My name is Bobby Quitain, a lawyer and a member of Central E District. I am married to Jeng Quitain with two daughters Robelle and Mara, and another baby on the way. I joined community in 1993 and received my covenant in 1998.
Good afternoon, brothers and sisters. A blessed Feast of the Covenant to us all.
Let me begin my sharing sometime December 2007 when I first heard God’s challenging call for me to leave my full time legal work in the Office of the Ombudsman to devote more of my time to being an evangelistic preacher and to use my God-given preaching ability in the service of the wider church. In the Gospel account where Jesus told Peter to “put out into the deep”, I felt God calling me to “put out into the deep” and to go where the fish are. On February 2008, after almost three months of intense discernment, I took the giant step of faith. Little did I know that that step would begin for me, an incredible journey towards a greater appreciation of my covenant in the Ang Ligaya ng Panginoon. Today, after almost 2 years of being a Catholic lay preacher, I stand before you grateful to the Lord and to the covenant that I have with Him. Allow me to share with you three things I’ve learned the last two years about my covenant.
First, the covenant for me has been a source of conviction for God’s personal call at this time in my life. Through the spiritual guidance of my pastoral leader then, Melmarx Marcojos, and my other present as well as former leaders in the community, I was able to arrive at a difficult decision that I was at peace with. Through my covenant, God has given me an anchor, these leaders who can validate, affirm, clarify or strengthen what I hear from God. I told my leaders then, and I say it to all to you today, I will not go into any mission without the full blessing of my covenant. In a sense, I will not occupy unless I occupy with you, my bros and sisters. For in this covenant, I find my identity, my essence and my significance as a missionary. As a fisher of men, my covenant commitment is like my anchor that keeps me stable when storms of doubt come to shake my convictions about my decision.
Bobby Quitain
Secondly, the covenant for me is a place of refuge for a boat on mission. God has opened many doors for me the past two years. I have spoken in company conventions, charismatic congress, school affairs, government functions and various church events. I have also written five books to date. Preaching to different crowds of all kinds and sizes almost every week at different places here and abroad, and writing my books in between talks can be very draining. And that is why all the more I appreciate your covenant commitment to me, especially my MWG and my district, which has always been and will always be a source of security and strength for me. Here, in the community, I can be weak, vulnerable and tired. I can be who I am and be confident that I will be loved and accepted. My mwg and district have been a source of prayer cover as I fight the war in the frontlines of evangelization. And I always end up being recharged again whenever I return home to Ligaya from the battlefield. As I’ve written in the acknowledgment page of my third book, community is the seashore where this boat on mission finds its rest.
Third, my covenant is a channel of God’s provision. Through my covenant, the Lord has provided for what I needed to go on mission for Him. Just like the boat which took Peter to the deep where he fished, community was the boat which took me where the fish were. Different bros and sis provided me the boat that I needed to go to their respective companies, schools, parishes, and other organizations. Bros and sis, in various ways, also provided for a lot of my practical needs. In a span of less than two years, my family has been in and out of the hospital more than 5 times for different reasons. And yet through it all, community was there with me, giving both moral and practical support. God is my direct employer, and He has provided for all my needs through my covenant.
Bobby and Jeng Quitain with their two daughters, Robelle and Mara
Recently, my covenant commitment was firmed up even more. One of my personal mentors, Bro. Bo Sanchez who has helped me so much in my first year as a lay preacher, in his earnest desire to help further my ministry, invited me to be a regular preacher in the Feast gatherings, a weekly evangelistic event hosted by his community. I was excited thinking this would really widen my evangelistic territory. Serving in the Feast would require at least three nights a week for me to devote on meetings and preaching preparations. Taking Bro. Bo’s advice, I took a month to discern his invitation. Once again, I consulted my leaders and prayed with them. And after a month, I arrived at a difficult decision. I will have to say no to Bo. I looked at my covenant commitments, and realized that given my present services in Ligaya, it was virtually impossible to serve in the Feast no matter how much I wanted to. Bo graciously gave me his blessings and promised to pray for me. And because of this, I will always be grateful to him. Nevertheless, it was tough choice because I practically let go of a great opportunity to occupy a wider evangelistic territory. But this experience also taught me an important lesson: that as a covenanted member of LNP, I must never occupy at the expense of my covenant.
Tomorrow, I will be leaving for the Sultanate of Oman in the Arabian Peninsula to speak at the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Congress. But rest assured that as I stand before that crowd on Tuesday, I will be standing there, not only as Bobby Quitain the preacher, but as Bobby Quitain the covenanted member of the Ang Ligaya ng Panginoon. Yes, brothers and sisters, I will occupy. But I will always occupy with the full blessings of my covenant which has always been my boat, my anchor and my seashore.
A blessed feast of the covenant to us all, bros and sisters!
EDITOR’S NOTE: The above sharing was given by Bobby Quitain 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
- This Is Where God Wants Me to Be – sharing by Enee Abrenica
- Being a Silent Witness Is Not Enough – sharing by Charmz Bautista
- Ligaya Elects Sector Coordinators
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