posted by Jennie on Feb 16
Although we were pretty set on homeschooling our son around this time last year, we never thought we would enjoy it this much. Our 4 year old has been reading for at least a couple of months now. He started learning the letter sounds when he was 2 but now he is reading smoothly already.
posted by Jeff on Jan 2
We will be broadcasting our church service on the internet tomorrow a 10:30 AM and our church, Sumulong Baptist Church Makati, hopes to make this available every week. Our goal is to minister to our church members and their relatives who are abroad and we also hope to reach out to new people.
posted by Jennie on Oct 1
SM SuperMalls are currently accepting donations such as canned goods, bottled waters, medicines, clothes, towels, blankets and toiletries in all SM SuperMalls nationwide until October 15, 2009. All proceeds will go to the Typhoon Ondoy relief drive of Caritas Manila.
posted by Jennie on Sep 17
It is always a joy for me to join Jeff, whenever I get the chance to, when he goes to minister to the youth of Makati. Here, he is in action. In the very high school I graduated from. Although it isn’t quite the same since I graduated some 10+ years ago. Senator Salonga no longer owns it, for one. The first time I visited, it was almost nostalgic. Even though I studied there for only a couple of years, it still amounted to something. Because the few good friends I have, I found there. The main building was still there and few others mushroomed, plus the few nice facilities to boot.
posted by Jennie on Aug 26
posted by Jennie on Aug 22
Tomorrow, August 23, 2009, SBC-Makati is celebrating Friend Day! We are inviting you to come and celebrate with us. We are located on the 3/F 9642 Kalayaan Talipapa Building, Kalayaan Avenue, Guadalupe Nuevo, Makati City 1212
posted by Jennie on Jul 30
Working with the youth has always been interesting. It is way easier to be able to relate to them now that I am outside the box and yet I still can so understand them because I have been there once before. God’s grace has allowed me to see these young people through His loving eyes. Firm enough to rebuke but gentle enough to encourage. It is not the easiest to be an adolescent, even a young pro. The dating game and all the hassles of courtship, which if practiced outside God’s umbrella brings about haste and destruction. Not to mention heartaches and everything else in between. Read the rest of this entry »
posted by Jeff on Jul 14
A week from today, I will be experiencing one of the busiest weeks of my year. As a missions team from Sagemont Church in Houston, Texas composed of at least 27 individuals arrives on Tuesday, there are a series of evangelistic events lined up starting on Wednesday afternoon until the 29th of this month.
On the 22nd, we will be conducting a basketball mini-league and we are targeting to come up with four teams, one of which is a team of college students from Houston, and gather a big audience and get the opportunity to share the gospel in the event.
On the 24th, the missions team, in partnership with Breaking Point Foundation and different churches networked with our mother church Sumulong Baptist Church, will be conducting two Breaking Point programs, one in the morning at Manggahan High School and one right after lunch at Santolan High School, both in Pasig City. In these events, students will have the opportunity to watch and hear a clear presentation of the gospel and respond to it.
On the 26th, the team, together with twelve local volunteers (including me and my wife), will be flying to Puerto Princesa, Palawan for a scheduled two-day Breaking Point programs at Palawan National High School which has at least 6,000 students.
Here are some prayer requests as we conduct these events:
1. Pray that we would continue to find favor in the eyes of the school administrators we are dealing with and that we will be one in our purpose – to keep the students away from drug or substance abuse by introducing them to a right relationship with God.
2. Pray that the spiritual blindness of those who will hear the gospel would be removed and that they would clearly understand the need for God in their lives.
3. Pray for strength for all participants in this week-long evangelistic campaign.
4. Pray also for traveling mercies.
Thanks in advance to all those who will be praying for us and these requests.
posted by Jennie on Jul 9
A Chinese philosopher once said, “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will eat for the rest of his life.”
The same concept is the inspiration behind Bayan-anihan—Gawad Kalinga’s (GK) food sufficiency arm, which was established to eradicate hunger by empowering poor families to produce their own food via backyard or organic farming. It advocates for a hunger-free Philippines under the battlecry, “Goodbye Gutom! Empower the poor. Eradicate hunger.”
As its main objective, Bayan-anihan (BA) aims to launch 2,500 farms in the next three years to feed at least 500,000 people for life with the aid of multi-sectoral partnership among GK and the Department of Agriculture (DA), agricultural schools, local government units (LGUs), non-government organizations (NGOs), major corporations and the youth.
During its soft launch last March, a ceremonial planting day was held simultaneously in GK communities all over Luzon— including Metro Manila, Ilocos Region, Cordillera Administrative Region, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, and Southern Tagalog.
Two months since its first planting day/soft launch, 24 metric tons have already been harvested from 115 GK-BA farms. This bountiful yield serves as a great opportunity to celebrate Bayan-anihan’s formal launch to the public on July 15 with a big ceremonial harvest. At the same time, it signals the beginning of the nationwide fight against starvation in the country through its upcoming activities and programs.
On this day, the official Bayan-anihan song and website will be unveiled, and there will be speeches by Sec. Arthur Yap, Department of Agriculture Secretary; Tony Meloto, Gawad Kalinga founder; and John Concepcion, Unilever RFM Ice Cream–Selecta Managing Director and CEO. A parade of vegetables and fruits will be staged by the Gawad Kalinga community, and outstanding Bayan-anihan caretaker teams will be honored.
Young adults, teens, and children can play games, while the adults will have a cooking session using the harvested vegetables. As a fitting end to the ceremonial harvest day, delicious and nutritious meals made with the harvested vegetables will be shared by everyone.
Since this is a multi-sectoral movement, the national and local government units, schools, corporations and individuals, and the NGO’s, and the youth can be involved in several ways.
The government can help out by providing infrastructure, land and water, and giving funds for farm inputs. Schools can make training programs as part of the curriculum for faculty and students and can even train the community people as part of their practicum. Any corporation or individual, on the other hand, can sponsor or adopt a farm for P150,000, which will be enough to feed 30 families. They can also participate during planting days, salu-salo affairs, and other activities. Other NGO’s can also help by leading the implementation of this program in their communities using the Bayan-anihan model.
Lastly, the youth can lend a hand by training and by being one with the community through the planting and harvesting activities. With the youth’s help in sustaining the training, the poor will never have to go hungry again, and it will espouse self-sufficiency for the next generations.
By supporting Bayan-anihan, everyone can develop and polish values like self-worth, hard work, excellence, bayanihan (spirit of teamwork), and care for health and the environment.
Through efforts like this, the seeds of hope are planted in the hearts of many Filipinos. For sure, we can anticipate a prosperous and a food-abundant Philippines in the future.
Join Bayan-anihan and call the Bayan-anihan hotline at 09284382838 or visit the website, http://bayan-anihan.com to do your part in helping Pinoys bid farewell to hunger!
PRESS RELEASE:
For reference: Jonah de Lumen, Bayan-anihan (0917-5520141)
Milen Sison De Quiros; Lucky Llanes; Ayie Torres, Full Circle Communications (6371116)
posted by Jennie on May 31
The JIVE band did a great job today as they played their rendition of Superchick’s “Highschool”. Sing along as you watch this video clip. It was a back to school program they called, “School of the Rock.” The Rock is Jesus. The song encourages students who are going back to school to see the bigger picture and rise above what is usually expected of high school students.
We have to give it to the young people who came this afternoon for the back to school program. In spite of the bad weather and heavy downpour, there were still a lot of youth who came over to the party. They could’ve chosen to stay indoors or stroll in the malls with their families for wholesale tvs, but they all came! This is why malls are crowded this past week, because of the current back to school sale.
Enjoy the video clip and sing along! 
Guy: Dude did you hear that Superchic[k]’s playing the prom?
CHORUS:
High school (high school)
Could be (Could be)
A mini me of the rest of society
There’s always (always)
A prom queen (prom queen)
There’ll always be, always be sororities
Sadly (Sadly)
Some will be (some will be)
Eternally keeping score of popularity
And just ’cause (just ’cause )
They all do (They all do)
Doesn’t mean we have to act like we’re in high school
High school is like a big competition
Beauty contests, prom court is the mission
There can only be one queen, one king
Everyone voting, everyone competing
But these are the rules, the way of high school
If someone puts you down, that’s so high school
Someone talks behind your back, that’s so high school
Thinking you have to get them back, that’s also high school
I know, I’ll be graduating early
High school is like the state of the nation
Some people never change after graduation
Believing any light you shine makes their’s lesser
They have to prove to everyone that their’s is better
These are the rules, the ways of high school
If someone puts you down, that’s so high school
Believing they’re too cool for you, that’s so high school
and when you believe it too, that’s also high school
I know, I’ll be graduating early
Doesn’t mean we have to act like we’re in high school
Doesn’t mean we have to act like we’re in high school
We’ve all got bad yearbook photos
Which we’ve forgot to let go
And just like acne our insecurity
Should be something we left with the JV
So here’s to letting go of yearbook photos
Things we kept that hold us down so
That was yesterday, there’s always tomorrow
We are tomorrow, we are tomorrow
I know, I’ll be graduating early
posted by Jennie on May 31
our church family
the praise and worship team
the congregation
JIVE’s Back-to-School Program “School of the Rock”
JIVE (Jesus Inspired, Valuing Eternity) is SBC Makati’s youth ministry.
The JIVE Band
Kuya Rege leads the youth and starts with an ice breaker
posted by Jennie on May 28
SBC-Makati is one thrilled bunch as we altogether welcome another year of God’s faithfulness. We are celebrating our 6th anniversary this coming Sunday, March 31, 2009. We appreciate all the years that we have been with our church family.
A lot of preparations are being done, invitations are already out and the new tarpaulin is now ready to replace our current backdrop. We have also been contacting former attendees, hoping they will be available to celebrate our 6th anniversary with us. Our church office does not yet have its own internet service. Maybe a service similar to what verizon offers will be nice.  verizon bundles will prove to be the most practical, to say the least. Our local ones charge like crazy for the simplest of service. We could make use of its wireless phone service from the list of verizon deals. This would help people who are on the follow up ministry could easily contact members and attendees in our database list.
We currently do not have anyone on staff yet, but the volunteer workers are doing a great job at their ministries. They have this sense of ownership over the ministries that have been assigned to them. It helps a lot that they are working through their giftings and talents. We have been in a celebrative mood for weeks now and we move forward to our seventh year hopeful to an even better year for SBC-Makati.
posted by Jennie on May 24
There are a handful of preparations that are being done for SBC-Makati’s upcoming anniversary celebration. This is one of them. We are soon to replace our current backdrop that has been up for sometime now. Thanks to Sarah for a job well done. She has been a part of the arts ministry of SBC-Makati for years now. She is also our very talented bass player in our worship team. We appreciate you, Sarah. May the Lord be glorified as you use your gifts in the ministry. :-)
posted by Jennie on May 23
Sumulong Baptist Church – Makati will officially turn six years on May 25, 2009. It was in the middle of last year when we started praying for a place to transfer to. We looked all over but found none. The location is not really the cheapest city in the country. In fact, it is the opposite.
We are more than glad that we were able to strike a deal with the owner of the building. It will give us more time to corporately pray for a better location. Another concern will be to hire a company to take care of REMOVALS. Read the rest of this entry »
posted by Jennie on Apr 16
The hubby has been working like a horse this past few weeks, taking care of some camp logistics for next week’s Summer Youth Camp: Call of Duty. He has been going from school to school to follow up on the delegates for this year’s camp event.
We’re more than thrilled that a handful of those who committed their lives to Christ some years back are now stepping up and leading another generation of young souls. A few more days and they are all set to leave for the campsite.
Meanwhile, I hope that Jeff gets a good deal for surplus shocks replacement and automotive lifts. He’s on his way to Banawe as I type this entry. The vehicle that he used to bring to the site the previous years will not be available, so he needs to bring the seasoned car and take it on a long drive. That is why he is making sure it is ready for the travel.
