God’s love is unstoppable

Kuya Amiel Andrew Batusin of YFC UAE shares his 9 days of Great Adventure :)

World’s Great Adventure Tour 2011: “God’s love is unstoppable.”

Oh, how I miss the experience, the new found family, and God’s greatness. My gosh, no words can ever compare or describe the explosive emotions I felt during World GAT. To be honest, I did not expect so much, but God really proved me wrong, as he always does; He never failed. He has blessed me with so much love. He always surprised me throughout the days. I’m so happy to be your son.

When I first heard that there’s going to be World GAT this year, I was thrilled, but I didn’t get to express my feelings well.  In my head, I was thinking, why would I go and spend my parent’s money for this? But deep inside my heart, there was a little voice screaming, “I want to go!” I knew that I wanted to go and savor all the experiences World GAT has to offer. I was quite hesitant because, a lot of money was involved and I didn’t want my parents to spend so much.

One fine afternoon at home, my folks came up to me and asked, with a shimmering smile, if I wanted to join World GAT. I was rather shocked because, I didn’t tell them anything about it and initially I wasn’t planning to tell them because I already decided of not going. To my surprise, I couldn’t help but smile back as a reply. Little did they know that I’ve already made a decision and refused to accept their tempting offer and explained to them why I didn’t want to join. Funny my parents are, they replied saying that my ‘reason’ was of low quality and advised me that I should grasp this opportunity while it lasts, after all it’s all for Him anyways, so why not? Obviously, in the end, I ended up joining World GAT and praise God for making me go! I am so blessed to have been part of this adventure. Truly, God made it all possible for this to happen, despite the fact that I was hesitant at first. When He wants you, He really wants you and He’s a persistent man, so watch out. Well, that’s our loving Father.

Amiel with ate Madel Zarina, YFC Fulltime Worker

The moment my mom and I landed in Philippines, a heavy down pour welcomed us. At that time, there was still a lot of heavy storms circling around Philippines and I couldn’t help but think if this World GAT will get anywhere with this kind of weather. I stayed in Batangas, my home town, for 2 days. My relatives were saying that there’s a high chance that WGAT might get postponed because of the storms that are about to come. I almost believed them. Luckily, I didn’t lose hope. I knew I had to stay strong and believe in God’s plan. Even if all else fails, I prepared myself for an indoor WGAT. I felt like God was constantly telling me to calm down and trust Him a little bit more because, He’s got everything planned out. It surprised me how much I really wanted to be in this WGAT. How much I really wanted to experience God’s marvelous plan for me. 

 August 3 to 11, 2011 - World Great Adventure Tour.

9 days of Friendship

9 days of Laughter

9 days of Appreciation

9 days of Surprises

9 days of gearing up the Full Armor of God

9 days of Praise and Worship

9 days of God’s love

And most importantly for me, it was 9 days of Healing.

There’s no other greater healer than our God. One gentle touch of His tender hands, we are saved. In that 9 days of WGAT, basically every day, we worshipped endlessly like there is no tomorrow. What’s amazing is that, we worshipped anywhere, everywhere at any given time. My heart was healed every time we worshipped the Lord. All the bottled up emotions that I kept inside suddenly opened. I couldn’t contain. When I felt sadness during worship, God made me cry. When I felt anger during worship, God made me sing louder. When I felt hatred during worship, God told me to kneel down and surrender my heart to Him. After every worship we had, I feel like I’ve worshipped for the first time in my life. I felt tremendously happy. With my healed heart I was able to understand the teachings and digest it. These teachings added strength to my heart renewed heart.    

After WGAT, I’m back to the harshness of reality. My faith was shaken down by a temptation. A temptation I thought disappeared long time ago. Let’s just say that this temptation was an old friend that came back from the back of my head after years of being dormant. I wondered why God allowed this to happen to me. To make me face this temptation again, I started to worry so much that it left me completely exhausted just thinking about it. I asked God if there’s a certain reason why He’s making me face this temptation. My mind was constantly thinking about the situation; why this is happening. I started questioning myself; maybe I did allow this to happen.

I’ve to realize that God is indeed our savior, so why would He tempt me or anyone else? I’m sure that this is not His doing, but my own. I entertained the temptation.

“Consider it pure joy, my brothers, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith develops perseverance. Perseverance must finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.” James 1: 2-4

Amiel with other YFC UAE delegates and kuya Aaron Lu

This trial that I’m facing right now, I will work hard to fight it. Although, I’m not sure how long this will last but I’ve been reminded and reassured continuously that I am loved by God, blessed by God and that I am not alone. God even prepared 9 days of preparation for me to fight this battle; He healed me with love, He geared me with His armor, He strengthened me with His teachings. And on top of that, He has given me my family and my friends who are always there, and I’m sure I can always count on them. God, has already won the battle for me.

Let us continue to pray for one another.

Let’s all buckle up and wear the Full Armor of God.

May God be praised.