“Make my joy complete by being of the
same mind, maintaining the same love, united in spirit, intent on one purpose”
Philippians 2:2
Never have I been amazed by technology as I was a few days ago.
Having had the opportunity to get a glimpse of the frenzied activity at
the hub of operations at CFC-SFC Abu Dhabi Center 1, studio hosts bro. Earl
Cres Balolong and sis Weng Barros echoed my amazement at how technology bridged
the gap between land and sea, bringing together as one in God all the faithful
in a night of prayer, thanksgiving and worship thru online video streaming and
various social media platforms like facebook, zoom and twitter using metadata
tags #meunited2014 and #journeybeyond.
Recognizing
technology as a powerful tool in evangelization, Sis. Arce Quizo who handled
SFC Dubai Cluster B, stated that the experience of being a social media
correspondent was "really a great
opportunity, my first ME United service made me feel "I belong"...to
HIM, with Him and for Him!"
In
line with the theme Behold and Ponder
Journey Beyond, this year’s ME
United held last 27th of March hosted by SFC Abu Dhabi in UAE was
participated not only by countries in the Middle East but by several countries
in Asia, Africa and America as well.
Initiated
in 2010, ME United aims to strengthen unity in the region by giving everyone, especially
those who face the constant challenge of practicing their faith in this part of
the world a channel wherein they could freely commune with our great God in
unity with the whole of the CFC-SFC community.
As
Bro Noli Manuel, our former CFC Fulltime Pastoral worker for the Middle East
said during the 2012 ME United “…We
wanted strengthen unity in the region and the best way to do this is through
praying together. Prayer is most powerful when we pray together. Though far
from each other, prayer brings us closer to each other and praying together
affirms our being one family…” and as each country went live and was
acknowledged one by one, we truly felt connected – blessed and bound by our one
Great God.
Led by Bro. Jojerry Mercado the worship had us singing praises at the
top of our lungs with all our heart.
Taken over by every lyric and every note,
Bro. Lloyd Arleigh Pangan affirmed how spiritually moving it was, saying “it made me forgot all of my fears and problems in life at the same
time it reminded me about Gods unfailing love for us, most special part was the
worship song "Our God" it reminds us on How beautiful God is and how
He will work His plans for us.”.
Truly, as we bowed our heads and
came before the Lord in all solemnity; asking for forgiveness, healing, grace,
providence, peace and love within our families, our community and our country,
we felt humbled and comforted, knowing that we as a whole community was praying with and for one
another. Indeed, affirmations of God’s
grace and faithfulness came almost instantly as in the case of bro JM Comia who
was at loss for words and simply said “serve
and be blessed.”
Days after the successful ME United I was informed that there were
816 SFC and 22 SFC plus participants across all regions and other parts of the
world, with 1702 Ustream viewers and 7 connecting via Zoom.
Breaking barriers, empowering leaders and service teams, making
everything possible for all of us to come together as one in the unity and love
of our Lord, God indeed has conquered all and as we reveled in a different kind
of high and feeling of togetherness, Sis Grace Adel summed the experience up in
not so many words saying “ME United 2014 was uplifting, empowering and refreshing.
The best ME United I attended so far since I joined SFC”.
We truly
are One In You Lord and for all of this May God Be Praised!!!
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