Two weeks ago, I went to Macau.

          I spent five days in that small Casino city with six fantastic buddies of mine: Hermie Morelos, Gil Ramiscal, Pio Espanol, Roy Pasimio, Tim Duran, and Carl Fontanilla. They also happen to be the “pioneer” leaders of my community,  Light of Jesus, and our virtual community, KerygmaFamily. (Get very blessed! Log on at www.KerygmaFamily.com now!) We brought our wives along, so it was doubly fun.

          What did we do in Macau?

          Nothing.

          No talks, no meetings, no sessions.

   We talked.

   We laughed.

   We bonded.

          We took lots of photos. (We’re Filipinos!)

   We ate lots of Chinese food. 

   And being in Macau, we visited lots of Casinos. 

   Not to gamble of course. I mean, we’re Lay Elders of a Catholic group, right?

          So we just watched the Casino’s floor show of sexy dancers.

          Just kidding.

          We couldn’t do that.

          Our wives were with us.

          Haha!

          Seriously, the gang had enormous fun just being together.

          When people heard that we were going to Macau for 5 days, they asked me, “Why five days? Macau is so small. After two days, you’ve seen it all.”

          You see, it was not Macau that makes the trip great.

          The trip was great because of the people I was with.

   I’d like to share something special about this group. Do you know how many years have we been serving God together? More than 20 years now. Some of us as long as 27 years.

   Here’s the secret: I’ve discovered that we should first of all be friends before we’re fellow-leaders. Once the leaders of a community or prayer group or church stop being friends, the organization will divide. Guaranteed.

   So we’ve been friends all these years.

          Belly to belly.

   Arm to arm.

   Shoulder to shoulder. 

   Smelly armpit to smelly armpit.

   We’re Best Buds.

          Not that we don’t fight.

          We do. Oh, you should hear us argue in our meetings. I’m ashamed to say this, but we even have our tampuhan blues. (How do you translate that in English?) 

   But we’ve stuck together like glue.

   Because we’ve decided to grow old together.

          No matter what happens.

          Why?

   A long time ago, I’ve defined what my wealth is…

   My wealth is my relationships.

          Not my money.

          Not my properties.

          Not my investments.

          My wealth is my relationship with God.

   My wealth is my relationship with my family.

   My wealth is my relationship with my friends.

          And my wealth is the spiritually and materially poor that I minister to daily.

          This is the reason why I’m rich.

Money Is Not My Definition of Wealth,

But It Sure Comes In Handy

    For example, I needed money to go to Macau.

          And every weekly romantic date I have with my wife requires money too.

             Including my dates with my kids.

   And my dates with my 83-year old Mom.

   I repeat: My wealth is my relationships. Not money.

   But I can’t deny that money helps me in my relationships.

          Once upon a time, I was poor.

          But in the past 10 years, I’ve grown my financial wealth. I now have small businesses, got into real estate, and learned to work the stock market and other paper assets. From being a poor missionary, I now enjoy 16 streams of income flowing into my life.

   Because of this, I now send a growing number of poor kids to school, support more missionaries, and give more livelihood to poor families.

   Do you want the same experience to happen in your life?

To Be Continued Next Week…

             May your dreams come true,

             Bo Sanchez

PS.  How did I grow my wealth? I applied specific spiritual and financial principles that have made me Financially Free. I want to help you grow in Financial Freedom as well.  Learn these same spiritual and financial principles that will change your financial life! On October 4, I’m giving my powerful How To Be Truly Rich Seminar. To know more about it, click here.

PS2. Mentors may be your missing link to your success. (It definitely was mine.) I needed multi-millionaire mentors to teach me how money works. To learn more about my Truly Rich Financial Coaching Program on October 24 and 25, click here.

PS3. Do people just ‘come and go’ in your group without you knowing why? Attend HIGH IMPACT COMMUNITY, A Seminar on Keeping People in Community, by Kerygma Preacher Arun Gogna. Date: September 20, Saturday; 8am to 5pm; Venue: Lay Force, San Carlos Seminary, Guadalupe Makati (Seminar Fee: P695.00 only) Call Noel or Melody at 823-9546 or (0915) 4493600 / (0928)2109765 now!

PS4. Invite your friends to my Concerts and Seminars in the US and Canada! Click here for more details.