I can't believe it's been 2 and a half years now since I got to meet this wonderful guy.Mr Francis Adrian Ding or "Ades" as we commonly call him is a very good friend of mine from Cebu City. I will never forget the first time I met him, it was during an Arts Festival Missions Trip of my team (ACTS) October 2006 in Cebu and since then, we've been great friends. Somehow I can say that we've been through a lot already; from ministry work to events invitation, gimmicks, dates and fun-time. It's not always been a smooth sailing friendship though, we had our own share of arguments and conflicts but in spite of, we remain friends. I thought when I left for Singapore, things will be different but I was wrong. Our friendship goes to prove that distance is never an issue to real and sincere friendship.He would come and visit here in Singapore especially whenever he has business trips and on my end, I'd go and spend time with him whenever I'd visit Cebu.
Ades is a very interesting guy. He is very sweet, thoughtful, intelligent, practical, straight to the point, loving, sensitive and sometimes too formal or the extreme child-like, hehehe :-) I do admire him in so many ways. He has been a great blessing and an inspiration to me. And I would say that that admiration grew deeper(not on a romantic level okay?) after our conversation last friday when we went out for a late dinner. That night as he poured out his heart, I realized so many things about myself. His passion and love for the Lord is contagious and very transparent. I wish I had the same level of relationship with the Lord as He does but what I saw in Him inspired me to grow closer to Him. That for me made my night!
Last November during his birthday I e-mailed him 10 THINGS I APPRECIATE ABOUT HIM. Below is what I wrote:
*Your gift of affirmation. You are quick in encouraging people and you always have something good to say about anyone. *Your intelligence and ability to express yourself. Man, you are really gifted in the way you communicate and this is really one thing I admire about you.
*Your slowness to anger and the way you handle difficult situations. You're always calm and cool! (Maybe you really want to follow Him when he said in Ephesians 4:26"In your anger do not sin")
*Your good example and being a wonderful "kuya" and a friend to the youth. You guide and inspire young
minds in ways you don't even realize!*Your gift of teaching. You are one anointed preacher Ades, and I am so proud that you are one! I have heard a lot of men preach, yet not all of them are able to get through the hearts of people.
*Your humility. In spite of all accomplishments, you remain humble.
*Your leadership. You sure know how to take
good care of your flock. And you train them as you see fit. As they say, "a good leader would always have followers!" I can see them lining up now! :-)*Your discipline. You know how to value your time and in spite of your very busy schedule, you make sure you find time for the ONE creator of all.
*Your very "mababaw" sense of humor and your "corny" jokes. I mean, you have this "innocent" kind of character and you just simply laugh at simple things.Sometimes, I just can't believe you. Hehehe
*Your ways of making me feel special. I will never forget the time when you had to ask Tonie to treat me to Starbucks as your "peace offering" because I was so upset with you; the time you called me up in the middle of the night and you just sang over the phone for almost an hour to make me smile; and the time you called because you were very upset with "some girls" and you needed an ear to listen and you said "Can I just have 10 minutes of your time?" hahahaha, you really can get so demanding at times but it's okay! (as long as you don't make it a habit, I'm fine with that! You call me in so many different ways – Ann, Ana, Anagee, Buddy, Dudette, Direk, mama hen, mother Hen, partner etc. Did I miss anything?
Ades is a youth pastor friend of mine that most of time is misunderstood. Well for sure he has his own share of shortcomings too. Who hasn't? But the time he spent with us here in SG, I saw that above anything else, HE SINCERELY WANTS TO PLEASE GOD! And I guess that's all that matters right? everything will come from there, that is IF WE SEEK HIM FIRST!
Lastly, I would say that Ades is truly a man of God. Indeed there are some trimmings needed to be done in some areas but that fact will still remain, HE IS A MAN OF GOD! And I am just so proud I got to know him.
God bless you buddy! May you continue to be an inspiration to many! :-)
