I used to play a lot of football when I was younger. It wasn’t just the game I so enjoyed; it was all the strategizing that went into it. With my dad’s coaching, I used to design all sorts of ingenious plays, and I know that, had the Denver Broncos gotten their hands on those plays, they would have won the Super Bowl a lot sooner than they did!
Now in the Philippines I don’t get much chance to even touch a football. Yet God still gives me the chance to experience the thrill of the game through the Bicol University campus ministry He’s given me.
Like a football game, college ministry also has a first and second half as well as a semester-break half time. Each has its own challenges.
This is our University Org logo. ASC stands for Aletheian Student Circle, “Aletheian” meaning Truth Seeker in Greek.
I really thank the Lord for His good work the first half of the school year.
Here are a few highlights of what He did and what He allowed us to do:
ROUND-UPS
Round-ups are group meetings aimed at trying to gather all of the students involved in one way or another in ASC.
A lot of the ministry revolves around one-on-one discipleship, and so these students being discipled don’t naturally meet others in ASC.
Round-ups help bring them together and let them know they are part of something bigger.
Round-ups are also intended to be evangelistic. ASC members can invite their friends and the gospel is always included in the message.
I usually do the message, but students are taking over more and more – nearly all now – of the other parts of each Round-up.
CAMPUS BOOTHS
We had two chances to set up booths as part of campus events. The purpose of the booth was to introduce students to our campus group, but more importantly to introduce them to Jesus.
We did this through a series of games.
The first set of games was based on astronomy. Our booth housed a hand-made 6-ft tall planetarium, where students had to identify constellations and then use the letters in the names to decode a message (Psalm 19:1).
Our cardboard planetarium
We also had a simulated SETI message that had to be deciphered to further decode Psalm 19:1, as well as a rocket-dart shoot at planets (balloons) in which were the last words of the message.
Students trying the “SETI Code”
Taking down the “rocket” afterwards
Students observing in planetarium (aluminum projector in front)
It was then tied into the gospel.
All this was housed in a two-story “rocket,” with the planetarium put on the top floor.
Devotion with students during booth prep.
Planetarium Star Field. (Can you find Orion and Gemini?)
The second booth was titled “IQ Blast.”
The theme was to test one’s “smarts” in different areas. One area was in spiritual matters.
The “spiri-Q” test was basically just a questionnaire on the points of the gospel with explanation as to the right answers afterwards. We even had some students from a local cult group take the exam. They failed it, but it became a way to share with them the truth.
By God’s grace both booths drew a lot of students, and we ended up winning “Best Booth” for the first one. (No awards were granted for the second booth event).
LIFE DISCOVERY GROUPS
The Life Discovery Groups (LDG) was basically a mid-week Bible study for students held on campus (though we held a couple at our student center also (which we call “The Student Hub”). This last semester we covered the book of Daniel chapter by chapter.
The purpose of the LDG was to help students get to know God’s Word, see by demonstration the correct way to read, interpret, and apply Scripture, and to hopefully prepare them to bridge to the church, Generation Christian Fellowship, where this is always the way we teach.
The Life Discovery Group was also open to non-ASC members or students attending other churches. In any way it could be a blessing, we were happy for it to be such.
INFINITY STUDENT CIRCLE
One of the blessings this last semester was the chance to teach the Bible to senior high school students.
It began when I was asked to substitute teach for an earth science class, and that led to a few Bible studies in the school. By God’s grace it opened the doors to start a high school ministry we named “Infinity Student Circle.”
It’s still is just barely off the ground, but it is in fact flying!
STUDENT HUB CONSTRUCTION
Although we wanted to finish the renovation of the student hub before school started, difficulty getting consistent workers and more problems to fix than we imagined, kept us working for the entire semester. However a lot was accomplished, and we are nearing the end of this phase of renovation. We hope to do the total final renovation next summer when we don’t have to balance campus ministry and construction projects simultaneously.
The Student Hub is actually more than a student center. It also serves as the venue for Generation Christian Fellowship, Tiwala Kids and Communities, and Agape Residence Hall (which is our boarding house that can house up to 20 students (this last semester we had between 9-11 boarders plus 4 staff or volunteers of Tiwala and our ministry.)
I also bunk here, using my office as a bedroom and plopping a mattress down on the floor each night.
It’s in a great place, just 5 minutes from the main Bicol University Campus and is incredibly useful for ministry. Thanks so much to the Lord for this place, and to the people He used to help us get it!
ISLAND MINISTRY
Boat ride between islands
Besides the work in Legazpi, I still traveled back and forth to San Miguel and Cagrarary Islands to oversee some of the ministry going on there this last semester.
Amelyn – one of our Island Breeze DJ’s hard at work at our campsite station.
Island Breeze Radio @ 89.5 and 102.3 FM was one of my projects there, as well as campsite oversight and development.
Working on card design with ladies. (The Christmas cards help provide livelihood for some of the ladies in the churches as well as some local support for the island ministry
The three churches have been turned over to Pastor Fernando and Pastor Leo, but I still worked with them to some extent, particularly when bringing in outside groups to assist. Faith in Action also continues to support the churches, since the Sunday offerings fall far short of being able to support the pastors.
Because of the need for local financing, I continued to work to some extent with our agricultural and livelihood programs as well, though not as much as before.
News from the Islands 