Myra's testimony
CROSSING OVER
My Life Story (Myra Jalique)
I gave my heart to the Lord on November 27, 2005. That’s when I realized the severity of my sinful nature. I have always known that there is a God and I have acknowledged Him from time to time, but I didn’t have a relationship with Him. I never really understood His nature nor realized that He created me with and for a purpose in this temporal life. I feared God - not because of reverence, but because I was afraid of being punished and going to hell. Growing up, I was always a “good girl”, obedient to my parents and all authorities. I knew God was everywhere and can see my deeds. I believed that my good works will determine whether I enter heaven or not. I feared staying in purgatory for a long time when I die. I knew Jesus was the Son of God, that He died on the cross and rose again on the third day, but I never understood what He has done for me on the cross. I never really understood what the gospel meant. The power of the Holy Spirit was beyond comprehension. I didn’t even own a Bible; I only saw it at church.
Born and raised a Catholic in Olongapo City, Philippines, I went to church religiously on Sundays for as long as I can remember, even before I started going to school. I attended Catholic schools and participated in almost every Mass as a cantor or a reader, sang in the choir or presented the offertory gifts. As a senior in High School, I wanted to be a nun. I loved it when I stayed after school at the church convent or chapel singing with the nuns. But I clearly remember my mother telling me that I would be making the same mistake as Maria did in the movie, The Sound of Music, and that I was meant for something more. You see, I have always loved to sing. I started singing in public since I was six years old. The first time I won a singing competition was when I was nine years old immediately after my father died. Many trophies, medals and cash prizes followed since then. I appeared in the most popular television shows, featured in newspapers, landed a singing contract and was on road tours with the country’s most popular artists. I thought my childhood dream of being a “superstar” was coming true. And perhaps, I thought, that’s what my mother meant when she said that being a nun would be a mistake.
But that’s when everything came to a halt. My mother had a stroke and half of her body was paralyzed. She was a widow who raised all of her six children by selling home cooked food and peddling crackers, peanuts, candies, etc. She lived a difficult life and couldn’t do it anymore. As the eldest, that meant I had to care for and support my siblings, all five of them. That meant I had to stop going to school. I was on my third year in College at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City in the greater Metro Manila area. Our City Mayor was not pleased that I had to quit school as I was one of his top-notched City Scholars. I have always been a scholar since my elementary days after my father died. My other two sisters were also scholars. My mother said that if we didn’t get scholarships, she couldn’t afford to send us to school. At the onset of my mother’s paralysis, I couldn’t bear the thought of my brothers stopping school in their elementary years, so the decision for me to stop school was easy.
I joined an all-girl band and toured Asia earning U.S. dollars, which helped my family tremendously for my mother’s medication and my siblings’ education. However, the roller coaster ride of my life began and my sinful nature emerged and took hold of me. I was lured to drinking at the clubs and drawn to material things that money can buy. When I found an opportunity to come to the United States, I took advantage of it. I met a young man from the Marine Corps while I was in Okinawa, Japan. Having cut some red tapes, while I was in Singapore, he in Okinawa, we were “supposed” to have been married in the Philippines. I justified my rationalization that I was in love with the man who petitioned me to come over and I was doing it for my family. Although my mother was opposed to my plan, I wanted so badly to bring her over, so she could get her treatment and therapy here in the States and then she could bring my brothers and sisters later. But she died before I could become a US citizen. Hence, almost twenty-two years later, I have lived here in the United States by myself, without my siblings.
I was barely twenty-one when I had my first child after that immediate decision to elope, or rather officially married, without having to go through the ceremony. I found myself a year later alone with my daughter as the man I married was unstable – he attempted to kill himself three times, had not supported me and my daughter and had a girlfriend from another state. Without wisdom, I was quick to replace him with another man, who I lived with for three years before getting married and then had my two other children. My youngest was four months old when we got divorced and I was a single parent for many years. I thought I’d try God again one more time. I went back to a Catholic church, and I even joined the choir and taught Sunday school. But it was so easy for me to be lured by the world. A series of unstable relationships and affairs followed. Again without having wisdom, I was in another short-lived marriage to a very violent man… Depression and sleepless nights came in and my self-worth diminished. I thought I was meant for more, but I didn’t know who I really was. I have forgotten about God. I focused on the wrong things, on worldly things instead of my children. I worked many hours, even with two or three jobs at a time. I went back to college for mere self-accomplishment without any direction. I was constantly looking for love in the wrong places. I hid under the accomplishments of the root of all evil – money, as well as prestige and power. I had it all, so I thought – huge home, Mercedes, Louis Vuitton, Calvin Klein, Gucci, a great position at my job, you name it… I was lost!
In my aimless life, once again I was caught in a love affair. I was in the middle of my divorce from the violent, abusive man who had hurt me and my children not only physically, but emotionally and psychologically. My husband now, John, had left his family after attempting to resolve the differences, but failed. His story is much deeper, but what I can tell you, is that he was an atheist. Yet, in the midst of our mess, he took me to Cathedral of Faith. It was on the weekend of John’s birthday in June of 2005. I didn’t know why tears were in my eyes as I heard the music proclaiming God’s love. Pastor Ken started a series dissecting the Lord’s Prayer. My heart was pricked because it was full of guilt. Somehow, I wanted to go back the following week and the following week and the following week. I never left since then. Every week, I would cry during worship when I hear those new songs to my ears. Every week I get convicted of my sins. I remember responding to Pastor Ken ‘s call to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. John and I responded almost every time he asked ,for we never felt worthy of His grace. It was that one evening when the Katinas had a concert in the Sanctuary that I felt that tug in my heart . John and I felt compelled and were drawn to run to the altar. My children couldn’t understand why we were running. Hell broke loose as I cried and poured my heart to the Lord. I surrendered it all to HIM – my sins, my future, my children, my life! I surrendered and I felt peace rush over me. The eyes of my heart was opened and I finally understood God’s forgiveness and grace. I told God I will only sing for Him, all the days of my life. I asked Him to use me for His glory that I may give back to Him the talents He has blessed me with. John and I gave our hearts to the Lord together, we were baptized together, we took our beginner’s Christianity classes together, we serve together.
That was the beginning of an amazing journey with the Lord. I seek Him day and night. I started reading His Word daily and have read the Bible from beginning to end. I joined the choir and a year later, I was singing with the Worship Team and singing specials or offertory songs. My husband and I started going through counseling and under the guidance of Pastor Rick, we were married on September 8,2006. My very first wedding ever! We know our marriage is God-ordained because everything fell into place without stress and full of God’s miracles. How it all happened is a story on its own. God has humbled me and my family and He showed us how to live our lives right. I lost my home and my job, my car was repossessed and John had to work two jobs. Yet, people blessed us when we needed help. I finally understood that God blesses us to be a blessing to others. He has shown us His countless miracles, one after another. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed with His goodness because in good times and through the trials we have faced since becoming Christians, He has proven to us that He is always there. His word is true that He will never leave us nor forsake us. He lets us know He loves us. I never could have imagined so much love towards me that even my children have been born again and transformed, each one of them being a vessel for His perfect will. I can truly say that nothing is impossible with the Lord. Nothing deters my family – not my daughter’s rape, not my son’s ADD, not my youngest daughter’s stubbornness – for we know God is in control and we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us first! My oldest daughter is now a facilitator for Life Hurts God Heals program. My son who doesn’t normally speak to anyone now has friends and is actively involved in the youth ministry. My youngest daughter is now a youth worship leader. John serves as an usher and camera man. He also serves with me with the 1VoiceBand ministry – as I sing with the band in prisons, recovery centers and public concerts, he helps with the equipment and video taping of our ministry. So many doors have opened for me to minister and bring the Word of God to those who need to hear it. God has brought me women who are in the brinks of getting divorced and I have prayed with them, supported them and have helped them to stay. I have invited people to church and prayed for many through my MySpace website. I have been invited to sing in different events to minister through song. The most amazing thing is that God has given me songs to write and sing, when I never could have imagined myself as a songwriter.
So I had to ask God what is my purpose and where is He leading me through this journey? What does He want me to do for Him? As 2008 ended, He revealed the answer. It has always been in my heart that “someday” I will sponsor children to go to school through scholarships, as I was one in my younger years. But I had the “Someday Syndrome” and I had to ask myself when will this someday come? Tomorrow is not promised and if I had one month to live, I wouldn’t be able to do it. So I decided that my someday is NOW. Then God sparked my husband’s heart to start a scholarship foundation, which is now in the process of being finalized. We are calling it Scholars 4 Jesus Educational Foundation. This year, we will send forty (40) children to school in the Philippines – those who are street peddlers, beggars, prostitutes- they are those who are impoverished and would not choose education over having food to eat. I will record the songs God gave me and use it to raise funds for the Foundation. When last year it was not possible to get my recordings done due to financial and other reasons, now doors are being opened to make it happen because I have a purpose. But the main purpose of the Foundation is not just to help the destitute but to give them the true hope that is in Christ, Jesus, to give new life to a dying generation of children. We want to bring the gospel to those children and their families. Because of that, I need to dig deeper, get to know God’s Word deeper, so that not only can I have a better understanding of God’s Word, but I will be able to live, share, teach, and preach His Word. I want to be the hands, feet and voice of Jesus!
My Life Story (Myra Jalique)
I gave my heart to the Lord on November 27, 2005. That’s when I realized the severity of my sinful nature. I have always known that there is a God and I have acknowledged Him from time to time, but I didn’t have a relationship with Him. I never really understood His nature nor realized that He created me with and for a purpose in this temporal life. I feared God - not because of reverence, but because I was afraid of being punished and going to hell. Growing up, I was always a “good girl”, obedient to my parents and all authorities. I knew God was everywhere and can see my deeds. I believed that my good works will determine whether I enter heaven or not. I feared staying in purgatory for a long time when I die. I knew Jesus was the Son of God, that He died on the cross and rose again on the third day, but I never understood what He has done for me on the cross. I never really understood what the gospel meant. The power of the Holy Spirit was beyond comprehension. I didn’t even own a Bible; I only saw it at church.
Born and raised a Catholic in Olongapo City, Philippines, I went to church religiously on Sundays for as long as I can remember, even before I started going to school. I attended Catholic schools and participated in almost every Mass as a cantor or a reader, sang in the choir or presented the offertory gifts. As a senior in High School, I wanted to be a nun. I loved it when I stayed after school at the church convent or chapel singing with the nuns. But I clearly remember my mother telling me that I would be making the same mistake as Maria did in the movie, The Sound of Music, and that I was meant for something more. You see, I have always loved to sing. I started singing in public since I was six years old. The first time I won a singing competition was when I was nine years old immediately after my father died. Many trophies, medals and cash prizes followed since then. I appeared in the most popular television shows, featured in newspapers, landed a singing contract and was on road tours with the country’s most popular artists. I thought my childhood dream of being a “superstar” was coming true. And perhaps, I thought, that’s what my mother meant when she said that being a nun would be a mistake.
But that’s when everything came to a halt. My mother had a stroke and half of her body was paralyzed. She was a widow who raised all of her six children by selling home cooked food and peddling crackers, peanuts, candies, etc. She lived a difficult life and couldn’t do it anymore. As the eldest, that meant I had to care for and support my siblings, all five of them. That meant I had to stop going to school. I was on my third year in College at the University of the Philippines in Diliman, Quezon City in the greater Metro Manila area. Our City Mayor was not pleased that I had to quit school as I was one of his top-notched City Scholars. I have always been a scholar since my elementary days after my father died. My other two sisters were also scholars. My mother said that if we didn’t get scholarships, she couldn’t afford to send us to school. At the onset of my mother’s paralysis, I couldn’t bear the thought of my brothers stopping school in their elementary years, so the decision for me to stop school was easy.
I joined an all-girl band and toured Asia earning U.S. dollars, which helped my family tremendously for my mother’s medication and my siblings’ education. However, the roller coaster ride of my life began and my sinful nature emerged and took hold of me. I was lured to drinking at the clubs and drawn to material things that money can buy. When I found an opportunity to come to the United States, I took advantage of it. I met a young man from the Marine Corps while I was in Okinawa, Japan. Having cut some red tapes, while I was in Singapore, he in Okinawa, we were “supposed” to have been married in the Philippines. I justified my rationalization that I was in love with the man who petitioned me to come over and I was doing it for my family. Although my mother was opposed to my plan, I wanted so badly to bring her over, so she could get her treatment and therapy here in the States and then she could bring my brothers and sisters later. But she died before I could become a US citizen. Hence, almost twenty-two years later, I have lived here in the United States by myself, without my siblings.
I was barely twenty-one when I had my first child after that immediate decision to elope, or rather officially married, without having to go through the ceremony. I found myself a year later alone with my daughter as the man I married was unstable – he attempted to kill himself three times, had not supported me and my daughter and had a girlfriend from another state. Without wisdom, I was quick to replace him with another man, who I lived with for three years before getting married and then had my two other children. My youngest was four months old when we got divorced and I was a single parent for many years. I thought I’d try God again one more time. I went back to a Catholic church, and I even joined the choir and taught Sunday school. But it was so easy for me to be lured by the world. A series of unstable relationships and affairs followed. Again without having wisdom, I was in another short-lived marriage to a very violent man… Depression and sleepless nights came in and my self-worth diminished. I thought I was meant for more, but I didn’t know who I really was. I have forgotten about God. I focused on the wrong things, on worldly things instead of my children. I worked many hours, even with two or three jobs at a time. I went back to college for mere self-accomplishment without any direction. I was constantly looking for love in the wrong places. I hid under the accomplishments of the root of all evil – money, as well as prestige and power. I had it all, so I thought – huge home, Mercedes, Louis Vuitton, Calvin Klein, Gucci, a great position at my job, you name it… I was lost!
In my aimless life, once again I was caught in a love affair. I was in the middle of my divorce from the violent, abusive man who had hurt me and my children not only physically, but emotionally and psychologically. My husband now, John, had left his family after attempting to resolve the differences, but failed. His story is much deeper, but what I can tell you, is that he was an atheist. Yet, in the midst of our mess, he took me to Cathedral of Faith. It was on the weekend of John’s birthday in June of 2005. I didn’t know why tears were in my eyes as I heard the music proclaiming God’s love. Pastor Ken started a series dissecting the Lord’s Prayer. My heart was pricked because it was full of guilt. Somehow, I wanted to go back the following week and the following week and the following week. I never left since then. Every week, I would cry during worship when I hear those new songs to my ears. Every week I get convicted of my sins. I remember responding to Pastor Ken ‘s call to accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. John and I responded almost every time he asked ,for we never felt worthy of His grace. It was that one evening when the Katinas had a concert in the Sanctuary that I felt that tug in my heart . John and I felt compelled and were drawn to run to the altar. My children couldn’t understand why we were running. Hell broke loose as I cried and poured my heart to the Lord. I surrendered it all to HIM – my sins, my future, my children, my life! I surrendered and I felt peace rush over me. The eyes of my heart was opened and I finally understood God’s forgiveness and grace. I told God I will only sing for Him, all the days of my life. I asked Him to use me for His glory that I may give back to Him the talents He has blessed me with. John and I gave our hearts to the Lord together, we were baptized together, we took our beginner’s Christianity classes together, we serve together.
That was the beginning of an amazing journey with the Lord. I seek Him day and night. I started reading His Word daily and have read the Bible from beginning to end. I joined the choir and a year later, I was singing with the Worship Team and singing specials or offertory songs. My husband and I started going through counseling and under the guidance of Pastor Rick, we were married on September 8,2006. My very first wedding ever! We know our marriage is God-ordained because everything fell into place without stress and full of God’s miracles. How it all happened is a story on its own. God has humbled me and my family and He showed us how to live our lives right. I lost my home and my job, my car was repossessed and John had to work two jobs. Yet, people blessed us when we needed help. I finally understood that God blesses us to be a blessing to others. He has shown us His countless miracles, one after another. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed with His goodness because in good times and through the trials we have faced since becoming Christians, He has proven to us that He is always there. His word is true that He will never leave us nor forsake us. He lets us know He loves us. I never could have imagined so much love towards me that even my children have been born again and transformed, each one of them being a vessel for His perfect will. I can truly say that nothing is impossible with the Lord. Nothing deters my family – not my daughter’s rape, not my son’s ADD, not my youngest daughter’s stubbornness – for we know God is in control and we are more than conquerors through Christ who loved us first! My oldest daughter is now a facilitator for Life Hurts God Heals program. My son who doesn’t normally speak to anyone now has friends and is actively involved in the youth ministry. My youngest daughter is now a youth worship leader. John serves as an usher and camera man. He also serves with me with the 1VoiceBand ministry – as I sing with the band in prisons, recovery centers and public concerts, he helps with the equipment and video taping of our ministry. So many doors have opened for me to minister and bring the Word of God to those who need to hear it. God has brought me women who are in the brinks of getting divorced and I have prayed with them, supported them and have helped them to stay. I have invited people to church and prayed for many through my MySpace website. I have been invited to sing in different events to minister through song. The most amazing thing is that God has given me songs to write and sing, when I never could have imagined myself as a songwriter.
So I had to ask God what is my purpose and where is He leading me through this journey? What does He want me to do for Him? As 2008 ended, He revealed the answer. It has always been in my heart that “someday” I will sponsor children to go to school through scholarships, as I was one in my younger years. But I had the “Someday Syndrome” and I had to ask myself when will this someday come? Tomorrow is not promised and if I had one month to live, I wouldn’t be able to do it. So I decided that my someday is NOW. Then God sparked my husband’s heart to start a scholarship foundation, which is now in the process of being finalized. We are calling it Scholars 4 Jesus Educational Foundation. This year, we will send forty (40) children to school in the Philippines – those who are street peddlers, beggars, prostitutes- they are those who are impoverished and would not choose education over having food to eat. I will record the songs God gave me and use it to raise funds for the Foundation. When last year it was not possible to get my recordings done due to financial and other reasons, now doors are being opened to make it happen because I have a purpose. But the main purpose of the Foundation is not just to help the destitute but to give them the true hope that is in Christ, Jesus, to give new life to a dying generation of children. We want to bring the gospel to those children and their families. Because of that, I need to dig deeper, get to know God’s Word deeper, so that not only can I have a better understanding of God’s Word, but I will be able to live, share, teach, and preach His Word. I want to be the hands, feet and voice of Jesus!
