Last night we were praying as a church for our young people. During the time of worship, I was reminded of the recent death of Guillo Servando, an 18 year old CSB student who died because of fraternity hazing.

The Lord then prompted me to start praying for our students and the campuses. For the longest time, the devil has been beating up the next generation black and blue. He has been setting up his gates in the campuses where future leaders are.

It is high time the church take back what is ours. The church should start putting the campuses back in their prayer priority list. It is time forceful men to lay hold of the kingdom of God in the campuses. We cannot just claim the next generation without a fight, we all know that the devil and his minions will put up a fight. Our fight is not physical but spiritual. God has given us the tools to destroy demonic strongholds. All we need to do is get down on our knees and pray. Fight like Christian warriors and pray through till we see breakthrough in the campuses. Instead of the enemy beating up the next generation, the church should be the one beating up the devil.

I could still remember more than 15 years ago, a youth pastor name Bong Calingo and his group of prayer teams would visit University of Makati and pray through till something happens. They would regularly do prayer walks and declare Jesus to be the Lord of the students of University of Makati (UMAK). Year after year, we tried starting a campus work in UMAK but there seems to be something that was hindering the growth in the campus.

Humanly speaking, we tried everything. We brought in celebrities, great preachers, small groups inside but in a few months time – it would just die. After Pastor Bong, Pastor Miko and I started going back to UMAK to see the possibilities of God doing something big inside the campus.

We, just like Pastor Bong, prayed and prayed. We casted out every demon in the dictionary but again all our efforts would have little fruits. We were fighting in the spirit but nothing seems to happen in the physical.

In 2007, a dean from UMAK, was connected to our Lifebox team, through the efforts of a businessman -Jerom Gutierrez, who is now our pastor at Victory Pampanga. We presented the plan of Lifebox and our vision for the University. He liked it and asked that we go to the school to help. It was also in that year that I was called to plant a church in Greenhills. Good thing that we work as a team in campus ministry. Pastor Robert Gonzales and Keith Deloria came over to help carry the load in UMAK.

They continued praying and working inside the campus. In 2007, the miracle happened. A revival broke out in UMAK. Pastor Robert and Keith started reaping the harvest that once was so elusive and hard. They started gathering hundreds of young people in the auditorium of UMAK. In less than a year, they have filled up the auditorium and people were getting saved every week, hundreds were baptized and discipled. I think God waited for me to leave for revival to start in UMAK (hehe). Today more than a thousand student at UMAK worship every Saturday at Victory Fort. Our current crop of campus missionaries graduated from UMAK.

students lining up for the Saturday youth service at the Fort

Looking at what God has done – we could attribute it to the men and women in the past who sowed in prayer and declared that UMAK is for the Lord and that the King of Kings has entered the campus.

PUSH – pray until something happens. Push mo yan! Lord visit the campuses again and light up a fire in the hearts of the students to honor God and Make Disciples.