Graduation Speech
Channel: Anthony BAWI
Date: 2014-07-21

Graduating Testimony
Galatians 5:22 and 1 Corinthian 13:ff

I am happy to stand in front of my fellow Christians this morning. I give thanks to God for this precious time and for those who allowed me to talk to you about my experiences at APNTS. Something from my inside forces me to give my great thanks to all the faculty members, staff, and workers. And I would like to give my heartfelt thanks to APNTS and to the Library for teaching and giving me a lot of knowledge and for lifting up my life. Once again, I would like to repeat, I am grateful for your mentoring and teaching, your compassion, love and care. May God richly bless you more than enough! 
One thousand days ago, this was my dress (uniform).  I was one of the workers of APNTS. One thousand days ago, one thing that I have never expected came to me: that was to be a worker of APNTS, not to be a student. During those days, I bravely challenged God and prayed to him, Lord! Is it your will or not? I did not like the position of being a worker in my life but that was the will of God. Sometimes I lived without food for 40 hours. I had never dreamed of such life, but that is a real. I could not understand God's plans for my future, but one thing that I knew is that whatever tremendous suffering and difficult things came upon me, my trust and faith in God would never run away from Him. In fact, God used his faithful servant, who is one of the faculty members of APNTS in order to rescue me from the prison of poverty. He is a helper for me but also a mentor, a spiritual leader and father and a model for my daily life. Due to his compassion that came from God, I send my uncountable thanks into the clouds that I believe, will reach God.   And I always keep him in my prayers and pray to God for giving him a long life. When I look back at what happened to me, I now discern that my experiences in those days taught me how to live and to pass a single day. And it let me know how much God loves, cares and protects me every single heartbeat.
One thousand days later, as the world is constantly changing every single minute, the Lord changes my life too. One thousand days later, the almighty God provides me whatever I need so I shall not want anything else. Because of his unending love, today I can stand before you and I am ready for marching on the graduation day on March 30. For me, the tremendous blessing from God is that He did not give me what I want but He always gives me what I need, even though I didn't know that I should ask Him. That is his tremendously honorable blessing to me. Because of His faithfulness, compassion, and unconditional love, I am sure that  faithfulness, righteousness, justice and word will follow me all the days of my life. 
As you all know, today is the first time I stand in the pulpit before you. Actually, I always wished to stand before you and I was eager to preach and share the word of God but no one gave me a chance during the time that I have been here at APNTS and in the Philippines more than three years. I guess that they did not give me a special time because I am not a Nazarene and not a member of a Wesleyan denomination. Today, I would like to tell you the truth that we are brothers and sisters in the blood of Jesus Christ. I wished to be a faithful student. Sometimes, with professors, we examined truth in my research papers. One theologian did not accept my paper sometimes.  Another professor tried to make me appear  foolish, but I was silent,  knowing that what he said is not the truth and realizing, at the same time, the student's being is in his/her professor's hand. A particular professor said to me that I am a heretic according to my research paper, but for another professor, was I espoused is a common teaching of Wesleyans. Meaning to say, we still need the unity, love and holiness that you Nazarenes firmly hold in your denomination among the faculty members and even the students. Let me articulate that we really need unity, love and true holiness in APNTS. It means that the world and APNTS still needs the authentic Christians. I pray that the fruit of Spirit, love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control, may ring upon us, the community of APNTS, the realm of Christianity and the whole world.  May God bless you all! May God richly bless APNTS!