ST. GEORGE FIL-AM CHOIR 

          Testimony of a choir member

 

AUREA AND ALEJAH         My name is Aurea and I am currently working as a nurse at the Veterans Hospital. with my busy work schedule and family obligations. I try to put aside some of my free time to serve and praise the LORD. i love music and singing, the choir gives me the opportunity to enjoy both. Joining the choir has made my life more colorful, to widen my social circle and to meet people from all walks of life.           In addition, I have a ten year old daughter, Alejah, who goes to St. George School and loves singing and performing. Participating in the choir will also give her a chance to be among adults and experience an activity that provides exposure to community involvement while enjoying the support of family and friends in the church community.            Come and join us. If you want to learn more about the choir, please contact our choir director, Jun Aguilar at (206) 767-6056 or Renato Sacramento at (206) 762-7744. GOD BLESS.		CELESTE  END YOUR LIFE’S SEARCH—TRY THE CHOIR      Have you ever had the feeling of searching through life, saying to yourself, “there  must be more that I should do than what I am doing now”, and that finding that missing piece in your life’s puzzle will make your life complete?  I have been searching for more meaning in  my life since my family left the Philippines in l990 and lived in Nigeria for 10-some years.  Back then, I did feeding missions and fund-raising drives for the suffering children of Lagos, went to mass everyday and assisted nuns in their charity works. Still I was searching.      Until the year 2000 came.  Here in Seattle to take care of my first granddaughter, I was introduced to the St. George Fil-Am Choir.    I have sung  in choirs before and I just loved the camaraderie, the discipline and the belief  that if one sings for the Holy Mass, it is like a deep prayer done twice.  Joining the choir proved to be the key that ended my search.  It  opened my door toward stewardship, love,  and service to our Lord.  The Holy Spirit (through the Choir) allowed me to go outside of my family,   my comfort zone,  and open my heart and hands to other families to reach out  through songs, acts of  charity and community service.  The main highlights of our Choir are the preparations for the Lenten and Advent Seasons, when mass hymns are especially picked out to add  momentum and celebrate the importance of these seasons.  We sing for funerals, charity benefits, and for the sick-bound, to be able to lift their spirits even for a while.       We at the Choir are like one big,  happy family, meeting every Thursdays at the  Rainbow Room, sharing stories, happy or sad, jokes, food and prayer.  Through the  Choir, I was able to be introduced to other ministries in the Parish—the Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion, St. Vincent de Paul and the Finance Council. My daughter Bianca, a graduate of St. George School,  also serves as an altar server.       I am always reminded of our call to service by our Lord everytime we sing one of our mass songs:  “Here I am Lord,  Is it I,  Lord?                         I have heard You calling in the night,                         I will go Lord, if You lead me                          I will hold your people in my heart.”       I have indeed  found my missing piece…
BUTCH AND MAYIN  March ON! Sing for the Lord!   Thank you for reading this section of the Sunday bulletin. We know, you are thinking of doing something for the church. So, why not join the choir? “You can lip sing, just like us!” Well! It sounds encouraging, isn’t it? “We’re improving!” Actually, we joined the choir with the intention of staying just after the “Simbang Gabi” celebration last December. Because we are extremely busy already with our regular work, family, community activities, and other volunteer responsibilities here in the U.S. as well as our passion in helping the poorest of the poor in the Philippines through GK-Gawad Kalinga. In spite of this, Butch and I find our selves enjoying the friendliness and humbleness of all the members as one community and family of Christ here at St. George.  Now, we are not only having fun, singing and laughing during the practices.  We deeply appreciate and enjoy the Sunday masses even more. We truly admire also all the members especially the Aguilar family for their services in using and sharing the gift of music that God gave to them. Sometimes, I have tears of joy in my eyes just listening to their instruments- incredible family indeed! God gave us also the opportunity to be able to serve as extraordinary ministers of Holy Communion.  We are glad to become active members of St. George Fil-Am Association and Choir. We truly believe that when we sing to the Lord, we are praying twice. So, WE encourage YOU to say YES! If you have the desire to serve in the music ministry. Please do not be shy-you can do more!  God knows when you sing from the heart. Come, join us and experience God’s best. “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord. “ God bless us all!		By working hard for your self and for the lord can lead to more blessings. The reasons why I joined the St. George choir was to sing even more. I also wanted to get used to singing in front of crowds and practice how I would sing to the audience. However, it wasn’t for God. I wanted to benefit of myself. So I just sang, gained even more experience in singing, learned how to sing in a different style and with a group of people not just singing solo. But I though I needed more improvement. I kept asking God for this and for that to help me in my passion for singing. But they wouldn’t be answered in the snap of a finger or in a short time. So I kept asking the Lord until I realized that my prayers would be answered only by working hard for it. So I did so by practicing even more by myself but still not for the Lord. Some of my prayers were answered but I still kept asking. But then one day when my aunty brought me to the torchlight practice for the FYA Drill Team, we were talking about singing. She has a good voice because she has that smooth vibrato. I was wondering where she got it from. So I asked her where she got it from. She said, ‘I just sing for the lord! If you sing for the lord, you’ll earn more blessings.”          Those words I knew were my advice from the lord. I knew something was missing that I couldn’t figure out until that moment when my aunty told me those words. So I took her word and from there on, I have earned more blessings. Because of the hard work I put in not only for myself but for the lord, my prayers have been answered and I have earned more blessing. This shows that by singing for the lord, you’ll earn more blessings.   God Bless,   Keanna A. Mendoza (Daughter of Irving Mendoza, bass guitarist).
CRISTINA C We are Called               My name is Cristina. I work at FCHN as a Cobra and Eligibility Administrator. I am a longtime parishioner here at St. George Parish church. I have two boys who were baptized here at the parish. I used to be in a choir in high school in the Philippines.              To continue my love and commitment to Him, I joined the choir in the mid 90’s.Singing in his kingdom fills my heart with lots of joy and peace of mind. Singing is also a powerful prayer for me that lets me show my love to him. Singing in the choir has allowed me to go visit different churches and meet new friends. It is also a great honor to be a member of the Fil-Am choir. We have lots of fun during our practices, so come and join us and show your love and talent to Him.		IRVING AND KEANNA My name is Irving, the bass player for the St. George Fil-Am choir and my daughter, Keanna, one of the soprano voices in the choir. We both joined the music ministry at St. George during the 3rd quarter or so of 2007 when the church was looking for ways to “give thanks” to the Lord. Since I have been a musician all my life playing with bands for different FIL-AM gatherings especially for the Filipino Community Center, my wife,  Rocel, an usher, encouraged me and my daughter to share this skills and talents in music for the church.  Joining the choir at St. George enables us to do what we love doing and that is playing MUSIC which we found much rewarding—”sharing our gift (in music) back to the LORD”  The choir connects my family better to the community, enhancing my understanding of my culture and being an ABP (American-Born-Pinoy) and raised in the US through music, stories, food, jokes, lifestyle and simply camaraderie with each other during practice time which is a lot of fun. Our circle of friends is just continuous. It is therapeutic I’d say during practice with the choir members. It gives variety to the routine of work. It is also a re-connecting point to play once again with my elementary classmate (at St. Joseph’s) - Guy Valencia, who is also part of the St. George Fil-Am choir. As for Keanna, her love of singing continuous and met more friends like Alejah, and the Aguilar brothers (DJ and JC)  So, are you still looking for ways to make your life make more exciting and feel more productive member of the community? Come and join the St. George Fil-Am choir… You don’t have to have musical TALENT, you can just bring yourself and have fun!. Who Knows you have hidden talent you didn’t know about?  See you in the next practice or talk to any of the choir after 10:30 AM Sunday masses simply start by just saying “KUMUSTA KABAYAN”..  Salamat po! Irving and Keanna
ROWENA ANSWER TO GOD'S CALL!! I'm ROWENA AGUILAR, a nursing assistant certified at Horizon House for more than 11 yrs. now. I was given a mission by the LORD to take care of the elders and bring joy to their life and the mission of praising and glorifying the LORD through music. GOD is really good in directing my life for I made Him the Driver and I'm just sitting back as a passenger. I was a choir back home in the Philippines for long years under my Uncle Jun's leadership. Now I'm an active member of the St. George Choir here in Seattle. I'm proud to say that my Unlce Jun, Tita Connie, cousins DJ and JC and my sister Oye (Veronica) are part of it too, they're my inspiration. I joined the St. George Fil-Am Choir because I want to serve the LORD. He had showered me a lot of blessings and my way of thanking Him is to make that commitment every Sunday to sing Him songs of praises. Being a member of the choir, I value the camaraderie of the group, especially the practices time, our time to share laughters and stories and food too! weeeeeeeeeeeeee...happy family! I heard my LORD calling me in service and i simply said YES to HIS call. Did u hear His voice calling you?...Give some of your time and talent and be a part of this wonderful choir and start ahora mismo!...hehehe...You're hired!... COME...LET'S ALL HAVE FUN, SING AND SERVE THE LORD!!!...ANSWER GOD'S CALL NOW!!!		JC As we all know, throughout our entire lives, God has truly accompanied us with a  myriad of blessings that are certainly irreplaceable. Although we still occasionally are uncertain of our niche in this world, don’t you ever reflect or reminisce about the fact that ‘How can I ever give back to what the Lord has brought into my life?’ During my 14-year tenure and the times that I have stepped my foot on this Earth, God has truly blessed me with a rife of wonderful gifts and talents and in my opinion, it’s just inevitable for  me not to worship and praise Him in a way other than attending church every Sunday. I certainly found that way through music. Ever since I comprehended that I knew I had potential in my God-given talent, that’s when I placed all my eggs in one basket and saw an aperture in worshipping God in an alternative way and that was playing for St. George Parish with the Fil-Am Choir. All I could remember was that one-day, I was evoking about  music and the first concept that came into my mind was that, “What if I use my God-given  musical talents and correlate it to the blessings God has given me?” That was my epiphany and thank God it was the correct decision. Using my talents, I decided to play the violin at  church. Even though my first years playing at church was a fiasco because the difficulty level was extremely difficult, especially starting from a young age, I and we still persevered in improving and sharpening our skills to make the music beautiful for the Lord, and now, through extensive training at school, I’ve truly evolved vastly and I thank God for that. I truly am very appreciative to have that camaraderie and cohesion with the Fil-Am Choir, as everyone sacrifices pride, time, and the diminutive factors to praise the Lord in the utmost way. In my opinion, Jesus set the ultimate epitome in sacrificing by dying on the cross for us, and now, we need to emulate that and praise Him just like how He loves us. It doesn’t matter if you can’t sing in a stellar way. What matter is that you’re giving back to the numerous blessings that God has given you. So, please take this gratification and be a part of our Fil-Am Choir family. Just like the rest of us, you will surely experience the joy and happiness of praising God through the source of music.
		Veronica   My family is a music lover. I guess, from the time I was in my mother’s womb, I was already hearing music that prompted me to be familiar with tunes of a lot of old songs and music. Music is my life. I cannot imagine myself without it. When I feel down or happy, I turn to God thru songs. My family thought I could sing well, but I was too shy. It was my Uncle Jun who pushed me to join the choir in high school and I have been singing for the Lord since, whether in the church choir or the company choir. I believe that my voice is a gift from GOD and that singing for Him is my little way of giving back. Singing for me, is the strongest way of praying. And that is what I also want to impart to the community. If I sing and enunciate properly so that people can understand the song, then I believed that I’m helping them meditate to the words of God. I know that it doesn’t apply to everyone, but I’m hoping that my/our singing can touch ones life and can inspire others to look for a brighter tomorrow, to believe and always have the faith.
Hello everyone, My name is David Kleespie, As a member of the FIL-Am Choir ofr five years now, I would like to talk about the joy of singing to the Lord. It has given me great satisfaction to sing each and every Sunday, and share the love of Christ with you. Although I sometimes miss church due to work obligations, I try to sing as much as possible. My wife Sonia had knee surgery in January and I’ve take some time off to be with her, but I will be back! The choir is full of wonderful people, and the love is ever present. We have an awe some bond as a group and it is fun when we get together to practice.   As I sit in the pews during mass on occasions, listening to the choir sing, I feel out of place when I’m not with them. An added benefit for me is singing the ‘Tagalog Songs” it is so nice to learn it and sing it at the same time.   I wish to extend an invitation to join the choir so we could sing praise to the Lord, Jesus Christ.   David Kleespie

Guy Valencia

Remy Mendoza

My name is Remy Mendoza. I was a parishioner of St. George for 13 years and out of 13 years, a choir member for 10 years and Eucharistic minister for a few years. Even when I was a child I had a deep interest in music. Oftentimes a longing to be able to sing with a group haunts my mind. To satisfy my desires I would sit, sing, or spend time studying music. With a connection to almighty God I would ponder what I could do or offer to God, something to give Him, honor, praise, and glorify in exchange for His numerous blessings in my life. Then an opportunity opened up when a friend encouraged me to join the Sanctuary Choir of St. George, which I did in 1993, and later the Fil-Am Choir after the Sanctuary Choir director left in 1997.
As I reflect, I feel for sure that God has given me the gift of music. He intends to place me in this ministry in order to share the gift to support the parish and above all, to serve and glorify God. I like and love the people I sing with. There is oneness and sincerity in faith and service to the Lord. Even amidst our busy live as everyone claims, we make and set aside time to be able to serve the Lord. It’s not impossible.
Our practice times and actual singing times, our laughter and difficulties are all manifestations of our love, sacrifice, and service to God. In truth, I find a feeling of fulfillment and satisfaction, a gift from the Holy Spirit, and I consider this the realization of a dream.
In 2004, when I moved to St. Thomas More Parish in Lynnwood, the Holy Spirit continued to direct me to this calling. A friend who wanted to form a choir spotted me and requested me to teach a newly-formed choir – which I did and still do up to the present. It’s my honor to share what God has endowed me – a talent I value most, a light that needs to shine just as it says in Matthew 5: “Your light must shine before others that they may see your good deeds and glorify your heavenly Father.”
-Remy Mendoza 5/13/08

Hi, My name is Don Joseph Aguilar, but more recognized by my nickname Dj. I have been around the church ever since I set foot on this world. My parents (Jun and Connie) have been active in the church for numerous years, which was one of the main reasons that inspired me to serve God. 

It was about 2nd grade when I noticed I had a passion for music. So I decided to play the flute, I took classes in school and at the same time tried to learn on my own. Through time I was improving, but I felt there was still something missing. So I continued to play music through the years. Around 7th grade my parents told me “you should use that gift the HE gave you at the church to serve HIM.” So I said that’s a good idea!” After all that he’s done for me and everything that he has given to me, I thought it was about time that I give back to him. So my younger brother (JC) who plays the violin and I started to serve God through our God given musical talent by joining the St. George Fil-Am Choir along with our mom and dad. Since the Lord showered my family with abundant graces we are all giving it back to HIM through music. 

It doesn’t matter, talented or not, please don’t ignore the LORD”S calling. You’re doing this for HIM, giving back for all the blessings he has bestowed on you. So please join us and be part of the FIL-AM Choir. We’re not just a choir, but we’re a family. Just like any of us, you will encounter pleasure of serving and praising God through music.

“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and his righteousness and all will added unto you.”

    God’s peace to all! I did not formally partake in lessons concerning music, but I have a unique gift to share. I can sing and play the guitar at a certainly legit level. With the aid of my friends, I was able to develop and accomplish a myriad of concepts to become a certified musician. Our acoustic group performed in diverse folk houses, hotels, TV shows, and universities along the premise of the Philippines. It was truly exhilarating and our longevity lasted for 7 years.

     God has a better plan for me. One night while jamming in our basement, I’ve heard a very soft voice, saying, “you are good; why don’t use it for me?” I look to my right and saw a picture frame of Jesus on the wall. That was my calling. I knew there is something missing and now I found it. I started to use this God given gift and talent involving myself actively in the music ministry in our church and in the charismatic movement. I was really touched and moved by the Holy Spirit.

    The Lord gave me a chance to handle a youth choir for 8 years in the Philippines. I joined another youth choir in Hawaii, in 1989, joined St. Anthony’s Charismatic music ministry in 1992 in Renton and now here in Seattle @St. George Parish in 1995 and at present the music coordinator of St. George Fil-Am Choir.

    The music Ministry is my passion. In the ministry, I seek and know God. That developed and enhanced my spirituality. I’ve learned and experienced to serve with humility , sacrifice, to share love in joy and in sadness with compassion to be with the presence of the Holy Spirit and see Jesus among then the choir.

     Praise and thank God for I am blessed. God provided me a good and happy family who is also very active in the ministry, my lovely wife Connie, and our 2 miracle sons DJ (flute) and JC (violin). A simple house, transportation, stable job, good heath, lots of friends. God is so good. It is the goodness of God that invites us, and allow us to practice getting ready by outing away and putting aside. Come and join us in the ministry. Be part of our big family and we will have fun. Again, Jesus is calling you and waiting for you. Are you one of the chosen  ones or the many who are called? Thanks you for reading my testimony. God Bless.

Jun Aguilar

St. George FIL-AM Choir Coordinator

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Address: 5306-13th Avenue South
(Corner of 13th S. and S. Bennett)
Phone: 206-276-9047 FAX: 206-762-4207
      Email:  rsacramento@stgeorgeparish.com