Hello everyone!! It's been awhile since I posted here. Just head off to my website www.acelmusic.com... I post there more.. Please join my mailing list to contact me. Just put your email address on the space provided on my site :) Thanks for all your love and support
Where have I been on the web? I just found out about LAST.FM, a really cool social-networking "music" site. You can add me as your friend. My username is: acelvanommen Here's a sample of the playlist you can find there (14 tracks plus 1 bonus):
What's really cool about this site is that if you want to add this playlist to your blog, you can get it at this site and just copy/paste the HTML code they give you:
Phew! so many links! hehe Thanks so much for the support! The album isn't out yet, but I'm going to let everyone listen to all my songs as much as they like so that we can push the big labels to make up their mind :P Thanks for all the prayers and support!
Wednesday last week we brought the EveryNation team (a group of 10 all in all) over to meet my mom in law for lunch. They experienced the authentic Nepali food prepared by my mom and Sanu Mamy. We also talked to the Pastor that shared the gospel to my mother in law..She used to be a buddhist, and she just recently accepted the Lord.. it was so amazing.. Just hearing the testimony of how that Pastor became a christian was totally awesome as well.. HE used to be a cook serving in the King's Palace of Bhutan, but Jesus visited him in the dream, and he met a christian who shared to him that salvation only comes from JEsus.. then he started reading the Bible and experienced how God moved in his life and family.. there was sickness in his family before, but when all of them got to know the Lord, all of them were healed. Now, he's pastoring a church.:)
The next day, we explored Bouddha and Pashupati.Bouddha is where the big stuppa (temple) is.. where Buddhist pilgrims come and worship.. observing the people going there is interesting.. below the temple are hindu gods, and Buddhist's prayer wheels.. and some people are gambling as well.. The people there believes that if they do all that rituals and offerings, that their gods will take away their sins..a nd they do that to please the gods as well , so they won't get angry.. I hope they get to know that the blood of JEsus is enough to pay for all their sins.. and that the true God loves them so much..
Friday,we visited Manny Asprec's (YWAM - Youth with a mission - worker ) community development project. I was just so touched with what they're doing to help reach out the locals here.. on top of a hill, they built a children's home for orphans and those kids that were abandoned by their parents..
there was this kid there whose parents were killed in front of him by the Maoists.. the Maoists are the rebels here in Nepal.sort of like the NPA in the PHilippines. They also have training programs for church leaders/pastors who wants to reach out Nepal as well.. they trained them to plant,raise pigs, vegetable growing thru hydrophonics, to filter muddy water to drinking water.. and all sorts of agricultural stuff, to help the believers to reach out the villages.. so that they'll know how to live in that kind of environment without technology and stuff.
We also went to Durbar square.. and man!! grabe! daming temples left and right.. halo halo.. may buddhist temple,and hindu temple.. we also went to the temple where the living virgin goddess Kumari lives.. she was chosen when she was 4 years old, and she have to live there in the temple and not allowed to go out.. but when she has her menstruation period already, then they'll replace her.. Choosing a kumari has some tests .. she has to come from a specific clan, no wounds or scars, then all of them will be placed in a dark room with scary images and heads of bulls with blood.. whoever didn't scream will be chosen... when i saw her glimpse on the small window, she didn't smile at all. I felt the sadness that she feels.. and I was teary-eyed.. coz I was just so sad to see this little girl imprisoned.. and even if she gets out, she's cursed..coz people are afraid of her..and that's so hard... and also no one would want to marry her.
hay naku..
But thank God.. all things are possible with Him..all I can do is pray..
Danny and I arrived safe and sound in Kathmandu yesterday.
The one night stop over in Thailand was amazing. We arrived in their new airport.
Kathmandu is looking very hopeful.
Today we finished a 3 hour prayer walk. Walked from Thamel to the
Palace towards the Japanese Embasy in Lazimpat and then got lost on the
way back.. haha
In the afternoon we visited Mamy (My mother in-law) and Sanu Mamy (Aunt) for a late lunch.
They look very healthy and are full of smiles.
Tomorrow we're bringing the EveryNation team (a group of 10 all in all) over to meet my mom in law for lunch.
Then we'll explore Bouddha and Pashupati.(research it on google to find out what i'm talking about)
Friday we're going to visit Manny Asprec's (YWAM - Youth with a mission - worker ) community development project
and Saturday attend church somewhere.
My husband and I together with 9 other people are going to Nepal Please cover us with your prayers. Danny and I will stay there for a month :) while the rest of the team will go back to Manila after 2 weeks :) Byeee
I thought renewing my passport would be an easy 1-2-3 step as advertised by the friendly looking DFA passport.ph website.
However upon finding out that I'm married to a Dutch national, I was asked to attend a seminar sponsored by the CFO (Commission on Filipino Overseas workers) about the cruelties of being married to a European fellow.
Okay I thought. This would be easy, and interesting. Yes it is true there are dozens of poor Filipina ladies victimized by the lure of the grand life in Europe only to end up being abused and all once they arrive on foreign soil. Its good that there is such an agency to help protect the rights of my compatriats.
The seminar was held at the Good Shepherd Convent. Spent all morning and all afternoon there. And as expected, yes it was interesting indeed.
Now came the funny part. As everyone else claimed their Certificate of Attendance. When my turn came around the lady at the counter claimed discrepancies in my marriage contract since my name there was typed "Ma. Cecilia" and not "Maria Cecilia" as stated in my birth certificate. Because of this my Certificate of Attendance would be held hostage until this matter was fixed. What a strange bureacratic issue this must be I wondered. Wouldn't "Ma." obviously stand for "Maria"? Especially since the box in the marriage contract couldn't possibly fill up my entire name?
But after a little whining, I agreed to go to the Local Civil Registrar to serve the insatiable itching of these ladies to avoid further argument.
Now little did I know what a huge hurdle this was going to be. My Local Civil Registrar, located in Pasig City Hall, needed me to submit various documents including a Voter's Affidavit.
Gathering the other documents was easy. But the Voter's Affidavit sent me on an incredible whirlwind commute from my home in Cainta - to Pasig City Hall - to Quezon City Hall - to the COMELEC in Intramuros.
I initially went to the Quezon City Hall thinking this is where I get my Voter's affidavit because having lived and grown up in Quezon City, this is the place where I've registered all my identification documents to claim my right to vote. Ofcourse COMELEC has never given me any form of a voter's identification document since every election period my name would automatically appear in there list of registered voters before I actually make my vote.
But this is not about voting since it isn't voting season. This was going to be about getting my Voter's Affidavit.
Surprise surprise, COMELEC representatives will not receive any payment in their QC branch. I was told to go down to COMELEC in Intramuros to pay my P75 due.
So I was able to experience the joy of pretty much all of Metro Manila's hippest modes of transportation today. Tricycle out of my subdivision. Jeepney from Cainta to the highway. Taxi to Good Shepherd Convent in Aurora Blvd. LRT-2 to Cubao. MRT-3 to Quezon Ave. Jeepney to QC Hall. Jeepney to Philcoa. FX to Quiapo. Jeepney to Comelec. Pedicab to LRT-1. MRT-3 to Robinson's Galleria. And eventually an FX to get to Cainta. And a tricycle home.
I guess I just needed to hop on a bus, a kalesa, and perhaps one of those sweet Ford F150's to complete the commuter's collection that day.
I did enjoy meeting all the lovely people along the way who so graciously helped me with directions. There were a cluster of lady police officers who directed me to where to find a ride to Intramuros. It was nice they could sympathize with my predicament. Plus the FX driver who revealed to me how to hop on a jeepney that would drop me straight at COMELEC. I really appreciated their friendliness.
I'm so tired now. Tomorrow, I'll begin my long journey back to Intramuros to claim my Voter's Affidavit. Yesterday, all I accomplished was paying for the application.
I don't know what lays ahead in this lovely democratic bureacracy I live in when I finally go to the Local Civil Registrar to claim my application for an amendment from "MA." to "MARIA". But please pray I'll get this fixed soon so I can make the nuns at the Good Shepherd happy in order that they set my Certificate of Attendance free so that I can finally get my passport renewed.
Who God Uses The next time you feel like GOD can't use you, just remember... Abraham was too old Isaac was a daydreamer Jacob was a liar Leah was not that pretty Joseph was abused Moses had a stuttering problem Gideon was afraid Samson had long hair and was a womanizer Rahab was a prostitute Jeremiah and Timothy were too young David had an affair and was a murderer Elijah was suicidal Isaiah preached naked Jonah ran from God Naomi was a widow Job went bankrupt John the Baptist ate bugs
Mary was a teenager Peter denied Christ The Disciples fell asleep while praying Martha worried about everything The Samaritan woman was divorced, more than once Zaccheus was a short and corrupt man Paul was too religious Timothy had an ulcer and Lazarus was dead!
All of them have one thing in common. All of them encountered God and was forever changed. No more excuses now. God can use you to your full potential. Besides, you aren't the message, you are just the messenger.
God, grant me the Serenity to accept the people I cannot change, the Courage to change the one I can, and the Wisdom to know it's ME.
1. God wants spiritual fruit, not religious nuts. 2. Dear God, I have a problem, it's me. 3. Growing old is inevitable. Growing up is optional. 4. There is no key to happiness. The door is always open. 5. Silence is often misinterpreted but never misquoted. 6. Do the math. Count your blessings. 7. Faith is the ability to not panic. 8. Laugh every day, it's like inner jogging. 9. If you worry, you didn't pray. If you pray, don't worry. 10. As a child of God, prayer is kind of like calling home everyday. 11. Blessed are the flexible for they shall not be bent out of shape. 12. The most important things in your house are the people. 13. When we get tangled up in our problems, be still. God wants us to be still so He can untangle the knot. 14. A grudge is a heavy thing to carry. 15. He who dies with the most toys is still dead. Share this with a friend or two. In the Circle of God's love, God is waiting to use your full potential.
