CCMN aids twister victims

Short-term missionaries of Cell Church Missions Network (CCMN) were here when a twister struck last Friday in two urban villages in Cagayan de Oro City.

Upon learning what befell in Brgy Patag and Bulua, without hesitation, the team raised fund to buy five 50-kilo sacks of rice and four boxes of noodles and gave them to 136 families in Zone 12, Bulua on July 31, 2011, Sunday afternoon.

Ps Homer Eduave of Celebration International Church Network and Foundation (CIFN) introduced the missionaries from Hong Kong and Japan to the people who flocked around the vehicle carrying the relief goods.

“Naa mi dala nga ginagmay nga bugas ug noodles. Tuyo pud nila nga mubisita sa mga balay, sa mga pamilya ug mag-ampo (We brought a small number of rice and noodles. Our visitors would also like to visit your houses and pray for you.),” says Pastor Eduave, who also is a member of the International Disaster Response Network (IDRN).

Chief village police Eduardo Aban helped in the distribution of goods and explained, “Dili man maigo sa tanan, pero dili lang magmahay. Nangayo ko sa pagsabot (This will not be enough for everyone but don’t be upset. I hope that you will understand.).”

The CCMN and CIFN teams moved into the inner part of the village and saw more devastation caused by the twister described by Nellie Ayuban, 58, resident, “wa ko nagdahum ug ingun ato ka grabe nga dilubyo. (I did not expect for a great deluge like what happened.)” She broke into tears as she recounted what happened that fateful Friday afternoon.

She and other residents who received the rice and noodles packed in yellow cellophanes were thankful for the provision.

Nutritious bars called SoyJoy from USA and slippers, shoes, toys, and school supplies brought by the missionaries were also doled out.

“I saw the hands of the children asking for toys. These toys from Hong Kong are donations; they are not used anymore. But here, the children are so happy to receive them. We are so happy to help these children. It is so touching,” Sman Ng, leader of the CCMN team, shared.

These CCMN missionaries have been going for the past five days to Burgos, Consolacion and Tagoloan areas for an evangelistic outreach.

(This article was published in NEWSLINE Mindanao last August 4, 2011)

Papa, can you hear me?

PRAYER
Oh God-our heavenly Father.
Oh, God-and my father
Who is also in heaven.
May the light of this
Flickering candle
Illuminate the night the way
Your spirit illuminates my soul.

Papa, can you hear me?
Papa, can you see me?
Papa can you find me in the night?
Papa are you near me?
Papa, can you hear me?
Papa, can you help me not be frightened?
Looking at the skies I seem to see
A million eyes which ones are yours?
Where are you now that yesterday
Has waved goodbye
And closed its doors?
The night is so much darker;
The wind is so much colder;
The world I see is so much bigger
Now that I'm alone.
Papa, please forgive me.
Try to understand me;
Papa, don’t you know I had no choice?
Can you hear me praying,
Anything I'm saying
Even though the night is filled with voices?
I remember everything you taught me
Every book 1've ever read...
Can all the words in all the books
Help me to face what lies ahead?
The trees are so much taller
And I feel so much smaller;
The moon is twice as lonely
And the stars are half as bright...
Papa, how I love you...
Papa, how I need you.
Papa, how I miss you
Kissing me good night..

iJoke

THE BIGgest joke in my life happened today!

You want to know what it is? Here's what happened:

I received a text message from OMF (Christian bookstore) where I bought an NIV Bible (for teenage boys, yes, you read it right, I still look like one, don't I?). The message reads like this:

Good pm sir. This is Hannah from OMF Lit Bookshop. Congratulations, you have just won iRead Booktags from us. Pls claim your prize here at the bookshop and bring an ID. C u!

I was in my cube in the office when I got this message. The inside of me was screaming. I thought it is a gadget because it is 'iReader'. I looked it up in the web and saw images of iReader. A gadget similar to an ebook reader appeared. But I had second thoughts, so I read the message again. It says iReader booktags. it might be just a book mark for an iReader, I thought. But my colleague in the office said it is like Kindle. And I started to believe that it is a gadget that I have won. I was excited, so excited. I replied to the message saying, 'ok' and I followed it up with 'I wonder what it is...'

I was not able to focus in my class and kept thinking how good God is because 'I won a gadget.' My mind wandered and thought how this gadget could make my teaching easier. After class, I headed straight to the mall and went straight to the book shop. On my way, I was imagining what it looks like and how big it is. It seems I could not wait to hold it in my hands and start sliding my point finger on its touch-screen screen. My hands were itching.

The lady in the counter of the bookshop asked me for an ID after I told her, with a wide grin in my face, that I received a text from a certain Hannah. I asked her what an iReader is. She smiled. She got my uni ID, checked my name against the info in their computer. 'Yes, it is him,' she said as she turned to another lady. Then the other lady got something from what seems to be a bundle of paper wrapped in a brown envelope. Then she got on her hand a sticker paper printed with what seems to be calling cards then she said "You can stick this on your books sir, there are a number of tags in this paper." She counted the tags.

And I was like 'so this is the iReader booktag...' as the crack in my face turned into a frown. If you saw my face you'd be dead laughing at me.

I held my phone and pretended that I called somebody up and that I was in a hurry out from the bookshop. I took my exit as if I was not embarrassed. Then to counter my dismay, I went to Bliss and bought a red Vurve tee. My addiction to tees saved me from further disillusion.

But God is still good. I know that one day He'll give me a gadget - iPhone, ebook reader, iPad, whatever.

Lesson learned: read the whole thing, don't be too excited and not all words with' iS' are gadgets.

iJoke