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september 2007 issue vi

Overahundredandthirtyyoungpeo-

ple gathered for ve days of fun fellowship,passionate worship and powerful anointingat the Pinecrest Christian Conference Cen-ter in Twin Peaks, California on August 9-13, 2007, for the annual Soul Anchor youthcamp hosted by the Pyros Youth Ministry ofWord International Ministries Los Angeles.

Entitled Pressing On, this years camptheme followed the apostle Pauls advice tothe church in Philippi as outlined in Philip-pians 3: Forgetting what is behind andstraining toward what is ahead [to] presson toward the goal to win the prize.

This years attendance was the largest

so far. Starting out in 2004, the rst SoulAnchor camp only had around thirty attend-ees. Soul Anchor 2007 displayed tremen-dous growth as it doubled in attendancefrom last year.

In previous years, only WIN churchesfrom California and Nevada attended thecamp; this summer, churches from outsidethese two states also attended the camp.Three WIN churches from Washington com-

prised of Kent, Auburn, and Tacoma, along

with WIN Houston and WIN Hawaii, joinedthe California churches for the rst time thisyear. This is historic as thirteen of the six-teen WIN churches in the United States at-tended. It is clear that Soul Anchor is beingused to unify the youth of the WIN church-es in America in preparation for a growingrevival and a global harvest.

The youth who attended the campwere assigned to a cell group to help ca-ter to their specic needs, with two of theten groups composed of college students.Members of the cell groups were able tominister to each other through prayer,

studying the Bible, and fellowship underthe leadership of two cell leaders. No onereally knew how to gauge the expectationsof the campers, as almost half of them wererst-timers. But as camp progressed, theleaders found open hearts that were will-ing to engage with one another, and mostimportantly, with God.

Each session, which was a time ofbreaking free of bondages and sins and

committing or re-dedicating lives to Christ

began with dynamic, energy-lled praiseand passionate worship. Even on the veryrst night, the youth already let go of theiinhibitions. They were so energized to givetheir unreserved praise to their God thatthey jumped and danced around withoutreluctance. The youth denitely shook theplace up as the second oor of the buildingwas noticeably moving up and down withthe jumping of a hundred and thirty peopleEvery succeeding session saw amazing responses to altar calls as young people feltthe presence of the Holy Spirit with increasing intensity.

Speakers from outside the WIN network graced the sessions with youth-oriented teachings. Tatsuo Akamine of GlobaRevival Mission and Asians Together, Jonathan Ngai from Transformations MinistryDawn Beard of Jesus Revolution USA, andDr. Maurice Sklar (whose children attendedthe camp), a world-renowned violinist wereamong the anointed speakers at this years

WIN Youth Gather To Press OnByPaolo Manuel

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The Saturday of July 7, 2007, dawnedas an ordinary Saturday for some, but forcountless Christians around the world, thedate 070707 signies a unique and pro-phetic date a hundred years in the making,and considered to be a millennial date thatwill not be repeated throughout this de-cade or century.

On this day, hundreds of thousands ofChristians assembled in the Titans Stadiumin Nashville, Tennessee, to stir up and cryout for revival in America. Before the as-

sembly took place, renowned revivalist LouEngleledthepeopleinapropheticactionby walking down Church Street, and thendown 40th Street, which leads to a bridgeover a river that crosses unto Titan Stadi-um.

This prophetic gesture signied themoving of the church, the 40 years thathave passed since the Jesus Movementand the infamous Summer of Love, and thecrossing over of the people towards Godscall. This anticipated event was dubbedas The Call Nashville, and its main purposewas to usher in a revival with a new sound

among a new generation that will bringabout a great spiritual harvest.

In response to The Call Nashville, Pas-tor Mark led Pyros, with the help of some ofour brethren from the WIN Artesia church,in a worship and prayer gathering to inter-cede for the nation and the current issuesthat our country and generation have beenfacing, such as abortion, pornography andthe controversies in the government. Therewas an opening up of hurts and bitternessbetween generations as some parents con-fessed their mistakes to the children andthe children confessed their hostilities to-

wards parents.Pyros and the WIN LA congregation

also participated as a whole in 40 days ofasting and prayer, with members of the

church fasting in a variety of ways fromfull food fasts to media fasts, all ending on070707.

It was certainly a day of release, restoration, and revival. It was the perfect moment to set our hearts right, as well as toprepare for the much-awaited camp, whichwas only a couple of days away at thattime.

After forty years, a new generation hasrisen up from the ashes, ready to take holdof Gods purpose, for such a time as this. InPastor Marks words, we need to act nowor suffer the repercussions.

070707: AnsweringThe CalFor Praying & Fasting

Pastor Mark preaches on revival for thisgeneration on 070707.

ByRizza aldaBa

the pyros torch

out the commitment they made to Godthey continue to press on toward the goal.

camp. Of course, Pastor Chito Cordero andPastor Mark Briones of WIN also sharedpowerful words.

Workshops that addressed commonissues that young people face today werealso conducted. Liel and Steve Wills taughton sexual purity; Alex Cabansagan spoke to

the college students about issues concern-ing college life; and Priscilla Rhitaporn ad-dressed the high school crowd on topics likepeer evangelism and temptations in highschool.

Every year, Soul Anchor also has anight that showcases talents within thedifferent cell groups represented in camp.This year, the campers had two tasks chal-lenging their creativity. Half of the groupswere asked to use the theme of a popularHollywood movie to present a Bible story.For example, one group was assigned totweak the plotline of the movie 300 by

bringing in the story of David and Goliath.This not only forced them to work togetheras a group, but to be creative and to displaytheir thespian talents.

The other ve cell groups were as-signed to rewrite the lyrics to popular secu-lar songs on the radio and Christianizethese lyrics. With a little brainstorming anda lot of creativity, the campers were ableto not only come up with an even betterversion of songs such as Umbrella and

Dontcha, but they were able to supple-ment their performance with fun choreog-raphy.

Another event that deserves to be high -lighted is the water baptism. On Wednes-day morning, 20 campersthe highestnumber of any camp in the pastdecided topublicly confess their faith in Jesus Christ asthey chose to be baptized in water, whichsignies the death of the old self and therebirth and a new life in accordance to theHoly Spirit. As these campers were gettingbaptized, the rest of the campers prayedover them and sang songs that spoke ofcommitment and new life.

The different youth who went to camp,coming from all walks of life, carried differ-

ent emotional and spiritual baggages. Theunique stories of the individual campersintertwined with one another as each onehad the same realization: there is a prize tobe attained at the end of the race. Lead-ers and campers alike realized that God hasmade His power available to His children.This fresh download of strength and passionfrom above and the opportunity to breakfree from past hurts and spiritual bondagefueled everyone at the camp to press on.

Two months have passed already, andthe youth are still red up. They made acommitment on that mountain to live lives

devoted to God and toshare their powerfulexperience with theirfriends, family, class-mate, and churches.They experienced rev-elations and a freshtouch from the HolySpirit. The youth willundoubtedly remem-ber that the experi-encetheyhaddidnotstop when they wentdown that mountain.They are still burningwith passion and ex-citement. Knowing that God has given Hisall to His children, they continue to carry

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I always believe that as Christians, weneed to live our lives so that they pleaseGod, and not to live lives that simply pleasethe people around us. Our focus must be

on God, not on man. Nothing we can do aspeople can please God except the things wedo through faith.

It is one of the paradoxes of Christiani-ty. Only when we learn that we cant pleaseGod in our own strength can we then startto please God. So how do we live to pleaseGod? Is it possible?

Hebrews 11:6 says that without faith, itis impossible to please God because anyonewho comes to Him must believe He existsand rewards those who earnestly seek Him.So with faith and in faith, we can certainlyplease Him. What an awesome privilege it

is that we can please God, the creator ofHeaven and earth, the Almighty God.

When we are acting in faith, God ispleased. When we do things from a heart

and an attitude of love, God is pleased, andwhen we do things that bring glory andhonor to God, He is pleased. We cannotoperate in the natural realm to please God,but must move into the supernatural realmof faith. Faith is not seeing, but still believ-ing. It is the substance of things hoped for,the evidence of things unseen.

By faith means a living, active faith, afaith that knows and follows God, as wellas communes and fellowships with God. Itdoes not matter what a person does; with-out faith he cannot please God. It is ut-terly impossible to please God without faith.

Without faith, a person has to plow throughthis life all alone and handle all the trialstemptations, sufferings, accidents, diseases, and death by himself. Without faith, a

person stands all alone in this world, utterlywithout God. It is impossible for him toplease God.

J.G. Stripe said that faith is like atoothbrush; everybody must have one andeverybody must use it.

Let us be men and women who pleaseGod and not people who seek to pleaseeach other. Remember, we can only do thisthrough faith, as it is impossible to pleaseGod without it.

Blessings,Pastor Mark

Expectant hearts lled the Pacic Com-munity Center in Glendale once again asyouth from all over California gathered to

receive a fresh touch from God on Friday, August 10, for Pyros annual CrosspointYouth Rally.

While a southern California Crosspointrally takes place every year, the results wereanything but traditional. In preparation forthis night, the Pyros leaders had been pray-ing fasting for weeks.

With youth from Glendale, Cerritos,Los Angeles, WIN Inland Empire, WIN Sili-con Valley, WIN Orange, Word for the WorldSouth Bay, and Heights Worship Center inattendance, as well as invited friends, class-mates and walk-ins, the high-energy event

began with a the riveting game of Pik-Pak-Booma Crosspoint favoriteto break theice. However, once the fun and games con-

cluded, it was time to truly see the points ofnew beginnings God had in store.

During the passionate praise and wor-ship segment, the youth jumped, danced,and fervently worshipped as God anointedthe praise team. Hearts were bowed andhumbled as worship leader Pauline Guiuanchallengedtheyouthtoreachouttotheirfamilies, friends, and loved ones, remindingthem that the message of salvation is tooimportant to keep to oneself.

As worship concluded, Pastor Mark in-troduced the speaker , Pastor Nelson Bartie,from Victory Outreach in Carson. Before he

theFireside And wut fh t i mble plase God...Hebrews 11:6

Crosspoint Sparks New BeginningsByJoanna CoRdeRo

began his message, he called upon his wifeIsabella to give her brief yet powerful testimony, sharing her story of past gang afliation, teen pregnancy, and Gods power totransform and break free, to speak into thelives of the youth.

The ery and passionate speaker returned to the microphone and shared hissimilar testimony of gang afliation and arough background. With the Word sealedinto his heart, he began sharing out of 1Samuel, asserting that after the house othe priest Eli was cursed due to the wicked

ness of his sons, the Lord called the youngSamuel to speak His truth to share with alof Israel.

Pastor Nelson challenged the youthcalling them out of be the Samuels of thisgeneration, to be the ones to say SpeakLord, for your servant is listening (1 Samuel 3:9). He proposed that regardless owhat it takes, we must share the Gospel toeveryone we encounter, making them trulyaware of the afterlife without salvation.

After sharing his compelling sermonPastor Nelson called a powerful altar calldaring the youth to step up in faith to be

the ones bold enough to share His message. Hearts were rescued, rededicatedand refreshed, and as the night ended, new

journeys began.

Young people respond to the call for consecration and anointing.

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PyRos youth PastoR

Mark Brioneslayout & design editoR

Paolo ManueleditoR-in-Chief

Rizza AldabaContaCt

pyros424@yahoo.com myspace.com/pyr0s

As the two daughters of Pastor ChitoCordero, their names and faces are familiarto the pastors, youth groups and membersof the different Word International Minis-tries churches throughout the world. San-dra and Joanna Cordero can almost be con-sidered the First Daughters of the WINnetwork.

But theres denitely a lot more tothese two than just being pastors kids.Sandra, 19, and Joanna, 18, are knownfor being strong youth leaders in the Pyrosyouth ministry, carrying a variety of respon-sibilities, and for being achievers and rolemodels, excelling academically and in ev-erything else they are involved in.

Sandra, the older of the two, is a cur-rent business major in her second year atUniversity of California, Irvine. She was oneof the very rst members of the Pyros youthministry, and was the rst girl in WIN LAsformer youth ministry, Young Believers inChrist (YBIC), when she joined the group in2000 at the age of 12.

Now one of Pyros main leaders, Sandrais responsible for teaching and coordinatingBible studies, helping plan the annual sum-mer camp, singing back-up for the praiseteam and discipling younger members.

I am most proud of the familial at-

mosphere we have, she says when askedabout Pyros and how it has grown throughthe years. We are all kindred spirits. Weconnect on every level imaginable. TheLord has blessed us with great vision, cha-risma, and all sorts of talents.

Outside of the youth group, Sandrahas also performed very well in variousorganizations, both in high school and col-lege. She was president of the AssociatedStudent Body in her senior year, cheer co-captain, Filipino club president, and Hooverleadership representative to the GlendaleUnied School District, among others. She

is formerly part of a UC Irvine hip-hop danceteam called Common Ground.

Joanna, who looks up to her oldersister as a great accountability partner,friend, and not only a biological, but also aspiritual sister, is also one of the key play-ers in Pyros leadership. She leads worship,teaches Bible studies, writes and edits forthe Pyros Torch, helps coordinate summercamps, and conducts discipleship sessions.

She is poised to leave home and begin

her studies at University of California, SantaBarbara in September, pursuing a degree inCommunications, as she hopes to work inthe advertising eld someday. AlthoughIm dreading saying goodbye to my belovedfamily, Im excited to see why God is lead-ing me to Santa Barbara, she says.

A fresh graduate of Hoover High Schoolin Glendale, Joanna followed in her sistersfootsteps, also becoming ASB president,leadership council representative and cheerco-captain, in addition to being a writer andcopy editor for her schools newspaper, andthe lead actress in the musical Once OnThis Island.

Sandra is very proud of her sister. Iam proud of the young woman Joanna hasbecome, she says. She has a good headon her shoulders, and shes a ghter.

The closeness between the two isstrongly evident. As daughters of one ofthe main leaders of Word International Min-istries, they have together dealt with boththe advantages and the challenges of beinglabeled pastors kids.

As a pastors daughter, Ive had thepleasure of being able to go around church-es and travel all around the world, saysJoanna. Being a pastors kid is essentially

being born into a ministry God has calledyou into even before you were old enoughto realize it and claim it for yourself.

Throughout our lives, we have beenable to minister internationally and had theopportunity to meet all sorts of amazingpeople, Sandra adds.

On mission trips with Pyros, the sistersare accustomed to talking to people whoselives their parents ministries have touched.

However, according to the two, grow-ing up as pastors kids is not as easy as itseems to be.

There is constant pressure on us to

do well at everything, says Sandra. Ourparents, especially our dad, travel a lot.Other parents use us as a standard theirchildren should emulate. Precautions aretaken when we are around. People knowabout us before we even meet them. Weare always being watched. Its almost likebeing famous, but with unwanted fame.

She is also quick to add that the goodoutweighs the bad. We have been blessed

that our parents have served God faithfullythrough the years.

Joanna says that her position hasstrengthened her spiritually. It has helpedmy walk with God, mostly in the area oleadership, as I have been accustomed toaccountability and being in the churchspublic eye for almost my entire life.

As the Cordero sisters begin lives independent of their family and church, theyboth begin to fully realize Gods calling upontheir lives.

Leaving home and church has forcedme out of my comfort zone, says Sandrawho still goes home most weekends to visiher family and attend church. It is oftensaid that college is about nding yourselfbut I believe it is more about sorting out

who you are. The most important thing toremember when in college is who you are inthe Lord Jesus Christ.

Joanna says the shes leaving her future as open as possible, trusting thaGods plans for me are greater than anyplan I could dream up for myself.

She is excited for the transition in theyouth group as younger members step upand take her place, as well as those of others who have recently left for college, inleadership. It will be beautiful to see howGod has and will turn a bunch of regulakids into a spiritual force to be reckoned

with.Both sisters express how proud they

are of the youth group and how it hashelped them grow into the leaders theyare today. I would like each member toembrace the calling God has placed upontheir lives and diligently pursue fulllmenof their destinies, says Sandra. God desires for our generation to be the light in thedarkness.

ByPauline guiuan

the pyros torch

Sister ActA Lk Int T Liv o Sdra & Jna Crer