BEING A SILENT WITNESS IS NOT ENOUGH

I am Charmz Bautista from the (North Sector).  This is my 13^th year in teaching in a university.   Although I came from CYA, it had become a struggle for me to bring people to CYA.  Over the years, in my heart, I knew I wanted  to bring young people to the Lord. But I told myself surely, not in the “proclaiming” or  “evangelizing” way.  I am a teacher, a person of authority. I make sure that the quality in my class is never compromised.  I told myself I teach a major course in Engineering and not Theology, so it was not appropriate to “proclaim” or “evangelize” in class.  Thus, I chose to be just a witness of my faith. I resigned to just living my faith, live by example,  and praying for my students.   From time to time, at the beginning of our class or at the end, I lead them to a spontaneous prayer, and that was the extent of my “evangelization” effort. 

In the past two years, the Lord has been dealing with me on my issues.  I sensed that He wanted me to be more active and to be in the frontline of bringing people to  Him.  Being a silent witness is not enough.  HE wants me to proclaim His goodness. 

Charmz Bautista

So I took a bold step. A week before the CYA Crossroads Retreat, I requested CYA to give a classroom presentation and to invite my students to the Crossroads Retreat.  After thepresentation, I gave them a short personal sharing (and an incentive) to encourage them to attend.  God called them.  And 29 of my students responded.  2 each from my other two classes and in my one class, 25.

Our first meeting after the Crossroads, I felt the leading to ask them to share their experiences in the Crossroads. They were are hesitant at first, but in the end, all 25 shared their meaningful encounters with the Lord.

“ Maam, I didn’t know that you can be close to God” was the intro of a young Chinese teen-aged boy who never had any retreat in his life.

One lady, encountered a lot of obstacles in going to the retreat.  She found the grace to brave all the hindrances and was able to received God’s tremendous love for her.  The Crossroads Retreat  was in perfect time as she was experiencing a lot of difficulty in the family front.

Another one, coming from a different religion, realized that we Catholics also pray solemnly and heartily.  She was surprised that we sing songs of praise.  It was an eye opener for her that God works in the lives of many not only to those in their religion.

A lot of them experienced God’s love thru the extraordinary love and service bestowed upon them by the service team.  They marveled at how God’s love can be reflected in these people.

All of them received an outpouring of God’s mercy and faithfulness.  All of them encountered the Lord in a personal way.

“Your eyes will weep at what you see, your ears will tingle at what you hear and your heart will leap for joy at the surprising things I am to bring to you.  For I say to you that I am about to open to you a new age of evangelism among young people, the likes of which you have not seen….”

This is exactly how I felt as I listened  to my students sharing in class about their own encounters with God in the CYA Crossroads retreat. 

Early on, I was also  inspired to invite for the first time our new graduates in Industrial Engineering for Pathways.  So I emailed, texted, did Facebook   and prayed.  11 came.  Almost every night I joined them.   I supported them in discovering the Lord.  I gave them Word Among US.  I printed song sheets.

 Just last Monday, Pathways had its 8^th and final session.  It was truly a delight to see their hunger for the Lord being filled up as 10 of them finished the course.  I continue to pray that they discover more and more God’s love for them.

During the entire 40 Days of Renewal, the Lord visited me, showed me my open door, poured out His abundant GRACE, brought me fruits, and multiplied my simple offerings.   And He continues:

Occupy… Enter the warfare!  Engage in the Mission!

The battle is ongoing.  Rico and I have 3 growing girls who continue to demand attention and time.  Present still are my full-time university work, family concerns, new service, my own personal constraints and weaknesses.

But the Lord says:

“Do not plan on the basis of your limitations, but plan on the basis of what I promise you.”

Lord, I am your servant.  Let your will be done.

EDITOR’S NOTE: The above sharing was given by Charmz during the Feast of the Covenant, on September 20, 2009, at the A-Venue Hall. – Eddie Mendoza

Stories related to the 2009 Feast of the Covenant:

• Kuya Tony Exhorts Everyone To Engage In Battle
• My Boat, My Anchor, And My Seashore – sharing by Bobby Quitain
• This Is Where God Wants Me to Be – sharing by Enee Abrenica
• Ligaya Elects Sector Coordinators