Today is my last day in our office that I served for almost ten years of my life. This is the best job not because of the salary (how I wish) but because of a lot of things that I gained that money cannot buy. It sounds cliché but if you will have the time to talk to me you will know how much I enjoyed and have been blessed working here in International Graduate School of Leadership (IGSL). So to give you a glimpse why I am raving about my job here let me share to you my testimony that I gave to our students 4 years ago about my job in IGSL.
When I applied for a job in IGSL (ISOT-Asia then), I was clueless. First of all, I didn’t have any idea what IGSL was. Though I was very involved with Campus Crusade for Christ during college, I never knew that CCC has a seminary. What I knew was that I just wanted to serve God by working in a Christian organization. I could say that God really brought me here because of the circumstances that I went through before applying here---that is another story to tell. I became the assistant of the Scholarship Coordinator, but I didn’t know that she is also the Student Services Coordinator, and all the positions in IGSL have that word “coordinator” in them. I told myself that this would be exciting. At first I was having a hard time memorizing names, recognizing faces and understanding the people because for me some Indonesians look like Filipinos, some Indians look like Nepalese, and some Nepalese look like Burmese. There was this situation that reminded me on how I was struggling on our students’ names. It was Monday and Ate Theresa had PIM on the first period. When I arrived at our office, she left an envelope with a note that said “ to Remember’s mailbox”. So I thought “What should I put in the mailbox? “What should I remember?” Did I forget an errand that she told me to do? What mailbox and whose mailbox? From
Most of the staff members here at IGSL don’t work for the salary especially not for the prestige. If you get to know them better, you will know that they have reasons why they are here. For me, it is some kind of strategy that I have adopted from Ate Theresa. You see, I cannot reach the whole 10/40 window in my lifetime, but through IGSL, the world becomes small. By serving the students, I am reaching out to different places and countries. It is like going to Cagayan de Oro,
The ministry is not only the reason why the staff are here, IGSL is also the place where we the staff have found a family. The staff is one big close-knit family. We don’t treat each other as co-workers but as brothers and sisters. We help each other through thick and thin. For good times and bad times we are there for each other. When one of the members of my family got killed 2 years ago, I might never have carried the heaviness of the tragedy if not from our family here at IGSL. The IGSL family really ministered to me especially to my own family. I have been working here for almost 8 years now; I can say that it is a privilege that God allowed me to experience and see the moving of His hands in the lives of the students, faculty and staff. Aside from gaining spiritual growth, I really praise Him that He allowed me to gain here at IGSL a wonderful husband.
Though most of us are here to serve God, some of the staff are here to grow spiritually. There were staff members who just came to know the Lord or have begun their spiritual growth here in IGSL. We may never have the opportunity to get to know Grudem, Turabian, BDB or Erickson but all of you here in IGSL are the staff’s Systematic Theology, our Greek or our Hebrew. Through our students lives God is talking to us. What I have learned here in IGSL is the application on what you also have learned here in the seminary which doesn’t start after graduation; I think application in the ministry starts here in IGSL.
Until now that is what my heart would still like to do. So why leave the best job in the world then? Actually my husband and I are not really leaving IGSL for good but we are leaving to serve IGSL better.
Early last year Carlo and I felt that God is telling us that He is going to do something new for us (I will write another blog about this journey). At first we don’t know what, where and how. But as we pray more about it and just waiting patiently for Him, months, days, and a year had past we saw ourselves going to the direction that He wants us to do that is to be a full time faculty in IGSL. To be a full time faculty, you need to be a full time missionary and to be a full time missionary you need to have an organization. We prayed about it and couldn’t think of any organization that we can fit into but Campus Crusade for Christ (CCC). I was a CCC baby and have lots of dear friends in CCC and IGSL is a CCC seminary so it all fit together.
So I am not saying goodbye to the best job in the world but is looking forward 10 months after our training to go back to this best job that I have. Please pray for us, as we will begin a new journey in our married life, ministry life and especially in our Christian life. We are excited on what God has in store for us, don’t worry I will be blogging our journey so you will hear more from us. If you are a close friend of mine, you are going to hear from me as in hear from me literally – you know what I mean.
yey yey, excited din ako para senyo te! :)
ReplyDeletehahaha :)) i can be your proxy ate!
ReplyDeleteHey :) I enjoyed reading it. Thanks for sharing Shelbs.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Ate. Last week I met Ate Theresa and she was telling me how she will miss you and she told me that you could even read her mind and your were very good at your work. I could see that she would really miss you in her office. It's good to hear that you and Kuya will be a full time faculty in IGSL. All the best and God bless you both always and provide all your needs.
ReplyDeletethanks Nikish!
ReplyDeletego shelby and carlo! :-) enjoy your journey!
ReplyDelete