Tag: pursuitmanila

When Julianne stepped into the room of Pursuit Manila’s first ever gathering, fashionably late I must add (haha), I heard a collective gasp in the room. My gasp, included. Sure, I saw the names of the women who signed up, but since she went by (apparently) her real name, Julie, it didn’t register to me that she’s The Julianne whose Youtube channel and Soundcloud I quietly followed growing up. Talk about starstruck.

I got to know her a bit more since then, found out that we have several things in common, like being 1983 babies, Pastor’s kids, web and graphic designers, living in the same city, among others. Just like with many of my Pursuit Community friends, it feels like I’ve known Julie for years even when I’ve only met her this year. Suddenly she’s not anymore an “artista” but a good friend and sister in Christ.

A collaboration (and friendship) was born.  Continue reading “Pursuit Manila x Ashes to Beauty” →

Three of the women in this photograph, Jamie, Madz and Love, I just met this year. One of them, Sheila, and I have been really good friends in high school and college, but other than exchanging online messages and comments here and there, I didn’t see her all that much until this year. The other one, Karen, is part of the group I disciple in church; we would see each other every Sunday and pray and read the Bible, our interactions confined within the four corners of our church.

What I’m trying to drive at is, one year ago, I never imagined I would be journeying with these beautiful women of faith, or leading a community and doing a special ministry with them. I never pictured that we would be spending one weekend together, getting to know each other in a deeper way, putting together beautiful styled shoots for the fun of it, laughing (and shedding joyful tears) to the wee hours of the night, talking about how God has been turning our lives around.

Even more so, one year ago I never imagined I would be part of a community of talented, God-loving female creatives who are making a huge impact around the world. I can’t even grasp the right words to describe how [insert synonyms of] amazing the past 5 months have been.

Truck loads of photos after the jump. You were warned. :)  Continue reading “Pursuit Manila Retreat & New Adventures” →

A lot of people have been asking me what Pursuit Community is all about, and sometimes I find it hard to describe it in just one sentence! So I post these recaps of our gatherings to give you a picture of who we are and what we do. I hope these posts answer your questions with great detail!

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But first, an apology

Before I update this page about what happened in the March gathering, I thought an apology should be in place. Sorry for the lack of updates! There’s just so much going on, in my personal life and work, and more importantly, in the way the Lord has been leading me about Pursuit Manila. Our March gathering has been the biggest gathering we had so far, and to say that it left us feeling overwhelmed is an understatement. What’s next?, we ask.

38 people is no joke, and for someone like me who’d rather hide my face behind the computer screen, opening up my life to that many people was just beyond me.

It’s a good problem, no doubt. None of these would have transpired anyway if the Lord didn’t bring us to this point, barely 5 months since we launched Pursuit Manila. This month I got a deeper understanding of what this ministry really is. That it’s so much more than just getting women together in a pretty place, and drinking coffee together, and meeting new people and making small talk.

On March 21, about 38 of us squeezed ourselves in this quaint cafe / art gallery in Guijo Street called Restock (it’s a lovely lovely place!), and that day I knew that this community would never be the same again.  Continue reading “Pursuit Manila: What’s Your Story?” →

Whew. This took long enough! Sorry about that. I suppose things like this happen when a community is growing. There’s so much we have to consider and plan just to put one gathering together! But even though the preparation is crazyyy, we’re over the moon about how God is evidently moving in this community, and how He takes care of even the smallest details we worry about. We’re like, oh no, what to do? And He’s like, relax girls, I got this! 

So here we are now, our third gathering this year, and we’re sooo excited (once again) to see everyone and to meet new people and to just.. witness how God is going to blow our minds again. :)  Continue reading “Pursuit Manila: March Gathering & Creative Workshop” →

A lot of people have been asking me what Pursuit is all about, and sometimes I find it hard to describe it in just one sentence. The standard answer is, “We’re a community of (female) creatives who live to bring God glory through our creative passions, our businesses, our homes and our lives,” but if I could sit down with you for an hour, I could describe it in a dozen more paragraphs! So I post these recaps of our gatherings to give you a picture of who we are and what we do. I hope these posts answer your questions with great detail! :)

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Because He First Loved Us

When for some reason the Lord brings talented, creative and passionate women together in one place, expect beautiful things. Also, an instant sisterhood, even though most of us have only met each other that day! We had our Pursuit Manila gathering last February 21, and here I am, one week later, still in a state of hangover. I have enough praises and stories (and photographs!) to last me a month, really. That is, until I see these women again.

We called the gathering “Because He First Loved Us“, the reason why we do any of these to begin with. The February gathering is special because it’s the month of love, and we want to take that opportunity to celebrate this Love that’s so great it moves us to love others even in difficult situations, to find beauty in the ordinary days, and to have courage to pursue our God-given passions.  Continue reading “Pursuit Manila: Because He First Loved Us” →