Malaya's Life Commemoration Service and Video

Last night we had Malaya's Life Commemoration service at Woodbridge Community Church.
See below for the order of the program.

Before the service, King and I prayed that God would use our baby's life to be an instrument of the truth of Jesus to touch people's lives. We really wanted people to be introduced to our precious baby girl and have her life give honor to God. King had told me the night before that he hoped that God would be glorified. I told him that He would be because that's what we wanted. And boy, did we see Him doing His thing! Gosh, last night was just so beautiful.

I simply whispered a one line prayer, "God please give me strength" and He answered. I'm sure others were praying the same for King and me. It was supernatural, the strength that He gave us. I'm not one to hold back tears, but for some reason most of the time my eyes were fairly dry. God sustained me and I only used four tissues throughout the whole night.

When Pastor Ali started praying I knew that that night something special was going to happen. Somehow, I knew that there was no way that anyone could leave without being changed. I knew I, myself, would be transformed forever.

The songs that my brother, Joe, led were just great and the other friends that played made the music so rich. Singing to God, and about God, was exactly what I needed to do. I sang out even when my throat hurt.

Jeff, King's brother, did a good job in reading Psalm 139. God reminded me that He is the one who knit her together in my womb and that I should really praise Him for she was fearfully and wonderfully made.

Godfrey expounded on what Jeff read. King and I were blown away because of how honestly he talked about death. There was no morbidity about it. Instead, I felt my feelings of despair disperse. He reminded all of us that death has lost it's sting because of the hope we have received through the death and resurrection of Jesus. He encouraged those listening to put their faith in God. Hopefully he has his notes so that I can post it on here.

Delia sang with such authority and power. I have heard and sang "Great is Thy Faithfulness" countless times, but while she sang, I could literally feel my spirit just rise within me and fill my chest with hope. Hope that would carry me throughout the rest of the night. Girl got pipes...and heart.

Pastor Vince (King's uncle) talked about lament and grief. He said that we have been taught by our culture to do whatever it takes to stop lamenting or "comfort" people so that they'll stop crying. As followers of Jesus we should be experts at grieving and be comfortable with shedding our tears to God and to each other. Again, he pointed people toward knowing and trusting in Jesus, our only true consolation and the One who weeps with us.

When we went up to speak, both King and I took our first look at who was able to come and, no joke, there were more than 300 people there: family, friends, co-workers, acquaintances, and people we have never met before. The first things that came out of both of our mouths were "Wow...". My heart was moved. Our little Malaya brought together a whole bunch of people that loved us and her. Again, it was incredible the strength that God gave both of us to share our story of her in our lives. I will post what we said in another entry.

Rommel did an awesome job with the slide show. Tammy, our photographer, captured the moments we had with her so well. Her fingers, toes, beautiful head, and body were shown. In our eyes, she is perfect and it was heartwarming to hear people agree with us and say how beautiful she is. We just uploaded the video to Vimeo, so here it is:


Malaya Charis Sacramento - Glory Baby from King Faye Sacramento on Vimeo.

Dear friends and family came up to lay hands on us while Pastor Vince, Doc Mike, Leo, and Pastor Frank prayed over us. We were reminded of the faithfulness of God who has been and will be all sufficient to walk ahead. Also, God showed us that we are not alone. He won't leave us and the community has shown their commitment to us as well.

"Blessed be Your Name" was a song that brought great comfort to King and me when King's mom went to be with Jesus in 2004. I thought of them playing together in Heaven. Bless His name, indeed.

Pastor Jonathan closed us out and in his prayer he thanked God for how our daughter is in the arms of God in Heaven...our real Home. What hope...

The love that we received was perfect. So many people were willing to help out: decorating, helping with the program and encouragement cards, bringing food, etc. King and I have never hugged so many people at one time in our lives. The hugs were even better than those received at our wedding. The hugs and kisses that we were given were such a comfort and it was as if the Lord was using everyone to be His arms. I made sure to look into the eyes of each person that came to embrace me and told them thank you and that I loved them. I don't want to take anyone for granted anymore. Several were tear filled as they came up to us and those tears and tender eyes possibly spoke more compassion than their words could. Also, some people gave us love gifts, flowers, and cards that we have been reading and re-reading all day today.

I was SO proud of my baby afterward. I told King as we were driving away from the church that she is just so wonderful. She, though no one was able to meet her personally, was able to touch the hearts of so many people: those able to make it to the service, those who were with us there in prayer, friends, family, and even total strangers. Oh, my darling Malaya, we are still very sad that you're not here, but you have shown us how amazing you are!

God, you were SO there. Your presence was SO real. Continue to have Your way in all our lives.

Malaya's Life Commemoration--order of service

Prelude---Godfrey Catanus

Opening Prayer---Pastor Ali Aguarino

Praise and Worship---Joe Abesamis, Godfrey Catanus, Homer Dulu, Andrew Arellano, Patricia Ferido

I Will Lift My Eyes
Bring the Rain
When the Tears Fall

Scripture---Psalm 139---Jeffrey Sacramento

Message---Pastor Godfrey Catanus

Special Song---Great is Thy Faithfulness---Delia King

Message---Pastor Vince Arnaldo

Worship---Joe Abesamis and team

Never Let Go
It is Well

Testimony---King & Faye Sacramento

Slideshow---made by Rommel Andal

Pray over King & Faye---Those who prayed---Pastor Vince Arnaldo, Dr. Michael Co, Leo Balayon, Pastor Frank Winans // Friends and family surrounded us and laid hands on us

Closing Song---Blessed be Your Name

Closing Prayer---Pastor Jonathan Mortiz