Campus Impact 2nd Quarter 2013-14

1st Quarter SY 2013-14

LCDC Again?

Remember, Experience and Praise God at 60

Celebrating 60 Years with God, our Light

The Victims of Yolanda: More Sinful than Us?

In Memoriam

Campus ImpactEditor:Ferdi JuniAssociate Editors Doray Juni, Managing EditorMark Arnold JordanLay-Out ArtistJake AbivaDistributionRDD Team, IVCF StaffContributorsIVCF Students, Staff and graduates

IVCF, Philippines is a non-profit religious corporation which seeks to establish autonomous chapters or fellowship of Christian students in different levels of educational institutions and among professional in the market place to nurture personal and corporate faith in, love for and obedience to the Lord Jesus Christ.

Vision Statement:

We are a Christ-centered dynamic community of Filipino students and graduates worldwide, passionately participating in building God’s kingdom in the world.

Mission Statement:

To disciple students and graduates for Christ in all areas of life and equip them to serve the campuses, churches and wider community

Send comments and suggestions to [email protected]

IVCF Member’s PledgeIn joining the Inter-Varsity Christian Fellowship, I make the following pledge:

1. To read my Bible and spend some time in prayer everyday.

2. To attend a local church faithfully.3. To attend the weekly meeting on

campus regularly.4. To endeavor to meet at least one

other Christian for prayer at least once a week.

5. To endeavor to meet with others for small group Bible study weekly.

6. To work and pray for the conversion of at least one friend.

7. To seriously consider God’s place for me in world missions.

God’s Light Upon Usby: Alf Diaz

Arise.

Shine.

The world has consistently offered distractions so that we will lose focus and just remain where we are: comfortable, passive, catatonic. Christians and non-Christians alike suffer from this dilemma. The events in our lives might have given us so much sadness or gladness that we think there is nothing more. We just want to remain, to slouch and watch the world pass away.

Thank God He does not run out of ways to perk us up, to jolt us from this state. Instead, He has become even more creative in teaching us how to better live our lives. He sends His Words to us and does a lot of things in us and through us so that we will not get stuck to the glory and gory days of our journey as the Philippines and as IVCF.

Isaiah 60 opens with a reverberating “Arise!” It is a clarion call to finally stand up, to shake the dirt and the dream off our garments, to continue growing up. Arise is the cry of our God for all of us. The call for our country and for our movement. Arise because we have the tendency and the history to remain, to be people of comfortable formulas and traditions. Arise.

Yes, all around us might be darkness and decay, but this is not to be our destiny. Instead, let us proceed under His light and life because this is our confidence . We are called to arise not only from the darkness and decay around us, but also from the mediocrity within us. From bronze to gold, from iron to silver, from wood to bronze, from stones to iron. And in the midst of chaotic Philippines and fearful leaders, God has promised to make Peace our governor and Well-being our ruler, if we arise. .

We have to arise, too, from our dependence on flimsy foundations and time-tested techniques. We have to enter a new season where only God matters. Where only His Word and His Work matter. No longer shall we move on without His glory. No longer shall we glory in our own. We embrace this bright season with a humbled posture of arising and looking up so that His light will cover and burn us until we are no more. Until it is only God.

This is the day to arise!

This is the day to shine!

See, darkness covers the earthand thick darkness is over the peoples,but the LORD rises upon youand His glory appears over you.”

2nd Quarter 2013-14 | Campus Impact | 32 | Campus Impact | 2nd Quarter 2013-14

From Baguio to Davao, nine regions simultaneously celebrated the 60th Anniversary of IVCF Phil ippines on November 30, 2013. Southern Mindanao, our largest growing region had to commemorate this joyful event in four different places!

IVCF Philippines was born in 1953 when IFES (International Fellowship of Evangelical Students) sent their staffworker, Gwen Wong here. Who would have thought that the first 15 students she prayed with at early morning meetings, would multiply

into thousands of students and graduates here and abroad these past six decades!

Our nation’s recent history has inevitably been woven into the fabric of our lives and spiritual paths. Our anniversary video features how we continued Bible studies, praying and evangelizing during the turbulent 70’s. It was at the beginning of this decade when Dr. Isabelo Magalit (“Manong Bel”), expressed his dream that out of the Philippine student world will come

Remember, Experience and Praise God at 60

Davao City

Bacolod City

men and women who love the Lord above all, and hate sin above all. They will be pastors, educators, medica l p ract i t ioners , soc ia l reformers, effective professionals in the workplace and builders of Christian homes.

We pressed on, shining with the light of the Lord, coping with the dark Martial Law days. Many of our graduates have since then taken influential positions in government, in business, the academe, NGOs and churches. They have radiated God’s righteousness in the gloomy

world of political, social and spiritual leadership despite difficulties and dangers. As we approach our 61st year onwards, we are confident He loves us and He is committed to be with us in our daily lives, and in our efforts towards greater involvement in local and global missions.

The whole earth is wrapped in darkness, all people sank in deep darkness.But God rises on you, his sunrise glory breaks over you. Isaah 60:2, The Message

And so we celebrate and give thanks to our glorious God.

Legaspi City

Cebu City

4 | Campus Impact | 2nd Quarter 2013-14 2nd Quarter 2013-14 | Campus Impact | 5


We are lamp, and candle and Jesus is the Light. This was the message that Dr. Jay Hallowell (“Kuya Jay”) emphasized in his exhortation to IVCF students and graduates of Metro-Manila and Southern Luzon who gathered to celebrate the 60th anniversary of IVCF Philippines. He also pointed out the challenge to keep shining in other “dark” areas in the country - places with little evangelical presence or none at all such as North Eastern Luzon and the Sulu islands.

All in all 131 came to the occasion held at Christ for All Ages Christian Center in West Kamias, Quezon City, 2:00 to 5:00 in the afternoon of Novemer30, 2013. F i fty-one (51) college students and 13 high schoolers, and 40 graduates came

Celebrating 60 Years with God, our Light

with 7 guests. The latter were also mostly IVCF graduates including Jay and Amor Hallowell, Dan and Valerie Malabonga from the U.S. and and Herbert and Fristianty Samosir from Perkantas (IVCF Indonesia). Among the elders and graduates are three members of the IVCF Board of Trustees. The staff, 15 of them, are grateful for everyone specially for the students and graduate volunteers who assisted in the preparations and the program.

The emcee, BJo Dolotallas, former staffworker, requested that everyone be grouped into three categories according to the years that they were or are students. The first group were IV students from 1953 to 1992; the next one, from 1973 to 1992. The last group, of course, consists of

those from 1993 up to the present. BJo asked everyone to wave or clap their hands, etc. when she mentioned the group they belonged to.

The first group, the venerable elders, waved their hands together with Dr. Bel Magalit and Ate Lety Magalit. Although there were only a few of them and a little more in the next group, there was a satisfied sense that every generation was represented. There were even seven children of the couples present who had photo-ops with “Lolo Bel.” Students dominated the gathering not only in

terms of numbers and “joyful noise” but also in their exhuberance.

There was a brief time of prayer for the typhoon Yolanda survivors. Despite this and other reminders of the darkness we face, the anniversary celebration was truly an event full of thanksgiving to our God who has steadfastly sustained and loved us through these 60 years.

As everyone was finally bidding goodbye (a most difficult part of IVCF gatherings), the prayer was that, more than the wonderful cheering chant, “Once an IVCFer, always an IVCFer,” and more than the fellowship enjoyed, IVCFers in the strength of the Spirit will be motivated to shine on with the truth that “We are lamp, and candle, yet Jesus is the Light.”

A time of prayer for the typhoon Yolanda victims

Kids photo-ops with “Lolo Bel.”

“When my child (a teenager) was demon oppressed, I remember what we did in the LCDC I attended as a student several years ago.” This was the testimony of a graduate who said that in that LCDC, the staff and campers (college students) had to deal with, Berta (not her real name), a camper, whose bizzare and disturbing behaviour was clearly of the devil’s. So this graduate was able to help heal her own child, by remembering how they prayed then for Berta; sang praises to God and drove the evil spirits away from her, in Jesus’ name.

This is just one of the far reaching benefits that participating in a Leadership-Discipleship Camp (LCDC) offers. For many years God has been using this traditional event to deepen the students’ understanding of, and love for Him. We now feature here reflections of participants in the LCDCs last month where these benefits are given birth. A glimpse of how such blessings begin to grow, is shown in the experience of a student who joined an LCDC last year.

Appreciating God’s Word“I am so amazed by how God showed me the very purpose of sending me to this camp. I encountered God in our Bible Study Workshop (BSW). I struggled

but asked the Lord’s wisdom and guidance. I’ve learned to really study the Bible more deeply.”

Johnny Maniago (USM-Kabacan)

Prayer – Response to God’s overwhelming love.

“Thank You Lord opening my mind

and my heart to new knowledge and experiences in relating with you more closely. Thank You Lord for the love that I have experienced - yung love na nag-uumapaw, love na kailanman ay hindi magwawakas (your eternal, overflowing love.) Thank You for the sonship, for the new identity, for the new vision and a new purpose.

Thank You Lord for calling me to… be an agent of transformation. Thank You for training me to lead Bible studies in a new and different way through OIA. I am now more eager to study your word and soak in your message for me. Thank

You Lord for using me to lead other people to know You more, and to be a blessing to them.”

-Jesselle de Chavez, DWCC Mindoro, LC

“Before I attended LCDC last year, I was a loner. I overcame this while at the camp and became more friendly. I thank God for now I’m more confident to even speak in front of people.”

Christian “Ian” John Alfon, Bicol University student,was part of Camp Staff , LCDC, October 21 – 26, 2013, Iriga, Camarines Sur. Ian also joined the Ahon Team to Tacloban a week after typhoon Yolanda.

All glory to God for LCDC’s every year. We thank Him for the graduates here in the Philippines and abroad who have consistently supported the students and camp staff of each LCDC, in prayer and finances!

LCDC, Again?

Leadership & Discipleship Camp from different regions


We are a l l shocked by the devastation caused by typhoon Yolanda where thousands of our fellow Filipinos lost their lives and properties; homes totally destroyed in the Visayas particularly Leyte and Samar.

But this natural disaster is beyond the control of man that is why in legal parlance, a typhoon is called an “act of God”. No machine or technology has yet been invented to crush or prevent the occurrence of typhoons. (It is sad that the name of typhoon is “Yolanda”, the namesake of my wife, which is the strongest typhoon that ever landed in the Philippines, if not in the whole world.)

But calamities like this is a global phenomenon. For the last ten years

alone, thousands of people have lost their lives and properties worth bill ions of dollars due to natural calamities. These disasters do not discriminate their victims: old and young, rich and poor, Christians and non-Christians.

When something like this happens, people begin to ask: Why did this happen? Why did a loving God allow it to happen? Didn’t God care for all those people affected? What did they do to deserve such tragedy? Is this His judgment to these people because of their sins? Where is God when this calamity happened? If this calamity comes to us, how should we respond or react as believers?

In LUKE 13:1-5, Jesus confronted the issue of calamity or disaster in man’s

The Victims of Yolanda: More Sinful than Us?

An excerpt from “Theology of Thorns” By Atty. Florante Zagada

life while he was preaching about repentance to the Israel. This is about two national calamities which Jesus cited to challenge them to repent from their sins. 1 About this time Jesus was informed that Pilate had murdered some people from Galilee as they were sacrificing at the Temple in Jerusalem. 2 “Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than other people from Galilee?” he asked. “Is that why they suffered? 3 Not at all! And you will also perish unless you turn from your evil ways and turn to God. 4 And what about the eighteen men who died when the Tower of Siloam fell on them? Were they the worst sinners in Jerusalem? 5 No, and I tell you again that unless you repent, you will also perish.” 1

In this passage, somebody informed Jesus about two (2) tragedies that happened at the time spoken:

(1) The massacre of some Galilean people who were ordered killed by Pilate while they were in the middle of sacrificing animals in the temple.

(2) the collapse of a tower of Siloam which caused the death of 18 persons.

We can consider these two incidents as calamities and tragedies because they claimed the lives of a number of people.

Warning!

How did Jesus respond to the said issues of tragedy?

The statement of Jesus is rather

surprising. 2“Do you think those Galileans were worse sinners than other people from Galilee?” he asked. “Is that why they suffered? 3 Not at all! And you will also perish unless you turn from your evil ways and turn to God.

This is also the same statement Jesus said regarding the tragedy that killed 18 persons during the collapse of the tower of Siloam.

You will note that Jesus did not answer why God allowed these people to die in that tragedy. Instead he gave his hearers WARNINGS to think and consider. What is the warning? You will also perish unless you turn from your evil ways and turn to God. In this statement of Jesus, I have found two (2) messages that we need to ponder when calamity strikes in our lives: (a)calamity and death are part of living in a fallen world and (b) we need to know how to prepare for them.

Jesus taught the crowds that calamity can happen to anyone because we are all human and we live in a fallen world. Disasters are part of life. These may be natural or man-made disasters. Pilate killing people while offering at the temple is a man- made disaster. A natural disaster occurred when 18 men died when the tower in Siloam fell on them. The first is a result of man’s wickedness and sin,the Holocaust during the World War II, for instance. The natural disasters which are usually destructive are brought by the forces of nature such as earthquake, hurricanes or typhoon. Gen.3:17-18 warns that the earth has been cursed because of man’s sin.


Mark 13:7-8 also reads-8 Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains. (NIV)

C a l a m i t i e s l i k e w a r s a n d earthquakes are also predicted by Jesus to occur as a sign of his second coming.

On the other hand, Jesus also emphasized that a calamity is not necessarily a measure of one spirituality. This is also clear in the statement of Jesus in Luke 13:2

The people in Jesus t ime attributed calamity as a direct result of one’s sin. So if something terrible happened to someone, it is because he had sinned against God. (John 9:1)

While God used calamities to punish sinners, we should not att r ibute death caused by them as a measure of person’s unrighteousness or wickedness as compared to others. Jesus said that the people who died in the tower of Siloam or those massacred by Pilate were not more sinful or worse sinners than the people in Galilee or Jerusalem. It is dangerous to assume if others suffer a misfortune just because they are worse sinners than others.. People in Tacloban are not worse sinners than us in Metro Manila. We are all equally guilty before the sight of God.

For Jesus, why the people perished

in that disaster is not IMPORTANT for us to know. What is IMPORTANT is our READINESS TO FACE DEATH when that calamity or disaster befalls upon us and that preparation requires REPENTANCE from SIN. For Jesus, the greatest threat is not physical death but eternity in hell. That is why Jesus told them TWICE “And you will also perish unless you turn from your evil ways and turn to God.” 4

CALAMITIES THEREFORE SHOULD SEND A MESSAGE OF WARNINGS TO ALL PEOPLE TO PREPARE FOR THEIR DEATH BECAUSE DEATH MAY COME TO US ANYTIME. To prepare is to repent from sins and turn to God for spiritual salvation.

Author and Theologian C.S. Lewis said: “GOD WHISPERS TO US IN OUR PLEASURES, SPEAKS IN OUR CONSCIENCE, BUT SHOUTS IN OUR PAINS; IT IS HIS MEGAPHONE TO ROUSE A DEAF WORLD.”

Yes, this typhoon Yolanda is a megaphone of God for the people to repent from their sins. He is calling unbelieving people to come to him. If they cannot be whispered and they do not want to listen as God speaks to them through the preachers,God can use a megaphone in the form of natural disasters/troubles to warn them to repent from their sins and to come to him.

Atty. Florante ZagadaIVCF Alumnus, Pastor, World International MIniatries Managing Lawyer at FLORANTE A. ZAGADA LAW OFFICE & IMMIGRATION CONSULTANCY


Jesse Alisbo, IVCF staffworker in the ‘60s and ‘70s, went home to the Lord on September 7, 2013. He died at the UERM Medical Center. “Kuya” or “Tatay” Jess had a remarkable gift in evangelism which the Lord used effectively in student work and when he went on to be a missionary among the Ifugaos and other tribal folks in Banawe, and neighboring areas. Several churches were planted and a great number among the locals were reached. Many churches and individuals have supported him in prayer and in finances through the years.

Some IVCF graduates remember him fondly particularly when he was assigned as their staffworker. Up in Banawe, a lot of locals would greet him in restaurants and on the streets because he had ministered to them especially when he was younger. Tatay Jesse was 79 years old when he died. He had lived a long life for

the Lord. God’s grace was evident in his life especially near the end. “Lord, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered—how fleeting my life is. You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath….And so, Lord, where do I put my hope? My only hope is in you.” (Psalm 39:4-5, 7)

Joni James Roaring, one of our field staff in Bicol died early morning of

August 27, 2013 after being stabbed by a robber who entered his family’s home in Bato, Camarines Sur. James was 30 years old

We struggled to understand but we could not. So we put ourselves in God’s hands in grieving the sudden loss of one of our own.

James is survived by his wife Agnes Roaring (nee Balane) and their baby

In Memoriam Our Sovereign Lord took home three of our loved ones this past year, 2013.

We thank God that He continues to call people to join us in this ministry.

Straffic

Dionne Ang is our new Resource Development Dept Manager, beginning mid-October. Dionne’s passion for the ministry goes way back. He served as Staff Representative, Graduates Christian Fellowship leader and former IVCF Board member.

We gladly welcome back Eleazar Canonigo after a 3-month leave. Eli was last assigned in the Souther Mindanao Regional Unit. He takes on a new assignment at the Central & Eastern Visayas Regional Unit beginning October. He joins Lala Pla and Faith Macabenta on the CEVRU staff

team.

Praise God, too, that Rachel Jentapa is returning after her 6-month sabbatical leave. Beginning January 1, 2014 she will be taking over as Human Resources Dept Manager from Di Fernandez who has been acting as OIC for HR while

concurrently being IVCF Program Director.

We welcome Jocelyn Fernandez, who is OMF staff-on-loan to IVCF. She is assigned in the CARAGA regional unit focusing on pioneering student fellowships among the indigenous peoples on campus.


(four months old then), Jan Jaeder. Agnes and Jan were in Manila when the incident happened. James and Agnes were married in June of last year.

James is as ‘dugong IV’ as one can get. He was a student-leader during his university days and he joined Kawayan Camp 2004. In 2009, he joined the IVCF staffteam as associate staff in Bicol. He then served for a year in Metro Manila as

full-time field staff before returning to the Bicol Region in 2011.

Our comfort is that James is surely with our Lord Jesus now. We continue to entrust Agnes and the rest of James’ family to the Lord. We are certain that His comforting presence surrounded them at the time of his death, and also last week when Jan Jaeder, 8 months old was dedicated to God.

F r i e n d , m e n t o r , c o u n s e l l o r , “kabarkada” and “kapuso”. These are but a few of the endearing titles and description of Naome Basilio, by IVCFers, churchmates and family.

After an on-and-off battle wih cancer, she passed on to her Lord Jesus on April 19, 2013.

Naome first joined the staff in the late ‘70s. She served in MetroManila and then Cebu and Eastern Visayas. In the early 80’s she left for Wheaton, Illinois, U.S.A. to take up her Masters in Psychology and Counselling. When she came back to the staff a few years later she put to use her

newly acquired experience and knowledge. Then she decided to work as a full time psychologist in Davao, her home town. Even then she would still be part of the local IVCF scene. Her warm and generous hospitality (along with her family) was a refreshing treat to visiting IV friends.

A rather innocent “Inglisera”, was one of the descriptions of Naome when she first came to the ladies staffhouse. She was even surprised then that the staff had a refrigerator – a “luxury”. She went on to become one of the wisest, most compassionate and competent Christian psychologists, we’ve known. We, who had the privilege of working with her, praise and thank God for her example of living life to the fullest despite painful physical and emotional struggles. We especially enjoyed laughing with her, sometimes even at her own expense. In fact, it’s easy to imagine she is laughing in heaven right now; basking in the very presence of the Lord Jesus, the Lover of her soul.

AIR MAIL

Christmas Greetings

In the beginning the Word became flesh.

In him was Life

The Light of all mankind

The Light shines in the darkness, And the darkness has not overcome it. John 1:1-5 NIV (paraphrased)

Hallelujah!

A Bright and Happy Christmas to everyone!

Campus Impact 2nd Quarter 2013-14

Documents

praise god

gods place

world missions

gods light

world pass

varsity christian fellowship

lord jesus christ

midst of chaotic philippines