About
Filipino-American
I am a first generation Filipino-American, born and raised in Maryland. My father was raised in Eastern Samar and my mother is from Cebu, making me half Waray-Waray and half Bisaya, two of the approximately 170 language groups of the Philippines. Apparently one of my great grand parents was Chinese, which would make me 1/8 Chinese. I’m very proud of my ethnic background and my culture. I hope to be able to pass down what I have learned about the culture to younger generations. My conversational Tagalog skills are pretty bad, although I understand enough to know when people are talking about me or to impress unsuspecting Titas.
Christian
I am a follower of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. I believe the teachings of the Bible, and I would most associate myself with the Southern Baptist denomination. I have read The Baptist Faith & Message (the Southern Baptist Statement of Faith) and I agree with the essential doctrinal beliefs of the Southern Baptist Convention.
I believe that there is a literal heaven and a literal hell, and that all men are sinners deserving God’s wrath in hell. There is nothing we can do to earn our way to heaven, because we can always add to our good works but we can never erase our sin on our own. God, however, loved the world so much that He sent his one and only begotten Son to die on the cross in our place, taking our sin upon himself. His death on the cross does not automatically redeem everyone from the consequence of their sin: salvation is a gift that must be received. Salvation is received by repenting and putting your faith in Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior. Repent means to turn away from sin and forsake sin while turning to God. Putting faith in Jesus Christ is not simply believing He exists, but surrendering your whole life to Him
This is why I am a Christian by grace. Grace is undeserved merit. There is nothing I can do to earn my way to heaven, God graciously provides it as a free gift.
Also, those who are saved will live like Christ as a sign of God giving them a new heart to serve him. Christian means a follower of Christ, or Christ-like, and it is hypocritical and insulting to call oneself a Christian if you don’t know anything about Christ, let alone live according to His example.
Ministry
I am currently the youth leader of The Way Youth Group of Victory Baptist Filipino Mission, a church that meets in Belair Baptist Church, Bowie, Maryland. We are currently about 30 strong, and more importantly the youth are spiritually maturing and growing in their faith. The youth group consists of youth from other churches such as Hope to You Community Church and Trinity Community Church. Here is a link to the youth group website that I maintain: http://www.thewayyouthgroup.com
Education & Work
I graduated in 2006 from the University of Maryland in College Park with a B.S. in Information Systems from the R.H. Smith School of Business. I currently work for a government IT consulting firm.
Hobbies
Guitar. Web design. Reading (mostly the Bible and other books related to Christianity). Running. Rubix cube (1min 30 sec fastest… trying to improve). Mentoring youth and teaching them Biblical concepts. Break dancing?
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