dj unplugged http://djunplugged.com my thoughts are like my office spaces: temporary, disconnected, and have a tendency to wander posterous.com Sun, 07 Mar 2010 22:14:00 -0800 The 1lb burger at The Counter http://djunplugged.com/the-1lb-burger-at-the-counter http://djunplugged.com/the-1lb-burger-at-the-counter

Lynnette and I had a chance to eat some delicious burgers at The Counter with David Song, Nolan and Jay Galido. David devoured the 1lb burger that just looked ridiculous. The crazy thing is that he has eaten bigger burgers. Time for a colon cleanse.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/14755/Picture_1.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10z6V61hddL DJ Garces dj DJ Garces Mon, 22 Feb 2010 00:00:37 -0800 After 17 years of living in Hawaii I finally visited Pearl Harbor on Saturday http://djunplugged.com/after-17-years-of-living-in-hawaii-i-finally http://djunplugged.com/after-17-years-of-living-in-hawaii-i-finally

Lynnette lived in Hawaii all her life and this was the first time she's been here too! We had to visit it before we leave for the Philippines in 2011.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/14755/Picture_1.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10z6V61hddL DJ Garces dj DJ Garces Sun, 14 Feb 2010 19:26:49 -0800 Seeing off Tim, Tara & Matt as they head out to Haiti http://djunplugged.com/seeing-off-tim-tara-and-matt-as-they-head-out http://djunplugged.com/seeing-off-tim-tara-and-matt-as-they-head-out

Through the generous support of Hope Chapel West Oahu, the team is heading out for 10 days to provide medical relief wherever it's needed as they partner with YWAM. Please keep them in prayer, especially when they land. They will be on their own from the airport to the Dominican Republic YWAM base. Then it is a 10 hr ride to the base in Haiti.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/14755/Picture_1.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10z6V61hddL DJ Garces dj DJ Garces Wed, 13 Jan 2010 11:53:12 -0800 My dad shot this crazy surf photo out at Jaws & they used it in the Maui Newspaper... http://djunplugged.com/my-dad-shot-this-crazy-surf-photo-out-at-jaws http://djunplugged.com/my-dad-shot-this-crazy-surf-photo-out-at-jaws
The surfer is Archie Kalepa and he injured his knee after the giant wave wiped him out. Check out the article here:

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/14755/Picture_1.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10z6V61hddL DJ Garces dj DJ Garces Fri, 08 Jan 2010 00:01:54 -0800 Praise God! the boxes of books we brought to the Philippines were delivered to some schools in need... http://djunplugged.com/praise-god-the-boxes-of-books-we-brought-to-t http://djunplugged.com/praise-god-the-boxes-of-books-we-brought-to-t

My wife, Lynnette, always has a heart to help kids in need and especially for schools in need because she is also a teacher. She was able to coordinate with the Manoa Elementary librarian, where she used to work, and they generously donated boxes of books! In addition to that, she got her fellow teachers to get their classes to make bookmarks and postcards for the kids in the Philippines. Thanks so much to Pastor Jesse, and his wife Rose, for graciously delivering the books to the schools.

Lynnette's hope is that one day her school (August Ahrens Elementary) can adopt a school in need in the Philippines, providing books and connect children in two different countries.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/14755/Picture_1.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10z6V61hddL DJ Garces dj DJ Garces Tue, 05 Jan 2010 18:26:54 -0800 Just had my very first tofu burger, whole wheat taco... http://djunplugged.com/just-had-my-very-first-tofu-burger-whole-whea http://djunplugged.com/just-had-my-very-first-tofu-burger-whole-whea

Surprisingly it wasn't that bad...at least that's what I have to keep telling myself.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/14755/Picture_1.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10z6V61hddL DJ Garces dj DJ Garces Sat, 02 Jan 2010 13:10:14 -0800 Watching Selina & Gary get hitched on the beach... http://djunplugged.com/watching-selina-and-gary-get-hitched-on-the-b http://djunplugged.com/watching-selina-and-gary-get-hitched-on-the-b

I love the casual atmosphere here at camp erdman, what a great idea!

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/14755/Picture_1.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10z6V61hddL DJ Garces dj DJ Garces Fri, 01 Jan 2010 00:06:34 -0800 Happy New Year...almost...I'm going to bed already... http://djunplugged.com/happy-new-yearalmostim-going-to-bed-already http://djunplugged.com/happy-new-yearalmostim-going-to-bed-already

Celebrated New Year's at the annual Kusumoto New Year's Eve party...actually we only lasted until 9:00pm because we're still exhausted from all the traveling today. At least we had a chance to hang out with friends and eat some good food, a lot of good food!

Happy New Year everyone...it's only 10pm, but we gonna celebrate it with our eyes closed...good night.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/14755/Picture_1.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10z6V61hddL DJ Garces dj DJ Garces Thu, 31 Dec 2009 19:27:00 -0800 Finally made it back home to Hawaii from the Philippines, 19hrs later... http://djunplugged.com/finally-made-back-home-in-hawaii-from-the-phi http://djunplugged.com/finally-made-back-home-in-hawaii-from-the-phi

Actually the flight was only about 10hrs long, but when you add in the 5 hours that we came early to the airport prior to our flight (which was a good thing that we did because of the 3hr long line we waited in), plus the 2.5hr delay and then immigration, customs, baggage, etc., it all adds up.

I'm already missing the Philippines but it also feels good to be in the comfort of your own home...and in time to celebrate the New Year in Hawaii!

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/14755/Picture_1.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10z6V61hddL DJ Garces dj DJ Garces Wed, 30 Dec 2009 23:53:00 -0800 Halo halo heaven, and now standing in the long airport line... http://djunplugged.com/halo-halo-heaven-and-now-standing-in-the-long http://djunplugged.com/halo-halo-heaven-and-now-standing-in-the-long

I'd been wanting to eat some halo halo from chow king since we got here and finally on our last day I devoured it. It was worth the 8 brain freezes that endured while eating it.

Even though we arrived 5 hours early to the airport we still found ourselves at the end of a long long line to check into Hawaiian airlines. They haven't even opened the counter yet! Thanks to Chris Kanemura, we were prepared for this!

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/14755/Picture_1.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10z6V61hddL DJ Garces dj DJ Garces Wed, 30 Dec 2009 05:48:00 -0800 More Filipino food and forced facial masks, our last days in Manila... http://djunplugged.com/more-filipino-food-and-forced-facial-masks-ou http://djunplugged.com/more-filipino-food-and-forced-facial-masks-ou

OUR LAST DAYS/NIGHTS IN MANILA
In our last two nights in Manila, Jay's mom and sister were kind enough to bless us with some good old Filipino home cooking! There was even fresh mango to end each meal!  There is something about the mangos here that are strangely addictive. Today we also had our team debrief meeting where we each had a chance to share how God spoke to us during the trip. It was encouraging to hear how God is moving in all of us, especially in regards to serving the people here.

Unfortunately, our night also included the guys being forced to get facial skin masks...I think this was just to amuse Lynnette.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/14755/Picture_1.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10z6V61hddL DJ Garces dj DJ Garces Tue, 29 Dec 2009 00:02:00 -0800 Our mini family reunion in Manila... http://djunplugged.com/our-mini-family-reunion-in-manila http://djunplugged.com/our-mini-family-reunion-in-manila

Delicious food at my Aunty's house and meeting up with other relatives

MINI-REUNION
Today Lynnette and I had a chance to visit my Aunty and cousin who lives here Quezon City, we had a delicious lunch with all the stuff I love, lumpia, longanisa from Baguio and of course lechon! Afterwords we drove down to meet my other Uncle Richard, Aunty Jane and my cousin Anthony in their new condo. I haven't seen them in over 10 years! It was great to reminisce and catch up with everyone!

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/14755/Picture_1.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10z6V61hddL DJ Garces dj DJ Garces Mon, 28 Dec 2009 05:16:00 -0800 Visiting possible church plant locations - check out the TechnoHub... http://djunplugged.com/visiting-possible-church-plant-locations-chec http://djunplugged.com/visiting-possible-church-plant-locations-chec

Possible church plant location: "TechnoHub" - near the Universities and in midst of where young adults work

PASTOR NOEL & ALOT
Today we met up with Pastor Noel and his wife, Alot, again. They were kind of enough to take us around to see some possible church plant locations and also to take us to a great massage joint. We ended up at their house for dinner, and were blessed by their incredibly hospitable hearts.

TECHNOHUB
We visited a place called the "TechnoHub", this is a campus of technology related businesses including call centers where many young professionals work. It is only a year old and is located across the street from the University of the Philippines and not far from a few other major colleges. There is no church currently located in the TechnoHub, but it would be a great place to pioneer a ministry. This will certainly be a place to be praying for!

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/14755/Picture_1.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10z6V61hddL DJ Garces dj DJ Garces Sun, 27 Dec 2009 01:32:00 -0800 Our experience visiting Victory Church in Metro Manila... http://djunplugged.com/our-experience-visiting-victory-church-in-met http://djunplugged.com/our-experience-visiting-victory-church-in-met

Walking into the sanctuary of Victory Church before service started

A GREAT SERVICE
Since it was Sunday, we decided to attend Victory church, a large church with many campuses around metro Manila that doing a great job in reaching a lot of young professional and college students. The service was much like our home church (Hope Chapel West Oahu), people packed air conditioned auditorium, awesome energetic worship, incredible video element, and a great message. On top of all this, it appears they have a strong emphasis on discipleship and growing deep Christians not just large congregations. God is definitely doing great things through this church.

EXCITED FOR THE FUTURE
But as great a job that this church is doing there is still a huge harvest out there in this densely populated city of young people. I was encouraged to see how this church seems to have a similar ministry DNA as Hope Chapel's and that it is successful in reaching people! However, Nolan's vision is even more exciting to me than this because I believe it adds another dimension of discipleship and relationship building with the implementation of a Coffee Shop/Church model!

Tomorrow we meet again with Pastor Noel (Director of Compassion International, Philippines).

Thank you for your prayers - they are being answered - Lynnette is feeling much better today. Please continue to pray for Nolan, Jay and myself - we all seem to have head colds coming on.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/14755/Picture_1.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10z6V61hddL DJ Garces dj DJ Garces Sat, 26 Dec 2009 02:36:22 -0800 Christmas day at the Mall of Asia & Visiting some Pastors the day after http://djunplugged.com/christmas-day-at-the-mall-of-asia-and-visitin http://djunplugged.com/christmas-day-at-the-mall-of-asia-and-visitin

CHRISTMAS DAY HAPPENINGS
On Christmas day, we decided to make our way to the Mall of Asia, a giant shopping mall that is also home to the IMAX theatre where we watched Avatar in 3D (IMAX movie tickets here are less than half the price of cost in Hawaii!), good flick, I would recommend it. Unfortunately, it seemed like entire nation gathered in this one mall on this day with the sole purpose of getting in my way and to watch the same movie as us, so we had to wait about 6 hours until the next open show. Also unfortunate was that Lynnette had gotten a stomach infection and had to deal with vomiting, diarrhea and a sore stomach the entire day. But because I was so excited to watch Avatar, I encouraged her that watching a giant IMAX screen from the 4th row with 3D glasses would make her feel less nauseous...I was wrong.

VISITING PASTORS THE DAY AFTER
The next day Lynnette stayed home to rest her body and to try to recover. While her and Jay (also not feeling to well) stayed at home to rest, Nolan, David, Kryz, Joe and myself were picked up by Pastor Ray, who is the the Foursquare District Supervisor. We had a chance to meet a couple smaller churches to hear their hearts and to continue to find out what the spiritual needs are in this city. God continued to confirm the need to minister to the young professionals in Manila. We also drove through the Makati business district (upper scale neighborhood), which is the only area that Foursquare does not have a church, AND on top of that it where a lot of young professionals live and work, AND it was one of the initial places that Nolan had a vision for. We'll see how God continues to direct us.

PRAYERS
Please pray for our health, especially for Lynnette, Jay and Nolan who either are sick or are starting to feel sick.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/14755/Picture_1.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10z6V61hddL DJ Garces dj DJ Garces Thu, 24 Dec 2009 18:39:07 -0800 Spent Chrismas Eve at Nolan's Uncles - good grinds and caroling! http://djunplugged.com/spent-chrismas-eve-at-nolans-uncles-good-grin http://djunplugged.com/spent-chrismas-eve-at-nolans-uncles-good-grin

For Christmas eve, Nolan's uncle was kind enough to invite all of us over to his place in Sampaloc to celebrate. They cooked us up a great meal and the traditional caroling took place, where the neighborhood kids go from house to house singing Christmas songs for money (or in our case we gave out candy). Midnight mass is a popular tradition here too, churches get packed in this Roman Catholic dominated culture - we passed by one Catholic church literally bursting with people inside and outside sitting on the lawn, on walls, sidewalks and fences.

A lot of Filipinos travel out of Manila to the celebrate in the provinces, but there were still plenty of parties as we passed through streets of blaring karaoke machines, and even grown shirtless men dancing to the beat of Rihanna.

Most people stay up passed midnight celebrating, but unfortunately with jet lag still haunting us foreigners, we couldn't keep our eyes open past 11pm (5am in Hawaii), which is probably the latest we've stayed up since we've been here!

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/14755/Picture_1.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10z6V61hddL DJ Garces dj DJ Garces Wed, 23 Dec 2009 02:29:00 -0800 Finding out the needs of the young adults in the PI - Meeting Pastor Jesse, Philippines Director of Master's Commission http://djunplugged.com/finding-out-the-needs-of-the-young-adults-in http://djunplugged.com/finding-out-the-needs-of-the-young-adults-in

Meeting with Pastor Jesse, who has a passionate heart to see young people discipled

FILLING DONUT HOLES
Today we met with Pastor Jesse and his wife. Pastor Jesse is the Philippines Director for Master's Commission. This organization focuses on discipling young adults through their intense one year course that strengthens the faith of young people before they enter college or the marketplace. This was another divinely orchestrated relationship that Nolan had developed a couple years ago and finally had a chance to meet him face to face today. We found out that he too has the same heart and vision that Nolan had shared with us (coffee shop churches that disciple and evangelize through daily relationship building). Pastor Jesse shared that the young professionals of the Philippines are trying to fill God sized donut holes in their hearts with the pursuit of money, gadgets, travel, etc.  In the end they are unhappy, with 15% thinking about suicide and 9% who attempt it.

DONATING BOOKS
We also had a chance to donate two boxes of children's books to them, which they will use to help out a school that is in need of resources. The books were donated by Lynnette's friend who is a librarian at Manoa Elementary School.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/14755/Picture_1.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10z6V61hddL DJ Garces dj DJ Garces Tue, 22 Dec 2009 15:41:00 -0800 Getting insight from Philippines Director of Compassion International, Noel & his wife http://djunplugged.com/getting-insight-from-philippines-director-of http://djunplugged.com/getting-insight-from-philippines-director-of

Meeting with Noel and his wife, drinking coffee and dreaming about what God can do here

INSIGHTS TO REACHING THE YOUNG ADULTS
Yesterday we had a chance to meet Noel and his wife. Noel is the Director or Compassion International here in the Philippines. Nolan had made contact with him in a trip earlier in the year and continued to build this divinely orchestrated relationship. Meeting Noel was like meeting a friend we had known for years, his heart for new church plants and for young people was encouraging. He gave us a lot of insight to the spiritual needs of the young professionals out here (20 and thirty year olds), one of the greater unchurched demographics in the city. And he has some insight into reaching the young people in the marketplace as well. 

KEY PEOPLE IN THE CITY
Noel seems like he will be a key player in this church plant, it's possible that there is already a small core young people that he knows, that might be interested in  being a part of this vision. We pray that God will continue to lead us to the people, that he has already placed this same vision in, for the city. We'll be meeting up again with Noel and his wife, so that he can take us around the city.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/14755/Picture_1.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10z6V61hddL DJ Garces dj DJ Garces Mon, 21 Dec 2009 13:57:55 -0800 Made it Safely to the Philippines! http://djunplugged.com/made-it-safely-to-the-philippines http://djunplugged.com/made-it-safely-to-the-philippines
At the Philippines airport baggage claim there are 4 boxes for every bag that comes out!

FAMILIAR FACES
After an 11 hour fight we finally made it to the motherland. On the flight we ran into a couple familiar faces. The first was a guy who sitting next to me across the aisle. His not so subtle glaring forced me to just look him straight at his face to figure out what this person had against me - it turns out it was Micah, a face from the old Xtreme days (Young adult ministry at New Hope). He used to play bass on the worship team. 

Lynnette spotted the second familiar face, walking into the bathroom. So I got up and stood by the bathroom door and used my airplane stalking skills, trying to look natural hanging out by the bathrooms without actually needing to use the bathroom. After he had done his duties, Billy Manini walked out. This is another good friend from our ministry's past. He was on his way to meet his wife in Cebu for Christmas.

After landing we got our bags and found Nolan and David waiting for us in a sea of people, and Nolan's uncle drove us through typical insane traffic that is Manila.

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/14755/Picture_1.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10z6V61hddL DJ Garces dj DJ Garces Sun, 20 Dec 2009 15:05:24 -0800 Heading off to the Philippines right now http://djunplugged.com/heading-off-to-the-philippines-right-now http://djunplugged.com/heading-off-to-the-philippines-right-now

I might be a little too excited.

Lynnette and I are on our way to the Philippines on misson trip with 5 other team members to make preparations for the 2011 church plant. We would love it if you would be praying for us while we are out there. Here are some of our prayer requests:

1. Team unity
2. To disern Gods direction as we meet pastors, and scout for a location
3. To build strong relationships in the short time we are there
4. Opportunities to bless and serve the Filipino people

Sent from my iPhone

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]]> http://files.posterous.com/user_profile_pics/14755/Picture_1.jpg http://posterous.com/people/10z6V61hddL DJ Garces dj DJ Garces