NEWS: THINGS PERTINENT TO US

LAST NIGHT AT MOSAIC.

We had 25 people, missed a good number of people due to sudden changes in their work and study schedules. Nevertheless, the study fellowship was fun.

We also began applying our new gathering structure (one hour of worship, fellowship and teaching and 45 minutes of breakaway group discussion). The new structure is effective in giving each attendee the opportunity to speak, share, "pour-my-heart-out" and be heard, affirmed, understood. I have received a number of positive comments about the new structure
Henceforth, Mosaic Gatherings will be divided into two parts- Plenary and Breakaway.

We had 3 guests:
1. Jasper Petersen - attended last week's gathering to observe how our small groups at GCF go. After his first visit he purposed in his heart to return, and has last Sunday, he decided to become part of Mosaic...and a member of GCF.
2. Faith - from Korea is a student at Messiah College
3 Jenny- a friend of Faith's, also from Korea.

After the Breakaway group discussion, we gathered again for a "tribute" to P. Ro by Joseph Chun. P. Ro leaves for the US in a week or two. We will post the "tribute" here in the near future.

CHANGE OF STUDY SERIES.
As you know, my laptop was stolen at the mall more than a week ago. All my files, including our Bible study series (TransformingLife) supposedly for the next five weeks are gone. Those precious lessons were compiled after months of study.

Beginning this Thursday, we will do a transitional study on the book of 1JOHN- A Case for Authentic Christianity. This will run for seven weeks. This will be an exciting study on the Biblical version of Christianity, over and against other kinds of Christianity available today.

Our first lesson next Thursday is JESUS CENTRAL (1John1:1-4). Before we break out into groups we will have Communion again. We will observe the rite first Thursday of each month.

PERMANENT BREAKAWAY GROUP (BG) ASSIGNMENTS

Andy Samaniego's Group: Thomas Hu, Joseph Chun, Tom Ha, OJ, Rasca, Harry and (Stephen Gow).

Ingrid Nieto's Group: Leslie Cukingnan, Osie Tiangco, Lian See, Christine de Chavez, Raya Sabio, (Joy C)

Sam Zipp's Group: Heather Tuggy, Rajsh Sabio, (Betsy), Riza Santos, Faith and Jenny.

P.Jon's Group: Mark Yara, Jonatz Manzano, Ryan Hong, Jasper Petersen.

Our guests will be assigned to Breakaway Groups randomly, and should they decide to return and come regularly, they shall be part of the group where they had been previously assigned to ensure follow up and shepherding.

Each Breakaway Group Leader will be the coordinator for his/her group. Ask me about their numbers and I would gladly forward them to you.

MOSAIC INT'L GROWTH GROUP PROMOTION

On September 23, we shall be promoting our small group in between the services on that Sunday. We will distribute flyers intentionally to all the international/expatriate young adults at GCF. Kindly sign up with your BG Leader if you want to help out. We will need a full force for the 9, 11,AM 6PM services where most expats attend.

MOSAIC BLOG COMMENTS

A reminder to all who post comments on this blog. We are an international Bible study group and thus, if anyone is compelled to comment, (which is highly encouraged) please comment in English. Thank you.

NEW NAME FOR OUR GROUP

MOSAIC

After months of much thought, prayerful consideration and discernment, the Leadership Team of our small group agreed to change our name to MOSAIC. Henceforth, our group's name shall be thus.

A mosaic is a visual artform of putting together small pieces of colored glass, stone or other material to create a bigger picture. It paints a clearer, better picture of who we really are as a culturally and ethnically-diverse Bible study group. We are young adults from different cultural and ethnic backgrounds but made ONE in Christ.

We are followers of Jesus Christ, committed to live by faith, to be known by love, and to be a voice of hope. The name of our community comes from the diversity of our members and from the symbolism of a broken and fragmented humanity which can become a work of beauty under the artful hands of God. We welcome people from all walks of life, regardless of where they are in their spiritual journey. Come to Mosaic, and discover how all the pieces can fit together!

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NOW- We just need to figure out how the name of our BLOG may be changed to Mosaic instead of iYACIES. Help!

NEWS: IT'S BEEN A WHILE

Dormant no more.
Since my laptop was stolen at the Galleria Cinema last Wednesday I have not had enough chances of going online, thus, the dormant stage.


We praise God for last Thursday's Fellowship! I counted 35 people, minus some people (- 4 pastors, and 2 Monday attendees, and 2 YACIES everyday), a total of 27. We had 4 guests: Phil Chuachiaco (Les' cousin), Mariel (Rajsh's cousin), Harry (Korea), and Jasper (from Mu Gyoung Baptist Church). We also praise God for the message shared with us by P. Ro which God used to lead three people to pray to receive Christ. The photo above was taken after the fellowship, thus we're already missing a few.

Amos Lim, flew back to Malaysia last yesterday (Monday). He had been with iYACIES for about a year. He has begun working on his new business- manufacturing corporate give-aways. He also returns to his home church in Penang as one of the young adult leaders. Some from folks from iYACIES and other small groups are exploring the possiblity of visiting Malaysia in October. Amos has promised to host us and give us a tour of his home city and the Cameron Highlands. Should you feel interested to join this October trip, kindly approach me or Chris Legaspi.

On Thursday

We will learn about The Secret of Contentment based Philippians 4:10-13.
The structure of our Fellowship Gathering will be as follows:

7:00-7:15 Welcome Fellowship

7:15-7:30 Worship

7:30-7:40 Sharing Time (Blessings, Lessons Learned, etc.)

7:40-8:15 Message (Study)

8:15-9:00 Breakaway Group Discussion

9:00-9:15 Prayer Time

Our New Structure
The group has been experiencing growth exponentially. From 8-10 people last April, now number 25 to 30. However, as we foresee and anticipate God's hand at work, the iYACIES Leadership Team is dividing our group into 4 smaller breakway groups to facilitate a better discussion, communication and learning time. We will be assigning our regular attendees to permanent breakaway groups.

So, the idea is, we will gather together as a big group from 7 to 8:15PM- that time will span worship and teaching/study. After the gathering, we will divide into breakaway groups under the leadership of Facilitators to discuss issues and learnings in detail, as well as share concerns that are hard to open up in a big group.

The key to all this is that we have to start on time. Those who are in the habit of or couldn't help but be late, I encourage you to make it a point to come early. It is important that we respect each other by coming on time.

You will find your assigned groups here before tomorrow. See you on Thursday!

NEWS: AMAZING STUDY..TWO GUESTS...22 PEOPLE

Tonight at our Study, we had a great time of worship and fellowship- our new student pastor/seminary student Chris Legaspi taught on Genesis 20 and 22, and the Fear of the Lord.

“The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” (Proverbs 1:7)
Growth takes knowledge. When we talk about sanctification, we must emphasize knowledge. Sanctification is not a list of steps or self-help principles that we can check off. It calls for great knowledge to know how to walk with God through the diverse circumstances of life. And to grow in knowledge, we need to fear the Lord; that is, to be whole, to be single-minded, and to live according to the biblical standard requires a continual process of learning who God is and realizing how desperate our situation is apart from Him.

We had two guests- Liann See (Manila), Betsy (Kansas). We hope they enjoyed our worship, fellowship and study time tonight just as we were blessed by their presence. We had 22 people in our study. Amazing! God sends more and more people to our care.

Special thanks to Sam Zipp for her Pennsylvania treats - pretzels, licorice twists, lebanon sausages, and TastyKakes.

NEXT WEEK: A BIRTHDAY AND A SEND OFF PARTY

Our sweet sister, Rajsh Sabio (Mandaluyong) celebrates her birthday with us before she leaves for Baguio City for the weekend. She will be giving the group a dinner treat.

We will have a send-off party for Amos Lim (Malaysia) on that day as well. He returns to his country next Friday. He's attended our group worship since last year and has been a great blessing to many of us, and thus we want to express our thanks and love for our dear brother.

NEWS: iYACIES MOVIE NIGHT

iYACIES went to see Bourne Ultimatum tonight at the Galleria as a welcome feat for Ms. Sam Zipp, and a host of new Faith Academy teachers (6 girls, 1 boy). Let us pray for the new Faith Academy Teachers as they settle and adjust to Manila life, as well as in their search for churches they would wish to join. I hope we can attract/encourage/help them to make GCF their home church as they stay in Manila. The key is to make friends with them and show them that we are a loving, faithful, Christ-centered community. Let the Gospel be so real in us that people would just be so naturally attracted to the Savior and our church.

Thanks to Marky Yara and Thom Hu for coordinating this spur of the moment event.

In other news.

We have a typhoon (Egay) and the weather bureau has forecasted that we shall be having heavy downpour in the next two-day period (that's if they're right). Should there be a heavy downpour tomorrow evening at around 6, then I suggest that we NOT meet for tomorrow's Bible study.

On Friday, The Crossover Ministry for Singles and Young Adults of GCF celebrates its Second Anniversary. The event begins at 7:30PM at the Fellowship/Social Hall, and our featured speaker is DR. Luis Pantoja, our senior pastor. Do plan to come!

NEWS: LESSON ON THURSDAY- THE FEAR OF THE LORD

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge.” (Proverbs 1:7)


Having addressed how sin works in our lives, we now turn to how we grow in holiness. Growth takes knowledge. When we talk about sanctification, we must emphasize knowledge.


Sanctification is not a list of steps or self-help principles that we can check off. It calls for great knowledge to know how to walk with God through the diverse circumstances of life.
And to grow in knowledge, we need to fear the Lord; that is, to be whole, to be single-minded, and to live according to the biblical standard requires a continual process of learning who God is and realizing how desperate our situation is apart from Him.



In this session, keep in mind how a reverence for God helps you guard against failing in the areas of struggle you discussed in previous sessions and motivates you to pursue positive growth in holiness.


Our teacher for this Thursday is our very own Bible college student: Pastor Chris Legaspi.

Sam and Heather, and hopefully, this other girl will be with us too.

THANKS, RAYA, FOR THE BEAUTIFUL TESTIMONY

Raya shared her beautiful testimony and I think it should be posted here on this blog.

brothers and sisters, good day!!

this is kinda late but i just want to tell you guys how grateful iam to be part of "EXTREME" last June 30 to July 1... just like my sister said (ate bini a.k.a "RAJSH") it was so tiring !! but twas very fulfilling at the same time...though i wasn't able to help my team on finishing other tasks because of what happened to me; i slipped on a muddy hill (kakatapos lang ng ulan) after doing C.S.I. w/ cris legaspi.. was not able to stand, it felt paralyzing. Here's why (it took alot of courage for me to post this - whew!)

i had an accident earlier this year (020707 around 2445H), i got sideswept by a huge car or rather an SUV? i don't know how you call it..its a TOYOTA FORTUNER - i was crossing the street (properly- with WALK sign lit) i saw this huge thing running so fast towards me, I tried to run but it was running so fast I got sideswept and fell on the ground- i tried to get back on my feet & as i was about to stand up i just heard something in my back...part of it was like tearing apart - until pain was all over my body that made me back on the ground..and realizing "hindi to daplis, naaksidente ako!?!"

Just to make the story brief, after being a bed ridden for like a month (i can barely move- only my fingers for texting), God showed me How much He loves me.. its is a wake up call for me -

(1)He made me realize that no one/nothing can give me comfort, contentment, unconditional love in this world.except God!! - only HIM (most of the people just laughed at me when they heard what happened "Stupid!", well they do not know what really happened):

(2)GOD used this accident to change someone's life, the man who owns the vehicle & who was driving that time..i don't know how GOD did it but it was so awesome. the guy quit smoking and drinking alcohols/liquors -I couldn't believe it when his wife sent me a text message "raya, u myt not realized how much u changed my husband's life - our life..."i really don't know how to react:

(3)im much more closer to my family, specially with my siblings:

(4)the most important thing God gave me through this accident was the pain i got from it.with this pain im so much more dependent on Him.with this pain i keep on longing to know Him more, i have this great thirst and hunger for His word.and i asked God if this is the only way for me to keep dependent on Him let me have it - and answered prayers coz just last week i went to my doctor, got a prescription of pain reliever, and a text message from my uncle (who's a doctor) telling me that the muscle pain will be lingering, it'll be on&off with any medicines and there is possibility that it will stay with me as long as i live, i've been taking different pain relievers but it seems none of them can relieve the pain..only God's grace - coz it was perfectly made for weaknessesduring the "EXTREME", after what happened, it was really embarassing, i do not know what to do, i just asked God "bat dito pa? i knew it..."...God just told me that its ok..the people who's with me would be my brothers and sisters who really cared for me during that time (naks!)...

thank you po: my team mates (summer, leslie, kat, kim,reggie,gian & other two more - forgot their names, peace out!), cris legaspi - one of our Big bros, archie sy&doc gil who stayed with me til I was ready to stand,though i pain, kuya dennis - cleaned the mud all over me, and to everybody who participated the retreat (white team, orange team, banana team, violet team, blue team, green team, pink team, red team)..it was a great event..

and thank you for PChris,PJon, PMau - they're not just pastors, they are like our big bros since we've been a member of GCF. i know some of you would be asking why i joined an adevnture camp knowing my condition - please accept my apology, im really sorry for causing "trouble" but im telling this to share with you what God did to me - He just brought me back to Him - (HE WILL DO EVERYTHING, ANYTHING just to pick you up and bring you back to HIM) and reminded me why am i here for..before posting this message i already told myself that whatever response i might get negative or positive (or none!!!) that would be very fine..all i wanted is to share this to you really.

Thank you for your time in reading this, i hope i was able to show you How great God's love is!!GODSPEED!!God is our refuge and strenth,harayalamatrinidads abio a.k.a. RAYA

NEWS: Arrivals and Departures and an Item of Prayer

- Sam Zipp and Heather Tuggy are back and will be joining us, the Lord willing, next Thursday (Aug. 16th). Like I said, Sam will be bringing specialities from her home town/state for us to sample on. Pray for her and Heather as the school year starts at Faith Academy.

- Pastor Ro will be leaving for the US in a couple of weeks to spend some time with his family. When he returns to Manila, he assumes the post of Youth Director of the Union Church of Manila in Legaspi Village, Makati City. He promised to come and join us at iYACIES and teach once in a while. Pray for him. He has been a constant source of blessing for us.

- I (PJon) have an item of prayer. The people and leaders of the Covenant Presbyterian Church in West Lafayette, Indiana (the church where two of the Overtones singing group belong) have expressed their interest in inviting me to be their interim Worship Pastor. The invitation came as a surprise when I received an email from the mother of two of the Overtones members asking me to consider taking the post. Covenant Church has already written a formal request to our Senior Pastor and Executive Pastor to give me "on loan for a season" (God knows how long that "season" will be). Thanks in advance for the prayers!

See you Sunday!

NEWS: Transformers, Romans 12:1-2

Our Topic this Thursday is

TRANSFORMED: BY THE RENEWING OF THE MIND
Based on Romans 12:1-2

About 45 years ago I became acquainted with Angus and Emma Brower, pioneer missionaries in Africa. When I saw their slide presentation and talked with them, I thought of them as people who had truly placed their bodies on the altar for God.

While we admire the selfless devotion of such people who have been transformed by God, let's not forget that the words of Romans 12:1-2 are addressed to all of us.

The dedication of ourselves to serving God begins with a decisive commitment. But just as keeping the vows spoken in a wedding ceremony requires continual reminders and recommitment, so dedicating ourselves to the Lord involves a moment-by-moment awareness of the pledge we made. (by RWDeHaan)

Please come early, we are expecting two new faces this Thursday.
I hope we can be the ones to welcome them, instead of them welcoming us.

NEWS: Sam Arrives on Wednesday Night and other stuff

Flying In:

Our dear Sam Zipp will be flying in via Northwest Airlines on Wednesday night. She will miss our Thursday gathering though, and Sunday church too, but she will be with us next Thursday and will be showcasing some Pennsylvania specialties in our study.

We expect Heather, and a new girl to assist Sam in kindergarten by then as well.

Flown Out:

Meanwhile, Trisha has flown back to Korea last Tuesday. Those who wish to get in touch with her, you may have her email address from me (PJon). Lloyd flew back to London last Sunday but he made sure he came to church in the morning.

NEWS: Trisha Leaves for Korea on Tuesday

One of the hard-to-accept realities of being a culturally-diverse Bible study group is the constant turnover of its attendees. People come and go, and there's always someone new or someone leaving. As summer 2007 ends, we say, "Cha-el Ga!" (informal farewell in Korean) to Trisha An Bo Bae, who returns to her native Korea on Tuesday. This past summer, we have been graced by this Toni Gonzaga look-alike.


Tonight, her last night with iYACIES, she brought about 100 slices/pieces of kimbap and loads of kimchi to showcase two of her country's specialties. As she returns to Korea, she plans to apply as an airline/flight attendant, and continue in serving God wherever God leads her.

We will miss her a lot. God bless you, Trisha!

You may leave a comment for Trisha below.

In Other News:

The Romans Chapter 7 study led by P. Ro tonight was awesome! Thank God for his ministry.

We had 6 newbies/second timers in our small group tonight: 1. Riza Santos (Phils.), 2. Tom (Daejon, Korea), 3. Joseph (Pusan, Korea), 4. Steven (Shanghai, China), 5. Sara (Seoul, Korea), and 6. J.V. (Phils.). Joining us at our after-study-coffee was Lloyd Dyson (UK) who leaves for home in Reading, England on Sunday night.

Sam Zipp (US) and Heather Tuggy (US), with another girl assisting Sam at school this year arrive in Manila next week. They will be joining us again on August 16. Sam's birthday is on August 7!