This is so funny for me! Why? Well... Finally... I have a picture of Bro. Eddie and Sis. Dory and with me on it. The foto was taken right aftee the event at GSP for the graduates of IBC. Time flies so fast. I have been teaching with IBC for two years already; not to mention my active involvement during the presidential bid of Bro. Eddie. Hopefully, when I get to Seattle this year, I would be able to visit the JIL-Seattle and speak, as I was told by Bro. Eddie and Sis. Dory. Praise the Lord!

Personal Talks with the Graduates

All the graduating students of the JIL International Bible College gathered at the GSP auditorium in Padre Faura St., Manila last Saturday for an afternoon of fellowship and some words of encouragement and inspiration from Sis. Dory Villanueva (JIL-IBC Director) and Bro. Eddie Villanueva (JIL-IBC Chancellor). More than two hundred students will be graduating this year. Commencement exercises will be held on the 10th of June at the Jade Valley in Quezon City.

I am so happy to see my students graduate. Congratulations. May the Lord God richly bless you as He has equipped you to serve Him effectively, efficiently, fruitfully, and faithfully.

Church History Class - Tanauan, Batangas

This is the class that nearly failed to make it. But persistence paid off. Finally, they have completed the course. At the last day of class, we had bulalo and kare-kare and whole lot more for lunch at "Leslie's Restaurant." A secret of perseverance is the world renowned batangas coffee - barako, but of course! I could not forget the weekend of May 1; that was the day that my travel time to batangas took more than the usual. My decorum was flabbergasted by the almost if not total lack of buses; so it seems market-driven buses would rather head to Bicol or Boracay. Aarrrggghhh!!! However, all is well that ends well. Alleluia! God bless us all!

Church History Class - San Fernando, Pampanga

The Church History Survey class, having concluded five whole day sessions, pose for pictures. To celebrate the end of the class, we had lunch fellowship. We ate the popular Kapampangan Sisig and pansit, and other delights. Notice how happy and content we all are?

IBC - Dagupan (Effective Leadership Course)

How far is Dagupan, Pangasinan from Manila? Travel by bus will get you there in 5-6 hours max. This is not the usual assignment I can tell you that. First time I went, I thought I had the energy to teach on the same day right off the bus. I was so wrong. The next time around I decided to sleep over and teach the next day. I thought I had been sacrificing already doing this. To my consternation, I found out that my learners come all the way from the Mountain Province, Baguio, Ilocus Sur, Ilocos Norte, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Tarlac, and Pangasinan; travel time to as much as 12 hours or more. Shame on me.

Dreams of oysters, bangus, and other seafoods are not so difficult to conjure up. I was not disappointed. But really, what is most precious are my learners. They are such smart people. You can see from the fotos that they are quite a mix of ages. They have been very cooperative as I facilitated their learning, employing adult education approaches which are participative and collaborative. Seeing them work through the Leadership Practices Inventory by Kouzes and Posner of the Tom Peters group of companies and the sharing with them the joy of discovering their leadership practices and behavior was such a delight. I hear them say, "this is so true... Now I know..." It was the first step to their leadership improvement, the next is to work on their plan of improvement in the next six months. They owe a lot to their "observers" who assessed them with the inventory. Now learners know how to narrow their blindspots and improve on the best practices where they lag the most.

I look forward to seeing you all in the next course. May your prayers and petition of me coming back be answered. Pastor Jun Balquin and Pastora Carol Balquin are so hospitable. I commend you. Appreciation also goes to Pastor Rene and Pastor Albert; we share several things in common, having been sent back by the Lord to carry out his present assignment for us in our motherland.

IBC - Cubao (Life of Christ Course)

I started out teaching Church History in IBC-Cubao and the rest is an on-going history. This is a thrid year class in the subject the Life of Christ. One more trimester by January 2005 and that will be the last course for these learners. They will be graduating with a degree Diploma in Pastoral Leadership. I will surely miss them. I have shared my life and learning with these special people and we have been reciprocally blessed. The Life of Christ course has opened a lot of insights and wonderful experiences from the students as a direct result of their studies. I feel very priveleged to have listened to their testimonies as they did their reports and submit their reflections.

One such testimony is that of Pastor Sonny de Viller of Taguig. As he reflected on the sufferings of Christ, he was reminded of how the Lord has called him from being a persecutor of his family, a practical atheist, and a nuisance to the church. He heard the Lord call him, "What is it that you don't like from me? Go to church and serve me?" It was such an unreal experience. He looked for the JIL church in Taguig, got saved and consequently began serving the Lord.

IBC - Malate (Effective Leadership Course)

Malate is a new assignment for me. These are first year students. I suppose a much longer relationship will be cultivated with these learners. I have learned a lot from them as well. As you can see, most of them are my senior. They have some funny reactions on having found out their leadership practices and the behaviors that need improving. See you next trimester.

IBC-Batangas (Effective Leadership Course)

I have sixteen students enrolled in the Effective Leadership course. My camera battery lost power and there was no time to buy batteries in Tanauan, Batangas. I guess the rest of the first year class would be envious for these guys on thes pixs. We'll do better next time.