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!