Praying for the Gold Mine that is Lipa City - the Gateway City

The dust swirled as our Kia Besta rolled on the plains of the jungle. I was afraid yet excited. Papa always took us on his trips. I thought that it was going to be another adventure to a far away place. The rough road had big stones but our driver managed to drive well. Rocks sometimes flew at the sides and made me wince. I hope nobody gets hit. But then again, people were few at the time. The van swayed with each pothole. This was in the mid-90's. I was a young boy back then.

Little did I know, that fifteen years from that time, this place will become my home.

Lipa City.

"Developments are getting scarcer in Laguna - we're moving our operations to Lipa City." one broker gleefully told my wife as they embarked to visit another AmaiaScapes development - an Ayala company.

Posted by Daniel Andrei R. Garcia Writer and PRC Licensed Real Estate Broker on Sunday, 11 October 2015

Prophecy

Whenever I would speak to my mother and listen to her stories about prophecies, I was always the skeptic. Big things are coming to Lipa. "It is one of seven gateway cities in the Philippines."said Brother Sadhu Sundar Selveraj and Brother Vincent Selvakumar in a Christian Conference attended by my mother.

At first, matigas ulo ko. "Prophecy, prophecy..." I'd sometimes mutter.

"What matters is the here and now." I would always say.

God's divine plans are a mystery - tayong mga tao, us humans, we only know what we see.

But Lipa City is a different city. It's cooler than Cavite - as in malamig - and it has several malls, BPOs, quite recently real estate developments.

Prophecies are meant for the future, but I would say, it's here, right now at this very moment.

You'd feel it in the flurry of people. Punong puno yung supermarket kahapon and people were going crazy shopping - just like in Metro Manila. 

Yes, there is a gold mine here - of people.

Cito Beltran in Victory Lipa once said when he preached at a service here - to do away with stereotypes. "Alisin na yung stereotype na Lipa, Batangas is the Ala'Eh province. We're global in scope."

The appropriate prayer is not just for material success - but wealth in faith.