Action Plan

Where I have been..

I was born in the Philippines and I migrated to the U.S at a very young age. I was left behind to live with my grandmother, aunt, and uncle so that my mom could work internationally and financially support me and herself. My biological dad was in and out of the picture from the start and was completely out of my life before I could remember who he was. My life changed when I migrated to the U.S with my mom and my step dad who was in the military. They were able to raise me well and provide me countless opportunities to succeed. They’ve taught me to not take anything for granted and to always give my best no matter how small or big the responsibility. Growing up in the U.S made me aware of how poor I was. Having to live in the Philippines almost being dirt poor has influenced me in my youth, to not take for granted any opportunity to succeed, because every opportunity was something to live and die for. I grew up with an intense obsession to succeed and I believed that comfort was overrated. I never saw myself as the smartest, fastest, strongest, or the best at anything. I never was discouraged by failure and I saw myself as the most motivated amongst anyone I met. I grew up striving to give my absolute best to prevent my future from being near to dirt poor and to be a provider for my family. 

For a class during my last semester in college, I was asked to reflect on the happiest moment of my life. Finding the happiest moment was difficult because I believed that there were so many moments in my life that radically changed me, and therefore made me happy. Like the moment I migrated into the U.S from the Philippines. The moments I became fluent in English. The moment I made the basketball team in middle school after being cut the previous year. The moment I got accepted into the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) after being rejected from Duke and waitlisted from NC State. The summer I spent completing a Christian theological project with the Summit Church after failing to convince my parents to allow me to do it the previous year. Accepting a job before graduating from UNC after being rejected from every place I applied to and last but not least graduating from UNC after a worldwide pandemic. I consider all these moments happy moments because of the victories I had when facing the challenges that led me to those moments. 

However, since there is only one to be my happiest moment, I claimed the summer I completed a Christian theological project as my happiest moment. This project was called, “City Project”. “City Project” was an 8 weeks project of me living and learning with a group of college students what true Christianity is and what it looks like to know and dedicate my whole life to Jesus. Not just my Sunday mornings but my education, my money, my time, my career, my relationships, my singleness, my thoughts, my intentions, my sexuality, my identity, and my abilities. I pursued this project because God was calling me to be part of the Great Commission (Matthew 28:16-20) and to make the gospel known to those who do not know (Romans 10:1-17). And deep within me I wanted to know whether Jesus was really who he says he was. I wanted to know because if everything in the Bible is true, then I believed it commanded all my attention to make sure I understood it fully before choosing to reject it or believe it. After completing the project and fully experiencing the love of God I can confidently tell you that Jesus is who he says he is. He is the only way to God (John 14:6) and if you don’t believe and surrender to Jesus the truth is, you stand condemned before God. We all stand condemned, but God, who is rich in mercy and because of his great love for us, sent his one and only son, Jesus, to live the life we could not live. Who died on the cross to bear all our sins; our wickedness, our addictions, our hatred, our insecurities, our loneliness, our hurts, our impurities, and our crimes against one another and God. Then 3 days later he rose from the dead to defeat death once and for all, therefore proving that he is God. 

Way before doing “City Project”, specifically when I was ten years old, I started seeking my purpose in life. I had a wonderful 5th-grade teacher named Lisa Montgomery and on the first day of school, Ms. Montgomery asked the whole class, “Who are you?”. The whole class and I answered with the basic information of our names. Then Ms.Montgomery shared who she was. She was a teacher, a single mother, a sister, and she was aspiring to get her doctorate degree in education. Ms.Montgomery asked the whole class to try again and in the second attempt, the whole class shared what they were aspiring to be, such as being a musician, an actress, an engineer, a doctor, a lawyer etc. I shared that I was a martial artist. I’ve taken a few classes on Judo and I thought I wanted to be a fighter someday. I stopped pursuing that dream, but in that school year Ms.Montgomery taught me that there was more to life than just working, eating, sleeping, and repeating. She encouraged the whole class to not allow our age to be a hindrance to what we aspired to be and to pursue our purposes in life and our passions. After that year, being successful wasn’t enough to motivate me anymore. I felt challenged to seek the purpose of my life and I was empowered to seek it.

My new motivations pushed me to be more obsessed with success and to achieve things that I felt were significant. Like being at the top of my class, being part of every high school sports & clubs, being popular, getting the approval of the prettiest girls, and being a great member of a church and not getting caught with trouble. I even pursued things that today I am ashamed of such as getting addicted to pornography, going along with the bad crowd just to feel good about myself, and pursuing things that I should never have pursued. Whatever I turned to, it was never enough to quench the thirst I had. 

Upon graduating high school, I realized that every time I took a step towards success, I would be happy for just a moment, wishing that the moment would last forever but it never did. There wasn’t any amount of individual accolades I could obtain to take away the shame, insecurities, burdens, and unworthiness I felt. Which led me to look anywhere I could find it. With my obsession for success, I thought attending UNC, a highly ranked public university and moving to a new city would help me know my life’s purpose and therefore lead me to a life of prosperity. I had high hopes that attending and succeeding at UNC was gonna quench my thirst for success. I came to college continually seeking the purpose of my life and questioning the significance of all my striving and toiling.

Then finally in my freshman year of college, Jesus revealed himself to me. A guy named Philippe Garay invited me to a Christian retreat at Black Mountain, NC for a weekend. When accepting this invitation I assumed that this weekend was an opportunity to party, to have fun, and meet friends. And I did those things but I also heard a sermon of Jesus saving a samaritan woman in the book of John chapter 4. In the sermon I heard God’s voice loud and clear as if He was screaming into my ears saying that, “I am the only one who can save you and complete you, no one esle can.” The next week I got baptized and little did I know that it was a decision that will forever change me. I slowly began to study and grow in knowledge of the bible with Philippe and other college students on a weekly basis. And after 2 years of being transformed by God’s words and through my church community, I was encouraged to do “City Project”. 

My obsession for success was transformed to an obsession with God and his love for me. When I completed “City Project” I learned that going to church and reading my bible wasn’t just an extracurricular activity that helps me, but that my purpose in life was to make Jesus known. 

I saw God as greater than any success I could ever achieve. I witness God answer so many prayers and do the impossible. He took my addictions, shame, burdens, insecurities, and unworthiness and gave me hope. I witness my own spiritual and mental transformation. As my belief and understanding of the bible grew, I started to look at my life through the lenses of the bible. I understood why I was never content all those years and that no amount of success in any realm of life was ever enough. It was because I had a God size hole in my heart that nothing on earth could ever fill. Learning that, transformed how I view success and happiness. True happiness that lasts forever stems from only knowing God because He was the one who created me, and ultimately saved me. And that is the driving factor to all my decisions moving forward. Moving forward I want to put God in the center of it all. Where I am going, what I am doing, and who I am doing it with. 

My future plans

In the midst of my obsession of success I developed a passion for technology. I came to UNC to pursue a career in software engineering through majoring in computer science. However before I got saved, I saw my career as a way to gain money and to leverage that for me and my American Dream. It wasn’t a bad pursuit, however I know now that that dream did not align with what I believe God has for me. During my college career I developed an app for high school students to use so that they can have knowledge of their education and be more competitive upon high school graduation for college and scholarship applications. I have published multiple websites for class projects and learning purposes. I have contributed to making a device that automatically watered plants. I have tutored countless students to achieve their class goals. I have learned about the hidden job market and how to properly network in the professional setting. I have led students to Jesus and I have preached the gospel countless times. I believe that my experiences in college will be used as a compass to where I am going. 

After doing multiple informational interviews with entrepreneurs and software engineers I have grown to love technology more. Hearing countless stories of success and failures have inspired me to continue this career path I have chosen. I have learned that people are motivated to do great work when their values align with their work. I have learned from the informational interview of what it takes to succeed in technology and I plan on applying my knowledge in the real world. 

During my last semester of college I pursued going overseas to make the gospel known, however those doors closed. Then I felt God was calling me to go to the workplace. And recently I accepted a job offer to work for AllState as a member of their technology program in Charlotte. Through this program I will be undergoing 2 years of training that will be broken up into 6 months where I will learn specific roles in Allstate’s technology. Roles such as software engineering, devOps, project management, and product development. I believe that this job will be a great opportunity to develop my professional career, to network, to learn from experts, and to use my compensation to bless others with. 

I believe that the next chapter of my life will be a step forward to where I want to be, which is ultimately to glorify God through my works as a software engineer. I plan to follow God and make disciples of all nations wherever I go. I plan to steward the majority of my resources and prayers to missionaries and mission mobilizers who will need the resources to have the gospel be preached to unreached people groups around the world. I plan to honor my family by providing for them in times of need. I plan to leverage my platform and influence to have the love of Christ be experienced through me. I plan to share my testimony and the gospel wherever I go and whoever I encounter. And lastly I plan to thrive in the workplace by giving my absolute best day in and day out.  

Before I accepted my job offer at Allstate I was presented the opportunity to be the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) and cofounder of an upcoming company that is yet to be named or incorporated. And due to specific copyright laws and the interest of the CEO, I cannot yet mention extensive details of the company. However my friend Jonathan the CEO and I will be building the company from the ground up after graduation. We believe that God has gifted us with the idea and knowledge to do so. We plan to bless the people we work with and our future customers with our works, prayers, and messages. I plan to use my knowledge of technology and vast network of entrepreneurs, engineers, and investors to build our company. 

Again with all my success in my future endeavors I plan to glorify and love God in the midst of it and to steward my success for the unreached people group to have the opportunity to hear the gospel. I pray that this short essay of my past and future plan encourages you to seek Jesus and to join me and millions of Christians around the world in this global mission of having Jesus be known through the ends of the earth.