HIGHLIGHTS

1. Crafted the Strategic Plan for 2017-2021 – fruit of a long process of consultations, research, Bible-based listening to God, three-day staff interactions and strategic planning, and two-day retreat/interactions with the Board. By the end of the process, we were able to achieve the following:

• Refreshed our understanding of IVCF’s identity and answered the questions: What is our niche as IVCF Philippines? Where should we focus our energies and resources?
• Streamlined the IVCF Vision, Mission and Core Values
• Put coherence and intentionality to the IVCF Discipleship Process
• Identified key indicators for each of the 5 Strategic Priorities
• Refined the IVCF Logo

2. IVCF Ministry on Campus – God continued to use IVCF in the lives of students towards transformation and deeper love for Him, His Word and His world through campus meetings, prayer times, trainings, camps and conferences. We see a new generation of students taking initiative and becoming leaders in their chapters and churches, with deeper appreciation for their family and country. See statistics and students’ testimonies.

3. IVCF Ministry among Graduates – Inter-Varsity Graduates (IVG) have re-organized, with the young grads, intermediate grads and “seasoned” graduates meeting regularly in the different regions. The IVCF Teachers Christian Fellowship (TCF) has likewise reorganized. Praise God for these graduates and alumni who continue to be salts and lights in their workplaces and sacrificially support the movement.

4. IVCF Ministry through our Volunteers – Graduate Teams, Advisers, ISCF Counselors and other volunteers continue to join our workforce in the campuses and among graduates. Praise God for their sacrificial service to the Lord and to IVCF.

5. IVCF Ministry among International Students (ISM) There has been organic beginnings and friendship meetings with international students in Davao, Cebu, Bicol and Baguio. Praise God for committed volunteers and surprising us with God-led partnerships (especially in working with Indian students in Davao and possibly other parts of the country), as well as invaluable meetings and mentoring from Lisa and Leiton Chinn.

6. National Conference 2017 – held last Dec 27-30 with a record 404 registered attendees, was a watershed moment for the movement. We were blessed by the Holy Spirit’s presence, exceptional plenary and seminar speakers, deep worship, original Filipino compositions, remarkable program, amazing intergenerational small groups, wonderful fellowship and joyful staff/volunteers who were happy to serve. The Corporate repentance time was a highlight as different generations of IVCFers humbled themselves and confessed the sins of their generation. It can be said that NC2017 was a transforming time for all those who were there.

7. Financials – After the deficit was erased and staff salaries became regular by April 2017, it was time to develop the movement’s financial health. The Dollara-Day and Philippian Connection income increased, with staff continuing to improve partnership-raising. The stabilization fund was started and incremental amounts were set aside each month.

8. Continued joyful partnerships – with IVCF Alumni groups, churches and other partners in the Philippines and abroad. Praise God for very supportive alumni groups who lovingly, prayerfully and generously partner with us in the ministry – in the US: Balikatan (LA ACTS, BaBalikat, CFM, Friends, IV CARES, Boston Group, Tulungan sa Tidewater, Lingkod sa Florida, Minnesota Group, Northern Virginia Alumni Group, WATCH, Oregon group), Ugnayan and MEANS; Balikatan groups in Canada (KSO, KSA, BC Connections and Winnipeg IV Alumni); KaIVgan in Singapore; as well as chapter groups in the Philippines.

STUDENT TESTIMONIES ACCORDING TO THE IVCF DISCIPLESHIP PROCESS

Seeker Becoming a Believer

Malimit ‘kong tinatanong ang aking sarili, “Ano bang silbi mo sa mundong ito?” at ako’y napapatulala na lamang sa alapaap sa kaiisip ng mga posibleng malalim na kasagutan. Hanggang sa ako’y naanyayahan sa isang Bible Study na nakatulong sa akin upang masagot ang aking mga katanungan. Ang naturang Bible study ang nagmistulang regadera na nagdidilig sa pasibol ko pa lamang na pananampalataya. At ang mga taong bumubuo rito – ang aking mga ate’t kuya, ang nagsilbing hardinero na siyang nag-aalaga, humuhubog at nagpapanatili sa aking pananampalataya na patuloy pang umusbong at
yumabong.

Sa ilang linggo kong pagdalo sa naturang Bible Study, natutuhan ko ang halaga ng Salita ng Diyos at kung paano ako nito matutulungan sa pagtuklas ng kasagutan sa mga tanong na noon pa ma’y gumugulo na sa aking isipan. Bukod pa roon, ang salita ng Diyos ang nagsilbing aking
baterya na patuloy na nagbibigay sa akin ng lakas sa arawaraw.

“I used to be the black sheep in our family, always disobeying my father and my mother. I followed my own ways, thinking that I’m right. I met God when I joined the ISCF Camp and there I realized that only God can save me. Now, as a Senior High student, it’s a joy to continue to grow through the IVCF cell group in our school. For after I received Christ in my life, my life has never been the same again.”

When I was a high school student, I attended Sunday Mass just to ‘complete’ my Sundays and maybe because that was the usual thing that we did as a family and not because I wanted to honor God. When I join IVCF, I understood better why I should join the church on Sundays, why I should pray, and why I should read the Bible. In our IVCF Bible Studies I read Romans 6:23 that says, “for the wages of the sin is death but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.” From this verse I came to know Jesus who gives eternal life. From then on that promise has been my assurance of my salvation. All this time I have witnessed how God, Our Father, keeps His promises and it is enough to always believe in His promises and word of salvation. IVCF also taught me to have devotions and to keep a journal, to have a prayer hour, and most especially to know more about God and to keep closer to Him. In IVCF, I am learning to stand frm in Christ.

Believer Becoming a Discipler

When the world says ‘No’, God says ‘Watch!’ I realize that every closed door by man is just another opportunity to upgrade your conditions. We should not be too busy mourning our loss or what we do not have. It’s impossible for me to learn that way. With every loss there’s a lesson on how things can get better! I understand now that God’s blessings are never tied to something I lost. I learned to appreciate the value of adversity.

“I grew up in a church so my heart had been hardened and my mind closed to any biblical teaching a campus ministry would want to introduce to me, not until an everyday hunger in me to fnd my purpose came to haunt me every single day. This hunger led me to realize that I am called to make disciples of all nations. I started to lead small groups but failed to continue on. Eight times I started to lead small groups and failed. I got heartbroken when my small group members stopped attending one by one, either losing interest or transferring to other campus ministries. These repeated failures made me afraid of disciplemaking. I blamed myself and was afraid to waste another life entrusted to me to be discipled and so I stopped evangelizing and discipling for months. But God used people to heal me and to help me realize that to stop is not the solution to my problem. He taught me lessons about discipleship and molded me to think, decide and act like a discipler. He even allowed me to encounter problems that changed my ways on how to deal with people. I know I cannot be a perfect disciple, but this time I am ready to do my very best especially that this is my last year in the college. I believe that to disciple others is not just while I am in college. I am wholeheartedly committed to discipling others for life.

The promise in the Matthew 28:18-20, “…and surely I am with you always to the very end of the age,” is what I will hold on to despite the hardships I face as I follow Christ and as I learn to follow Christ’s command to make disciples.

Discipler Becoming a Leader-Missioner

I was ecstatic when I heard that the 2017 East Asia Regional Conference (EARC) venue is in South Korea. It wasn’t just because I am a fan of Korean dramas but also because it was going be another ‘frst’ with my Lord and Savior.

At EARC, God made me socially aware. He made me hear the laments of our neighboring countries that I as a Christian should acknowledge and share in. Through the exposition of the book of Jeremiah, God exhorted me to live as a prophetic pilgrim in times of hostility. He showed me the difference between how I look at society and how He looks at it. I had been blind to how human laws judge people and cause injustices but those who were judged, who hunger and thirst for justice, are blessed by the Father above. As a result of the EARC, I decided to continue to serve God by helping the youth to anchor their faith, to speak with a Christian voice to this hostile nation, and to make their hearts burning to serve God.

*Kleb attended the 2017 EARC with the theme ‘Hostile Times, Prophetic Pilgrims’ last August 3-9. EARC is the triennial student conference of the International Fellowship of Evangelical Students in East Asia

SIBOL SA TAG-ARAW A Closer Look at Sibol Camps 2018

Five. The number of camps that IVCF Central and Eastern Visayas held last summer. Five high school camps. In four islands. In nine weeks!
Instead of settling for a regional Sibol Camp (IVCF’s evangelistic camp for high schoolers), which historically had limited attendees from the areas, this year we braved the challenge of doing it in the islands. An answer to feld staff Lala Pla’s prayer and vision two years ago, the fve camps – daunting as they were – were pushed through, not without setbacks, but with an abundant supply of victories.

But imagine the preparation that happened. Although there was a single program, (theme SIYA: Salvation In You Alone), and although there was a core of staff and counselors for the fve camps, other considerations were as individual as the islands themselves. There had to be fve venues: the cloistered, manicured and air-conditioned Mandaue City Gospel Church for the special moving-up retreat cum mini-Sibol camp for the high schoolers of PCGS, the water-scarce site in Ubay Bohol, the underrenovation-hence-limited-rooms-available Magsaysay Memorial Elementary School in Sibulan, Negros Oriental, the green-clad, signal-deprived campsite in Javier Leyte, and the old-new Camp Bato in Sibonga, Cebu.

Added to this challenge was that of provision. Raising funds for a single regional camp is hard enough; doing so three times for an area camp is three times more difcult (the moving-up retreat is school-sponsored while the Camp Bato Sibol was in partnership with Compassion, which handled the cost). But marvel at God’s handiwork: all three were exceedingly provided for. What’s even more amazing was God’s creativity in meeting such needs. In Bohol the subsidy needed was raised after the camp. In Negros Oriental the ability to go online at any moment meant donors here and abroad were updated of the camp’s goings-on, and the site’s proximity gave access to the graduates in Dumaguete who visited the camp, and thus needed funds were raised right before the camp ended. The one in Leyte was the opposite. It was far from Tacloban City where most graduates are, and the signal was weak. So what did God do? He met the camp’s needs right before the camp started!

All this talk of challenges and solutions, though, were eclipsed by the biggest victory there was: changed lives. Of the 41 campers in Bohol, 24 surrendered their lives to Christ, of the 34 in Negros Oriental, 27 did the same, and 19 out of 32 campers in Leyte became followers of Jesus. Those are 70 individual stories of lives transformed by the gospel. Truly, the theme became very real to these young people, most of whom continue in their walk with Christ through their campus fellowships to this day.

The area camps last summer opened doors to wonderful opportunities for the high schoolers. They provided a soil from where shoots of new, Christ-changed lives sprang and would continue to flourish. Truly, there was spring in the summer of 2018

Kenny Ebo, Staff Central & Eastern Visayas

INTER-VARSITY GRADUATES

Praise God that graduates groups have been meeting regularly in different cities this past year. For a complete list of meetings and contact persons please visit www.ivcfphil. org.

2018 Inter-Varsity Graduates Council (IVGC)
Chairman Alfredo Diaz WVRU
Vice Chairman Mercy Dela Cruz SMRU
Secretary Ching Lopez NMRU
Treasurer Frannie Soliven CRU
Auditor Jewom Villamor CEVRU
Member David Salva MMRU
Member Aurelio Barcelona BRU
Member Sol Gamo NLRU
Member Athena Lavega SLRU

Pangasinan Graduates’ Fellowship Rekindled After a long hiatus, IVCF graduates in Pangasinan are back to meeting regularly again. It started with a Christmas get-together last December 2017 at our rented home in Dagupan City. Seven of us graduates based in Urdaneta, Malasiqui, and Dagupan gathered to simply catch up with one another. It was a joyful and encouraging time of fellowship for everyone.

Together with other graduates from San Carlos City, we aimed to meet every month thereafter, taking turns to host the fellowship in our homes. The monthly meetings is an avenue for updates about IVCF NLRU ministry in our area and a source of encouragement and refreshments for us through the Scripture reflections and prayer time. Last June 15, 2018, we held a short strategic planning and retreat session. The members of the group committed to support the movement Northern Luzon region in every way possible.

We earnestly pray to pursue our monthly fellowship regularly, not only to build community but also to forge unity and strength in edifying God’s kingdom wherever we are and whatever we do. All graduate members are challenged “not to neglect meeting together” (Hebrews 10:24-25). We hope that neither geographical distance nor our “busyness” be a stumbling block to showing up; and that our own spiritual struggles would not be a force to
shun members off the body of Christ.

As a couple, it is our ardent desire to see the graduates in Pangasinan refreshed and encouraged every time we meet. We may have a small place to meet, but we are flled with joy whenever we see Pangasinan-based IVCFers gather as one. “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15) — this is our commitment.

– Alf and Ida Tulaga

FINANCIAL REPORT

I praise God for His faithfulness to IVCF Philippines this past year. He has provided the wisdom and resources needed, at times in miraculous ways. At the beginning of 2017, I held on to his promise in Haggai 2:7-9 (ESV), “And I will shake all nations, so that the treasures of all nations shall come in, and I will fll this house with glory, says the Lord of hosts. The silver is mine, and the gold is mine, declares the Lord of hosts. The latter glory of this house shall be greater than the former, says the Lord of hosts. And in this place I will give peace, declares the Lord of hosts.” I can testify that He has fulflled His promise, and it is just the beginning!

As always, I am thankful for the commitment, friendship and unity of the Board; the perseverance and hard work of the staff; the sacrifces and faithfulness of the Grad Team Members, ISCF Counselors, advisers and volunteers; and the love, prayers and generosity of alumni and partners as we labored together to reach students and graduates for
Christ.

We can look forward to the next year with hope and expectation because the God who called us is faithful. Let us continue to join hands and journey together as we reimagine possibilities for the ministry in this and the next generation. To God be the glory!

Respectfully submitted:
CHRISTY JUTARE