The Spirit of the Lord fills the whole world. It holds all things together.”  (Wisdom 1:7)

What an awesome God we serve! His power, greatness and omnipotent ways unfolded right before our eyes in the recent Life in the Spirit Seminar at St. Martin de Porres Parish. He was the master planner and controller of all things who orchestrated this BLD Mission project and brought forth the “harvest in due season” –sixty four beautiful candidates, all fired up after the anointed weekend. And this all happened at the weekend of the Pentecost. –truly, it was like reliving the day of Pentecost 2000 years ago!

We praise God for opening the door of St. Martin Parish to welcome the first LSS in God’s perfect timing – the 40th year anniversary celebration of the church. We thank Fr. Peter Power for allowing the BLD Community to be of assistance in this first LSS and the St. Martin Core Group who have been such remarkable co-workers of this Mission.

To all our brothers and sisters in the BLD community who have given their valuable time and joyful service for the Lord, we give our heartfelt gratitude! To the BLD leadership, thank you for your unending love and support.

We give thanks to our Lord for blessing us with these working teams who served with gladness and humility during the weekend: Vigil/Intercessory and Liturgy team, the powerhouse of prayers and intercession and overseer of all the liturgical needs.

-Service/Food team  for  providing  the sumptuous physical nourishment.
-Logistics/Conference team  for the   efficient organization,   set up and manning of the conference room and Atrium.
-Transportation/Marshalls team for taking care of  the candidates’ transportation needs.
-Praise team, a collaborative effort of the Mission Praise and SMDP Praise- for rendering God’s music like a symphony!
-Prayer partners for their dedication, brotherly love and gentle ministering of the candidates, and the  sharers who boldly witnessed before all, the glory of God in their lives.

We were also blessed with Fr. Joe MacDonald as the LSS presiding priest, a true emblem of Christ’s humility and gentleness. His inspiring talks  throughout the weekend were a great source of enlightenment and Godly wisdom.

It is our prayer that the Holy Spirit whom the Father has sent to begin the teaching of the Gospel, continue to work at St. Martin parish through the hearts of all the candidates whom He has called for a purpose.

“In behalf of St. Martin de Porres Parish and the SMDP core, we give our sincerest thanks to all our brothers and sisters in the BLD community who have generously contributed their precious time, hard work, love, understanding, patience and joy in making the 1st Life in the Spirit Seminar a success. We thank our Father in Heaven who made all things possible, and we pray that may He continue to shower each and everyone of our BLD brothers and sisters with His abundant blessings and sustain them all in their undertakings with His ever flowing grace.”

“Yes, thank you, BLD!  You made us proud and touched our hearts... Now that we've experienced this from "the other side", I can now understand why the parishes we help are always so grateful. It inspired me to see all our brothers and sisters in the community all happily doing their assignments in a true spirit of servanthood. I'm sure you all made the Holy Spirit smile this weekend on His 'birthday'   To God be the glory!” 
Don & Tess O’Shaughnessy

“Our parish LSS praise and worship would not have been possible without your help and guidance. We couldn't have done it without you.  We're so blessed to have you as our BLD music ministers. Thanks for all your hard work and for being as patient with us as we learned the many songs .We pray that you keep the faith strong and alive through song and praise!  God bless you and your loved ones.” 
Hesty and Adrian Vanderbroek

“From someone who's so new  to all that had happened, having just recently completed my own LSS:  I said "yes" to the challenge of being a part of the St.Martin de Porres  core group knowing very little, armed only with a lot of trust from our dear Lord that he will guide me through.  And once more, He did not disappoint me.  I worked arm in arm with very capable, dedicated people who all so unselfishly gave of themselves - led by our two generals (Edmar and Tess) who provided leadership by action. Then I was asked to join the Praise team and blindly I said "yes".  Well the blind was made to see- I saw the dedication of the BLD praise group which encouraged and inspired me to go on when things became so overwhelming.  How  could I give up? All in all, it was an experience that was most enriching, most inspiring, and very humbling..........and.........a lot of fun!  Thank you, God, thank you everyone, I am truly blessed.”
Helena Carluen