Because All Was Without Cost

Without cost you have received, without cost shall you give. --cf. Matthew 10:8, NAB

All things came from God, and from God all things came to be. And all things from Him is good and is free; for He is a Generous God. The gift of mission is freely given to us; and to be available for God's work is our gift. Without cost we have received the joy of mission; without cost shall must we also give for God's work.

We've gone to Isabela to bring the good news of chastity and purity. The kuya's gave the sessions. My part? To share the story of my life, my own conviction of being chaste and pure. Most of what's in store for us in that mission, we have received for free. All costs in the transport, the food, the accomodations, treated like V.I.P.'s, and all others were freely given. I was thinking that I'd just share to high school students  what God taught me and all other things in this mission was for free?

But don't get me wrong, it is not because those material things have been freely made available that we have freely given ourselves. But it is because of God's love being poured on us without cost that enables us to give without cost.

The more we give freely, the more we receive freely. What a paradox, that is! That the gift of mission has been freely given (that is why it is called a gift) to us, it allowed us to openly give ourselves, and that we are able to receive more. Such is the generosity of God. He does not only pamper His children materially, as how He did to us in Isabela. He, as well, nourished us spiritually through the reception of the Eucharist every morning of our stay, the realizations we learned in every act we've done, the joy of seeing lives starting to have the same conviction of chastity and purity, and us being more deeply rooted in our stand to live a holy life.

The generosity of God allowed us to experience more of Him, that He really met us in Isabela, teaching us more about chastity and purity. And this same generosity asks us to be generous of our time, our talent, our treasure, and our all for Him, who freely gives.

With this, may God be praised.

Some pictures from the mission:

The Team: Kuya Jo-I, Ate Raine, Kuya Ej, Me, and Kuya Fyron,.
With the Isabela SK Chairman Jerald and the High School Principal of one of the schools in Isabela.

My first plane ride. Yey! Thank you Lord!

Live Pure with the carabaos.

Sharing my conviction of living a chaste and pure life.

You can also view this same blog here: http://cfcffl.net/index.php/because-all-was-without-cost

How Did The Mission Trip Changed Your Life?

The Subic Mission Team's One-liner in:

How Did The Mission Trip Changed Your Life?

“The mission trip changed me to a much faithful and Christ-centered person.” 

–Renzo Gabriel

“Masaya mag-mission at makakilala ng iba’t ibang klase ng tao; knowing that you glorify one God and at the same time know their stories and learned from it.” 

–May Evangelista

“The mission trip helped me to be closer to God and made me realize that I should serve Him more.” 

–Renz Baxa

“The mission trip fulfilled me.” 

–Meme Asejo

“The mission trip made me a stronger, better, and a holy person.” 

–Kevin Matignas

“The mission trip changed me dramatically in spirit, mind, and heart.” 

–Marvin Eguico

“The mission trip inspired me to be more dedicated to my service.” 

–Ynah Gabriel

“The mission trip made me realize that truly, the majestic power and love of God can reach far places; distance will never be a hindrance.” 

–Tash Salcedo

“Mas nag-enjoy akong mag-serve.” 

–Jhoanne Pataueg

“It is not only in receiving that we experience the love of God, but also in giving ourselves for the sake of others and, most of all, for the sake of Christ.” 

–Kaye Matignas

The Mission Team

Thank you Lord for the mission trip's joyride experience!
Thank you Lord for changing us inside out!


God bless all of the mission trip and all of the missionaries!

God's Work Needs No Delay

Mission Area: District of Iba
Mission Activity: CFC YFL Youth Camp


May 28-30, 2010. The first-ever mission trip to the District of Iba was conducted by a team of 15 different young individuals all responding to the one call of Christ to love Him and to make Him loved. It was such a joyride of an experience! The mission team ran a CFC YFL Youth Camp. The harvest of this youth camp counts to thirty-one (31) new souls!

God’s work needs no delay and so He will not delay you.

“There is a given time for everything and a time for every happening under heaven”

– Ecclesiastes 3:1 (CCB)

It was set as a two-day camp and since we wanted to start on time on the first day of the camp, ie, on a Saturday (29 May 2010), we departed from Manila by Friday (28 May 2010). In traveling to Subic, we have divided the team into two batches. The first batch departs by two in the afternoon (2PM). The second batch departs by seven in the evening (7PM). Those included in the first batch are those who do not have summer classes; while those who have their summer classes and ojt’s are part of the second batch. Unfortunately, I am part of the second batch. Trips to Subic are scheduled by the-hour; the last trip to Subic is scheduled by 9PM. We (the second batch) are supposed to meet at SSS, East Avenue by 6PM. But what happened was different from what was planned. Heavy rain falls caused heavy traffic in Metro Manila. And yes, it was raining heavily by that time. It was already 7PM and we are still not moving from SSS. Two trips to go. I messaged the team to pray for us. Prayer is our most powerful tool. I don’t want to say hello to Subic by Saturday. When we arrived at the bus terminal by 07:20PM, I saw the bus to Subic. The sight of it excites me; but we can’t board it yet, we still have to wait for our two other missionaries. And so, I prayed and I claimed in Jesus’ Name that the bus that has given me part of the taste of the mission will be the same bus we’d board into. It was 07:30PM when the 7PM trip left Manila. And yes, we are Subic-bound!

God’s work needs no delay and so He will give you strength.

“[But (God) answered:] “my grace is enough for you; my great strength is revealed in your weakness”. Gladly, then, will I boast of my weakness that the strength of Christ may be mine.” 

– 2 Corinthians 12:9

I was assigned to give the third talk of the youth camp. Giving a talk is an exciting thing to do. As it is exciting, it is exhausting as well. It is exhausting in a way that, you have to connect all the points into one thread, you have to connect that one thread to the participants, and you really have to be part of that one thread to get connected to the participants. And as you connect to the participants, you absorb other negativities, eg, the heat of the place (or it might be because I am giving the talk), the inattentive of some, and other distractions. But the negatives I absorbed had not made me quit the work that needs to be done. I refocus myself to the very reason why I am there in the first place: the Love of Christ!

It was not only me who has seen the weight of this work. But as I saw its weight, I have seen the greatness of God’s power and might. One facilitator is to four participants, that is the minimum. And that one facilitator is to four to five sets of one-to-ones. With this article, I would like to honor the facilitators of our team. They did their service really well. Though it is a tough service, they had not seen its cost on their human strength. But they had seen its cause: the Love of Christ!

God’s work needs no delay simply because it is all about God.

"This is love: not that we loved God but that he first loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins." - 1 John 4:10 (CCB)

Our God is Omnipotent, Omniscient, Omnipresent, and above all, Love. The very fact that the work of our God needs no delay is simply because He loved us first. It is all about Him loving us; for His love is ever constant that it does not increase nor does it decrease. God Himself did not delay His love for us: "But see how God manifested his love for us: while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8, CCB). In the same way, we should not, as well, delay to channel the love of God to our brothers and sisters. It is because they need what we need: the Love of Christ!

  

Note:

Italics in the Bible verses are mine.

All Bible verses are taken using the Digital Catholic Bible software program, with the Christian Community Bible (CCB) version. © 2007-2008.