The Angel with a White Pamaypay

I ended 2012 with a youth camp at Tanay Rizal with my Church So Blessed family. 

I met two young men who were also my roommates. They shared to me their experience of God giving them visions in their treasure hunting.

“What’s treasure hunting” Tanong ko.

“Finding lost souls.” Sabi nila

I was kind of amazed and envious at the same time. These men were younger than me and yet God is able to use them. Wow! So I asked in curiosity

“How do you get visions?”

Sabi nila “Usually when we soak (worship) in the presence of God, we see visions of people wearing very specific clothes. Pag labas namin sa church, we see those people wearing the exact same clothes we saw sa vision.”

Note to self: Visions are mostly given when soaking.

Let me simplify soaking. May celebrity crush ka ba? Was there a point in time na patay na patay ka sa kanya to the point na siya nalang palagi ang laman ng isip mo. Everything else becomes a blur. Well, you’re soaking in the presence of your celebrity crush. To soak in God’s presence means to drop off all other loads of the mind and think only of Jesus as if He is just beside you and be madly in love with Him.     

So on the second day of CSB youth camp, I saw the worship leaders soaking. Naki-singit ako. I tried to soak as well. I told myself, maybe the Lord might give me a vision. So I closed my eyes. God heard me. There was an immediate picture.

“What do you see?” The Lord asked.

“ An angel”

“Look carefully. What do you see?”

The vision zoomed on the fan.

“A fan.” I replied. Tapos hindi na nag-reply si Lord.

Si ako, feeling Joseph and Daniel (the interpreters), tried to interpret what the fan could mean. But none of the interpretations seemed right. So I told myself, if this vision was really from God, I will have to hear the word “fan” sa mga speaker sa youth camp. 

When Pastor Allen spoke, he mentioned of a story about four blind men and an elephant. To summarize the story, these men were trying to find out what an elephant really looks like. One man only touched the leg, so he concluded that an elephant is like a poste. The two men touched other parts and concluded wrongly. The fourth man touched only the ear and concluded “ang elepante ay parang PAMAYPAY.”

Ting! The vision could mean that as a Christian, I am only seeing in parts. And I admit that it’s true. Pero parang kulang. So I waited for more.

During the worship night, the Lord finally gave me a follow-up vision. I saw an angel, fanning a fire to make it ablaze. Yung tipong pag nag-iihaw ka, di ba ginagamitan ng pamaypay para magbaga yung uling! The Lord told me.

“I am rekindling your passion. ”

Because the year 2012 was a test-filled year for me, my heart seemed to have grown cold.

“ Thank you, Lord. I thought you have forgotten about me. I thought you have forgotten about my dreams and my desires. All along, you kept them and remembered what I already gave up.”

On the last day of the camp, Pastor Hiram spoke about the Great Commission. And he ended his sermon with this phrase “YUNG DESIRE NINYO PARA KAY LORD AY PAG-AALABIN NA PARANG PINAPAYPAYAN. ”

Coincidence? I don’t think so. Another jaw drop moment.

"Bang klase ka talaga, Lord!"

So I was given a vision for 2013.

2013 will be a year of burning passion for Jesus. It’s funny that his year ay nataon na year of the water snake. Because the enemy will try his best to quench that fire.

Yes it may grow weak as Satan puts evil water (trials and tests). But there was a promised pamaypay for all of us Christians. At papaypayan ni Lord ang fire sa puso natin until it blazes stronger to the point na kumalat na ang apoy sa ibang tao!

So I declare: 2013 is THE YEAR OF FIRE STARTERS.