In the Midst of the Storms Devotional: ................................... “In The Midst Of The Storm” ................. Shared by Jesse Colegado, BSC’80 Editor’s Thoughts: ............................. “Storms Are Blessings” ................................ Lily Escara Lare, BSE Bio’85 Featured Items: 1. Smiling Through The Flood and Storm .......................................................... Charity Betonio-Reyno, BSEEd 2. Storm Shelter ............................................................................................. Rachel Dumapig-Jablan, BSN’85 SULADS Corner: ............... “The Day The Teacher Forgot to ‘Cool Down’” . Sulad Daryl Cagampang, Tawi-Tawi Patch of Weeds: ............................................................................................................ Jesse Colegado, BSC’80 Life of a Missionary: .................... “Adventist Aviation Indonesia” ................................ Romy Halasan, BSBA’86 CLOSING: Announcements |From The Mail Bag| Prayer Requests | Acknowledgements Meet The Editors |Closing Thoughts | Miscellaneous In The Midst Of The Storm By Beth Moore. Found in www.lproof.org Shared by Jess Colegado "Immediately Jesus made the disciples get into the boat and go on ahead of him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowd. After he had dismissed them, he went up on a mountainside by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat was already a considerable distance from land, buffeted by the waves because the wind was against it. During the fourth watch of the night Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. "It's a ghost," they said, and cried out in fear. But Jesus immediately said to them: "Take courage! It is I. Don't be afraid." "Lord, if it's you," Peter replied, "tell me to come to you on the water." "Come," he said. Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, "Lord, save me!" Immediately Jesus reached out his hand and caught him. "You of little faith," he said, "why did you doubt?" And when they climbed into the boat, the wind died down. Then those who were in the boat worshiped him, saying, "Truly you are the Son of God." (Matthew 14:23-33) e can be smack in the center of God's will and still go through terrible storms. Christ loved the disciples with all His heart, yet He "made" them get into the boat when He W knew a storm was coming. They were exactly where they were supposed to be and still experienced frightening turbulence. Can you relate to the disciples? Have you experienced a time when you knew you were where God wanted you to be, but the storms were overwhelming? Not all the storms in life result from either sin or warfare. Some occur like clockwork to purposely rock our boats. However, if Christ has appointed our place in the story, you can be sure He purposes a show. But, we must be looking past our own boat to see Him. One of my family's worst storms occurred when Michael, the child we raised for seven years, left our home to return to his birth mother. We received countless cards and letters which were a great comfort to us. Many of them attributed our loss to Satan and our storm to spiritual warfare. We understood the assumption because it was clearly the easiest explanation, albeit not necessarily an accurate one. I am so thankful God was clear in His message to us during those days. We knew without a shadow of a doubt that Michael's return to his birth mother was the expressed will of God. We had no idea why nor do we have many answers now, but we were certain God was directing the events. Christ calls us to walk by faith through our storms. It seems like a big requirement until we realize Christ does far more than that. He walks on the water during our storms. God has placed all things under Christ's feet, including the waves that break relentlessly against us. He is in charge. He is right there. Please don't miss an important element in this story: Christ walked on the water before He calmed the storm. If He had simply calmed the storm, the disciples would have missed His majesty. And what a shame. His majesty was the whole point. We want Christ to hurry and calm the storm. He wants us to find Him in the midst of it first. Editor’s Thoughts: “Storms Are Blessings” Lily Escara Lare, BSE Bio’85 torms are so common in the western and eastern Visayas that when I was growing up, a month without a storm is quite abnormal, except during the summer months. An S umbrella or a raincoat always has a space in my bag so rain or shine, I am always prepared. When I went to West Visayan Academy as a student and later as a teacher, floods accompanied the storms. No matter how hard life was during those times, we always find activities and things that will cheer us and occupy our minds and time while waiting for the winds to stop and the waters to subside. Relationships among students and teachers became stronger and our faith in God became deeper. Among the many whom I have invited to write about their experiences with literal storms, two have gladly responded and to them I say a heartfelt "Thank You!” Charity Reyno, one of the teachers at West Visayan Academy, narrates her experiences with the storms and floods in my alma mater. During the early part of September this year, incessant prayers were offered for MVCians and friends who were in the path of Hurricane Irma in Florida. Rachel Jablan writes about their experience below. I am always thankful that despite the storms and floods in this world, we are also stormed and flooded by blessings from God who cares so much for us, His children. Lily Escara Lare Nairobi, Kenya. East Africa Smiling Through The Flood and Storm Charity Betonio-Reyno, BSEEd est Visayan Academy is the first Adventist academy in the Philippines. It is situated along a big and wide Jalaud River. Each time there is a storm, this river overflows and W the school is flooded. As soon as the storm is predicted in the area, the administrators send the students home especially the dormitorians because the cafeteria workers had a hard time cooking during the flood. For those who cannot avoid the dormitory and cafeteria fees, the school have provided a space for parents to build cottages where their children can stay and cook for themselves with no worries about high rentals. During the floods, the Cottage students and guardians who are left behind are usually evacuated to the second floor of the administration building for safety. I have already experienced several floods since I came to WVA. I have observed that when a flood occurs, it starts Friday night or Saturday. The first time I experienced it was when there was a CASDAA association meeting held here at WVA Church. Nong Juaning, the school's go-to man in the campus, told us to go home and bring our things up to the second floor for safety. Good the flood did not rise up high it is just only outside our door for we were living at the second house from the canal near the house of Nong Juaning. The house where we are living is always the first house to be soaked in by water and the last one to be dried up because it is located at a lowest area of the campus. The next flood I experienced was during the typhoon "Frank". There was really a hard downpour and water rose up until the last two rungs of our house. The first floor looked like a small lake where some of our things floated. It also became the swimming pool for small and big snakes. My family is always afraid that the water might still rise up to the second floor. We were grateful that the water did not rise anymore. The water subsided in three days, which means that we were confined for three days, too. When the water went down, it took us a week to clean up. One good thing about floods is that we have a general cleaning on the usually neglected corners and windows on the first floor. It is so good to see everything clean and free of accumulated dust and dirt. For me, the flood is a blessing. One sad experience during a flood was when the elementary building was damaged. The books which I have just taken from WVC office which was worth one hundred eighty thousand pesos were all soaked in mud. There are still several floods that took place after this where some of the students just stayed so they can experience "Bongco flood". They made a raft out of banana and bamboo stalks and they had a great ride around the campus where the flood water looked like a lake. Last month, the river overflowed because of heavy rains. The elementary department teachers tried to prepare the classroom for the flood. We cannot thank God enough for His goodness because the flood just reached the back of our house, for if it did, the rice on the field would have been destroyed. Praise God the harvest was more than three hundred cavans! God is really good. Sometimes, the Bongco flood is a burden but looking at the sunny side of life, it is also a blessing because of the food supplies that we receive from the West Visayan Conference (WVC) office and of course from the local and provincial government and from the two big TV channels: ABS and GMA.