JAM Agusan on its 8th!

Back to the Philippines  before I made my mind up in seeing another horizon in my life in another side of the world, I had been so much grateful to be a part of the JAM Agusan.

JAM Agusan which is an acronym of Jesus in Agusan Movement is an assemblage of ardent youths from the different denominations in Agusan del Sur expressing their praises and thanksgiving to the Savior Jesus Christ.  This is done every last Sunday of the month.

(Young Folks Worshiping the Living God)

 This is also an avenue where these young people from the different churches share and develop their talents like singing, dancing, playing musical instruments, arts(drawing) and many more.

(Art, dance, bands/songs)

And most of all, a place where we can be encouraged more to hold on to God and be faithful to HIM through listening to His word and through the testimonies of the other young people on how God has changed and blessed them in their walks in life.

  
I miss the times where I joined and  mingled with the Jammerz, the meetings of the core leaders, the PRAISE & WORSHIP and  the dances that we had.
                                                   

(Dance team from our church during the 7th Anniversary of the JAM)

Last Sunday June 24, 2012 at San Francisco, Free Methodist Church was another proof on how God has blessed amazingly the JAM Agusan for  eight blissful and fruitful years.  WOW.... JAM Agusan 8th Anniversary! How marvelous and faithful  You are oh GOD! Indeed, there are numerous reasons why for 8 years JAM is still subsisting.

Although the youth in our church are not that consistent in their attendance in the JAM, specially this time (for some reasons), we want you to know JAMMERZZ, that we REJOICE with you all as you celebrate the goodness and faithfulness of God!

From the ECOFI Family and from "The LAND OF SMILE- THAILAND :)"
HAPPY 8TH ANNIVERSARY JAM Agusan! 

Keep the flame burning in your hearts....the flame in serving the Almighty. God bless you all!

"Desert Song" Dance

It has always been a privilege to work with the other believers in Christ in the church. I thank God for letting us be  part of the family of the Cornerstone Chapel Hat Yai. In this church, we have the chance to mingle with the other believers, work with them, be encouraged with each other and most of all, this is also a place where we could worship God and hear His word to grow in our spiritual aspect in life. We are grateful to God for the lives of our Pastor Ajarn Simon and his wife Ajarn Liz for their dedication and passion in  God's vineyard.

 Every Saturday, it has been a routine for us to be in the church and have a practice for the dances then for the Praise and Worship for the Sunday Worship. We always look forward for this time where we can be together and "share&learn" dances and songs to each other.

Here are some of the steps of the dance for the "DESERT SONG". Since we only have limited time, we used some of the strokes of the tambourine that we have in the dance  in "Salvation is here"

The intro, we use the "CROSS" stroke but with out using the tambourine. Then followed by this for 16 counts.

The second 16 counts, sorry for the mess up lol...

still in step 2. got confused with the counting...sorry

then the chorus part ......... mmhh..;)) i forgot to have a demo for this part...:( but you can watch it in the full video of the dance...

the other part of this.....,:))  we just recall the actions that we have last week.

here are the strokes that we include here:
- Trust (1 sixteen)
- Salvation (1 sixteen)
- then the chorus part again
-victory (1 sixteen)
- Just (2 sixteen)
- Humility (2 sixteen)
- Listen (2 sixteen)
-chorus part again
-cross (2 sixteen)
-then the last part (please refer only to the video)

This is the full video of the dance taken last Saturday in our rehearsal.

And this was taken during the Sunday Worship this morning.

                                                  Dancers:Joy, Lovely,Yvonne & Karisse
            (Thanks Yvonne for joining the group! "-" and to Wann & Pluem for joining the practice)

 God bless!

Garment for the Dance

For us, garment for the dance is essential. Yep, it's absolutely correct that God is looking more to our hearts than our outward appearance as we worship Him. But since we are dancing for Him, our attire should represent decency and purity. I believe that God won't be blessed while we dance and people around us are stumbled because of what we are wearing. We shouldn't forget that we should be  channels of blessing to the people who are watching us while we are dancing. Hence, the way we dress up is very necessary to think about before we dance.

Here are some pics of our costumes for the tambourine dance in the Philippines.

                                      

                                                                       (Purple gown-)
                                                            Dance: "LET GOD ARISE"

                                                                          (blue gown - )
                                                   Dance: "HOW GREAT IS YOUR LOVE"

                                                           (blue/yellow pants & blouse - )
                                          Praise & worship during the Hugyaw Agusan 2010
 

                                  

                                                    (tights & leotards with yellow tops -)
                                                      Dance: "PRAISE IN THE HIGHEST"

                        (pink cocktail dress with bloomer inside and white tights and leotards)
                                             Dance: OUR GOD IS AN AWESOME GOD


In the Thailand? we started with this...:)

and this.....:D

ahemmmmmmm....and this...:))

I wonder what's next???? gurlss???

IT'S GONNA BE ALRIGHT (with the complete tambourine dance tutorial for the dance "SALVATION IS HERE")

"God above all the world in motion
God above all my hopes and fears
I don't care what the world throws at me now
It's gonna be alright"

I am so blessed with this song by the Hillsong United which is entitled "Salvation is Here".  As we always play this during our rehearsals for all the strokes that we will be doing in our dance with this song, this line "IT'S GONNA BE ALRIGHT" sticks to my mind most. Yeh...! Indeed, when we are in Christ, we don't need to be anxious in every dilemma that we have and we will have as we go through on this journey in life.

As the chorus part of this song goes ,

"'Cause I know my God saved the day
And I know His word never fails
And I know my God made a way for me
Salvation is here"

we could always cling to this that the God who is Able can save us from whatsoever circumstances that we have for He died just to set us free and rose again and He REIGNS forever ever! His WORD is true and will never fail us.

Whatever situation that you have now, it maybe excruciating and awful .....remember this, 

 It's Gonna Be Alright folks!

Ready to dance?

Here are the next steps for this dance "Salvation is here" - the continuation of the last week's Tambourine Dance Tutorial. Hope you can get it! God bless...

This is the intro (cross) part. You need to do it twice.

combination of 1st-(Trust) and 2nd-(Salvation) strokes. (which was posted last week)

after the 1st and 2nd strokes, you need to go back to the steps of the intro(Cross) for sixteen counts.

3rd stroke- (Listen)

4th stroke - (Humility)

Chorus part - first 16 counts -(Celebration)

 chorus part - 2nd 16 counts (Just)

Next on this is.....mmh..you need to execute the intro-(Cross) part again for 16 counts.

After which, go back to the 1st-(Trust) and 2nd-(Salvation) strokes and twice of the chorus-(Celebration & Just) part.


The instrumental part followed by the bridge of the song (salvation is here..salvation is here and He lives in me....). And here's how......you can make your own formation here while doing this - (Splendor) for 6 times

There are still two 16 counts remaining so you can have this stroke (Micah) on this part.

The chorus part with only the drums playing..(Redemption)

Then, repeat the the strokes of the chorus. (Celebration & Just)

This is the last part of the dance (Strength &  Protection)...(sorry, video has a wrong label. it's not the last 2 chorus, it's the last bridge or the last two 16 counts)....

The end..........at last!..:))

 PRAISE THE LORD!

Is Tambourine Dancing Biblical?

A lot of people have asked me why do we have tambourine dance in the church. Why do we need to include tambourine dancing in our worship.

Is tambourine dance biblical? or is it just a mere presentation to make the worship seems lively?

Let me share to you some verses from the bible about tambourine dance.

• Exodus 15:20- Then Miriam the prophetess, Aaron's sister, took a tambourine in her hand, and all the women followed her, with tambourines and dancing.
 

• Judges 11:34- When Jephthah returned to his home in Mizpah, who should come out to meet him but his daughter, dancing to the sound of tambourines! She was an only child. Except for her he had neither son nor daughter.

• 1 Samuel 10:5- After that you will go to Gibeah of God, where there is a Philistine outpost. As you approach the town, you will meet a procession of prophets coming down from the high place with lyres, tambourines, flutes and harps being played before them, and they will be prophesying.

 • 1Samuel 18:6 - When the men were returning home after David had killed the Philistine, the women came out from all the towns of Israel to meet King Saul with singing and dancing, with joyful songs and with tambourines and lutes.
 

 • 2Samuel 6:5- David and the whole house of Israel were celebrating with all their might before the LORD, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, castanets, and cymbals.

  • 1 Chronicles 13:8- David and all the Israelites were celebrating with all their might before God, with songs and with harps, lyres, tambourines, cymbals and trumpets.

• Job 21:12 -They sing to the music of tambourine and harp; they make merry to the sound of the flute.

• Psalm 68:25- In front are the singers, after them the musicians; with them are the maidens playing tambourines.

• Psalm 81:2-Begin the music, strike the tambourine, play the melodious harp and lyre.

• Psalms149:3-Let them praise his name with dancing and make music to him with tambourine and harp.

 • Psalm 150:4- praise him with tambourine and dancing, praise him with the strings and flute

• (Isaiah 30:32)- Every stroke the LORD lays on them with his punishing rod will be to the music of tambourines and harps, as he fights them in battle with the blows of his arm.

• Jeremiah 31:4- I will build you up again and you will be rebuilt, O Virgin Israel. Again you will take up your tambourines and go out to dance with the joyful.


Even if others won't agree with me about tambourine dancing, I'm not  bothered about it cause I know and I believe that this sort of musical instrument has been used even before to express joy, triumph, gratefulness and even used for celebrations or festivities.

We use Tambourine Dance in our worship because we want to honor and glorify His name JESUS-to Him who is worthy of our praises and thanksgiving!

Ready to Share

Among all the dances that I have performed since I was still a kid, tambourine dancing is my favorite and really the dance that i am more comfortable with my moves., i think!...:) I started learning this dance when I was still in my 5th grade. I remember, I only knew 3 strokes then- the  Gospel, Acts and Hope. I didn't really have a formal training about tambourine dance. I never had a chance to join the training for all the patterns from Book 1 to Book 3 as they said since our place was quite far from the civilization then, and even now???.lol. Aside from the financial constraint, it was difficult for me to travel going to Davao City just to take that training. I am very much thankful to my mentor Ate Belenda who tried her best to pass on her skills in tambourine dancing to us. Lyn2, Joelyn, and I are the pioneers of the tambourine dance in our church.

 I treasure the times that we had when we were still in our church playing the tambourine during the worship. Those momentous times when we were together are deeply cherished by me. The instances that we argued on the correct way of performing the stroke are so hilarious to recall. I could bring to mind how stiffed our hands were in our first gripped of the tambourine. The tapping was very noisy and the movements were very discomfited. But, it is really true that there is always a room for improvement when we keep on trying.

Now, I do not consider myself as an expert on this dance but I am thankful to God for giving me this talent. I just want to give all the glory to the Father in worshiping Him through Tambourine Dance and through sharing this talent to the others who are willing to learn. As Ate Belenda has done her job in passing on the torch to us, I just want to do my job as well.  Am ready! Are you ready to learn? Tell me then..:))

DANCING is our Passion

Aside from singing and playing some musical instruments, dancing is also my passion. I do really love to dance.It makes me forget my "ethchoss" (problems) in life. I feel peace and of course joy even if it's tiring! But, I seldom dance now since I left the Philippines. Dancing is one of the activities that I will answer if ever someone will ask me to mention what do I miss in the Philippines. I could only count in my fingers the number of times that I dance here in Thailand compare to the monthly if not weekly or even daily schedules for the dance practice for the school or for the church when I was still in my country. Now, it would take months or even a year before I could dance again after having one performance. The last time that I danced was during the Easter Sunday last April. The picture below is one of our poses with my sister Joy dancing the "Worthy is the Lamb" by the Hillsongs.

 I do want to dance not just to perform and to entertain the audience but more than that, I want to dance because I want to worship my God. I believe that dancing is one way of expressing our thanks and praises to His wondrous name.


That is why, I'm so happy that these girls have tried their best in conquering their fears in going out from our beloved country-the Philippines and face the very challenging yet fulfilling life here in Thailand. From the right, my sistah Joy, Faith, Love, Karisse and I had our pose after the worship in the church this morning. We started to form the dance team in our church in Hat Yai- the Cornerstone Chapel. We differ in our personalities and ages (ahemm) but we do all have one common focal point, that is.... DANCING is our PASSION.

After church today, we did our practice for the tambourine dance of the song SALVATION IS HERE. We want to share the steps that we have. Here are the first 2 sixteen counts of the dance.

Sorry, that's not yet edited cause I don't know how to do that yet.:)lol... The continuation will be done next week. :)) We ran out of time because we had a farewell Ice Cream Party for Vern together with our Pastor Ajarn Simon and his wife Ajarn Liz.

Trial on the go

Just want to give a try on writing some blogs cause someone has encouraged me for a long time already to do this. Well, well, well....we'll see how far could I go through this.:)

I feel a bit awkward though in doing this stuff. mmh. But, I just wanna give a try in doing things that i really hate most to see if I could  love what I hate in life.Lol..

So this is it!