I held my camera with my right hand while I lifted my left hand in praise. I struggled looking through the view finder as water started to fill my eyes again. A young man was submerged in water and made a public declaration of faith. The old is gone and the new has come. I pressed the shutter and then the tears fell.

I have encountered the love of Christ, and continue to experience it day by day; and witnessing others encounter this same love brings me to tears. I've been such a cry baby. I pray to God that I will live my life witnessing baptisms and never lose the joy that swells up in my heart each and every time.

For the past 7 years, I have served in the youth ministry. I have jumped in praise, bowed in worship, and cried in prayer with many young people. I remember nights when we would stay up late listening to their stories and praying earnestly. I have seen many young people come and go, I have seen friends come and go, but I have remained passionate. Because I know that I live for these kind of days. "Is there any scene more powerful than seeing a soul get saved?" I tend to ask myself, and the answer is always no.

The past three days was spent in camp leading young people. My co-leaders talked about how fun it really is to lead young people, to hear their stories, to encourage them , to pray for them and to teach them. There really is something about the youth ministry, 7 years have passed but it felt like we are just getting started. I think of my Dad, who has spent over 30 years in church, and can only imagine how many souls he witnessed get saved. Hundreds? Thousands? I want to experience that too!

Serving in the ministry is not always easy, I've had my share of frustrations and sacrifices, but when I look back to the ultimate sacrifice Christ has done, these are nothing. I hope for the day when I'd be able to count everything as loss and no longer think that I am sacrificing anything at all. I'm not there yet, but by God's grace I will get there. May God strengthen me, mold me, and fill me 'til all they see is Him in me.


They lifted their hands, and sung with all their might, so desperate to get closer to God, so desperate in their worship. I dream of the day when each youth service would be like this. It's so beautiful I just had to take a few snaps.




This year I will be working on some of my greatest dreams. I hope to find myself walking on water, fully confident in God's calling and His plans for my life. I'm excited to further enhance my skills as a photographer and I am looking forward to the possibility of going back to school to study about it more. However, the three days I spent with the young people, made me realize one thing, that I truly love serving in the youth ministry. If it were possible to turn back time, I would give it all again for the youth.

I pray that I will see more lives changed and hear more testimonies in the coming days, months, and years. I think I'm beginning to understand just why at a very young age my Dad counted everything as loss and offered his strength and passion to reach people for Christ.


Around 20 young people got baptized that Saturday morning. After the last one, my dad came out of the pool and said "Ang sarap mag baptized!" with a huge smile on his face, still with tears in my eyes, I smiled too.