August 2009

Dear Praying Friends and Partners,

“My flesh and my heart may fail,
but God is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.”
Psalm 73:26

With Mr. Shin (IFES East Asia Regional Secretary) & Laura Pla (CEV Staff)

How has life been? I do pray that all is well with you! Let me share with what life has been for me recently.

I am excited to face this new school year. I will be re-assigned to  Quezon City. I will surely miss the students and graduates whom I have learned to love in Cavite. I will miss the long hour’s bus ride to and from that province. My bus moments would end along with these new  assignments.  Let me share with you a glimpse of what my life had been on a bus.

Stops & Scenery

Life is really a journey. It keeps on moving and going. Though it stops to    welcome sojourners and replenish energy; but soon it’ll be back on the road to head for its destination.  Stops are delightful. The scenery along the road is     beautiful. Along Coastal road (from Baclaran to Bacoor, Cavite), the beauty of the mangroves and the stillness of Manila bay enticed weary travellers to stay and forget about their destination. It promises instant rest and delight. Life for me had been filled with stops and starts too-weariness and wellness; insecurity and assurance; frugality and bounty. They are like roadblocks that keep me farther from my destination. They tempt me to stop and linger in their empty charm.  Aloneness, discouragements and unstable finances allure me with such urgency. I want to stop and fix it; to put an end to its frequency so that I could smoothly go on. These temporal refinements had easily clouded my real destiny – to gaze upon His beauty and dwell in His house forever. To continue on sharing His word to all peoples (students in my case) so that He could come and establish His kingdom forever.

Gas Stations

Iza, Mia & Jeremy, Quezon City Science High School Leaders

Two camps served as ‘gas’ stations in my  journey last year. The first was Sibol Camp (ISCF’s Evangelistic camp) last April. Forty young high   schoolers had encountered the Lord Jesus and      accepted Him as Savior and Lord. As a camp staff, speaker and counsellor, this camp had refuelled me to move on. It revitalized me to see young people giving up their lives for Christ at a young age.

The second station was the Leadership Camp-Discipleship Camp (LCDC-1st week of May). As a Camp Director, I have to let go of things that occupied my fuel tank. I was pushed to empty my container when just three days before the camp, three senior counselors could not make it to LCDC. I had nowhere to go but to let God fill me. Indeed His fuel energized me! I was blessed to witness forty students commit their lives to Christ’s lordship and promised to live with Christ’s identity. Working with a team of diligent and cheerful counselors had also been exhilarating.

How can I pray for you? I would be glad to hear your prayer concerns and your recent experiences so that we could better encourage one another. Hope to hear from you soon,

Journeying with Jesus,

Shebel Solmia
Staff, IVCF-MMRU

Praise &   Prayer Points

PCU Students & Graduates and Balikatan Youth Team 2009

Praise God for a   wonderful opportunity to learn and unlearn things in fund raising thru a certificate class from Asian Theological Seminary. Praise God for the financial    provisions for the course fee and the excitement to apply new things and develop old ones.

Praise God for the active and zealous exec members of TIP. Please pray for clarity of vision and plan for the chapter. Pray also for spiritual growth among the members.

Praise God for Bea (UPIS – student) who rally other students to join our weekly Bible studies. Please pray that she will be able to invite more students to join our meetings. Pray also for more counselors to help us in this campus.

Please pray for my brother’s wedding on September 12 in   General Santos City. Pray that his wedding will not only be a one day celebration but a lifetime feast of love and unity between two families. Pray for the preparations as well.

Please pray for a new TV set. Our TV in Anislag (IVCF Ladies’ Staff House) had finally said goodbye. We had no other ‘sanity’-keeping appliance  except an old radio.