A journal that highlights and celebrates God's grace and mercy. A testimony of His marvelous works in and through the lives of peoples living out their call. A compilation of stories worth remembering and sharing so that others may find strength, and that God may be exalted!
Sunday, January 03, 2010
Welcome 2010!
To everyone,
Louder than the firecrackers I can hear outside our house in Lamuan, Marikina, our family welcomes the year 2010 with a bang. This year, instead of just the six of us, we celebrate the New Year with Lola Ave who came back to the Philippines this September 2009 from New Zealand, where Tita Archie and Zach are now living.
Though we are still all pretty much the same, there have been some changes too.
Papa still has the longest hair in our family. He still travels all over the Philippines conducting seminars and workshops. He enjoys playing with his new toy—his big motorcycle which he use more often because typhoon Ondoy disabled our car. His latest involvement is with the HB-ECCD Pilot program (home-based early childhood care and development) which will run till March of this year. The Philippine Council of EvangelicalChurches (PCEC) and Passionate Community for Christ (PCCi) continue to preoccupy most of 2009 and predictably most of the days of 2010.
Mumsy is still working in Metrobank but is looking forward to study in the University of the Philippines Open University this coming 2010 to take up a degree in Education. She still enjoys blogging, watching foreign films, reading good poetry (for example, Pablo Neruda) and her love for classical music is still as strong as ever.
Chiara is an active high school senior student who has been involved in various extra curricular activities. She hopes to study Business Administration or Visual Arts in UP Diliman and so stay with the rest of the family in Marikina. She still loves to draw anime characters and watch anime shows.
Jayjay gained a lot of weight this year because he stopped his badminton classes but he plans on playing sports again this 2010. He is only eight years old but already very active in the online world (Facebook, computer games, etc.) He is always on the honor roll and recently became a Pupil leader. A Pupil leader is assigned to serve as a “kuya” to younger students.
Bea remains to be the girly and kikay little lady in the family. She is consistent in their class as one of the Best English Speaker awardees. She enjoys drawing and playing computer games as well.She has a very big appetite when it comes to rice, soup and her favorite—tuna.
And finally me, Regina. I am now a junior in college. Aside from being part of the UPLB Devcomsoc and the student council, I also joined a sorority this 2009 and during my second semester, I became an officer. 2009 was also the year I started living in an apartment which is good because it is so near the devcom building. I am planning to extend my stay in college and take up another major—journalism.
And that’s the six of us. Plus Lola Ave, who enjoys spending time with us as she makes her crafts and artworks. 2009 was a year of many blessings despite the calamity that has befallen us.
And so we hope that more blessings will come our way this 2010, even as we continue to be an avenue of His blessings for others.
He came home despite threats to his life. And as soon as his plane landed, he was escorted out and led through the tarmac .....and bang! He never got to set his foot on our soil but as he was falling, he made sure his lips kissed the ground. That was August 21, 2003... the first tear / seed.
She was a simple wife who was rushed to widowhood. She was calm but determined to get justice for her husband. In the process, the nation found someone who signifies the cause of democracy. The reluctant widow gave in to the voice of the people. The justice she sought for her husband has been given a new meaning. It's making sure that what he believes in - that the Filipinos are worth dying for - will not be in vain. Now it's about the welfare of a seemingly orphaned nation.
She and the people prevailed. The wife, widow, became the president. And she did not only govern but led with integrity, compassion and servitude - a complete opposite of her predecessor. Even after she governed, she continued to lead because what we fought against somehow slowly found its way back - a zombie that mutated to something far more corrupt, greedy and destructive.
After the presidency, she became closer to our hearts. Beloved Tita by many who never give up on her nation and one who walks the streets to be the voice of the people. It was not a surprise that despite her illness, she continued about her work - being the voice...inspiring many to fight on... to live on.
PAGASA said that AUGUST has the most rain among all the months. No wonder she had to "go" and leave us now. Like a seed planted, what she stood for will hopefully grow along with the seed of her husband 26 years ago. This is the second tear...and it continues to be poured out... by me...by many.
We love you Tita Cory and Ninoy. And we thank you for your lives. Now its time for us to live our own, guided by your life and what you stood for, we hope the next generation will experience the fruits of our labor that traces back from this two seeds of August.
We celebrate the New Year – 2009 with much hope – despite the seeming dark clouds that pervades the sky. God’s light continues to shine even brighter and we can only imagine how He will “make all things new.”
Rejoice with our family for the year that was – 2008:
We said goodbye to Town and CountryExecutiveVillage in Antipolo which has been our home for six years, and now live in Marikina at my sister’s place since she left for New Zealand last April. My kids now enjoy their grandmother – Lola Ave – as we share the same compound. Last December though Lola Ave left to spend Christmas with Archie and Zach at New Zealand. She will be back by May. Our new address: 7 Sampaguita St., Lamuan, MarikinaCity.
Chi ONGKIKO is on 2nd year at her new assignment as a junior officer with systems in Metrobank. She endures being a Commuter – leaves by 6:30am and gets home before 8pm and can still prepare most sumptuous meal whenever she can. She finds joy in Netlog community as she is able to express her thoughts through blogging and gain new friends from all over at the same time. Check her site – www.en.netlog.com/tinklingjade
Regina Mae ONGKIKO is currently 2nd year at UPLB and taking Development Communication. She recentlyjoined Devcomsoc and now calls her papa – Brod. She is active
in school and was elected Student Council member of College of Development Communication. Reg, as she prefers to be called, sports a shorter hairstyle – and receives much compliment for it. She is so into digital photography and has been exploring this new found digicam.
Chiara Luz ONGKIKO transferred to Christian School International (Los Banos) as a 3rd yr HS Student. She is happy to renew ties with former classmates and teachers and enjoys being a choir member. She is into various arts-stuff, likes to draw and sketch anime. Chia, as she is fondly called, seriously considers going to Japan and learning its culture. For now, her thoughts are occupied on deciding what course to take and where to study in college.
Jayjay ONGKIKO is Grade One at MaristSchool. He graduated class valedictorian in his preschool and continues to get high grades. He is very active physically and took up badminton lessons, and articulated his desire to take up basketball when in Grade 2. Quite the OC in the family, Jayjay unceasingly offers corrections on some “inconsistencies” like – USA should really be USOA since its meaning is United States Of America.
Bea Marie ONGKIKO followed after her papa’s footsteps, and is now in Prep at Roosevelt College Elementary Department. She enjoys immensely chatting with classmates as she walks to and from school. For the UN day parade, Bea was supposed to wear a pajama-like costume as Ms. Thailand. But Chi saw a beautiful pink Korean gown and let Bea wear it instead instructing the yaya that if they are questioned, just say that they thought it was a Thailand outfit. Bea won first runner-up in costume wearing a cute Korean outfit with a well written diagonal sash that reads – Miss Thailand. Her infectious smile has been put to the test as she recently lost her two front teeth.
Boyet Ongkiko now has the longest hair in the family.Bea and Jay say they should call him Mommy instead. He discovered the joys of sulit.com when he was able to sell our car and refrigerator through the internet site. Boyet is busy with Eklipse, IVPM and various projects where he effectively employs the Dialogue Education approach to learning. He has become a regular speaker on a Bible Study program aired over Marikina radio (DZBF 1674Khz).He is constantly on-line so he’s usually only a click away.
There you have it - all six of us. We enjoyed being together during the holidays... and just being family, something we seldom do since Reg and Chia are studying in Los Banos. Thankfully there is the internet - the wonders of technology!!!
PAG MAHAL ng Gasolina... PAG MAHAL ng Bigas... PAG MAHAL ng lahat ng bilihin....
so with our income the only unchanging, makes one wonder how to live on...and yes for some, even survive!
We are meant to rise above our situations. We are people meant to shine in times of crisis. When the going gets tough, the faithful gets going; when others would hoard, we take our cue from the Widow and his child in the time of drought who willingly gave all that they had - and from then on, never ran out!
We are committed to our calling - to be a people of blessing! When cursing is the natural reaction, we choose to respond in love; we prepare our bread with fillings of love and we give them out -- yes even to those who threw us stones. Our love will conquer them, even as we were conquered by His love.
We refuse to be controlled by the abundance or scarcity of our resources. Our Spirit is our major resource. And so we draw our strength from our inner resource who has abundantly provided for us -- not just meant to be enjoyed by us, but to be graciously shared to everyone especially the needy. In our weakness, we are made strong. And in our poverty, we are made rich.
This is our time. In the midst of darkness, we will shine brighter! For His Glory alone!
Truly this is the time for PAGMAMAHALAN in the truest sense of the word!
I developed a course on video production and called it SPEED video - Producing Strategic, Practical, Effective, Exciting and Do-able Videos
This Five-day course dynamically integrates these three essential elements of video production – 1) skills and techniques in photo-video recording, 2) tools and principles of video editing using simple software (e.g., Movie Maker and ULEAD), and 3) key ingredients of creative Story telling. Specifically, the course will focus on producing short videos (less than 10 minutes) for various purposes like documenting events, program summary, project highlights, personal accomplishments, and others. All these contents will be taught using Dialogue Education principles and approaches.
We initially offered it in Davao where we had 9 participants. Below is a video summary of Day One in SPEED Video.
So, who will benefit from this course? This course was designed to benefit groups who can use short videos for various purposes. These groups include: local Government Units, Government Agencies, Non Government Organizations, Local churches, church and mission organizations, Foundations and Civic Groups, Schools, Colleges and universities, and others.
and who may attend the course? Any adult - ages 18 up - can. The participant must have, sufficient working knowledge on basic computer software program (i.e. Word), and an attitude and desire to learn. Participants are limited to maximum of 20 only. To benefit the most are Program managers, officers and staff who participate in various events, monitors programs and other work-related initiatives. Anyone who needs to come up with a short but powerful summary that highlights the “essentials” without spending so much time and resources on the technical and tedious process usually involved in video production.
What are other requirements? Each participant or pair* must bring the following: 1. a digital Camera and /or video Camera (preference on digital Camera with Audio-Video recording mode and I GB of memory card ) 2. Laptop with at least 512 MB of RAM (higher would be better) and Windows XP 3. Samples of digital photos and video recordings (prints and/or soft copies – i.e., digital files) 4. a Flash drive/memory stick /thumb drive/ memory card with 512 MB minimum capacity * - Note: it is best to have 2 participants coming from the same organization so they can work as a pair.
So when is the next course? We are running two special courses for the LGU of Butuan from January 14-18 where Barangay Information Officers will be the main participants. Then, another one the following week - January 21-25 for other NGOs, GAs and other groups. A course is set in Quezon City on February 25-29, 2008. we are also setting to schedule a run in Cagayan De Oro, Iloilo and Cebu in the coming months
These are what some of the participants in our maiden offering in Davao have to say about the course:
“The course was amazing and the process used was fundamental and in layman terms. Thanks to Boyet Ongkiko for making things easy for us”
“I’ve realized the power of SPEED in delivering messages to target audience.”
“I see myself as a creator of SPEED Videos which conveys the life offarmer-beneficiaries, including the landowners too.”
“Now I can produce my own video of family and friends’ activities as gift for any celebration.”
“Useful for training activities”
“The Method used in imparting the skills and experience is fun and effective.”
“It will be very useful and applicable for our PROGRAMS in 2008 which will focus on profiling our 86 Barangays”
“The technique and way in producing videos in a short time – that is SPEED Video”
For interested groups, email: The Director – Strategic Training Unit eklipse.is@gmail.com
And they are singing…. jumping and moving around the room….climbing on top of the table…. crawling under the table…cheering and jeering on the others…and marking charts with crayons. These are not children in a nursery class. No, these are Cambodian church leaders and community development workers – ADULTS highly engaged and having fun in my training class.
I always believe that learning must be an enjoyable experience. This is true for all ages and certainly, the adult learners included. The “child” in the adult, must be encouraged and allowed to “play”. The creative instinct and experimenting-inquisitive mind are resource that adult learners bring with them, which can be harnessed in the right learning environment. Sadly, the opposite seems to be true among most adult learning events. Learning has become anything but ENJOYABLE.
Most of the time adults go through the motion of listening (and sitting it out) to a litany of ideas that subject matter specialists sincerely believe they need to know. As such, a typical room can be filled with participants and yet have only ONE voice – that of the teacher. These participants called as such but whose PARTICIPATION is limited to warming their sits and passive listening.
When the learning environment is fun, participants feel relax and more “open” to new ideas and possibilities. They are able to interact and engage each other in a non-threatening atmosphere of play. Like children, they begin to ask questions that matter to them and articulate it to the group – even if the questions seem “stupid” to adults. They freely share their thoughts on the questions asked without fear of what others may think. As such, what usually happens in a typical adult learning environment is the complete opposite. Here, the teacher doesn’t dominate but is among the many voices that resonates.
Who ever said that “play” is meant only for children? Oh may we never grow up…
During a devotional time in my training class in Cambodia, I suddenly remembered a Youtube video where a reading in reverse of the same article drastically changed the entire meaning. Suddenly, I felt the urge to do the same in this passage of 1 Timothy 4:12-15
The Passage:
Don't let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you teach, in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity. Until I get there, focus on reading the Scriptures to the church, encouraging the believers, and teaching them. Do not neglect the spiritual gift you received through the prophecies spoken to you when the elders of the church laid their hands on you. Give your complete attention to these matters. Throw yourself into your tasks so that everyone will see your progress.
Now the reading in reverse:
So that everyone will see your progress throw yourself into your tasks Give your complete attention to these matters when the elders of the church laid their hands on you Do not neglect the spiritual gift you received through the prophecies spoken to you Focus on reading the Scriptures to the church until I get there Encouraging the believers, and teaching them in the way you live, in your love, your faith, and your purity Be an example to all believers in what you teach Don't let anyone think less of you because you are young
Notice the difference? The first started with a negative assertion. The reading in reverse begun with a positive assumption. Both, like bookends, laid down the instructions and reasons for asserting and assuming such. But at the center of both readings, is the admonition to "Focus on public reading of the Word." Hmmmmm.... what more can I say.
