Overcoming temptation and prayer of the righteous

Wednesday night was small group (Bible study) and a trip to the hotel The Peninsula in Makati for my friend Camille’s birthday get together.


Are my shoes glowing? hahaha

Verses in small group I will remember and hold close to my heart are:

1 Corinthians 10:13 (NLV)
“The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.”

James 5:16 (NIV)
“6Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man is powerful and effective.”

These both are important to me because the first one about temptation has helped me all throughout my 5 months so far as a Christian. A brother Dino in the group also shared that he has been able to refer to this verse as well that helps him. I emailed him this about a month ago and it brought a great joy that he has kept it close to him. Thank you Lord.

The second is important because being able to share my life with others of past darkness or even current sins helps me deal with them and not allow the sins to condemn or keep me in bondage. Confessing sins to God and to brothers, praying for forgiveness and repenting, and having brothers help pray for you always helps to overcome temptations. Thank you Lord for your grace and for brothers and sisters you have brought into my life.

Coming across this second verse increased my passion to move forward with God and being obedient because I have come to know this truth intimately. If I am righteous or a brother or sister is righteous, the more our prayers for each other get answered and this is yet another one of the several things I love God so much for.


Camille, Julianne, Nino, Pao, Carisse and Liz at The Peninsual in Makati

I miss my motorcycle racing

December 3, 2008: Wednesday, 5:29pm – Mandaluyong, PhilippinesI just came across this video from someone trying to add me on myspace.com. This is a perfect example of what I used to do, and what I miss. Oh man…motorcycle racing [sigh].

Eyes open now to education for poor children using technology

Monday, 6:33pm – Mandaluyong, Philippines
In talking more about the ministry and the events of this past weekend, some revelations came to awareness from the Holy Spirit:

1. Being sick prevented me from going to Barangay Arboretum where every Saturday I volunteer in kids ministry and outreach to a poor community. This made me reflect that if there is a set schedule and people to go (there are plenty volunteers now), then it can be self running. I was now able to think about what else I can do there such as going back to the initial vision God gave me in bringing technology to these communities and having online based or computer-based educational software to teach the kids how to read, write or math skills, or even to teach the older kids business skills.
   
   
2. Being sick also prevented me from going to Cebu, so I spent time with my cousin that was visiting Manila from Calbayog. While I was in Project 4 visiting their church office, I met a distant cousin of mine named Charter that works at HP computer services. I got his number as I thought of being able to purchase discounted refurbished laptops or to inquire about the corporation in donating to NGOs (Non-Government Organizations). This is great as I'm concentrating more on who else I can ask.
   
   
3. Inquiring more about laptops got me back into looking into the One Laptop Per Child program that I came across before I moved to the Philippines. It costs $399 to donate one to a poor nation and to receive one. The organization’s mission is to provide an educational device for children in developing nations. From what I read before, the unit is cool, it has educational software that is localized to the language of that nation, it operates on minimal battery and has a new technology to always remain connected to the internet and to other OLPC laptops locally so they can communicate with each other. I’m eager to look more into this and see if I can bring it into this nation. I have come across recently on wikipedia that there is a pilot project so I will begin researching if the program has developed further and if I can help facilitate trying out the laptop and see how well it helps. Some things to consider are: updatability of software, level of education, maintenance and support availability.

God has me exactly where I need to be. The first 3 months here I concentrated on contributing to starting, organizing, and coordinating the events every Saturday at Barangay Arboretum with all the volunteers from Victory Church. Everyone is essential in being able to make the day and plan successful and God is faithful in providing the people and their efforts. The first 3 months have been blessed with donations from the States and I was privileged to provide suggestions on what to give out on Saturdays for the kids and community. This ranged from crayons, illustrations, craft materials, snacks, drinks and any supporting materials needed. Now it’s time to bring the core of education and technology packaged all with love.