Christian Youth in Action -------------Nevvsletter------------Fourth

Quarter

1986

A LETTER FROM THE DIRECTOR

HUMILITY AND HOPE our response to God's q~

.•\.

ear brothers

'

As I've

and sisters,

'Greetings in the name of our ..••Jesus whose coming we keenly await! ~

As I look

back

over the past

Lord year,

I

can't help but be grateful to God for all He . has done for us, He has certainly been active in our lives, in CY A and in the Philippines.

He is a God of power,

capable

of all

things but also a God of love. As he acts, .-- He always has what's best for us in mind. He has allowed us to experience abundance, We've learned that ,

want and whatever

circumstances we face - we can be joyful because God is with us. And we can do what He asks because He provides the strength

(PhiI4:

12-13).

~ You have heard issue about how God to us: "You shall do in spite of a lack in tensified continued

faithfulness

from Rogel in the last has fulfilled His word more with less". That manpower, He has in-

His own work. But God too has to provide in abundance. You

might have heard of (or even met) by now our four new staffers - Erwin, Syd, and

prepared

for the

Advent

sea-

son, two words have been coming consistently to me - HUMILITY and HOPE. The Lord is asking us to continue to humble ourselves before Him, to learn from his own humility. "He did not count equality with God a th ing to be grasped but rather He humbled Himself, becoming a man and becoming obedient unto death, even death on a cross" (Phil 2:6-8). We saw God bless this country in a mighty way during the February revolution. Before that, many Christian people humbled themselves in prayer, fasting, repentance. We confessed our sinfulness and our need for God. We proclaimed His commandments, "Thou shall not steal, kill, commit adultery ... ". We spoke of the consequences of sin and God's forgiveness. We said that we wanted to live in obedience to God, loving Him with our whole heart, mind and strength. We said that we wanted to love one another, especially the poor in our midst, as Christ has loved us. WE CANNOT

and Terry Savage, two staff workers from the University Christian Outreach in Ann

hope, starry

Arbor, Michigan, have moved here to work with us. You'll be seeing and hearing more

surance

from them in the future. Especially when they're through with their six month long,

struction continues, we know that there are sufferings and hardships ahead. We also

intensive Tagalog courses. And lastly, a team from a Discipleship Training School in Germany also served with us for a few

know that we're involved in an' intensifying spiritual battle. But we know that God has a plan and purpose for our lives, for the nation, and for all of creation. He will bring all things in heaven and on earth to-

way will bring God's

supply"!

DARKNESS

SHALL NOT OVERCOME

Not just a wishful thinking nor a eyed idealism, but the constant asthat

God

will fulfill

He is a God of Action,

gather-under

IT!

When Jesus comes again, may He find us humbly on our knees, confessing obediently with our tongues-Jesus Christ, you are Lord! May we all continue

to grow

in humi-

lity and hope in the coming year and may we always be ready for His return! Maranatha,

Come

Your brother In the midst of our changing and critical circumstances, we continue to have

God's

Let us prepare ourselves to "run the . long race", and to "fight the good fight", Let us persevere knowing that God is working, bringing good out of evil, turning sorrow to joy. Even now, the LIGHT SHINES IN THE DARKNESS and the

Lord Jesus!

STOP NOW!

Landa and Tisha. They are all fine and zealous men and women of God. Ken Noecker

months, They brought great inspiration to all our groups by their radical, all-out commitment to the Lord and their love for . evangelism. Truly, "God's work done

Director Mike Joseph, Jr.

His promise.

As national

recon-

one head Jesus Christ (Eph 1 :10). God will not be defeated, His plan will not be thwarted!.

in Christ,

Mike Joseph

WHAT'S

Jr.

INSIDE?

Letter from the Director

p. 1

Newsbriefs

p.2

Ang Lingkod n9 Panginoon

p.3

Watching God at Work

p.4

NEWS BRIEFS CHRIST AWARENESS WEEK University recently celebrated Christ

Awareness

Week from October

1986 with the theme, "Live Hearts". Inspite of an opening that

literally

De La Salle its annual

swept

6-10,

Jesus in our day typhoon

away most of the pub-

licity materials, the organizers continued the week-long celebration which was highlighted by a symposium series, and daily thematic

Masses.

Brotherhood class-to-class

Harvey

Campos

of the Cross

led the

in handling

the

presentations.

The College of the Holy Spirit was the setting of the same celebration a month and a half after (Nov. 17-21) Staffer Renee Punzal led a team of young women in spearheading the celebration of "The Lord Reigns!" Again, the week was disrupted by 2 days of class-suspensions but did not prevent the celebration from continuing. Highlights of the week included a prayer rally and an entertainment sentations Director

and

show, classroom

a symposium

Mike Joseph

where

included a symposium series, daily thematic Masses, a prayer rally at the UST Grandstand, an entertainment night, classroom presentations, feature fi 1m showings and open-air mime presentations within the

of

streets

donesia

of the campus.

The 3 CY A groups,

namely, the Thomasian Christian Brotherhood, the Association of Women in Theos and the "llaw ng Panginoon" prayer group, in cooper-ation with the Institute of Religion, spearheaded the celebration.

Discovery

-

Teacher's

Tisha Colayco took covery Bible course. participants Singapore,

including

delegates

Malaysia, and

great opportun

Course"

while

the basic Joy of DisThere are around 110 from India,

Sri Lanka,

Taiwan.

Brunei,

ity not on Iy to learn various

skills, but more importantly, the Living Word.

to encounter

CYA GATHERING A total of around 500 young men and women trooped to the covered courts of ICA last Sept. quarterly CY A Gathering. The

7, for the theme of

the day was "Discipleship". Senior staffer Rogel Plata spoke about the call to be radical followers of the Lord, uncompromising in our

daily

walk with Him. A group

of men and women, led by the Discipleship Training team from Germany, presented 2 mines that served as an effective opener for continuation for CY A gathering

Andrew Guitarte of ACB receives course diploma from Fr. Herb Schneider S.J.

DISCIPLESHIP The group presently

TRAINING

of brothers serving

and sisters

with CY A spent

SCHOOL. who are a month

of service in Davao starting in the middle of October. With the help and support of Bishop Juan D.D. Pueblos, the group sponsored some evangelistic seminars and training especially in the field of creative arts (e.g. pantomlne).

preCY A

Jr. spoke. Staffers Gil Galeste and Harvey Campos, with some CY A women. About the same number attended the last CY A Gathering for 1986 last December 7 at ICA. The gathering opened up with a mime presentation on the Parable of the Feast, as performed by our very own affiliate members. The open prayer meeting that followed was a very appropriate time

More recently, the team organized an overnight training program with a group of CYA men and women, where they traine~ around 40 of them how to do evangelisti. pantomimes. This took place last November 22-23, at the Ateneo. Incidentally, the whole team will be leaving for home on December 7, after almost a 4-month stay with us. We wish to thank all of them for their service to us. Bon Voyage!

to listen and respond to the Word of God, as He called us once more to purity of mind and heart. Again, Senior Staffer Rogel

Rene Molano of UST renders a song number during the prayer rally. It was the University of Santo Tomas' turn to celebrate the Lordship of Jesus Christ last December 1-6. Again, in spite of a 2-day class suspension, the students proceeded to share the love of God to their fellow-Thomasians and His personal invitation through the words, "Come, follow me ... " (Mk 10:21). A variety of activities

2

In-

All in all, it was a

Plata

presided

over

the

meeting.

SCRIPTURE VENTURES. The Institute for Pastoral Development recently held its annualcourse offerings last October 20-31, 1986, at the John Pollock Center, Ateneo de Manila University. CYA was a recipient of a number of scholarships which included 8 of our staffers. Harvey Campos, Beth Melchor, Syd Calo, Renee Punzal and Lorna Santiago took the "Preaching and Teaching" Course, Erwin Navarro

and Landa

Campos

took

the "Joy

Discipleship Training Team from Germany

ANG LINGKOD NG 'PANGINOON: NEWSBRIEFS (continued)

po-un? ftPo-/b~~~ona~ on

~~e

/Uoo-e./

"There's no stopping us"-this could have been the motto of five young men who have just graduated both from their schools and their CY A affiliate group around early 1984. Real izing that they are no longer able to visit their respective campuses and" join the rest of their brothers and sisters as they serve the Lord, these ~ng professionals started meeting on •. r own to continue the work that was started: that of growing in their love and service for God. Through group sharings, bible studies and prayer meetings, they began to attract other "affiliate graduates" to their fold. Before they knew it, they were already an organized group with around 50-60 people attending regularly to their open meetings, and actively participating in CY A-wide events.

ANNOUNCEMENTS Talk about opening salvos, 3 Christ Awareness Weeks are lined up for January namely: Ateneo de Manila University January 12-16 St. Scholastica's College - January 19-23 Don Bosco (Mandaluyong) - January 26-31 We commend them all for your prayers and for their success.

Who said that working people have no time for fun?

"Lingkod" presently commands a regular attendance of around 120-140 young professionals, the majority of whom are actively committed to the group. Their meetings would include prayer meetings, sharing sessions, teachings relevant to young professionals, and informal get-togethers. Senior Staffers Gi I Galeste and Beth Melchor are presently overseeing the group which meets every Friday evening.

A typical "standing room" Lingkod gathering.

"It's really an encouragement to know that something really took place in the hearts of these people when they were still in the campuses", says Senior Staffer Rogel Plata, who initially worked with the group during its months of conception. The search for the group's name took a while. From "CYA Alumni" to "CYA Young Professionals", the group finally found the name that suits them best, and the identity that they want to live out: Ang Lingkod ng Panginoon (The Servant of the Lord).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT. In this issue, we are "saying goodbye" to Steve Sandoval, our former unit leader in the Ateneo Christian Brotherhood. Steve has moved on now and is presently working with the Institute for Pastoral Development. We wish to thank Steve for his service in CY A and especially for inspiring many of our young men in the Ateneo, to be zealous and dedicated to the Lord!

"Lingkod" is a fruit of God's work in the lives of young people, and it aims to continue to be an instrument of the Lord as He now works with the young professionals. As one of their leaders put it recently, "Ten to fifteen years from now, we can influence the structures of society, in business, in family, in the Church because we decided as young people to turn away from sin and follow the Lord." May it be so!

(Ang Lingkod ng Panginoon meets every Friday evening from 7:00-9:00 PM at the residence of Mr. & Mrs. James Tan at 192 Wilson St., Little Baguio, San Juan MM.)

This summer (1987), CYA will be celebrating its 5th year! We expect to have a special summer schedule. So as early as now, we suggest that you block off your month of May. Make sure that you're in town for good things are coming!

LET US PRAY • For the national reconstruction in our country • For guidance among our civil and spiritual leaders . • For a deeper conversion among our young people, especially in the coming year • For the coming Christ Awareness Weeks in the Ateneo, St. Scholastica's College and Don Bosco (Mandaluyong)

A Blessed Christmas (6

a Joyful New Year to

AIU 3

WATCHING GOD AT WORK Hi! I'm Beth Melchor. Allow me to share with you a very important chapter in my service to the Lord .

.

One of the most challenging but fruitful experiences I have had in my past 4Y2 years as a CY A staffer came in 1984 when I was asked to serve at the Ateneo de Manila University. Though we already had a group for men at the Ateneo, it seemed that God wanted us to also form a group for college women. 1984 was also a time when God was teaching us in the staff about reliance upon Him and His spirit, and not on our own intell igence and strength. So I came to the Ateneo eager to learn God's ways and with Paul's words to the Corinthians very much in mind (1 Cor 2:1-5). And true enough I saw God at work. When I would visit the dormitory for women, I would easily find myself talking with different women for 4 straight hours about the Lord. The hunger for God and the openness of the students to God's word was so evident. Here's a few of them:

FE'S STORY One of the first women I met was very eager to grow in her relationship with the Lord. In fact, on our first meeting, she immediately shared her "whole life story with me. Soon after, she was sharing the Lord with about anyone that she'll be given the chance to-from her classmates to her teachers, even to tricycle drivers or seatmates in the bus! Today, after finishing her degree, Fe is happily serving the Lord as a lay missionary in Malaybalav, Bukidnon. ENCOUNTERING

ELAINE

Elaine was one woman who came to our-Christian Life Program (CLP) with her mind and heart closed to God. She came from an atheistic background and was there only because a classmate challenged her to attend. By the end of the seminar, God's grace had effected such a change in her that she brought the most number of women to our next CLP. SAMMY'S ACCI DENT Such was the presence of God's grace that prayers were being answered and heal-

ings were taking place. One instance was when a student was badly hit by a car and went into a coma. As soon as the brothers and sisters in the dorm heard the news, they began to pray around the clock. The . next day, an operation that should have taken 8 hours was finished in 3. The doctors warned that the coma.might continue indefinitely, but 3 days later the student came out of it on the road to recovery. His first words were, "Nurse, let's pray together." As a result of this, the student's father asked the brothers and sisters to pray with him as he gave h is life to the Lord. God is doing a lot of exciting things at the Ateneo. Out of this work have I seen great fruits in the lives of thse young men and women-am I glad to be a part of it!

CHRISTIAN YOUTH IN ACTION Mike Joseph, Jr. Director Ateneo de Manila University: Rogel Plata, Beth Melchor, Syd Calo, Tisha Colayco University of Santo Tomas: i Andy Juan, Renee Punzal, Erwin Navarro University of the Philippines: Gil Galeste, Lorna Santiago De La Salle University: Harvey Campos College of the Holy Spirit: Renee Punzal St. Scholastica's College: Landa Campos Don Bosco (Manda!uyong): Harvey Campos Young Professionals~ Gil Galeste, Beth Melchor The Apostolic Team: Rogel Plata, Erwin Navarro Administration: Andy Juan, Tisha Colayco

Beth Melchor (3rd from right) with the women of "Ancilla Domini':

CHRISTIAN YOUTH IN ACTION (CYA) is a movement of young Christian men and women engaged in active youth evangelism and apostolic service in different campuses and universities in Metro Manila, as well as in other young people's environments.