible explanation. During the past twenty years, inspite of my destructive lifestyle, the reason I could think of back then why I was not completely harmed, is that I have been on the receiving end of the goodwill and kindness of my family and a lot other people, even when I do not deserve or earn their kindness. When I try to describe their actions, I would, without really knowing why, simply call it grace. I remember, for example, when I worked in Saipan for seven years. There I met a manager who demands high standards from employees, yet has the foresight to build the organization not upon our weaknesses, but on the promise of our strengths and possibilities. She has a generous spirit, and in my email to her after leaving the company to come to Canada, I expressed gratitude for these things and for something more – the pleasure to observe her actions and decisions, which have been marked with grace, intelligence and calm restraint. There is also an element of grace in the unusual beginning of our bible study group. The story goes that when cell groups were first introduced, the leaders were given a free hand to choose their members from among the church congregation. Sister Grace waited until other leaders have made their selection, then those that were left behind, without any group, she adopted them to be a part of her own. In the company of these members, I met kindred spirits and found a home. Grace finds expression in other ways – whether in comfort in time of grief, solace provided by nature, or even in marriage. A life that has been marked by indifference and resentment, like mine, has been graced by the beauty, kindness and warmth of a wife who knows the meaning of love. I long and thirst for grace in ways I cannot fully explain. But in all these years, I have not heard - or paid attention to what is called God’s grace. Just as I was grappling with this idea, I saw a book “Purpose of Christmas” by Pastor Rick Warren at a bookstore last year. I browsed the book’s middle part and chanced upon an account of his interview with Peter Drucker, where he asked the business professor about the time he discovered his faith. To which Drucker’s replied, “I became a Christian when I understood the meaning of grace. I found out I would not see any better deal than that.” I returned the book on the shelf, and went away more puzzled than enlightened. Because of the prayers and examples of my cell group, the church, and my wife, I too started to pray. My prayers were muted at first, so I would begin with a prayer I’ve known as a child, Our Father. I also began by reading the bible, and the works of other Christian writers. In a slow, gradual process I learned about God’s Word – the Word that finds fullest expression in Jesus Christ. In reading the gospel, and about the life of Jesus, most of my arguments for disbelief, including his resurrection, began to dissolve. His resurrection and later appearances were made in the presence of most skeptical eyewitnesses. “That Jesus succeeded in changing a snuffling bad of unreliable followers into fearless evangelists, that eleven men who had deserted him at death now went to martyrs’ graves avowing their faith in resurrected Christ, that these few witnesses managed to set loose a force that would overcome violent opposition first in Jerusalem and then in Rome – this remarkable sequence of transformation offers a convincing evidence for the Resurrection,” writes the author of Jesus I Never Knew. To my surprise, Jesus’ message of grace is one that I have come to love. In the words of the same author, “Both for God and for us, Jesus made possible an intimacy that had never existed before.  He introduced profound changes in how we view God. Mainly, he brought God near. To Jews who knew a distant, ineffable God, Jesus brought the message that God cares for the grass of the field, feeds the sparrows, numbers the hair on a person’s head. To Jews who would not pronounce or even spell out the letters of God’s name, Jesus taught a new way of addressing God:  Abba, or Father. Because of him, we can come to God directly. We need no human mediator, for God himself became one.  “Jesus went out of his way to embrace the unloved and unworthy, the folks who matter not at all to the rest of society, to prove that even nobodies matter infinitely to God. One unclean woman, too shy and full of shame to approach Jesus face-to-face, grabbed his robe, hoping he would not notice. He did notice. She learned, like so many other nobodies that you cannot easily escape Jesus’ gaze.  “In his response to the rich young ruler, in the parable of Good Samaritan, in his comments about divorce, money or any other moral issue, Jesus never lowered God’s Ideal. ‘Be perfect, therefore, as your heavenly Father is perfect,’ he said, ‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’ Not anyone has completely fulfilled those commands. Yet the same Jesus tenderly offered absolute grace. Jesus forgave an adulterous, a thief on the cross, a disciple who had denied ever knowing him. He tapped that traitorous disciple, Peter, to found his church and for the next advance turned to man named Saul, who had made his mark persecuting Christians. Grace is absolute, inflexible, all-encompassing. It extends even to the people who nailed Jesus to the cross: ‘Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing’ were among the last words Jesus spoke on earth.” The same kind of grace extends even to me. As the Epistles to the Romans said, “God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.” Now I get to understand why I had a sudden sensation of pride when I first heard that my salvation is a gift of God’s grace during our pre-marital seminar. No one can boast before the Lord, and there is only one way to stand before him – in brokenness, humility, and bended knees. I started my search for Jesus last year, without much expectation, except to know more about him and to understand the meaning of his grace. I end up, a year later, wanting to have a relationship instead. One night not too long ago, I asked in prayer, “In all these years that I seek grace, is it your grace and tender mercy – Is it you – whom I am seeking for all along?” That night, I asked for forgiveness of my sins, and accepted Jesus as my Lord and Saviour. I wish I can also say that I have fully dedicated myself to Jesus, but I could not. Often, I find myself acting in a way that is contrary to the gifts of the Spirit. I have not answered God’s call on giving, and there are other sinful ways that are too deeply ingrained. In the face of these limitations, I am encouraged that it is the Lord, our God, who continues to touch and heal so that we can grow in the likeness of his ways, with the support of the church and cell group, and inspiration of my wife and Robert Allan, our son –God’s gracious gift to us. It is amazing how God chooses his own way of revealing himself to touch the life of a nonbeliever. I can say that now from my own experience. I used to dismiss the spiritual experience of others. I have been unmoved or unaffected by testimonies of people claiming to have seen visions or to have received miraculous healing or blessings that eventually lead to their conversion. Yes, I used to dismiss them. But how can I still do? When I thought that my heart has been so hardened, and I have lost all sensitivity to any call of faith; when I would mockingly remark that it would probably require a miracle or a vision of huge proportion for me to believe, how would I expect that it will only take – or that God will only invoke – a single word (grace) to humble me of my pride, to make me want to know more about Jesus, and ultimately to accept him as my Lord and Saviour. I would like to end this testimony with a short poem I first read when I was in my mid-twenties. It is not biblical in nature, but somehow described my personal journey towards faith: We shall not cease from exploration. And the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.  As I looked back on these past twenty years, during which I deny God’s existence, or thought that he is simply silent or unreachable, when I did a lot of harm to myself and to others, but still gifted with those precious moments that make life worthwhile, moments that I cannot described fully except to call it grace, I come to realize that God never stops to surround me with his presence. Even when I fail him, God, the pursuer of my soul, has always been there.   by: Anonymous

I grew up in a devoted Roman Catholic background. My parents were devout Catholic. My elementary days were in a Parochial school and high school on a university run by Jesuits or the Society of Jesus. Mom would always make sure I am off to Church every Sunday, all Holidays, my birthday, and Ash Wednesday. She pushed me to the confessional occasionally. At one point I served as a sacristan (altar server) at Naga Cathedral. Like most Filipino families, we were very religious! However, as a teenager, going to church became boring. Heaven or hell was not a concern to me. I had no clue about salvation or how to get to heaven. My belief was that being baptized in the Church was enough to get to heaven. My church attendance became seldom. Going to church to me now meant spending a few minutes at the back of the church near the door, say a little prayer and then leave.  I was more concerned with hanging out with my friends. At second year high school, we started to learn vices – gambling, drinking and smoking. As our “barkada” bonded and aged together, so did our vices. Marijuana, cough syrup and even a bit of shabu was added to our arsenal. High on drugs, we once damaged school properties, got caught by the police and spent hours in police custody. It was embarrassing and my parents’ name was dragged to embarrassment. Luckily, I was still doing good in school, but I knew that my parents were frustrated with my ways. At 5th year college, one of my friends became a born again Christian. He started to share his faith with me, but I just laughed at what he became. I thought he had gone crazy. “Naloloko ka na yata” is what I said. Needless to say, I was crazy for not hearing him out. Because it was always my dream to work overseas and earn dollars, I applied for work in the Middle East and was approved after the war in Kuwait ended. I arrived in Bahrain in April 1992. Bahrain, being an open country and I being single, free and with money, continued with my SBG (sunog baga gang) days: heavy drinking and smoking. During weekends, my new-found friends and co-workers would spend overnight fishing and drinking near the seaside just close to our accommodation. Even my girlfriend at that time, could not stop me and eventually left me. To offset my vices, I joined a group called Legion of Mary. They would come to our accommodation and pray the rosary then we would bring an image of Mary to different accommodations every Wednesday to pray. But my religiosity was all a show or an act, for this did not stop me from going down the path of self-destruction. I was happy with my life for awhile, until our company started slowing down and eventually shut down its operations. I told my employer to give me a month to look for another job and if I cannot find one, they can repatriate me back to the Philippines. God clearly had a purpose for me because in a few days, I found a new job. God orchestrated everything. In April 1994, I joined my second employer where two Filipino Christians were employed, Jhun Dualan (who is here with us) and Leo Ladica. Before I joined the company, they both prayed  to the Lord that whoever will join them at that department will experience God’s grace and salvation and become a Christian. God answered their prayer and He led me to that department.  Bro Jhun started to share the Good news to me at our flat (apartment), and even at the office. He had a Bible tucked in his drawer and would always share God’s word when possible. Though I was listening to him, at the back of my mind, I was also convincing myself that I will never become like him. They were church going people and had Bible studies daily. Bro Jhun would often invite me to come but I had lots of excuses. Tired, laundry, grocery, and so on. When they would leave the apartment, I would sneak out to nearby clubs and pubs where Filipino bands perform. I would get a few cans of beer and call it a day. Since I knew that they don’t want any vices in our flat, when I smoke I would cover the gaps of the door of my room with tape and towel to cover my cigarette smoke. All this time, I had with me the image of Virgin Mary in my room. With Bro Jhun’s constant prodding, I finally went with them one Sunday night during a Bible study. It was June 24. That night, the bible study teacher shared the good news of the Lord Jesus: the message was that out of God’s love and compassion, He gave His one and only son Jesus to die for my sins. That even though I was a sinner, His forgiveness was available for me if only I would come to Him and genuinely repent and receive His gift of eternal life. That night, God captured me I responded to His invitation. The message was very clear and I understood my position in God’s Kingdom. I realized I need God, not a religion, I needed a Savior. That day, I exchanged my religion for a true relationship with God. From that day as well, the Lord started to remove my bad habits one at a time. His Words started to cleanse me. It is written that as a believer of Jesus Christ, my body has now become: “ the temple of the Holy Spirit, who is in me and whom I have received from God…  Therefore honor God with your body.”   With this truth and the power of His words convicting my heart, my cravings for nicotine and alcohol disappeared and was replaced with obedience to His words. I also surrendered the idol that I was having in my room. For the first time in my life, I have experienced God’s love. He plucked me out of that dark road and brought me into His marvelous light.   Sooner, I began to give my life to serve Jesus and serve others. I joined Bro Jhun in his ministry of transporting Church members from their homes to the Church during bible studies on a daily basis. We were the first to leave our flat and the last to retire at midnight. But the sacrifices were nothing compared to the absolute joy that was in my heart. To grow in my walk with Christ, I attended many trainings in the church and from different Christian groups from abroad like the FIN, CEF-VBS and Campus Crusade for Christ and now the JIL-12 and Gospel Presentation seminar here in JIL Burnaby. God used me not only as a driver for people but also in sharing His word during Bible studies, worship services and to the kids. In our company, Bro Jhun and Leo had been long gone, but the prayer in our design department continued. With the Lord Jesus’ help, I was able to share God’s word to the people who replaced them and they too served Jesus in every possible way. The bible study that was started by a few faithful men became the longest bible study in the church in Bahrain. The latest update was that many of the new attendees/members from that bible study have just recently been water baptized, praise God for His faithfulness. One thing I learned from a mentor, when we share God’s word, we share it in the power of the Holy Spirit and leave the results up to God. Our duty is to share Jesus and His words, and it is God’s duty to transform them. God’s word will not return without accomplishing His purpose. Sometime in the future, God will bring people to a relationship with Him just like He did with me. The important thing is that the seed gets planted to people’s hearts through us until they truly find Jesus. I thank the Lord because people such as Bro Jhun and Leo entrusted their life to Christ so that Jesus can also use them to change the lives of others. I stand here to say that I am that life changed. I am one of the harvests out of the many seeds sown. There is no accident in God; this place could be where the unique and wonderful plan of God in your life will start. He who began a good work in us will carry it on to completion until the day of Jesus Christ; He is not yet finished with His work in us but He will see us through completion until the Lord’s Day. God bless us. By: Bro. Joshua Badiong JIL Burnaby

Following My Parent’s Footsteps Most Christians today are mostly born again Christians.  But I was born a Christian.  Your probably wondering why I’m talking about born again Christians and blah, blah, blah.  When the title is “Following my Parent’s Footsteps”.  Well, before, I wasn’t very passionate about praising God, well, I was, but not like today.  Today, I’m praying in a different level than a average 9-year old does.  I’m participating more in praise and worshiup.  But most of all, I’m closer to GOD!                  That’s kinda like my parents.  Before, they weren’t very passionate about serving GOD either.  My mom was even making excuses not to go to church!  But look at them today!  My dad’s a pastor and my mom is very important too! She’s pastor’s wife.  What’s also amazing is that they found a way to use their business to bring people to GOD!!! That’s why I called this little “speech” “Following My Parent’s Footsteps”.  All three of us, as we got older, we all changed our feelings for GOD.    Mia Pelayo, 9 years old, Jan 5, 2010. JIL New Westminster